Miami Dolphins give New England a taste of their own medicine

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The Miami Dolphins came away with a huge win on Sunday.

Paths cross often in the National Football League. The Miami Dolphins beat the New England Patriots 27-24 on Sunday. A bunch of former Patriots coaches had their fingerprints all over the victory.

Let’s start with the head coach. Brian Flores began his career with the Patriots in 2004 as a scouting assistant. He then worked his way up the ranks over the course of the next decade. He was named the linebackers coach in 2016 and served that role until last year. Now, he gets to preside over an entire team.

On Sunday, the Miami Dolphins showed the type of toughness that has been a trademark of New England over the years. There is no doubt that Flores has put his stamp on this team, and it showed. Much like New England has done over the years, the Dolphins fought hard. They never gave up, and they played until the final whistle. You always hear about the New England Patriots mantra “Do your job.” The Dolphins did that on Sunday.

New England connections key in Miami Dolphins victory

Offensive coordinator Chad O’ Shea did a great job in terms of game planning He let Ryan Fitzpatrick do whatever he wanted while getting the receivers involved. Furthermore, he did a great job of keeping the New England corners on their toes.  Fitzpatrick passed for 320 yards and a touchdown. The leading receiver for Miami was Devante Parker. He had another tremendous day, catching eight passes for 137 yards. A 28-yard snag was his longest of the afternoon.

Dave DeGuglielmo was the other coach of note on Sunday. A Lexington, Massachusetts native,he was the Patriots offensive line coach from 2014-2015.  His offensive line did a great job of protecting Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Patriots often sent three pass-rushers towards Fitzpatrick. This was in an effort to get more cornerbacks on the field and prevent big plays in the passing game. The offensive line held up nicely for the Dolphins, shutting the three-man rush down. Fitzpatrick was only sacked twice for 13 yards.

Eric Rowe also managed to get the last laugh on New England. He recorded a pick-six that set the tone for the defense early. He is certainly making his three-year $18 million extension seem like the right move. Truthfully, it was the right move before this game. Sunday just proved that. He had a really great day for the secondary, and was a steadfast presence.

As the Miami Dolphins look to build their team, this was a signature win. It’s not easy to be New England in Foxboro. Florez and his staff did that emphatically. Good times may be ahead for the Miami Dolphins. Sunday certainly  proved that.

Orange Bowl is Bryce Perkins final NFL showcase

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One of the most intriguing aspects of the bowl games is that for some players, it’s their collegiate curtain call.

It’s the last time you will get to see these seniors or pro prospects in action on this stage before eventually see them on the stage of the NFL Draft.

The Orange Bowl has been that way in recent years. Even if it wasn’t the last game we saw them, Miami’s big bowl game has seen its fair share of NFL prospects display their talents over the course of this waning decade. Among the 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL today, four have played in the Orange Bowl (Kyler Murray, DeShaun Watson, Baker Mayfield and Dak Prescott). Three more quarterbacks have parlayed playing in the Orange Bowl to brief NFL careers (Braxton Miller, EJ Manuel and Geno Smith).

So could this year’s Orange Bowl be the NFL launching pad for Virginia senior quarterback Bryce Perkins?

Perkins arrived to UVA as a transfer from Arizona Western Community College. In his two years with the Cavaliers, Perkins completed 64 percent of his passes and amassed 5,895 passing yards and 43 touchdowns with 20 interceptions. He’s also rushed for 1,668 yards and 20 touchdowns.

He’s your prototypical mobile quarterback in an age that is finally warming up to it. UVA offensive coordinator Robert Anae said in his press conference on Saturday that, “This is now a quarterback sport.” And Perkins see’s himself as an NFL quarterback.  

“Yeah, definitely. And I’m getting better,” Perkins said. “I feel like I get better every year as far as whatever it is, something little. So I feel like my ceiling is high. I haven’t reached my potential yet. And how the NFL is shifting, there’s room and there’s a place for my style of play. And I think it can be very effective, and Lamar Jackson, amongst others, he’s just a more recent, has been very influential on the type of player, the type of system that teams run.”

The Chandler, Ariz., native comes from a football family. His father, Bruce, played fullback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1990 and Indianapolis Colts in 1991. His uncle, Don Perkins, played eight seasons as a running back with the Dallas Cowboys during the 1960’s and his brother, Paul, is currently a running back with the Detroit Lions.

“I think about it, but I also know that the things I do now, it’s going to influence that more,” Perkins said. “In thinking about the NFL, I’m focused on now in order to get to.”

Perkins’ two years at UVA has been two of the most successful seasons a quarterback has seen in recent school history. He led the Cavaliers to an 8-5 season last year including a win over South Carolina in the Belk Bowl and this year, he takes them to the Orange Bowl needing a win over the Florida Gators to reach 10 on the year for only the second time in school history.

“Nobody has ever done it before,” Perkins said. “Well, one other team has done it before. So for us to get it right aligns with all our goals. It sets us up to be one of the best teams in UVA history, just being mentioned with the other great 10-win team. It’s a testament to our hard work throughout the summer, our hard work and transition from last year to this year, and the culture and the players who built and kind of set the platform when they first got here. A lot of these guys were on the two-win team and kind of see the transition from the program and how it came from not a bowl game to three bowl games in a row.”

Miami native Mandy Alonso returns home to lead Virginia in Orange Bowl

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It’s always special whenever a college football player can finish the season playing in a bowl game near or at his hometown. Such is the case for Virginia defensive end Mandy Alonso, who returns to Miami to take on the Florida Gators in the Orange Bowl. 

“I feel like I’m back at home,” said Alonso, who also mentioned that he got to see his family upon arriving from Virginia. “It’s amazing because I grew up watching the Orange Bowl every year. For it to be such a big bowl game and like my friends and family being able to come out because I got a bunch of tickets, it’s just really special.”

Alonso played defensive tackle, offensive line and long snapper at Gulliver Prep for head coach Earl Sims, who also played at Virginia from 1998-2001 as a linebacker. He was named first-team All-Dade County in 2016 after collecting 52 tackles, nine sacks and eight fumbles as a senior. 

Alonso came to Virginia as a three-star recruit despite the Cavaliers coming off of a 2-10 season in 2016. Since his arrival, UVA has played in a bowl game in each of his three years.

Hard Rock Stadium is a special place for Alonso. He got his first career sack during his freshman year against the Miami Hurricanes in 2017 and got another one this year. His Cavaliers lost both matchups but there’s hope that his luck changes against Florida. Virginia is a win away from finishing the season with 10 wins for the first time since 1989.

“It would mean the world for everybody because like just coming from 2-10 a few years ago, this is a huge jump,” Alonso said. “To be on such a big-time bowl game that this stage is like set perfectly for us to rebuild this program.”

The Cavaliers haven’t played a game in over 20 days. Their previous game resulted in a 62-17 drubbing by No. 3 Clemson in the ACC Championship Game. Such a layoff could result in over preparation which is a concern with both teams leading up to bowl games. 

“You could get like — more like you’ll be tired of watching it, like you’ve got to take like a break,” Alonso said. “But I guess we’ve had so much time that we’ve got to like space it out and like we haven’t been like, oh, my God, I don’t want to watch film. We’ve been locked in. Coach talks about flipping the switch from bowl game and then like game time.”

Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall is preached “unbroken growth” all season long. The question after Monday’s game is whether that holds true after the result.

“Like in the big picture, in the game, if we lose, it’ll be sad, but we got to the Orange Bowl,” Alonso said. “It’s still a big accomplishment, but we don’t want to settle for just that accomplishment, just being here. We want to go win it.”

Hurricanes Find Rock Bottom After Independence Bowl

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The Miami Hurricanes established a new rock bottom after an embarrassment in the Independence Bowl.

Nine punts.

Nine completions from their starting quarterback.

These are some of the numbers that defy logic from the Hurricanes performance in the Independence Bowl Thursday.

Somehow, Miami was a favorite going into the game.

That optimism was quickly thwarted by an offense that simply did not want to be there.

Coached by a man who wasn’t expected to be much longer.

There was not a significant change in plans.

The departure of Enos was a welcome inevitability, but it is a drop of water in an ocean of bad decisions.

A Game to Forget

Miami had their share of forgettable (unforgettable?) games this year.

Georgia Tech.

FIU.

Duke.

Louisiana Tech.

All with a common theme.

On paper the Hurricanes could be perceived as playing down to the competition.

In the real world, between the lines, they were simply outclassed.

Louisiana Tech did not play a great game either, thanks in part to an inspired Miami defense.

Shaq Quarterman left it all on the field over four seasons and did not take this one off either.

 

Meanwhile for some of his teammates, it was pretty obvious that the offense checked out after the news about Enos leaked.

That leak in itself is also a problem, the timing of which reeks of internal discord.

Which in turn seeped into the product on the field in Shriveport.

Miami managed 227 yards of total offense while being kept off the scoreboard.

Those results against a Louisiana Tech defense that surrendered over three touchdowns per game this season.

The Miami Hurricanes Are At DEFCON 1

Pick a quarterback, any quarterback, and the results were the same.

 

Cue the Benny Hill music.

The three-headed monster of Martell, Jarren Williams, and N’Kosi Perry completed less than half their passes (15/34).

Both Williams and Perry gave the ball away, while Martell played just one series and completed his only attempt.

The indecision regarding who should be under center this entire year was a glaring indictment on the coaching staff.

Running on Fumes

A quarterback’s best friend is a solid running game.

Miami’s QB group has no friends, not even an acquaintance in the backfield.

Without DeeJay Dallas there was no rushing attack for the Hurricanes.

Cam Harris (12 carries, 31 yards, 2.6YPC) could not get anything going, Miami loses the battle up front too much which throws the whole thing into shambles.

Harris filled in admirably at times for Dallas, he was simply a part of an offense lacking identity or cohesion in any phase.

On the day the Hurricanes would manage just 74 meaningless yards on the ground.

The Hurricanes lack of any running game throughout the season (122nd nationally) exposed the deficiencies at quarterback.

To be fair, no signal caller was granted reprieve from pressure by their offensive line.

Louisiana Tech had four more sacks against a front five who allowed 51 on the season, 127th in the nation.

Down and distance killed a dysfunctional offense with a methodical cadence, the script never changed.

The 2019 Walk-Ons Independence Bowl was simply a culminating effort, an unnecessary curtain call for an apathetic tragedy of a season.

 

A regression of this magnitude unfolding in the final month of the season is cause for much speculation.

Is Manny Diaz the right coach for a rebuild that he was not intended to steward?

What other organizational changes are in store?

You could call a game with the stature and allure of the Independence Bowl meaningless.

Yet that designation would only apply to the illusion of the current Miami Hurricanes football team.

There is no standard any more in Coral Gables.

Blake James has continually accepted mediocrity over his tenure, what will be the cause for change now?

 

Supporters of the Hurricanes program need to reset expectations.

In his first season as CEO, Diaz could not have expected this much turmoil.

Much of which he manifested himself.

From the yachts-  to the very wishful it turns out – 7-5 tackling dummies, Diaz spoke of culture and a return to a bygone age of dominance.

Turnover Chains and touchdown rings were tools of engineered swag deployment lacking substance.

A futile attempt in recreating an era so cherished by those who were a part of it.

“The New Miami” was just a recycled attempt to be the old Miami.

The good Miami.

All this pomp and circumstance created to capture the essence of days gone by.

Yet those days were defined by one element.

Winning.

A glaring failure to adapt, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, put the entire team in disarray.

That must be fixed immediately with an offensive system that puts skill position players in position to succeed.

Nothing less can be accepted.

Lack of preparation defined the 2019 Miami Hurricanes.

Diaz must prepare for career altering decisions in order to survive another year.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, such as another solid recruiting class.

The running back group in particular is loaded with talent – the ground game can rebound with an improved scheme and offensive line.

Hopefully it is not impacted by this year’s performance.

In a mediocre ACC Coastal a quick turnaround is possible.

Until next season however, fans need to be prepared for the inevitable fallout of a lost 2019 campaign.

Stakes are high for quarterbacks in Orange Bowl

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No. 9 Florida and No. 24 Virginia have arrived in Miami to prepare for the Orange Bowl. Virginia makes its second trip to Hard Rock Stadium this season while Florida ends the season the same way it began, on a neutral site.

“Seeing all of this, it makes you feel like that we are finally here,” UVA quarterback Bryce Perkins said. “All off-season we’ve been practicing and it feels like fall camp all over again. We’ve been anxious to get here and compete and after our loss in the ACC Championship, we’ve been eager to get back out and play football again.”

Being from Arizona, Perkins said the warm weather of South Florida, “feels like home.” There’s a lot at stake for the Cavaliers, as a win in the senior quarterback’s final game puts their total to 10. 

“Only one other team has reached 10 wins at UVA, so that kind of just frames it right there,” Perkins said. “Looking back to where coach Mendenhall first started to with six, then eight, then this year with nine wins, it speaks to the culture of this team.”

“It is an absolute tangible and realistic step for the advancement of our program,” UVA head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “It’s a little surreal right now, but acknowledging the journey we’ve been on and how hard our players have worked, this is the next step for our program and we can’t wait to capitalize and do our very best.”

Perkins enters the game with 3,215 passing yards and 18 touchdowns against 11 interceptions on the season. Florida’s quarterback, Kyle Trask, has 2,636 yards and 24 touchdowns against six interceptions. Unlike Perkins, Trask didn’t begin the season as the Gators’ starting quarterback. He took over for the injured Felipe Franks in Sept. 14 against Kentucky and has not looked back.

Florida head coach Dan Mullen seems to have his quarterback situation set for a run in 2020 and whatever happens in the Orange Bowl could set the stage for next season.

“It can build a lot of momentum and a lot of confidence,” Mullen said. “For the team that’s why bowl games are huge. This year’s team gets one more game together, but there are a lot of guys on this year’s team that will also be on next year’s team. You play on December 30th and then you don’t have another game until September. You have a lot of off-season training, conditioning and developmental growth. You have 15 spring practices and 25 training camp practices before you play again. The momentum a bowl game and a bowl win can do for you builds yourself up through this huge developmental stage until you get on the field again.”

The Florida defense has their work cut out for them when trying to contain Perkins. He is not only the Cavaliers leading passer but also their leading rusher with 745 yards and 11 touchdowns.

“He runs he ball a lot, even more than their running backs, so that is a big key we are looking at,” Florida Defensive Back Donovan Stiner said.

Florida has the advantage but anything can happen in bowl season.

Miami Hurricanes: Offensive coordinator Dan Enos to part ways with program

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The Miami Hurricanes will be in the market for an offensive coordinator in 2020.

As the Miami Hurricanes take on the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in the Independence bowl, news has come forth that Miami may have a new offensive coordinator come next season. According to a tweet from Tim Reynolds  of the Associated Press, offensive coordinator Dan Enos will part ways with the team following the game.

The offensive numbers hadn’t exactly been spectacular for Miami in the regular season. The Hurricanes struggled moving the ball at times. Miami  ranked 41st in the country in passing yards with 257.2 per game. They rushing attack ranked  120th in the country with 121.8 rushing yards per contest. They scored 27.8 points per game offensively. For comparisons sake, the defense allowed 20.8 points per contest.

To say that the offense hasn’t looked great over the past couple of weeks would be an understatement. At the time of publishing, Miami was scoreless in the Independence Bowl , trailing the Bulldogs by a 7-0 margin. The departure of Enos may give the Hurricanes an opportunity to find a fresh voice offensively. It will be intriguing to see who the new offensive coordinator will be in 2020.

 Dan Enos had success prior to Miami Hurricanes

This was Enos’ first season with the Hurricanes, as he joined Manny Diaz’s staff following the 2018 campaign. Prior to this, he served as the quarterbacks coach for Alabama. While there, he coached Tua Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa was extremely successful in 2018, throwing for 3,966 yards, 43 touchdowns, and only six interceptions. Starting all 15 games, he had a completion percentage of 69%.

Unfortunately, that success could never seem to translate this season. There was a ton of inconsistency and many peaks and valleys throughout the course of the season. A fresh voice may be able to help the Miami Hurricanes’ offense find an identity and give them a better chance to compete in what is a crowded Atlantic Coast Conference.

Adam Gase’s burner account is nothing short of extraordinary

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Adam Gase, or someone close to him, has been defending the Jets on Twitter.

This certainly goes under the category of something you don’t hear about every day. New York Jets head coach Adam Gase has been in the media recently. In the latest installment of the Adam Gase extravaganza, a report came out Wednesday that he has never cared about the criticism of the fans. His go-to motto is “I’m rich as f—k.”

Now, there is speculation that he has his own Twitter burner account. In what has been circulating around the Internet, the burner account is under the username of @Wyattv18. Gase has a son named Wyatt, who is seven. It is not likely that those are his tweets, but with modern technology anything is possible. I’m willing to bet it is Gase himself or at least someone involved with the organization. This all seems like too elaborate a scheme for any fan to conjure up.

If you look at some of the tweets that have been screenshotted, whoever this is has been vehemently defending Gase from the beginning. The screenshot that we took only showed a retweet from the New York Jets main account. Since we got the picture, the account has nothing on its profile. Apparently, whoever runs the account is finally come onto the fact that it has been discovered.

I am totally not shocked by this at all. This is such a New York Jets move. As the Jets sit at 6-9 and third place in the AFC East, I can’t blame anybody from the New York Jets for having a burner account. They certainly have a right to defend themselves from the criticism. Nevertheless, whoever created it certainly doesn’t realize that this is a bad look.

Such is a day in the Twitterverse. Hopefully, we’ll never have to see the day where Miami Dolphins burner accounts are created. We have already dealt with Adam Gase once. As this season has proved, it would be in the best interest of the Dolphins to never deal with him again

Miami Dolphins: Ryan Fitzpatrick has record-setting day in win

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The Miami Dolphins quarterback had a big day on Sunday.

The Miami Dolphins defeated the Cincinnati Bengals by a 38-35 score in what took five quarters of football to play. One of the major reasons Miami won on Sunday was the play of Ryan Fitzpatrick.

He has the nickname  Fitzmagic for a reason, and he showed why on Sunday. He went 31-of-52 on the day, throwing for 419 yards, four touchdowns, and an interception.

Fitzpatrick steps up right from the get-go

Fitzpatrick started his successful day early on. His pass to Christian Wilkins set the tone early, no matter how it looked. At the five minute mark in the first quarter, he threw a strike to Devante Parker for a seven-yard touchdown. That gave Miami a 14-0 lead.

Fitzpatrick would be silent until near the end of the second quarter. With 2:20 left in the quarter, he threw a pass to Mike Gesicki. Fitzpatrick and the tight end would find a connection twice in this game. A touchdown at the 8:24 mark in the third quarter would give Miami a 28-6 lead. Admittedly, that lead felt extremely safe at the time.

As the Bengals came roaring back, I wondered if Fitzpatrick would be able to keep up his level of play. He managed to do so, hanging in there and moving the ball downfield. The offensive line was a big part of that. Fitzpatrick was only sacked twice for a combined loss of 13 yards on the afternoon. It was great to see that unit be able to give him time in the pocket in order to get the job done.

Fitzpatrick put together a vintage performance

Sunday’s game was Ryan Fitzpatrick at his best. Just on the first drive alone, he got several wide receivers involved. Patrick Laird, Allen Hurns, Albert Wilson, and Christian Wilkins all recorded receptions to begin the game.

The reception by Wilkins was interesting to say the least. For those who didn’t see it, Fitzpatrick passed to Wilkins at the one-yard line where Wilkins was tackled. Wilkins fumbled the ball, got up and raced into the end zone to recover the ball for a touchdown. It wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done.

Any way you slice it, Fitzpatrick was able to get everyone involved on Sunday. This was a great game offensively for him. Whether you are pro-tank or anti-tank, there is no doubt that he makes this offense better. It will be interesting to see what he does against New England next Sunday. That defense will certainly present a formidable challenge.

Waardenburg, McGustly set career highs as Miami dominates Coppin State 91-60

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Sam Waardenburg posted his first career double-double with a 11 rebounds and a career high 15 points as the Miami Hurricanes capped off the non-conference slate of the season with a 91-60 win over Coppin State on Saturday.

Waardenburg’s 11 rebounds tied a career high and he set a new high in made field goals and tied his top mark in made 3-pointers, finishing 6-of-8 and 3-of-5, respectively.

“In his first few years, he struggled in November and December and played great after the new year,” Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. “I don’t know what it is. I think it’s heading into the new year and he’s getting there sooner.”

“Last two days I missed some free throws and wasn’t happy with it, so I shot 700 free throws yesterday and it helped me with my shot, holding my follow through,” Waardenburg said. “My teammates are always telling me to shoot the ball, that it makes their job easier, so I had that mindset.”

Kam McGusty posted a career-high 28-point performance on 9-of-11 shooting, including 5-of-7 from the three point line, and 5-of-6 free throws. 

“I think he was very ready to play and very ready to shoot the ball,” Larrañaga said of McGusty. “When you make a three and then the same shot materializes the very next time down the court, well of course you’re going to look for it again and when you make it you feel like ‘Oh I’ve got the hot hand.’ Then you hit another and another. He made [three] in a row and that not only gets him going, but the whole team.”

“It goes back to the team chemistry we have,” McGusty said. “I’m just trying to give it my all and make that off year, this transfer year, worth it.”

The Hurricanes led as much as 40 points and set a season high mark of 91 points and a program record 18 made three point shots. Chris Lykes scored 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting including four three-pointers. DJ Vasiljevic added 21 points on 5-of-15 shooting and 8-for-8 from the free throw line.

“For 35 minutes it was our best offensive and defensive game,” Larranaga said. “The last five wasn’t indicative the way the team played. We took 38 3s which is kind of ridiculous to me, but we made 18 so we got to be pretty happy about that. We defended so well for such a long period of time, giving up only 45 points in the first 35 minutes. Love to see that kind of execution every game.”

The Hurricanes have won four in a row and enter their conference slate with an 8-3 record. They are already in the hole at 0-1 after losing their season opener to Louisville, which was ranked No. 5 at the time and rose to No. 1 at one point.

“We won four in a row but the challenge in the ACC is team we’re going to play now are really a whole lot more talented,” Larranaga said. “They got really good players and they’re more familiar with us; we’re more familiar with them. The challenges are greater. We open the season on the road against Clemson where it’s very tough to play and then we come back home to play Duke, who’s top 5 in the country and we’re already 0-1, having lost to the No. 1 team in the country Louisville back then.”

How Filippos Gkogkos joined Hurricanes basketball

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Miami freshman Filippos Gkogkos entered the court to play the final three minutes of the Hurricanes 91-60 win over Coppin State on Saturday and collected his first two rebounds.

Gkogkos played basketball Romania and won the national title in 2015 before starting high school. He entered the University of Miami for its business school on an academic scholarship. His role is mainly to contribute on the practice squad and help the team prepare for these games.

Each minute he plays feels like a rewarding bonus. The first time he entered the court was on November 16 against Quinnipiac, but it was for less than a minute and he did not record any stats.

Head coach Jim Larrañaga shared the story of how he ended up joining the Hurricanes as a walk-on.

“Fillip walked into my office the first day of school and said he wanted to be on the team,” recalled Larrañaga, to which his response was, “It’s not like a club you join. Do you play basketball?”

“And he walked around my desk, picked up my iPad and immediately went to YouTube videos and showed me his videos. He said, ‘I played basketball in Romania.’ He speaks five languages. He’s brilliant. And I watched the videos and I said, ‘hey you know what, we’re shorthanded. Why don’t you come and try to be a walk-on?’”

After being told what a walk-on does, Gkogkos’ response was to express his desire to get better. Time will tell whether or not the Hurricanes will create a wide enough margin for him to get on the court during ACC play but everyone remembers their first career moments.