Keys to Victory

Hello there Wahooze. We are in the extremely rare position this week of having me actually be competent in the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent we are facing. This is the great showdown of my household, if we win it basically affirms my life choices (yes college for me was mostly about sports), if we lose I have to listen to my mother sing the UM fight song at 6 in the morning tomorrow. Don’t really need that to happen since I will be picking up the team at 3am tomorrow. All that being said here is what the Hoos need to do to beat the Canes tonight:

1.       PASS THE BALL:

Miami, for all the athletes it has, does not have many picks this season; in fact they only have 4, which is half of our count on the year. All those athletes come in to get after the QB. Safties Ray-Ray Armstrong and Vaughn Telemaque (both great names) are much stronger in run support than they are in the passing game. Miami also has lost some key corners to the pros in DeMarcus Van Dyke and Brandon Harris. This means that there will be young CB’s matching up in press coverage against our more experienced wideouts. Look for Kris Byrd to be featured heavily in the short passing games as well as a lot of passes out of the backfield. Miami’s overaggressive nature on defense is what makes them great, but also what kills them. Look for a ton of play action and bootlegs to take advantage of this.

2.       DEFEND DEEP:

Miami has a very simple and effective offensive game plan. Lamar Miller+Burners at wideout=points. Miller average 114 yards per game and 5.8 yards per carry. He is clearly their biggest threat on offense and Miami knows it. Their strategy is usually a steady diet of Miller until the defense is force to pack it in to try and stop it. That’s when senior QB Jacory Harris and his arsenal of receivers tears the top off the defense. We need deep safety help over the top the entire game. This puts a ton of pressure on the linebackers to man up and stop the run but after that performance against Georgia Tech we know that is what they are good at.

3.       SPECIAL TEAMS:

Especially coverage. Travis Benjamin is no joke in the return game. That school has a ton of athletes and that is best shown on special teams. UVA needs to continue to play well like they did last week to contain them and keep the big play from happening.

4.       OFFENSIVE LINE:

Their play will make or break this game. They need to show up to hold off the Miami attack and blow holes for the run game. They have the ability to blow them off the ball every play they just need to make a concerted effort. Miami is a relentless pass rush but can be exploited if that is handled properly. They are tough against the run so the O-Line will need to play well in order to keep the balance in the attack.

We can do this. I am slowly convincing myself. We just need to keep the big play out of their game. They rely heavily on it. Lamar Miller is going to run the ball, a lot, but we can keep him contained. We’ve shown it before. If Rocco can get in a rhythm we can control the ball and keep them off the field with short passes. Their over aggressive style can be used against them and I’m sure they will. Welcome to screen city tonight.

GO HOOS!