Miami Does Not Lack Talent

When Pitt played Miami in 2018, after clinching their first ACC Coastal Division title, my kids and I went to the game. We had great seats, 50 yard line maybe 10 rows up. The Pitt players looked smaller than Miami's players. I mentioned it to my son and he wasn't sure at first. Then two players were standing next to one another, one from Pitt, one from Miami. "Honey, look at that," I said to my son. "Oh yeah, you're right." 

Miami was an underachieving mess that season, 6-5 going into the Pitt game, started the season ranked 8th, lost to LSU in the opener, got back up to 16th on Oct. 13 when they lost to UVA in Charlottesville. That was the start of a four-game losing streak which they snapped the week before the Pitt game at VaTech.

Despite the manifest size and talent disparity, on the first play from scrimmage the Pitt running back bounced outside for like a 13-yard gain. The UM defensive front barely moved, they weren't even trying. That first play was the highlight of the game for Pitt, who lost 24-3. At the half I asked the kids if they wanted to leave. They were surprised. "We can't do anything," I said. "Miami is so much better, bigger, stronger, faster. There's no way we're going to come back." "Hmm, Pitt doesn't look like they are going to score. Okay," said my son and we left.

That was Mark Richt's third and it would turn out, last, year in Miami. The "Hurricanes" were more talented than Pitt that year, obviously so, and they continue to recruit some of the best classes in the country. And that is the point of this post.

I watched highlights of the Miami-FSU game earlier today. The Canes have four quarterbacks,

Tyler Van Dyke
Jake Garcia
Peyton Matocha
Jacurri Brown

I have seen a lot TVD before and have raved about him. Saw Garcia this season and his talent was obvious. In this one game I got to see three of UM's QB's, all except Matocha. TVD was banged up and looked it, but his ability is acknowledged universally. It was my first time however seeing Brown, a true freshman. Bees and Gees, Jacurri Brown is the complete package: he has size, he has presence in the pocket,  he has a gun for an arm, he can run, and he has the quickest release I have seen, seriously now, since Dan Marino. Screenshots of course stop action and thus don't convey quickness or speed but in the blur of his arm in the second frame you can sense how quickly he can get rid of the ball. 

 

                                                   Brown setting up in a deep pocket, ball at his waist.

                                                               Blur, it's out. Like Ali delivering a punch.

Miami is still Quarterback U, they have always had a superabundance of skill players. But they do not have the will and the coaching to be even good, much less elite.