Good morning, Hurricanes family. Today, we will be breaking down this week of what’s happening at the University of Miami.

Let’s kick things off with starting about the Miami Hurricane’s mens basketball team win against Kansas State.

We have other weekend notes and Monday matters to address, too.

Miami dominates Kansas State from the start leads to win and Baha Champion

The University of Miami men’s basketball team (5-0) is bringing some hardware back to campus after defeating the Kansas State Wildcats (3-2), 91-83, Sunday afternoon to win the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship.

“I thought that was a very hotly-contested, high-intensity game from start to finish,” head coach Jim Larrañaga said. “I thought our defense in the first half was sensational and I thought Bensley Joseph’s defense on Tylor Perry throughout the game was the whole key to our victory.”

Fourth-year junior Nijel Pack was named the tournament’s most valuable player after averaging 22.0 points per game on and shooting 47.1 percent from 3-point range. Pack broke the tournament record for total points (44) in the tournament and single-game scoring with 28 points against Kansas State.

The guard led all scorers in the game, pouring in 28 points and knocking down 7-of-12 shots from beyond the arc.

“We got a tremendous contribution, offensively, from Nijel Pack,” Larrañaga said. “He was on fire in the first half and terrific in the second half.”

Fourth-year junior forward Norchad Omier recorded his second 20-point game of the season with 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting and lead the Hurricanes on the boards at seven. Juniors Matthew Cleveland and Wooga Poplar also scored in double-figures, tallying 15 points each.

The Hurricanes opened the game on a 14-2 run thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Poplar. Then, beginning at the 9:20 mark in the first half, Pack took over, knocking down six 3-pointers in 10 minutes to give Miami a 47-28 lead at halftime.

Miami extended its lead to as much a 24 in the second half until Kansas State slowly began chipping away at the deficit, stringing together a 17-4 run to make it a nine-point game with 2:48 to play. However, Omier was unphased at the free throw line in the final two minutes, going 6-for-6 at the charity stripe to close the game out for Miami.

Poplar joined Pack on the Bahamas Championship All-Tournament Team after averaging 14.0 points and 8.5 rebounds in the tournament.

The Hurricanes will head to Lexington, Ky., for their first true road contest of the season on Nov. 29, taking on No. 17/16 Kentucky in the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge. Tipoff in Rupp Arena is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will air on ESPN.

Nijel Pack named Player of the Game after a win against Kansas State

Nijel pack led the Hurricanes to a victory against Kansas State, and the outcome is that Pack was name (POTG) Player Of The Game.

Nijel Pack initially shrugged off the Miami Hurricanes’ 91-83 win over Kansas State in the Bahamas on Sunday as just another victory; but when pressed, he conceded that scoring a team-high 28 points against his former team made the win a bit more fun.

Pack made seven three pointers, scored 20 first-half points, and was named MVP of the Baha Mar Hoops Bahama championship. The 28 points were the most for Pack since he transferred to UM from K-State before last season.

“Obviously, it was a lot of fun, felt like a road game, they had a lot of energy, we knew how good a team they were,” Pack said. “Who doesn’t love playing games like that, in the Bahamas, getting to play against your old school. It was so much for me.”

“I think everyone knows that Nijel was probably extremely well motivated because he had been a player for the Kansas State Wildcats for two years,” said UM coach Jim Larranaga. “He was on fire in the first half and terrific in the second half.”

Pack averaged 15.3 points in two seasons with Kansas State, and last season was a key player on UM’s Final Four team.

“He was always a really good player, I thought we did a better job on him in the second half, but first half he was pretty special,” Wildcats coach Jerome Tang said of Pack.

Norchad Omier scored 23 for the 12th-ranked Hurricanes (5-0), including eight of Miami’s final 10 points after Kansas State cut UM’s 22-point second-half lead to single digits. Omier went 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Wooga Poplar and Matt Cleveland each scored 15 for UM.

Larranaga said guard Bensley Joseph’s defense on Tyler Perry was the key to Miami’s win. Perry was held to 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting and was 1-of-9 from beyond the arc. Joseph also had seven assists for the Canes.

“There’s an expression coaches use in basketball `Don’t let the best player beat you’ and in Tyler Perry, they’ve got a great player who can beat you in many different ways and Bensley Joseph prevented that,” Larranaga said.

Cam Carter led Kansas State (3-2) with 28 points, 24 of them in the second half.

Miami Vs Louisville Film Room

The Louisville Cardinals (10-1, 7-2 in the ACC) beat the Miami Hurricanes (6-5, 2-5 in the ACC) 38-31 in a close one on Miami’s Senior Day. Cards coach Jeff Brohm put on a clinic on offensive play calling against Miami’s Lance Guidry, a Broyles Award Finalist.

My Canyonero keys to victory were:

1- Pressure Jack Plummer. Miami came away with zero sacks, yup, zero sacks against Louisville and Plummer. And actually only three tackles for loss, too. Rueben Bain and the Hurricanes pressure looked no where near as effective against the Cards as opposed to Florida State and Jordan Travis.

2- Establish the run. Mark Fletcher established the run while Brashard Smith came in for the extra boost. Fletcher rushed for 7.4 yards per carry and two touchdowns while Smith added 17 yards per carry and a score of his own. This took pressure off Van Dyke who played mistake free football.

3- Win the kicking game. Andres Borregales made all of his kicks, but the kicking team allowed a 50-yard return that set up a Louisville score. The punt returner for Miami also cost the ‘Canes 15 valuable yards on the final drive for Miami with a personal foul. Louisville missed a field goal and a PAT but didn’t have that costly penalty. I’d say it was neutral, but not a win in the end.

The Doppler

If the data that matters is typically penalties, turnovers, and kicking- Miami had two horribly costly personal foul calls in the game changing moments of the 4th quarter.

The ‘Canes didn’t turn the ball over, and had the interception from Kam Kinchens, and the kicking game was neutral. This game coming down to a win or loss was on the back of a blown timeout, two bad 15-yard penalties and allowing a 50-yard kick return.

Miami’s offense finished 6-of-14 on 3rd down and 1-of-2 on 4th down. L’ville’s offense finished 5-of-12 on 3rd down and 1-of-1 on 4th down.

Miami ended the game with five penalties for 50 yards, while the Cards were flagged four times for 50 yards as well.

Louisville also won the Josh Gattis Time of Possession Award 30-29.

Miami Offense

Shannon Dawson and Van Dyke put together a solid Rhett Lashlee type game plan for the 1st half. Van Dyke finished the game with 8.4 yards per passing attempt and a touchdown with no turnovers. He was only sacked once and picked up some yardage with his legs on another scramble.

The run game was the feature show and Fletcher as the power back with Smith as the speed guy worked for Dawson. Fletcher ground out 126 tough yards on split zone while Smith came in to light it up with a 34-yard TD.

After being shut down by FSU, Xavier Restrepo was back against the Cards. Restrepo caught eight balls for 24.1 yards per catch and one score. Jacolby George averaged 18.3 yards per catch, but Colbie Young was pretty much ineffective.

The offensive line doubled Ashton Gillotte rendering him a pain in the butt but not as chaotic as he normally is. The OL allowed just one sack but seven TFL’s.

Above– The opening drive ‘script’ wasn’t much. It was 3-and-out. Then the 2nd drive felt like Rhett Lashlee (SMU) was back in Coral Gables. Hitting a deep shot like this gets the QB in a groove of confidence and Van Dyke didn’t play over-confident which was good too.

Above– When Clemson was on top this was all the daylight guys like Travis Etienne needed. Get skinny and work through the stalemate blocks, juke the 2nd level and run over the 3rd level. Fletcher looks good here as the bruiser.

Above– Want to beat man? Run Mesh. Restrepo comes open on the crossing part of mesh and dives in for 6. Good to see him back in the game plan.

Above– Creativity in the run game?! Going full Tecmo Super Bowl re running the play, and it’s counter! I didn’t think Dawson-Cristobal had it in ‘em but there’s Smith in the end zone. Hands down the offensive play of the game.

Above– This thing almost gets blown up. Cam McCormick has to go deep on the kick out and then you just see a back that’s in a nice groove work across the field vs. the LB’ers. Split zone works again.

Above– One of those 2021 Van Dyke throws. Playing loose and confident. It was good to see, even in a loss. He misses on the final throw of the legit TD drive but it had to be high and deep and that’s a tough throw. The Hail Mary was a game winner if his teammates didn’t let him down.

Miami Defense

QB Jack Plummer threw three TD’s with one INT on 8.3 yards per pass attempt. He spread the ball around to 12 different receivers, nine of which averaged 11+ yards per catch.

Miami shut down Jawhar Jordan for the most part, he averaged only 3.7 yards per carry and didn’t find the end zone. But Isaac Guerendo has caught fire lately and scored on Miami via counter. Guerendo averaged 6.2 per carry as the back up.

Kevin Coleman was the big play threat for U of L through the air. He had a 58-yard touchdown reception. Chris Bell, Joey Gatewood and Nate Kurisky (TD) were the outlets for Plummer.

Again, the Cards O-Line stuffed the Miami pass rush. They allowed zero sacks and only three TFL’s against a Miami team that’s been fairly sack heavy lately.

Above– James Williams gets cut down and Plummer drops a floater in as Kinchens gets mossed on this one. Big eyes means TURN AROUND.

Above– We warned you in the preview, the scary plays, and for weeks that the flats are a danger zone for Miami. They’re piss poor in communication and still haven’t figured out how to defend a slide route off play–action. Broyles Award…

Above– Kinchens gets mossed and kind of like Plummer (Cards QB) as he has a short memory. He runs over and picks this off. It’s a TD if he doesn’t but it is why sometimes he gets burned, because he’s covering over his low Football IQ teammates who don’t talk.

Above– We warned you about counter, too. The LB goes way too wide after seeing a down block in front of him. When that OT goes down, the LB has to know the kick out is coming. that’s basic middle school football stuff. Down-Kick = wrong arm.

Above– 100% the team you run a play-action TE delay against. Especially to the back corner pylon to the QB’s back side. Miami has a broken OODA Loop in the back end plus bad comms and limited in-game adjustments.

Above– Nice little spill to push 3rd and long in a close game. The ILB’s when it comes to the run fits are much improved from ‘22.

Above– If this works for Louisville as the dude’s 1st TD all season, imagine what BC’s QB Thomas Castellanos is going to do to Miami. We’ll get to that on Wednesday.

Above– The lack of comms comes back to bite Miami. Two DB’s are knocked down, one seemingly out, and Louisville takes a 38-31 lead they don’t surrender.

Also, this is like the Bartman Ball in baseball- there’s still time to stop this but Kinchens can’t tackle in space. All he has to do is cut the dude off and drive him out but he can’t. “Tackling has improved,” yeah because Mauigoa tackles well. Everyone else is still a disaster.

The Wrap

OK, y’all. We have one more regular season “Film Forecast” to go. I can’t believe the season is already over. This was a tough loss and you wonder how many of these players will return to Miami for 2024. A few might head to a winning program that needs to fill a couple of holes, and some others will try their chances at the NFL Draft.

Miami will face Boston College on Black Friday up in the cold at noon on ABC. The high on Friday is 47 degrees and coming off of another close loss I just hope Miami can stay motivated. BC is reeling after two consecutive losses, but they were also on a heater for almost two months.

7-5 sure would look a lot better than 6-6 for Year Two of the Cristobal Era. Either way it’s a low tier bowl game for Miami in ‘23.

WATCH: Jim Larranaga & Nijel Pack Post-Game Presser

Miami opens as favorite against Boston College

FanDuel dropped an extra early line on Friday for Miami’s regular-season finale against Boston College. Miami opens as an 8.5-point favorite against Boston College this Friday when the ‘Canes head to Alumni Stadium to cap off what has been a frustrating second half of the season.

Boston College was on a roll, winning 5 consecutive games before dropping their last 2. Miami, conversely, has struggled since the calendar turned to October, having gone 2-5 over their last 7 games, including a current 3-game losing streak.

Both teams enter at 6-5. Miami, as is regularly the case, is the more talented team. But that hasn’t stopped them from losing plenty of games to less talented teams (as their record would indicate) so, who knows. But, in the end, our friends at FanDuel think Miami is 8.5pts better than Boston College. We’ll see how that shakes out at Noon on Friday.

Three Takeaways from Miami’s loss to Louisville

iami had a tough fought lose yesterday against the No. 10 ranked Louisville Cardinals.

Let’s just get straight into it, here are some key takeaways I saw against Louisville.

Takeaways

1. Playbook – I loved how Shannon Dawson opened the play book against the Louisville’s defense yesterday, even though it was not enough to beat the Cards, I still loved how we opened up the playbook. Miami lacked on offense mainly this whole year dealing with some injuries, and just overall it was bad, Dawson came out the gate slinging the ball trusting Tyler Van Dyke, and the offense and Van Dyke did show the spark he was back when Miami played Texas A&M. However, the playbook for the running game still lacks creativity.
2. Mark Fletcher – The freshman running back played his best game of his young career today. Fletcher finished the game with 17 carries for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns, plus a nice 25-yard catch and run. He ran hard up the middle and showed speed I did not know existed. Fletcher is the clear number one running back on the Canes. He has a bright future.
3. X Man (Xavier Restrepo) – The Miami Hurricane’s number one wide receiver went off yesterday against the Cards, Restrepo hauled in 8 receptions for 193 yards and a touchdown. He was sure handed, got down the field, and made plays after the catch. It was an impressive all-around performance for #7. Yeah, his numbers were padded with the catch on the last play of the game. Nonetheless, Restrepo is likely to be an All-ACC receiver this season. Well deserved.

What was your all’s biggest takeaways whether it’s the players, coaches, or the playbook drop it down below.

Miami Offers 2024 Chaminade-Madonna QB Cedrick Bailey

Quarterback Cedrick Bailey from Hollywood, FL, Mario Cristobal gave him some good news Sunday with giving Bailey an offer to come to the University of Miami. Bailey is a three-star prospect in the 247 Composite rankings, and a top-35 quarterback in the 2024 class.

Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna Prep three-star Cedrick Bailey, teammate of five-star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and Top247 wide receiver and Miami commit Joshisa Trader, announced on social media that he held a tender from the hometown program on Sunday.

The NC State commit has led one of the nation’s best high school football programs in America over the past three seasons, compiling a 36-2 record as a starter while winning a pair of state titles and on the quest for a third. In his three years as a starter, Bailey has accounted for 8035 yards and 102 touchdown passes to 16 interceptions while completing over 67 percent of his passes.

Bailey, a 6-foot-6.5, 185-pounder, also grew up playing youth football with a number of current Miami commits and targets, including Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas Top247 wide receiver Chance Robinson, Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas cornerback Romanas Frederique, Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas defensive back Ryan Mack, Miami Central linebacker Vincent Shavers, South Broward running back Chris Wheatley-Humphrey, and the aforementioned Smith and Trader on the Miami Gardens Ravens.

The Hurricanes currently hold a pledge from Warner Robins (Ga.) quarterback Judd Anderson.

247Sports Scouting Report

The point man at one of South Florida’s top high school programs over the past few years. Owns a bit of an unorthodox throwing motion with a lower release point, but has the size everyone covets at the quarterback position and has shown that he’s not afraid to challenge tight coverage windows. Won 11 games as a sophomore and 12 more as a junior, but really started to hit his stride early on as a senior, torching a pair of nationally-ranked defenses for 300-plus yards. Climbs the pocket well and can get the ball away quickly in the face of pressure. Seems to be at his best when he can establish a wide base and use it as his launching point. Has had the luxury of getting bailed out every now and then by legitimate blue-chip talent like Jeremiah Smith, but has still had his moments on the big stage, and has made plenty of high-level throws. Prone to mistakes, and is likely going to need plenty of refinement before he’s ready to take the field on Saturdays, but has developmental upside. Could always get a look somewhere else on offense or be deployed in situational packages given a rare athletic profile: Over 6-foot-6 with a 4.8 in the 40-yard dash, 4.4 in the short shuttle, and a 29-inch vertical jump.

Trinton Breeze

Trinton is the owner of CanesToday. He writes for all sports, with a focus on football and recruiting, he is a freshman in high school and wants to graduate from the University of Miami