Hurricanes’ Clay James strives towards perfection

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After redshirting his freshman year, Clay James enters the 2019 season as the starting long snapper.

That might not seem like a big deal, but long snapping is a position that demands perfection.

James, who was the primary long snapper throughout his high school career in Cocoa, Fla., said that it takes long hours to achieve perfection in that position.

“A lot of people think it’s just like you go out and you snap a ball at practice or whatever,” James said. “It’s taken hours and hours and hours to get here.

“Perfection is the standard of being a long snapper,” he added. “You know you have no room for error. So being perfect is probably the toughest thing. A lot of guys would say pressure but I don’t know if that’s really as big of a thing as being perfect. Day in and day out, you literally have to be the same person each and every day.”

James said he added 30 pounds on his bench press over the summer but added that squats and power cleans translated to his position more.

“Everybody snaps different,” James said, “but the way I do it is I lock my knees as hard as possible and that’s how you generate power.”

Saturday’s matchup against No. 8 Florida at Orlando will be the beginning of James’ quest to perfection. 

Hurricanes’ Bubba Baxa back for more

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Bubba Baxa said the opportunity to play for a great program and win a championship was why he came to Miami. Entering his sophomore season as the Hurricanes starting kicker, that opportunity has been realized.

“It was very helpful playing my first year,” Baxa said. “I have so much more confidence than I did last year. It’s like having that one year you get under your belt is a huge help to your next year, your next year and next year.”

Baxa hit the ground running as a freshman last year. His first kick came in the season opener against a Top-10 team in LSU at one of the biggest stadiums in the world, the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.

“That’s my first college play ever, first field goal attempt ever,” Baxa said. “It’s really the most pressure I’ve felt.”

Baxa finished the 2018 season having made 9-of-12 field goal attempts with his longest being 47 yards. His sweet spot is within 30-39 yards, as he made 6-of-6 field goals. He also made 45-of-46 extra points.

Baxa’s last game in 2018 was at a bowl game against Wisconsin at Yankee Stadium, where he score the Hurricanes’ only three points. Playing football games in baseball stadiums has been a recent trend. The Hurricanes will play FIU at Marlins Park in November.

“It’s not that big of a difference,” Baxa said comparing kicking in a football field and baseball field. “Really what’s different is the grass, the baseball grass instead of football grass. It’s a little bit more slick but that’s really about it.”

Baxa said he’s improved a lot over the summer thanks to first year strength and conditioning coach David Feeley. He has increased his power clean max to to 250 lbs, 405 lbs at the squat rack and 255 lbs at bench press.

“I’m way stronger. I’ve lost some fat. I’ve gotten much faster,” Baxa said. “It’s everything what coach Feeley has done. It’s been awesome.”

The Hurricanes will need to see an improved Baxa starting Saturday against the No. 8 Florida Gators in Orlando.

Hurricanes’ Jimmy Murphy kicks off senior season at his favorite position, kickoff

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Going into his redshirt senior season, Jimmy Murphy is one of the few players on the Miami Hurricanes that has made special teams his position.

“My favorite is kickoff,” said Murphy said. “Just go down there and do your assignment correct and make the tackle.”

A walk-on at the University of Miami after transferring from Wagner College, Murphy has been listed as a linebacker, a cornerback and currently a running back, but it’s in the special teams unit where he has made a name for himself.

HIs first appearance on the field for the Hurricanes was on kickoff in a 77-0 blowout over Savannah State in Week 2 of last season, earning the high praise of then head coach Mark Richt, who said after the game that “The second highlight was watching Jimmy Murphy cover kicks.”

“Guys love him,” Richt said. “He’s a high-energy guy. He wants so badly to play for the Hurricanes and here he is doing it. A lot of people told him he will never step on the field for us and he did and he was knocking people around. Nobody could block him. Of course we can’t block him in practice either. He’s just a little jitterbug.”

When asked during the Hurricanes 2019 media day about his secret to success on special teams, Murphy attributed it to effort.

“I think just effort is a really, really big key to the year,” Murphy said. “Ray Lewis said it, himself. You can’t do anything without effort.”

Murphy takes pride in his performances on kickoffs and while he previously described it as simplistic as possible, he says special teams are beyond simple.

“I think there’s a lot that goes into it, “Murphy said, “a lot of prep that goes into special teams, a lot of discipline. People have to be in sync together. A lot of people think it’s just kickoff or a KOR, kickoff return. There’s a lot that goes into it. You have to do your 1/11th. That’s what we say say here. You got to do your one out of 11.”

Murphy said his favorite kickoff tackle came in a muddy home game against Duke last year. Not because of what happened during the play but the immediate aftermath.

“The tackle is whatever,” Murphy said. “What my favorite thing about it was how my team kind of came together for that occasion. I just love being here at the U.”

For the past two years Murphy was listed at 5-7, 195 pounds. This year he’s listed at 185 pounds and he credits the work of first year strength and conditioning coach David Feeley for his improvement.

“I just think he’s if not the smartest, one of the smartest people I know taking care of your bodies,” Murphy said. “I trust him, a hundred percent.”

Murphy said he’s faster now than before because of Feeley and he didn’t even know it until it was demonstrated to him.

“I never knew how fast we were running,” Murphy said. “He brought in the catapults and everything that we understood of how fast we were actually running. Everyone is trying to get 20 mph here every day in practice.”

The Hurricanes begin the 2019 season against the Florida Gators at Orlando on Saturday in a game with make-or-break implications. With the flip of a coin, Murphy might be one of the first 11 to usher it in with a newfound dash towards the ball.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, left, and Josh Rosen are still vying for the starting QB job with the Dolphins. (Photo/Tony Capobianco)

Flores: Dolphins QB may or may not be determined this week

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DAVIE – The race to selecting the Dolphins’ starting quarterback is essentially a slog through the swamp.

That is the impression coach Brian Flores gave Monday as he reflected on the performances of Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen in the second exhibition and looked ahead to Thursday’s next test.

Flores previously indicated Fitzpatrick will likely start against the Jaguars at Hard Rock Stadium, but he said that doesn’t mean the veteran has won the job.

Based on his comments about the progress he saw from the quarterbacks over the past week in the practices and game at Tampa Bay, it’s evident he’s waiting for one of them to prove worthy of the starting role.

More from Maven: Rosen nothing special, but he should be Dolphins starter for now

Asked specifically about what Rosen, the upstart, needs to do to win the job, Flores said, “He can’t take as many sacks as he’s taking. He’s got to step up in the pocket. He’s got to have command of the offense. … He’s got to get the ball out quicker. He’s got to do all those things.

“I would say the same for Fitz and Jake [Rudock]. … At the end of the day, it’s about our offense moving the ball and putting points on the board.”

That was certainly lacking Friday against the Buccaneers. Flores gave a laundry list of reasons for that.

“We had some drops, we had some penalties, we had some negative plays in the run game. Sacks. Those are some things we need to clean up as a collective group,” Flores said.

Playing the entire first half, Rosen was sacked three times while completing 10 of 18 passes for 102 yards. The offense generated two field goals in the half.

An offensive line trying to find itself was partly to blame in the sacks. But as Flores pointed out, the quarterback’s decision making is a factor too.

In Rosen’s case, the second-year signal caller is still learning when to throw it and when to fold it.

“Sometimes the right play is to take a sack. You’ve got to know when the journey’s over,” Flores said. “Other times, you’ve got to get the ball out quicker. So there’s a fine line between all those things.

“Every play is a little bit different and each quarterback is a little bit different. But we don’t just want to take sack after sack after sack. We can help that by getting the ball out a little bit quicker, stepping up in the pocket. And that’s about footwork and fundamentals, and those are things we’ll be working on this week.”

Clearly, it would be in the Dolphins’ best interests for Rosen to win the quarterback job. He’s a young talent; they gave up a second-round draft pick to get him.

It is also apparent that Flores is challenging Rosen to show – not only the coaches but the team – that he has earned the privilege of starting. He hasn’t seen it yet.

That’s why, approaching the third exhibition game, which is generally considered the dress rehearsal for the regular season, Flores wouldn’t say conclusively that he will know his starting quarterback after Thursday.

“Potentially we would be able to make that call. But we may not,” he said.

Craig Davis has covered South Florida sports and teams, including the Dolphins, for four decades. Follow him on Twitter @CraigDavisRuns

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Transfer Portal Shuffles Hurricanes Secondary

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The Miami Hurricanes secondary approaches their season opener against Florida with some dissent within their ranks.

Miami lost not one but two members of that group in the past week.

Transfer portal giveth, transfer portal taketh away.

 

The departure of Smith will hurt the depth at safety, but the Hurricanes still have plenty of talent left to fill the void. The 6-foot-2, 220 pound Smith was the biggest safety on the team but did not perform up to expectations.

Amari Carter and Robert Knowles were both ahead of him for the strong safety spot. Carter enters his junior season ready for a leadership role, having played 25 games for the Hurricanes already.

USC transfer Bubba Bolden is also in the mix for playing time. Bolden was a teammate of Tate Martell at Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas and the redshirt sophomore has tremendous upside but will need to get up to speed being a late arrival to the program. Once he settles in his talent is too great not to get extensive run.

At free safety Gurvan Hall  appears to be the front runner to start the season. The highly recruited Hall is a sophomore from Palm Beach Gardens who saw action in 12 games last year and is poised for a much larger contribution this year.

Besides Smith the Hurricanes secondary depth took another hit, losing cornerback Nigel Bethel. Miami is a little thinner at the corner spot, Bethel was battling for the fourth cornerback position with Christian Williams and Te’Cory Couch.

 

The freshmen Williams and Couch, along with sophomore DJ Ivey will be key rotational pieces throughout the season.

Leading the way in the Hurricanes secondary is junior cornerback Trajan Bandy.

The Muddy Badger is one of the top corners in the ACC and owns one of the best recent moments for The U.

 

Bandy really broke out in his sophomore season, notching career highs in just about every important defensive category.

His five “Turnover Chains” also led the team and Bandy earned a spot on the Jim Thorpe Award watch list.

Across from Bandy at the opposite corner will likely be Al Blades, Jr. who enters his sophomore season as a player on the rise.

Blades looks to continue the incredible family tradition at Miami and has all the physical and mental makeup to do so. He served as special teams captain twice last year and like his family who played here is a great vocal and emotional leader.

Ivey is another defensive back to watch, he played in 11 games last year mostly on special teams. With the departure of Bethel he slots in as the third cornerback on the depth chart.

Follow us on Twitter for more Miami Hurricanes @SportsWaveDave and @5ReasonsSports.

Check out the 5 Rings Canes podcast for exclusive Canes content all season.

 

Related:

Miami Hurricanes – Is Offensive Line Biggest Question Mark?

Tate Martell working at wide receiver

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First, we find out who was named the starting quarterback, then two players who would have seen significant playing time (CB Nigel Bethel, Jr. is the latest) decide to enter the transfer portal. What’s next, Tate Martell moving to wide receiver? 

Well, yes.

When the Canes’ announced Jarren Williams as the starting quarterback on Monday, the first thought for a lot of fans wasn’t to say congratulations to Williams on winning the battle. It was, “so what does Tate do now?” On the College Football Daily podcast, 247 Director of Scouting Barton Simmons said Martell should give take a shot at wide receiver. 

It seems as though the idea may have been on Martell’s mind as well. 

The New Wide-Out in Town

W.G. Ramirez, a Las Vegas-based sports writer sent out a tweet on Thursday that said Martell “former Gorman QB and three-time national HS champion Tate Martell is expected to try his hand at wide receiver.”  

Nothing was confirmed at that point until yesterday evening when The Athletic columnist and Miami Hurricanes beat writer Manny Navarro sent out a tweet that said: “Have been told by a #UM source today was the first day Tate Martell experimented with playing wide receiver at Miami.” Thursday’s practice was completely closed to media by Miami.

Minutes after the Navarro tweet, Miami Herald columnist Barry Jackson tweeted this, “Martell taking WR snaps in tonight’s scrimmage, am told.” The Canes’ held a scrimmage last night at Hard Rock Stadium (pray for no injuries).

None of us know yet if the move is permanent or if it is just an experiment, but this could be a great move. 

He Looks the Part

Martell has posted some pretty fast 20-yard shuttle times in the past and is very athletic. He has even been seen in the past running routes and catching passes from other quarterbacks. 

I can see Coach Enos drawing up some special packages with Martell playing both quarterback and wide receiver. 

It’s almost like Ryan Tannehill is back again. But not really.

Although, guys seem to have a bit more success switching from quarterback to receiver. Some notable names: Julian Edelman, Antwaan Randle-El, and more recently guys like Josh Cribbs and Terrelle Pryor. Could Tate Martell be next?

In just 7 days on August 24th, Miami opens up its season against the Florida Gators at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. It’s showtime! 

 

Follow us on Twitter @jazzsantana and @5ReasonsSports for all your Miami Hurricanes news.

Check out the 5 Rings Canes podcast for exclusive insider content.

Go Canes!

Golazo de Aritz Aduriz amarga comienzo de la era Griezmann-De Jong en Barcelona

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Aritz Aduriz marcó el que quizás sea el gol de la temporada para abrir el cerrojo en un disputado encuentro en el primer encuentro de la temporada de La Liga 2019-2020.

El experimentado delantero vasco entró cuando faltaban apenas minutos para terminar el encuentro mientras el Bilbao trataba de aguantar el empate sin goles, con una gran presión blaugrana.

Así, el delantero vasco terminó de amargar el debut oficial de Antoine Griezmann y Frank de Jong con el FC Barcelona.

Un partido que parecía destinado a terminar en empate, terminó con tres puntos para los locales gracias a la genialidad de Aduriz.

Aritz Aduriz hace recordar al Barcelona de Guardiola

El FC Barcelona tenía años sin comenzar La Liga perdiendo. De hecho, la última vez que esto sucedió fue en la temporada de debut de Pep Guardiola como entrenador del primer equipo, cuando solo lograron uno de los primeros seis puntos que disputaron.

Esa temporada terminó en el famoso sextete.

Por ahora, y tras este comienzo en falso, le tocará a Ernesto Valverde enfrentar a la marea alta que ya viene enfrentando el Barcelona tras las derrotas aparatosas con las que cerró la temporada pasada.

Dardos al ataque culé

Luis Suárez se fue lesionado durante la primera parte del encuentro y todavía no se tiene claro cuánto tiempo estará fuera de los terrenos de juego.

Lionel Messi no fue convocado para este partido y todavía se prepara físicamente para enfrentar esta larga temporada, y ya se cerró la cesión de Phillipe Coutinho al Bayern Munich.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGqoN_FSKIw

Por lo pronto, Antoine Griezmann y Ousmane Dembelé son las dos únicas opciones fijas en el ataque del Barcelona, y hasta el canterano Carles Pérez podría ver algunos minutos comenzando esta temporada.

De hecho, con el 0-0, Pérez fue el escogido por Valverde para entrar en los últimos minutos del encuentro.

Disfruta de la cobertura del fútbol europeo en Cinco Razones Deportes Network, con 3-0-Cinco Deportes y 90 + Cinco haciendo click en este link 

Marlins avoid season sweep by Dodgers

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The Miami Marlins had been dominated by the Los Angeles Dodgers for each of the five games they played each other this season.

The Dodgers were about to secure their first ever season series sweep over Miami but the Marlins, powered by Celeb Smith and a barrage of bats, exacted revenge on Thursday by way of a 13-7 win.

Unlike the Dodgers in the previous two game, the Marlins scored all 13 runs without a home run.

“Obviously it took a lot of hits to get those runs, but that’s who we are right now,” manager Don Mattingly said.

Smith was flirting with a no-hitter through four innings until Kevin Garlick hit a solo home run in the fifth inning. It was the only hit and run he gave up all outing, finishing with four strikeouts and three walks through five innings. He was in line for the win after Jon Berti scored two runs on a single by Brian Anderson in the first inning and a sacrifice fly by Starlin Castro in the third inning.

The Marlins then unloaded on the Dodgers with six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Berti was hit by pitch for the second time in the game and scored along with Isan Diaz on a Anderson two-run double. He then scored on an RBI single by Castro. Jorge Alfaro and Lewis Brinson — who made a diving catch in the fourth inning to preserve Smith’s no-hit attempt at the time — drove in the final two runs of the rally.

“It feels good, man,” Brinson said. “That’s a good team over there. Their record and all their numbers show it. We just said we’ve got to fight every at-bat against these guys, because they’re a good squad. That’s exactly what we did.”

The Dodgers got the remainder of their seven runs through the long ball. Cody Bellinger hit his MLB leading 40th home run while Corey Seager homered for the third consecutive game. Max Muncy also hit his 29th home run of the season.

“It’s pretty cool,” Bellinger said on the milestone. “There’s still a lot of baseball left to be played, so I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing, and hopefully more to come.”

Once again, Alfaro, Brinson and Anderson drove in the Marlins remaining five runs in the sixth inning. The bullpen held the lead the rest of the way. Alfaro was 2-for-14 in his last four games but went 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs on the afternoon.

“It wasn’t a good day of pitching for us,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Should Don Mattingly stay or go? It will be up to Derek Jeter

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Don Mattingly is about seven weeks away from doing something no Marlins manager has done; complete his contract.

Matting signed a four-year deal to manage the Marlins in October 2015 after splitting with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He will leave Miami having managed more games than anyone else in Franchise history, passing former manager and current third base coach Fredi Gonzalez.

Mattingly joined the Marlins with a young team filled with promise in 2016 but a tragic boating accident killed their best pitcher and after the 2017 season, the franchise exchanged ownerships and a new plan was put into place.

While the last two seasons have been spent at the bottom of the National League, the Marlins young players have shown improvement and the farm system has been built up from the one of the worst to one of the best.

Mattingly said he wants to remain the Marlins manager and be there for the eventual turnaround, whether it be in 2020 or beyond.

“I’d love to be back, especially if they want you back,” Mattingly said. “You don’t want to be anywhere that you don’t feel like it’s the best situation. You don’t want to get in the way of anything. If they think they want to go in a direction, then that’s something you just deal with at the time.”

That decision will have to be made by Marlins chief executive officer Derek Jeter. He said on Wednesday at Marlins Park that he plans on addressing Mattingly’s status before this season ends.

“To be fair to Donnie, it’s something that we need to talk about sooner rather than later,” Jeter said. “We have touched base, and we’ll continue to talk.

“Donnie has done a good job. But then again, we’ve got to sit down, like we do with coaches every year as well, and ask, ‘How can we get better?’”

Both Jeter and Mattingly spent their entire playing career with the New York Yankees and were recognized as legendary captains during their careers. 1995 was Jeter’s rookie season and Mattingly’s final season. Ironically, 24 years later, the power dynamics between the two have switched.

Kershaw dominates Marlins

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The Miami Marlins didn’t stand a chance the moment Clayton Kershaw entered the mound.

The longtime ace of the Los Angeles Dodgers struck out ten batters, including the first seven he faced and allowed only two hits, cruising to a 9-1 win on Wednesday.

“Sometimes you get in that groove early,” Kershaw said. “I really don’t care how we get the outs as long as I’m efficient with it. Tonight I was able to get ahead and did a decent job with fastball command.”

Harold Ramirez hit a two-out single to right field in the fifth inning to break up Kershaw’s bid for a perfect game.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner left after 90 pitches and a double. He seems to be on his way to a fourth with a 12-2 record and a 2.63 ERA in 21 starts.

“Obviously Clayton doesn’t want to come out of any game, especially when you feel as good as he did tonight,” Roberts said. “He wasn’t stressed at all. Tonight was as good as I’ve seen with all his pitches, mainly his fastball.”

The dominant performance earned Kershaw his 165th win, tying Dodgers Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax.

“Any time you’re mentioned with Sandy it’s special,” Kershaw said.

Justin Turner and Corey Seager each hit a home run off Elieser Hernandez in the first inning to give the Dodgers a 3-0 lead.

Edwin Rios, who is from Miami and played college ball at FIU, hit a home run in the fourth and sixth inning.

“Just felt great being back at the 305, where I went to school,” Rios said. “It was awesome just hearing the fans yell FIU, when I was on deck.”

Hernandez pitched six innings and gave up six runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts.

“I give a lot of credit to them,” said Hernandez, who struck out seven, through an interpreter. “They did a great job. Their lineup is strong, and all the mistakes I made, I paid for them.”

Curtis Granderson hit a pinch-hit homer off in the ninth inning to avoid the shutout. The Dodgers have won all five games against the Marlins in dominating fashion but to Don Mattingly, the glass is  half full.

“The games with L.A., in particular, I think they’re good because they kind of let you know where you’re at,” the Marlins manager said. “They’re one of probably three teams, maybe four, that legitimately — if they don’t win the World Series, they’re going to look at it like it’s a bad year.”

Walker Buehler (10-2, 3.08) will be tasked with securing the season series sweep on Thursday, while the Marlins will counter with Caleb Smith (7-6, 3.71).