Miami Hurricanes Film Review: Third Quarter

LOUISVILLE BALL, FIRST AND 10

Louisville came out of halftime running the ball really well. It seemed like they ran more plays to the weak side like they do here. Cole Bentley maybe gets away with a hold here but he works hard to wall off Nester Silvera who I think is a really disruptive player for the Canes. Caleb Chandler delivers an excellent block as well and Louisville is still getting great effort from Dez Fitzpatrick as a blocker.

LOUISVILLE BALL, FIRST AND 10

I don’t know that this is a different type of zone run than usual but it looks different to me. It looks like they’re zone blocking to the left but Hawkins’ path is like an inside zone run. Marshon Ford has the backside block and a massive hole opens up. You can see how the Linebackers initially play this to their right like it’s an outside zone run and then they have to cut back. That actually gives Bentley and Renato Brown the time to reach the second level and gives Hawkins a chance to do what he does very well.

In a normal world, these big run plays would have opened up an opportunity to take some shots down the field. Miami was content to not allow any big plays and forcing UofL to run the ball well and stay on schedule. It turned out to be a good plan.

LOUISVILLE BALL, THIRD AND 3

Just watch and enjoy.

MIAMI BALL, FIRST AND 10

If you’ve read (watched?) the first two posts from the film reviews, you’ll understand why I think I know what happened on this play. Miami used this trips formation with the Tight End to the wide side to overload the wide side of the field all game long. Louisville defended this two ways but they were consistent on the short side of the field. Isaiah Hayes walked up to replace CJ Avery who shaded over to the wide side with Dorian Etheridge taking over on the outside. You can see everyone shift with the motion putting Miami in that same formation they had been using all game.

The issue on this play seems to only be the stunt by Yasir Abdullah and Yaya Diaby. Here’s where I get into some speculation because it’s impossible for me to know. I believe that this should be an automatic call off of the stunt. No one makes a call, so it’s possible that someone should have to communicate that. I’m not so sure that’s the case as Miami is just shifting into a formation they had been using all game.

I still don’t know if Isaiah Hayes should be crashing the line so hard like he does but if the edge is set here Cam’ron Harris doesn’t have a path to the corner. This play might get bottled up like nearly every other run did that night.

LOUISVILLE BALL, THIRD AND 1

This felt like Louisville overthinking things again. They had come out running the ball well in the third quarter and I think they could have just gone with a straight run play up the middle to try to get one yard. Malik makes the correct read here because the edge player comes down the line a bit. I just don’t know that he’s the type of athlete who can run away from a defense with this type of speed from a dead stop. This is a tough ask of Malik in a short yardage situation.

They ended up going for it on fourth down and running it up the middle. Javian Hawkins nearly broke for a touchdown.

LOUISVILLE BALL, SECOND AND 9

It was good to see UofL go back to this play in the second half. They’re also doing a good job this season of moving their receivers around so that the defense can’t just key on one guy. Dez Fitzpatrick was the target on this exact play in the first half and they ran it back with Tutu Atwell.

This is not only a very good catch by Tutu, it’s an outstanding throw by Malik to put this ball exactly where it needs to be. It’s hard to tell from the angle but Bubba Bolden is in perfect position when Malik throws the ball. Malik trusts that he has a mismatch and he puts this ball where either Tutu is going to grab it or it’s going to be incomplete. I also love seeing Tutu stop on a dime after the catch.

LOUISVILLE BALL, SECOND AND GOAL

This is a creative play by Louisville to get Tutu open with Dez doing a nice job to avoid a flag for a pick play. Tutu stalls at the stem of his route to freeze the defender (who chose not to move for whatever reason) then he cuts outside to a ball that’s either going to be right on him or at the pylon like we see here.

Malik does well to take his time with the throw and not rush it since he doesn’t have a clear passing lane. He puts some air on it and puts it where Tutu can get it or no one can. Malik definitely started to play better in the second half.

MIAMI BALL, FIRST AND 10

Not too much to say on this play. Isaiah Hayes bites on the play fake even though he’s responsible for the running back. This is the same formation Miami used constantly and UofL played it the same as they had all game. He just can’t bite on this. Simple as that.

The other thing to note on this play is that Miami obviously saw how UofL had been defending the formation and how aggressive they had been against the QB runs they had run out of it. They set this up well and Hayes fell for it.

LOUISVILLE BALL, SECOND AND 20

Louisville was in second and forever on this play but it gives a good view of how Miami defended UofL a good amount of that night. This is quarters coverage with the corners playing off. They ran this most of the night with the corners playing a bit tighter but bailing out at the snap. The goal was to keep everything in front of them and force Louisville to take the short throws they allowed as well as not bringing another Safety down to help in run support. It’s essentially the opposite of what most teams have done and it worked out for them.

This could have been a first down if Malik makes the right decision here. He ends up with Dez and Tutu both open but throws the go route even though Al Blades is bailing out to defend a go route.

MIAMI BALL, FIRST AND 10

This is the same play that Miami ran earlier in the game where Brevin Jordan hurdled Isaiah Hayes. Jack Fagot plays it better because he closes downhill and leaves Jordan without a lot of space to operate. I still think the Safeties should keep their heels at 10 yards on this call because they have plenty of cushion to work with if Jordan were to run a route down the field.

One has to wonder if they play it this way because they don’t have the level of athlete that they need to play it more aggressively. It’s also possible that Bryan Brown doesn’t want to give up the big play like he did on the previous drive. It’s tough to know but I’d much rather see this type of play defended like we see here as opposed to how it was defended earlier in the game.

MIAMI BALL, THIRD AND 4

Miami killed with this play in last year’s game and it almost felt like they ran this play because they could. UofL stacked the box all game long and it leaves them open to this type of play because Chandler Jones is playing off coverage and he has no help to the inside. The Linebackers are going to play run because of the run action and the blocking scheme so that leaves a lot of room in the middle of the field. I think at some point we will see tight press coverage on the outside because you’re just giving this up. Might as well make them work harder for it.

UofL forced a field goal here even though they were aided by a terrible dropped touchdown. It’s a positive that they didn’t just give up.