Senior Day

Hello All,

Well, this is kind of strange. We have reached the end of another season, and this one seemed to go by faster than any in history.

It is not time for final reflection yet, as there is still more football to be played.

However, I think it is safe to say that the depression that is my life for 8 months a year with no ‘Canes football has begun to set in.

Win or lose, the ‘Canes give me something to look forward to every week. Watching these kids go out and compete and grow is my favorite thing.

One of my co-workers was talking to me the other day and said “You should be glad you have your thing. You are more passionate about the ‘Canes than anyone in this office is about anything. It keeps you going. I can’t honestly say I have a thing and that is kind of sad.”

She was absolutely right. But before this turns into a cry fest, it is time for final reflection on one group of players.

Saturday is the last home game for a Miami senior class that has actually turned into The U’s best in five years.

Roll Call

Damien Berry, RB – Berry has been my favorite player for 4 years. He initially came in as a safety and played injured his freshman year, making a contribution only on special teams. After a mostly non-descript sophomore season he made the switch to running back, where most thought he would get lost on the depth chart. Instead, Berry became UM’s best runner since a healthy, in-shape Tyrone Moss and will leave as a fan favorite after two seasons of hard-nosed, take no prisoners running.

Graig Cooper, RB – Coop is another personal favorite who was derided by fans for years for no reason. He made plays, ran hard and did the best with what he was given. Sometimes he danced too much, and his speed wasn’t all that was advertised. Still, he was an all everything recruit that stuck by his ‘Cane commitment when everything was going wrong. He played hard despite being surrounded by mediocre talent for two seasons and will end up a Top 5 statistical player in the history of the program that will stick with an NFL team.

Leonard Hankerson, WR – What can I say about Hank that hasn’t already been said this season? The kid was labeled a bust after two seasons. I wrote that “there is no point in having a receiver that cannot catch the ball…move him to linebacker” back when I was writing my column in the school paper. Boy did he prove us all wrong. He committed himself through tireless work in the offseason and has now put together arguably the strongest two year statistical stretch of any receiver in program history. He still drops some easy ones but has become UM’s Go-To Guy in almost every situation and has positioned himself as a high draft pick. He will do great things and will probably be the most missed of all the seniors next season.

Allen Bailey, DL- The Freakshow seems like he just got here from his Island home in Georgia. He lost his freshman year to an ill-advised experiment at Middle Linebacker and was learning on the fly his sophomore year. After being shuttled back and forth between tackle and end for the last two seasons, it seemed like Bailey was always on the verge of a massive breakout where he put together 2 or 3 dominant games in a row. It never happened, and he is one of those guys you wish you could have for a couple more seasons. He is a member of the All Time Freak team for Miami and will be a first round pick based solely on potential. He showed glimpses throughout his career; hopefully some position stability will allow him to reach his Suh-like potential.

Matt Bosher, K/P- Bosh was the toughest kicker I have ever seen. He was also damned good. A little streaky as a placekicker but phenomenal as a punter, Bosher will forever be remembered for his willingness (eagerness?) to not only come up and tackle but also come up and lay the wood; this was important, given our coverage teams’ complete inability to cover kicks lately. My favorite moment will always be when he recovered his own onside kick in the Champs Sports Bowl (which I prefaced by saying “the only way we will recover this is if Bosh gets in there because he’s all we got”) that lead to my brother saying “If we had a sister Bosher could definitely f*ck her right now”. Others include his personal foul penalty for body slamming an FSU kick returner and his going down into the scrum to rip away an onside kick recovery in a doomed comeback attempt against Virginia this year. I never thought I would be this invested in a freakin’ kicker, but this is not a normal kicker.

Colin McCarthy, LB- If you can get past expecting him to be Dan Morgan (just because he is white and plays the same position and wears the same number) then he had a pretty damned good career. Was a little slow and not great in coverage, but the guy was mean and nasty and played with a chip on his shoulder. Also holds the current heavyweight title belt for banging slutty Delta Gammas and D Phi Es. Another likely 3rd-5th round pick that will make an impact somewhere in the league.

Orlando Franklin, T- Franklin was a three year starter at guard and then moved to left tackle. He will be a guard in the NFL, where his size will play well and his semi-slow feet can be hidden. I loved Franklin at guard but have been disappointed this year with his mental game at tackle, as he has repeatedly false started and been called for holding. Franklin will be missed more than some folks think, and he has certainly been a program leader. He will most likely be a mid round pick in the draft and will one day be saying “The U” on Sunday Night Football.

Pat Hill, FB- One of my favorites because of his unselfishness. Was very content with blasting linebackers for three years and clearing the way for other guys to get stats. Hill will be hard to replace, as was evident last year when the running game slumped after he was hurt.

DeMarcus Van Dyke, CB- A great cover corner who almost never got beat but also had NO ball skills. Is in the same camp with Coop when it comes to uncalled for personal attacks by fans. Will not be drafted but his speed will get him a shot and he might be this year’s Sam Shields if he can learn to tackle.

Joel Figeuroa, OL- Good guy, good run blocker, that’s about it. Wish him well.

Ryan Hill, CB- This was the ultimate company man. Moved from DB to WR as a highly touted frosh because we needed bodies. Made some big catches but was too inconsistent, so switched back to DB halfway through his career. Worked for two years and finally got on the field for his senior season, where he won a starting spot and…gasp…made some plays on the ball. Also, as an aside, was a very nice guy and my roommate Graham’s favorite player.

Josh Holmes, DT- Role player who really never lived up to his potential as an inside pass rusher. Most of his time was spent as a body in the rotation, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Kylan Robinson, LB- Came in as a record setting running back but could not gain any traction and was moved to linebacker. Career highlight was starting this year’s season opener. Really, that was about it.

JoJo Nicolas, S- He might be back next year, I am just putting him on here as wishful thinking. Nothing personal, he’s just not good at all and takes minutes from young guys for some reason.

Richard Gordon, TE- Freak show that looks like Tarzan and plays like Jane. Was a good run blocker but looked about as coordinated as a giraffe trying to take a piss while walking on a frozen pond when going out on a pass route.

Jared Campbell, S- Not sure if he is a senior but this was a guy who maxed out his minimal talent (which still didn’t lead to much production) and was a benefit to have on the scout team.

Corey Nelms, DB- Walk on special teams guy who made an impact with some big hits over his career and shows the value of working in conjunction with the track team.


To each of them, I thank you for your time in a transitory phase of the program and wish you the best of luck.

Quick Picks (Doing these early Friday morning):

‘Bama over Auburn
West Virginia over Pitt
Nebraska over Colorado
Oregon over Arizona
Ohio State over Michigan
Michigan State over Penn State
Kansas over Mizzou (Upset Special!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Arkansas over LSU
The SAT over UiF and FSU
Utah over BYU
Wisco over Northwestern
Clemson over The Real USC
Oklahoma over Oklahoma State (BEDLAM!!!!!)
The Meteor over Notre Dame and USC (I can hope, right?)

Long Time Due

Hello All,

Finally found some time to sit down and write something useful, so here we go.

Last week's Maryland win was the most aggravated I have ever been after a loss.

First, there is the obvious. Miami got jobbed by the refs the whole game, arguably turning a game they should have won by at least a couple scores against a decent team into a game they had to steal in the final minute.

The team once again showed a lack of discipline, getting called for multiple false starts; this was particularly frustrating when taking into account that the guys getting called were upperclassmen like Orlando Franklin (the unit's leader) and Harlan Gunn (still love the name though).

What really had me hot and bothered was the holding calls, however. I have discussed this before, but let's get real. Holding is a subjective call. It happens on every play. It is only called on a few (or if you are Miami, quite a few...ba dum cha!). That means the referee decides when to throw it and when not to subjectively. Which also means that in order for it to be fair, there should be some semblance of balance in how many each side gets called for. I refuse to believe that Miami's highly talented offensive line can't stop other teams less talented defensive lines without holding 5 times a game and yet other teams have less talented offensive lines that just magically stonewall the Miami defensive front, one of the top ten units in the nation, game in and game out. Call me crazy. This has been going on for years, but reached a bit of a tipping point against the Terps. And if you need an example, watch Marcus Robinson every game. There are five times a game he gets held. There are zero times a game it gets called.

We don't need to really go into the phantom facemask called on Sean Spence that almost gave the game to Maryland. However, if you can explain to me how a guy getting runover on a play by a tight end while the quarterback could not even finish his three step drop before getting strip sacked (meaning it took maybe a full second) gets called for a facemask I will buy you a beer.

However, there were positives for the game. The team fought the whole game and din't have any moments where it seemed to check out. Stephen Morris and Lamar Miller showed they have a little old school 'Cane in 'em, making good on opportunities to play due to injuries. It used to be said that the 'Canes feared getting hurt, not because of the pain but because of the near guarantee that someone would Wally Pipp them. Jacory has not lost his job yet, but nothing bad can come of having a very talented backup to compete with every week.

I liked the power run game, and it should serve the 'Canes well this week against a Georgia Tech team that cannot stop the run. People fail to realize that Maryland sends an exotic blitz on 80% of its defensive plays and was #1 in the ACC against the run going into the game, and yet Miami piled up 500+ yards of total offense. If not for penalties, both legitimate and illegitimate, Miami should have won that game by 21.

And that brings us to the Jackets. I am not doing a position breakdown, there is no point. Miami has the edge everywhere. Tech is playing without their starting, all conference QB in Josh Nesbitt and their star receiver (which is a relative term this year for Tech) is also hurt. Their defense is in the midst of a changeover from a 4-3 to a 3-4. Last year's Miami D, which was nowhere close to as good as this year's, shut down this very same rushing attack when it was equipped with better personnel. The game is going to be at noon, so unless it is raining there is now way the 'Canes can complaing about the conditions. Really, the table is set for a blowout.

That is not this team's problem, however. The problem is that it is never the same team from quarter to quarter, much less game to game. I predict this one to be close, but not for any reason other than I need to see the 'Canes come out with some killer instinct just one time before I will pronounce them any sort of favorite at this point. Miami is still alive in the ACC race, but fans are forgetting that in order to stay alive they have to take care of business. I love this team to death and think that they mean well. But until I see them put together a few quarters, stretched over a few games, of consistent good football I will feel uneasy.

And here are my other picks for the week:

Last Week: 6-4 (40-25 on the season, 2-6 in upset specials)

FSU over Clemson

UiF over The Real USC

Ole Miss over Tennessee

Northwestern over Iowa (Not an upset)

K State over Mizzou (Not an upset)

Utah over Notre Dame (Chuckles)

Ohio State over Penn State (In this week's "Threw Up a Little In My Mouth" Game)

'Bama over Miss State

Baylor over TAMU

Texas over Okie State (They just always...how should I say this...blow it)

Georgia over Auburn (Upset Special!!!!!)