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This isn't easy to say now, as the Hurricanes and their fans rightly celebrate Saturday night's well-won 24-6 home-opening victory over No. 17 Ohio State. The first win for new coach Al Golden was a big one ? and an emotional one ? and a needed salve ...
Buy PhotoMiami quarterback Stephen Morris sets up to pass in the fourth quarter during the University of Miami vs the Maryland Terrapins at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium in College Park, MD on September 5, 2011.
This isn?t easy to say now, as the Hurricanes and their fans rightly celebrate Saturday night?s well-won 24-6 home-opening victory over No. 17 Ohio State. The first win for new coach Al Golden was a big one ? and an emotional one ? and a needed salve for a program that has weathered its share of hurt lately.
?There ain?t no half-full glass here,? as Golden said afterward, orange necktie ablaze on a soaked white shirt. ?We just beat the Ohio State Buckeyes 24-6.?
The triumph helps amend for an opening loss at Maryland in a season shadowed by the Nevin Shapiro scandal and NCAA inquiry that had some mockingly call Saturday?s matchup the ?Ineligi-Bowl? because of both teams? off-field rules breaking and resulting suspensions.
All of that made this a UM team, program and fan base that needed a feel-good night, and, yes, the senior Harris played his role in that. He was the winning quarterback, after all. He had a pair of early 3-yard touchdown passes.
The sense, though, is that UM prevailed in spite of Harris more than because of him. The Canes? defense was superb, and Ohio State, also reeling from NCAA penalties, finds itself trying to get by with two really inferior quarterbacks whose ineptitude was accentuated by the Canes? amped-up D.
Without question a defense refortified by the return of three suspended starters won this night, and offensively Miami?s brightest light again was running back Lamar Miller, who is fast (literally) joining the UM greats at the position. Miller topped 100 yards before halftime and ended with 184 Saturday.
Defense is one. Miller is one. I think Golden is one. And so is the ?Hurricane Walk? tradition he debuted Saturday, the team?s pregame walk through a corridor of cheering fans. (Ohio State buses happened to arrive during the Walk, and UM fans said welcome by briefly rocking one of the buses).
Harris is fully formed. We have seen enough of him to know what he brings and does not. What he brings, mostly, alas, is a lot of interceptions.
The two more interceptions he threw Saturday ? in his season debut after sitting out the opening game among the suspended players ? brings his career total to 41. Forty-one. That is an extraordinarily high total for an NCAA career, primarily because most passers that mistake-prone are not given such repeated opportunities to err.
I should say I feel a bit bad criticizing a collegian in a way I don?t when calling out a professional athlete. Then again major-college football has become such big business it seems disingenuous to think of these players as ?kids.?
I think it is fair to say Harris has invited what criticism he gets by his long-standing and continuing penchant to turnovers ? a criticism reflected Saturday night by scattered booing from the huge home crowd when he returned to start the second half.
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Let's not forget about Jacory's fumble either. Had OSU's Christian Bryant made that gift pick, there's a good chance we'd be 0-2. It's time for Jacory to sit on the bench and focus on graduating. In the meantime, Golden and crew have got to put out an APB for a high school QB.
It's not that cut and dry. Clearly, Harris is what he is. A nice arm, nice touch and he runs the game better than Morris. Harris even scrambled for a 1st down! lol. But he is interception prone (duh!) and I don't really see him reach back and zing it. He just floats it floats it floats it. Morris has heart, is far more mobile and can wing it a little harder, but he does not manage the game as well as Harris.
We have too much talent at WR not to have a passing game to complement our fine running attack. James could hold on to the ball a little better, but we can run. Obviously, Miller is elite. We need to leverage that with a passing game. Hurns and Streeter have arrived, so we have 3-4 tools at WR we need to be using. 123 passing yards is not going to cut it. Even Georgia Tech had 164 passing yards to go with their 604 rushing yards, lol.
a 2 QB system is a no QB system. Let me know where it has ever worked, and no, Tebow's freshman year he was only to run. Harris doesn't have a nice arm, he has a pathetically weak arm that costs games and could hurt our players. On the screen pass late in the game to Benjamin he floated one that let the safety set up to knock TB's head off! A screen has to be a bullet so the receiver can catch the safety in a back pedal.
Jacory is the reason that Randy Shannon got fired and this team is not considered elite. His pathetic coverage reading and rag arm have cost this team many losses and his few good plays don't come close to his bad ones. If the defense wasn't so stingy in the red zone Jacory would have cost the canes the game last night. Morris is the future and he has a cannon for an arm. His pick last week was in a must throw or the game is over scenario and those only work about 10% of the time. Morris played a great game in a torrential downpour and if the defense wasn't depleted he would have been able to cruise to a win but the reality is that we couldn't stop Maryland and that put Morris in a position of very low percentages. Jacory threw 2 passes 15 yards short of wide open receivers. This is just what it is.
This should be at least a ten win season. The quarterback doesn't matter in that win total. The two lines of scrimmage have the most talent in over four years. That is the foundation, the backs are the best during the same time. The other postions have to rise up to the others.
Put the beer bottle down and go to bed, we beat a very bad and confused football team tonight. It was a very nice first win. But tonight OSU was awful, they were half a team. No our defene isn't that good. The OSU offense was that bad and the coaching please.
Copyright 2011 gcote@miamiherald.com . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Known for his wit and sharp insight, Greg Cote has been a Herald sports columnist since 1995. He previously covered the Dolphins, University of Miami football and major sports events including Super Bowls, the World Cup and the Barcelona Olympics. Cote and his infamous 'Upset Bird' present the ever-popular NFL predictions page every Friday during football season.