The Dolphins and Pats meet again, and both teams are in flux right now. New England can’t win on the road, while the Fins blew a golden opportunity in Buffalo last week to climb closer in the AFC East race. The Patriots beat the Dolphins earlier in the season by going early and often to Randy Moss and Wes Welker. That will clearly be the game-plan again.
Can the Fins actually defend them this time? That really is the key to the game. I have to go with the veterans in this case over the rookies. Meaning, the Pats experience will again be too much for the Fins young corners to handle. Tom Brady works his magic and sends Miami’s playoff hopes crashing down! Prediction:
The Canes regular season finale is set to be a tough one. Miami travels to Tampa on Saturday to face off against an up-and-coming South Florida team. The Bulls have an exciting freshman QB in B.J. Daniels, who should provide a major challenge to the Canes defense. He is a solid thrower, but the real issue for UM could end up being his running ability.
The Hurricanes have had problems slowing down mobile quarterbacks in the past, and Daniels will be tough to stop. The good news for Miami is I think they’ve found a real gem in running back Damien Berry. This kid can flat-out make plays. Expect the Canes to run, run and run against the Bulls average run defense. USF has some talent in the secondary, so it would be wise for Miami to avoid throwing too much, especially with a banged up Jacory Harris. If the Canes follow this game-plan, not only will they have success on offense, but they will keep the ball away from Daniels.
Miami fans will sweat it out, but I expect the Canes will come out on top. Barely! Prediction:
I hope everyone had a nice start to the holiday season and a great Thanksgiving. I’m back to work, and it’s an amazing time of the year to be a sports fan. The college season is winding down and the BCS mess will soon clear up (I think!). Also, the NFL season is entering it’s stretch run, and Dol-Fans have to be excited that Miami is still in the mix. Throw in the NBA and NHL seasons and it’s gearing up to be a fun end to 2009.
Again, I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Holidays! As always, thanks for the support on this blog and also on my facebook and twitter pages.
Well UM fans, you wanted improvement this season and you got it. With Saturday’s victory over Duke, the Canes improved to 8-3 on the campaign. That’s exactly one more win than Miami got all of last year, and 3 more wins than the Canes got in Randy Shannon’s 1st season as head coach. That said, Miami fans have a way about wanting even more. In the short time since the victory, I have received numerous e-mails, text messages and facebook/twitter responses from disgruntled UM fans. They have ranged from “Jacory is awful” to “Shannon is clueless” and this “team is embarrassing.” Please make it stop! Let me be the voice of reason for one minute.
First off, let’s discuss Jacory. Right now his confidence is shaken. I have no doubt about that. I also have no doubt that the injured finger on his throwing hand is effecting him more than some fans want to believe. You can’t wear a soft cast or wrap on your throwing hand as a QB and NOT have it bother you a little bit. You combine that with the dwindling confidence and it’s no surprise that Harris is struggling. That said, he threw for 348 yards against the Blue Devils, and you certainly will never hear Jacory complain. This is just another bump in the long road that has been his 1st season as a starter. I am still confident he will be fine and lead Miami to a lot of wins in the future.
Now let’s get to Randy Shannon. Man, fans love to rip the Canes head coach. Trust me, his decisions sometimes drive me nuts also, but let’s look at what he’s done in 3 seasons. His first team had very little talent and went 5-7. His 2nd team had some young talent and went 7-6, and this year’s team is filled with talent and is now 8-3. That’s not bad considering the inexperience at key positions and the many injuries Miami has dealt with. Now, I go back to the original point of this post: Miami has improved, so is that not enough for fans?
The Canes could end up being a 10 win team this season. That’s a pretty amazing turnaround for a team that was just awful 3 seasons ago. Shannon has done a fine job of bringing talent back, and while he still has to improve some of his in-game decisions, I’m not sure how any Miami fan can be calling for his head right now. I know fans can be a little crazy at times, but look at the whole picture. The Canes are a program on the rise with youth and talent everywhere. Savor that and remember how bad things were just 3 years ago when they got buried in the Orange Bowl finale 48-0 by Virginia! They’ve come a long way since then.
***Reminder, we can talk a lot more Canes tomorrow morning. I’ll be on the radio from 9am-12:30pm on WQAM and WQAM.com. I appreciate all listeners and callers.
I’ll keep my prediction short and sweet on this one. With Ronnie Brown out for the season, the Dolphins could be in serious trouble. Still, I expect them to have success against a mediocre Panthers defense on Thursday night. Ricky Williams is a very capable back to fill-in. Yes, the Wildcat will struggle without Ronnie, but I think the Fins can line up and go man-to-man against Carolina.
I also like the Fins in this one because of the poor play of Jake Delhomme. He has been better of late, but I think the Dolphins will pressure him into some mistakes. Expect 2 Williams TD’s and 2 Delhomme interceptions. Prediction:
Needless to say, the Dolphins are concerned about Ronnie Brown’s foot injury. The news today that he is going to see a foot specialist can only be seen as ominous. Foot injuries on a running back are never a good thing, and anytime a specialist is needed, there is some concern the injury could linger. For now, the Fins will only say that Brown will miss Thursday night’s game in Carolina, but don’t be surprised if he’s out a lot longer.
Ricky Williams will take his place, and we know he is a capable fill-in. That said, Williams does not scare teams with his Wildcat potential. Does that mean we see a little more of the WildPat with Pat White? My guess is yes. I can’t imagine running the formation with Ricky will be very effective, especially since Patrick Cobbs is already out for the season. Expect White to get extensive action at Carolina. The Fins need this game to get back to .500 on the season. Miami is in position to make a run but losing Brown really hampers what the team likes to do on offense. All Fins fans can say right now is: get well soon Ronnie!
The national media has finally taken notice in one young Marlins player. Just moments ago, Marlins lead-off man Chris Coghlan was officially named the National League’s Rookie of the Year. I touted him on this blog as the choice all 2nd half of the season, even though I didn’t think the national media would give him his credit.
It was hard to ignore what he meant to the Marlins. Playing out of position, he was the biggest reason, in my opinion, the Fish stayed in the playoff race until the end. He solidified the team’s need for a lead-off man, and he played out of position in left field. Yet, he never stopped hitting and getting on base. Coghlan should be a star for a long time to come. Ironically enough, he could play a new position next season. With Dan Uggla likely to be traded, Coghlan may go back to his more natural position of 2nd base.
He ended his Rookie of the Year campaign with a .321 average, 9 home runs, 47 RBI’s, 31 doubles, 6 triples and 84 runs scored. Not bad for a guy who was in the minors during the 1st month of the season. Congrats!
Admit it. You were ready to anoint Jacory Harris as the Canes savior. A Heisman trophy candidate who could take Miami to the promised land in his 1st season as a starter. You were ready to make Harris the next great UM quarterback. I’m as guilty of that as the next guy. I’ve preached some patience with Harris, but deep inside, I really felt Harris would somehow keep his amazing early season play going. Well, something funny happened along the way. Harris has come crashing down to earth, and with that, so have the hopes and dreams of Miami fans.
Do "U" trust in Jacory?
I act like I’m surprised, but we really shouldn’t be. Harris is a true sophomore who started only 2 games as a freshman. He started his 1st season as a starter with red-hot performances against Florida State and Georgia Tech. Harris was being called a mix of Bernie Kosar and Ken Dorsey. Of late, he’s looked more like Kenny Kelly. The simple question is why? The answer though is not so simple. Defenses have been bringing heat to Harris, and he hasn’t been able to handle it. Also, Mark Whipple’s pro style offense hasn’t been kind to a young guy literally learning on the job. Harris seems to be over thinking on the field. One of the traits that made him so great in high school was his ability to perform by trusting his natural talent. All of a sudden, Harris looks like he’s lacking a bit of confidence. He isn’t making good decisions and constantly floating the ball deep down the field. That normally leads to bad things, as in interceptions. Harris is currently 2nd in the nation with 16 picks. He’s been about as “un-Jacory” like as he can be. It also doesn’t help that UM seems to be clueless about how to run the 2-minute offense. It would be funny to watch if it wasn’t so embarrassing.
What does this all mean for Harris? Well, it means we have to understand that growing into a top college QB takes time. It would have been great if Harris really was the next Dorsey and never had any growing pains during his career. That clearly won’t be the case. Harris is in the middle of a huge slump, and he needs to learn and grow from his mistakes. In time, he’ll be more comfortable with Whipple’s system, and I think we’ll see the Harris we saw at the beginning of the season. It’s a real test of the type of player Jacory is and will be in the future. He’s never really felt failure, but now he’s right in the middle of it. How will he respond? Well, if I’ve learned anything about Harris as a player over the years is that you shouldn’t doubt him. I’m not about to start now.
Let me know what you think in the comments section and the poll:
Coming off an impressive defensive effort in a blow-out win over Virginia, the Canes now travel to a place they have never won at before: North Carolina. Let me repeat that. They travel to a place they have NEVER won at before! Granted, they’ve only played there 3 times, but history has not been kind to Miami in Tar Heel land.
Led by former UM coach Butch Davis, the Heels have the 5th ranked defense in the nation. Davis has done a great job turning UNC into a legitimate bowl team, year in and year out. He also had his team in the Top 20 earlier in the season, but his offense has let him down. It’s because of that struggling offense that I think Miami finally breaks the slump at North Carolina.
The one unit on UM that I have faith in is the offense. Mark Whipple has proven he can adjust his game-plan against any defense (excluding the rain-filled debacle at Virginia Tech). I love the match-up of that talented Tar Heels defense and dynamic Hurricanes offense. I feel Miami will score some points. Meantime, the Canes defense showed some signs of life last week with a dominant effort, and they seem to be getting better with experience.
In the end, I just don’t see the Tar Heels having enough offense to muster up the 27 or so points I think it will take to win this game. At some point this UNC streak has to end, and I think it happens today. Prediction:
Hurricanes- 27
North Carolina- 21
My record picking Canes games in 2009: (5-4)
***I made my Canes prediction to beat Virginia last week on my Facebook and Twitter pages. Remember, you can also follow me there.
Let the Lebron hype begin! With his impending free agency next summer, anywhere Lebron James goes to these days the hype will follow. Now, more than ever, the buzz is enormous as he comes to Miami on Thursday. Recent reports indicate James could be interested in being paired with Dwyane Wade in South Florida next season. Call me skeptical, but I just don’t see it happening.
Still, it’s fun to imagine two of the top players in the NBA, if not the best two, being partnered together in Heat uniforms. James started the storm this week by saying it wasn’t about a max contract, instead he said it was about winning. He added that he would like to go to a team with an established player on the roster that can help his cause. Bingo! Now start the Lebron to Miami rumors. Let’s not forget though, James himself has never really indicated publicly or privately that the Heat could be a serious desitination. Actually, he said every NBA team, including the Clippers could be an option! Now that’s called leaving all possibilites open.
I still think I’d bet on James returning to Cleveland or signing with the Knicks. For one night though, we can watch Lebron and D-Wade on the same court and dream. Lebron and Wade for 2010? They’ve got my vote.
