Miami Football: Grading the Hurricanes' Win over the South Florida Bulls

Miami beat South Florida 6-3 on Saturday in a battle of poor offenses.  Granted, both defenses looked good, but let's face it, the offenses were horrible.

Miami wide receivers forgot how to catch a ball and B.J. Daniels going out with an injury crippled the Bulls' offense.

Either way, a win is a win, and Miami needed one as they became bowl eligible with their sixth victory.

Here are my grades for the Miami Hurricanes.

Note: School officials have decided not to accept a bowl bid due to the ongoing NCAA infractions.

Quarterbacks: B-

Jacory Harris never threw an interception but also didn't throw a touchdown pass, and he still had a pretty solid game.

Harris completed 27-of-35 passes for 259 yards but never had much help all day long.  Harris was sacked six times and the Bull defenders put pressure on him all game long.

When he did get time to throw, the receivers were having trouble catching the ball.

So why the lower grade?

Harris was holding the ball entirely too long instead of just throwing it away or running with it.

There were too many times during the game when Harris could have just tucked the ball in and ran with it.

He did look sharp on the game-winning drive, though, completing all seven passes he threw.

Running Backs: C+

This was a very hard grade to give out just because it wasn't the running backs' fault that they averaged only 1.4 yards per carry.

The offensive line was getting pushed around all game long and were not able to open any holes for the running backs.

Lamar Miller led the Hurricanes with 50 yards on 20 carries.

Miami only had 57 rushing yards on 40 carries.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: D

I counted the Hurricane wide receivers and tight ends dropping five passes on Saturday.  It wasn't that they had those drops, but it was the timing of the drops that killed the Hurricanes.

Three of the five passes that were dropped happened to be on third down. All they had to do was catch the ball to continue to keep those drives alive.

The only reason I didn't give this unit an even lower grade was because they did make some good catches and never dropped any of them on the game-winning drive.

Offensive Line: F

I am not even really going to say anything about this unit.  In fact, this slide will be quite short.  The Hurricanes' offensive line is horrible, no matter what way you look at it.

With the amount of talent and the size of this line, there is no way they should not be a better group.

Why an "F"?  The offensive line gave up six sacks and 11 tackles for loss. 

Pathetic.

Defensive Line: B

The Hurricanes' defensive line did a very solid job for the second game in a row.  They did give up 116 yards on the ground, but it was on 30 carries and they never allowed a huge gain.

They were able to get pressure on the Bulls' quarterbacks and made some quality tackles at the line of scrimmage.

Andrew Smith and Micanor Regis had tackles for losses on the defensive line.

Curtis Porter, who hasn't played a game in a year, led the defensive line in tackles with two-and-a-half.

Linebackers: A-

The linebackers finally played a huge game on Saturday.

Not only did they tackle well, but they also played good coverage on the Bulls' receivers and tight ends.

Jimmy Gaines had an excellent game, leading the team in tackles with four. 

Sean Spence had a relatively quiet game but did have a tackle for loss.

The most impressive linebacker to me that stood out and didn't have great numbers was Denzel Perryman.

He continues to amaze me with his speed and hitting ability.  This kid has tremendous field vision and has been the best freshman on this year's team.

Sorry, Anthony Chickillo.

Defensive Backs: B

The defensive backs did a very good job on Saturday, even getting an interception by Brandon McGee.

In fact, three out of the top four tacklers were safeties and cornerbacks.  Generally that means that the opposing team was getting into the third level of defense, but not in this case.

McGee, Ray Ray Armstrong and JoJo Nicolas pressed the Bulls' running backs and receivers and made some great tackles.

One of the most impressive overall games by the defensive backs all year long.

Special Teams: A

What a great performance by the special teams unit.

The coverage team did a remarkable job against a very speedy Bulls kick and punt return team.

Dalton Botts had his best game of the year with eight punts for 347 yards (43.4 yards per punt).  His average wasn't spectacular, but he did have three punts that went over 50 yards.

Jake Wieclaw was the obvious hero, as he kicked the game-winning field goal with no time left on the clock.

The only reason I didn't give the Hurricanes a perfect grade was because they did allow a field goal to be blocked.

Coaches: D

The defensive coaching job by Mark D'Onofrio was spectacular, and it is the only reason I didn't give the coaches a "D" grade.

The offensive side was a much different story.

Coach Al Golden and offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch called a strange game.

I did not understand the running plays that were being called all game long.  The same old dive calls every drive.

Once again, the coaches took away the plays and limited the playmakers from touching the ball.

If the defense didn't come to play, Miami would have got whipped. The offense was non-existent.

Even in the win, the coaches got out-coached.

Intangables: C

The Hurricanes just can not play a complete game.

If the offense plays well, the defense plays horrible.  If the defense does well, the offense is bad.  If the offense and defense are good, the special teams are atrocious.

That is why Miami is 6-5 this year.

It was no different on Saturday against South Florida, except the defense was good enough to get the win.

If Miami was able to get all three units to play together, it's amazing what this season could have brought.

Don't worry, Hurricane fans, the future is actually bright.