NCAA Scouting
Is The U Back?
by Paul Emery
August 18th 2010
 
With three National Championships in five years and another in 2001, the Miami Hurricanes were a college power – yet since joining the ACC in 2004 they have yet to make it to the ACC Championship Game, let alone win a Conference Title. This year, pre-season predictions vary from winning the Conference to being the ACC's fifth best team – as the team continue to be either loved or hated with very little in between – just where will they finish? I'll take a look and stick my neck on the block with a prediction.
 
Bernie Kosar, Jim Kelly, Vinny Testaverde, Gino Torretta and Steve Walsh were all extremely productive former Miami QBs. Jacory Harris is the latest to lead the offense – he can keep a play alive by moving around, but the number that stands out from his 2009 stat line is the 17 interceptions – far too high. Part of the problem was him wanting to make the big play too much and forcing the ball when he should have checked down or picked out someone in the stands. Much of that comes with maturity and entering his junior year, we should see that number come down. He also had off season surgery on his thumb – how much that was bothering him last year I don't know, but it may also help. This is a big year for Harris and I think he has the talent to come through with a very productive year.
 
Another part of the problem with the number of interceptions came from the offensive line – despite having a 2010 fourth round pick (Jason Fox) at left tackle, Miami gave up 35 sacks – compare that to the 24 Arkansas gave up having thrown a similar number of times and you can see this wasn't good. With Fox leaving, Orlando Franklin will kick outside to LT – he comes into the season rated as a second or third round draft pick in 2011 and should be just fine. They also need to replace AJ Trump at center and Matt Pipho at guard, so they'll have 2 sophomores coming into the starting lineup in Brandon Washington and Ben Jones. This unit is going to be the key early on in the season against Ohio State (Cameron Heyward) and Pittsburgh (Greg Romeus) – if they can keep these guys fairly quiet, they'll gain confidence and should move forward.
 
At running back Graig Cooper is recovering from the ACL injury sustained in the Bowl Game last year – his rehab is going well and it looks like he will play this season – but the question is just how effective will he be? If he's unable to go Damien Berry and Lee Chambers should be able to pick up the slack – failing that they have two highly regarded freshmen (Eduardo Clements who is very quick and Storm Johnson who is more physical).
 
They have their top five receivers from last year returning – only losing TEs Dedrick Epps and Jimmy Graham – but having Senior Richard Gordon at TE who is currently rated as a late round draft pick, this group looks very strong – it will also provide familiarity for Harris and help his development. They will all be more experienced and should improve to record better numbers this year.
 
Defensively as a unit, for a little while I've been very impressed with the overall speed – it certainly looks as a unit to be returning to the type of defense they had when they were winning National Championships.
 
One thing they didn't have last year is a dominating presence at DT – in past years they've had guys like Russell Maryland who would demand a double team. The guy who could become this is sophomore Marcus Forston who was a freshman All-American last year – he will replace Joe Joseph in the starting lineup and could be an upgrade if he can develop. I certainly think longer term he will be someone who is going to give opposition O-Line's big problems.
 
Rushing the passer they have Senior Allen Bailey – who had seven sacks last year and comes into the season rated as a first round draft pick – up there with the likes of Cameron Heyward and Greg Romeus. This should help them when they only rush four and if they blitz, he might not be chipped – so he should have a great year.
 
The linebacking group are all fast and should continue to fly around the field and be productive. They do lose MLB Darryl Sharpton (top tackler last year), but they move Colin McCarthy inside and bring Ramon Buchanan into the starting lineup outside. Buchanan should be just fine as a highly regarded recruit.
 
The Hurricanes think they have a future star in FS Ray-Ray Armstrong who will start this year as a sophomore – but at CB they are still looking a little weak. Last year they moved Sam Shields over from WR and he started – he departs to the NFL and this looks to be the weakest part of the unit. They will be able to get away with it as long as the pass rush is consistent up front. Highly touted CB recruit Kacy Rodgers has nice size (6'2”) and could also help right away.
 
Schedule wise, they have a tough one and it could well be the thing that prevents them from being a National Championship contender. After opening up with Florida A&M, they go to the Horseshoe and play Ohio State. This will be a fantastic early season match-up and will pit Harris against another emerging QB in Terrelle Pryor – who is probably a little further ahead in his development than Harris. The Buckeyes look to be legitimate National Championship contenders this year and I think it's a bridge too far on the road for the 'Canes.
 
After a bye week, they schedule another tough out of conference opponent on the road, visiting Pittsburgh on a Thursday night. I think the Hurricanes' fast defense should help control Dion Lewis enough to put the Panthers in some third and long situations and with sophomore Tino Sunseri now under center in Pittsburgh, I can see the Hurricanes coming out with the win. Sunseri won't have seen anything like the Miami defense and I think he'll make a few mistakes as a result.
 
They then go right into their ACC schedule – starting out on the road at Clemson and including notable visits to Coral Gables by Florida State, North Carolina and Virginia Tech plus a visit to Georgia Tech. The Clemson game is going to be huge – if they can win it, they are then left with three tough games but crucially at home and the visit to Georgia Tech doesn't look too tricky as they handled them comfortably in 2009 (33-17 win). I think they can do the business this year in the ACC – I think Harris will have a fine year but the thing that gives me the most confidence is the defense. I think it looks more like an SEC type defense and will be too much for the ACC competition.
 
So, overall I think the Hurricanes are almost back – to the point where I think they'll win the ACC – but not quite yet to the point where I'm thinking National Championship – but if Randy Shannon continues doing such a fine job, I think that will be soon enough. Shannon has certainly been the right hire at the right time without any question. Ironically, the fact they've been aggressive in scheduling Ohio State could be the reason why they won't push for an undefeated year – it's that kind of thing that encourages the scheduling of more cup cakes – but that's a column for another day!