Miami Football: Grading the Hurricanes' Season

The Miami Hurricanes finished the 2011 season with a record of 6-6 (3-5 in the ACC). 

Although there were many off-field incidents that crippled the Hurricanes for almost half of their season, it was still a bit of a disappointing season to me.

The Hurricanes were just too inconsistent all season.

Miami went 0-3 against teams that are currently ranked in the AP Top 25 poll and only lost by a combined 11 points.

In fact, the Hurricanes biggest loss of the season was only by eight points and that was against Maryland.  All in all, the Hurricanes lost six games by a combined 33 points.

Those numbers look to be a positive thing but they really aren't.

Miami had the talent and skill, so I thought, to destroy teams like North Carolina (won by six), South Florida (won by 3) and Boston College (lost by seven).

Here is my report card for the Hurricanes season.

Quarterbacks: B+

Jacory Harris started every game but the first one (suspension) and had one of his best seasons in his career at Miami.

Harris finished the season with 2,468 yards passing, 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions.  His interception numbers almost doubled in the last game against Boston College as he threw four.

Harris was a much smarter passer this year, throwing the ball away most of the time instead of tossing it up for grabs.  He also impressed me by scrambling more.

Overall Harris finished the season ranked 21st in the country with a passer rating of 150.6.

Stephen Morris started one game this year and got playing time in four others.  He ended the season with 283 yards and two interceptions.

Running Backs: A-

Lamar Miller proved to be one of the best running backs in the country, finishing the season with 1,272 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground.

He became the first Hurricane to rush for over 1,000 yards since Willis McGahee did so back in 2002.

Even with a very poor offensive line, Miller was able to create yards for himself with his speed and quickness.  I honestly believe if the offensive line played to their ability, Miller would have had well over 1,500 yards rushing.

Mike James had 275 yards rushing for the year but added seven touchdowns.

Overall the running backs were the backbone of the Hurricanes' offense this year and deserve the grade that I gave them.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: B

When Leonard Hankerson graduated from Miami last year I thought that the Hurricanes were going to be in some serious trouble.

I was wrong.

The receivers played above and beyond my expectations this year, Tommy Streeter.

Streeter, a junior, came into the season with just six catches for 156 yards and a touchdown in his two-year career at Miami. 

He ended this season leading Miami in receptions (46), yards (811), and touchdowns (eight).

Streeter played outstanding this year and attacked the ball instead of letting the ball fall into his hands.  He was very consistent all season long too, only dropping a couple passes that I can remember.

Travis Benjamin and Allen Hurns had pretty solid seasons as well, combining for 1,024 yards and seven touchdowns.

Clive Walford lead all tight ends with 18 catches for 172 yards and a touchdown.

Overall the Hurricanes receivers and tight ends did a great job all season long and limited their dropped passes from a year ago.

Offensive Line: D

The offensive line was a mess from the get go.  They came into the season as a highly-touted offensive line and many of them were on preseason award watch lists.

The preseason injury to Seantrel Henderson though, changed the entire offensive line.

Henderson and Malcolm Bunche were fighting for the left tackle spot in the offseason, but Henderson's injury changed everything.

Brandon Washington was forced to move from his right guard position to left tackle.

Everything went down hill from there.

No one on the offensive line created any real holes for the running backs to get through and their pass protection was downright horrible at times.

Washington, Henderson, and Bunche need to improve in the off season to help them next season.

Defensive Line: D

One of the Hurricanes' main problems this year was the defensive line and the suspension and injuries didn't helped them out any.

Their best defensive lineman, Olivier Vernon, came back after a six-game suspension and just wasn't the same player he was last year.

Marcus Forston, who many had predicted as a first-round draft pick in next year's draft, was injured early in the season and never came back.

Curtis Porter, another solid defensive lineman, missed almost two years before coming back with just two games to play.

The biggest surprise, not to me though, was true freshman Anthony Chickillo.

The 19-year-old freshman had a terrific season and once he bulks up a little more this upcoming offseason, he should be a force to be reckoned with.

Overall, the Hurricanes' defensive line provided no pressure on opposing quarterbacks and got pushed around by offensive linemen all year long.

The unit needs to get bigger and they need to learn how to tackle better or it will be another long season next year.

Linebackers: B-

Three of the top five tacklers on the team this year were linebackers.

Sean Spence led the way with 106 tackles while Denzel Perryman had 69 and James Gaines finished the season with 58.

Spence also led the team in tackles for loss with 14.

Perryman, a true freshman, was the biggest surprise to me on defense.  He has a nose for the ball and is an explosive tackler.

Once he understands offensive coverages he will end up being one of the best Hurricane linebackers to ever play.

Overall the unit played pretty well but missed way too many tackles and their lack of covering wide receivers and tight ends hurt them in the passing game.

Defensive Backs: D

My biggest concern heading into the 2011 season for the Hurricanes was at cornerback and I was right.  Miami lost both starting cornerbacks and their primary backup from last year's team. In fact, the Hurricanes only had one returning cornerback from last year's team that had any experience at all.

It showed as the Hurricanes allowed opposing quarterbacks to have their best games of the season against them.

Brandon McGee, the only experienced corner, struggled all season long.

The other starter, Mike Williams, had some pretty decent plays but struggled against speedy receivers.

The safeties didn't play much better either.

Ray Ray Armstrong was supposed to be the next Sean Taylor but was suspended for the first four games (later was suspended for another game) and never panned out.

He just doesn't have enough experience and missed way too many tackles again, a problem he had last season.

Vaughn Telemaque was rather quiet all season long after getting an interception in the first game of the year against Maryland.

JoJo Nicolas was probably the Hurricanes' best defensive back and he ended the season as Miami's third leading tackler with 66 and led the team with two interceptions.

Overall, Miami's defensive backs were only able to get four interceptions all year long.

Pathetic.

Special Teams: B+

The special teams unit played pretty good all year long.

They only had one punt or kick returned that was returned for a touchdown and that was against the Florida State Seminoles.

Other than that, the kick and punt coverage team was very good.

The punt and kick return team didn't provide much of anything and didn't have a return longer than 54 yards.

Punter Dalton Botts had a decent season, punting the ball averaging 42.7 yards per punt.

Jake Wieclaw was the MVP of special teams though as he connected on 11 of 14 field goals and made all 39 point-after attempts.

Wieclaw actually made the 2011 semifinalist list for the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award which is given to the best placekicker in the country.

Overall it was a good performance by the special team unit this year.

Coaches: B+

When Al Golden was hired late last year after an embarrassing bowl game loss to Notre Dame many people didn't even know who he was.

A lot of people were upset at the choice just because he was a small-college coach with no experience in a big-time college football program like Miami.

That changed for me right after I read what he did at Temple.  He turned around one of the worst college football programs in the country and turned them into bowl contenders.

He basically did what Howard Schnellenberger did at Miami.

Although the Hurricanes did have a sub-par year, the way he and his coaching staff dealt with NCAA infractions and injuries is nothing short of amazing.

The coaches made players and fans believers in what they were going to achieve and for the first time in a long time the Hurricanes were never manhandled against better teams, as their worst loss came by just eight points.

Overall, with all the problems the coaches had to overcome, it was definitely a productive season and paved a road to a better future.

Golden recently signed and a four-year extension, keeping him in Miami through the 2020 season and I couldn't be happier.

There isn't another coach in the country I would take over Al Golden.