Miami Football: How the Hurricanes Finished 6-6

Believe it or not, but the Hurricanes had every opportunity to be a 10-2, or 11-1 team this year.  They lost six games this year, but by an average of 5.5 points per game.

Their largest margin of loss they had was eight points, and that was when Miami was missing 13 players due to NCAA violations.

Miami fought hard in every game this year and never gave up, unlike the 2010 Hurricane team, when they lost by an average of 13 points per game (losing by 28 points to FSU).

Here are the main reasons why the Hurricanes lost six games this year.

Off-the-Field Issues

The Hurricanes had a total of eight players suspended due to taking money from booster Nevin Shapiro over the last couple years.

The first game alone Miami was missing all eight, including their biggest stars—Jacory Harris, Sean Spence, Travis Benjamin, Olviier Vernon and Ray Ray Armstrong.

Although Miami was missing all those players at Maryland, they still fought hard and only lost by eight points.

All the players were back but Olivier Vernon, Ray Ray Armstrong, Dyron Dye and Aldarius Johnson (Johnson was not part of the NCAA violation) after the first game.  Armstrong was suspended for three more games while Vernon was suspended for five more.

But it wasn't just the suspensions that Miami had to deal with.  It was all the distractions from the media, fans and NCAA that added more fuel to the fire.

Overall, it took away a lot of the team's spirit and hopes that carried through most of the season.

Key Injuries

I understand that every team goes through injuries that cripple their entire team sometime during the season.

Miami didn't lose any of their big stars, but they lost players who could really have changed the way they played in a couple of those games.

The key one was the season-ending injury of Marcus Forston in just the fourth game of the season.

Forston wasn't playing that great to begin with, but he was gradually getting better after being suspended for the first game.

Forston was even listed as a potential 2012 NFL first-round draft pick in the offseason.

Seantrel Henderson, offensive lineman, was also injured early in the season and wasn't at full strength until the eighth game of the season.

Curtis Porter, defensive lineman, was hurt last year and out all season long.  He was recovering this season as well and finally got to play the last two games of the season.

Porter got 10 tackles and one tackle for loss in those two games.

Ramon Buchanan also got hurt, leaving inexperienced linebackers to fill his spot.

The last of the injuries that hurt the team was that of USC transfer Blake Ayles.

The tight end was listed as the starter for much of the preseason but got a concussion that ended his senior year.  He will be back next year for the Hurricanes.

New Coaching

Miami fired Randy Shannon late last year and hired Al Golden from Temple. 

Golden brought most of his coaches to help him rebuild the Hurricanes into national championship contenders once again.

Offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch was definitely an upgrade to Mark Whipple, but he still didn't use the Hurricane playmakers as much as I wanted to see.

The defense never really understood new defensive coordinator Mark D'Onofrio's style, and it was apparent as Miami had a heck of a time stopping both the run and pass.

The Hurricane players had to adjust to many of the different coaching styles that both the offensive and defensive coordinators had, thus resulting in an average season.

Couldn't Stop the Pass

The Hurricanes' defensive backs were a huge concern coming into this year and currently still are for next season.

They only had one returning player, Brandon McGee, that had any experience at the college level.

It showed.

Besides the first game to Maryland, Miami never gave up any huge numbers to any other quarterback in the country, but it doesn't mean that it was because they were good.

The defensive line was just that bad where teams decided to run on Miami instead.

What bothered me most with the defensive backs was their lack of coverage on opposing receivers.  I am not sure if Miami cornerbacks were overconfident in their speed, but they played off way too far, allowing the receivers to catch anything that was thrown their way.

The real frustrating game for me was the last one against Boston College.  Their quarterback, Chase Rettig, came into the game with one of the worst completion percentages in the country.

Against Miami, though, he completed 13-of-17 passes and threw two touchdowns.

Miami coaches have some serious work to do in the offseason with their returning defensive backfield.

Inconsistent Play of the Offensive Line

I've discussed this subject to death in my game report cards this year, but the inconsistent play of the offensive line limited Miami's offensive playmaking abilities.

Even though Lamar Miller had over 1,000 yards rushing, he could have gotten so much more if the offensive line played better.

Miami's offensive line was big and strong, but they did not stay on their blocks and struggled against quicker defenders.

I should have noticed from the offseason that there was something wrong with the line, as coach Golden was changing the starting unit every week.

If the offensive line could have created more holes, there is no way Miami would have ended their season at 6-6.

Didn't Create Enough Turnovers

The Hurricanes lost a respectable 19 turnovers this year, ranking them 42nd in the country.  The problem was they only created 15 of them, leaving them ranked 102nd in the country.

If Miami wants to at all compete for the ACC or the national championship in the future, they need to create a lot more turnovers or turnover the ball a lot less.

Either way, turnovers are what separates decent teams from great teams.

What that means in Coral Gables is that Miami needs to find playmakers on the defensive side of the ball.  Players like Ed Reed, Sean Taylor and Ray Lewis.

Players who pride themselves on giving the offense more chances to score.

Lack of Playmakers

The Hurricanes only had two playmakers all season long on offense—Lamar Miller and Tommy Streeter.  Miller and Streeter combined for 17 touchdowns and over 2,000 total yards.

Miller even had five games this year with runs over 40 yards or more, while Streeter had the 17th-highest yards-per-catch average at 17.6.

Both players did their parts in creating huge plays, but the rest of the team was pretty much shut down.

Travis Benjamin was supposed to be another one, but he rarely got the opportunities that many thought he would have.

They didn't use Benjamin like I thought they would and it really stopped Miami from having another big-time threat on offense. Benjamin also never had a punt or kick return longer than 54 yards.

The defensive side was the same except they didn't have a playmaker at all.

The player that created the most turnovers was JoJo Nicolas with two interceptions.

Couldn't Stop the Run

One of the biggest reasons to me on why Miami struggled was the fact that they could not stop the opposing team's running game, allowing other teams to control the clock.

Miami gave up over 162 yards per game, ranking them 68th in the country.

Against Kansas State, they gave up over 260 yards, allowing Kansas State to control the clock 33 minutes to 27.

Against Boston College, Miami lost the possession game 38 minutes to 22 minutes.

If the Hurricanes want to win games, especially close ones, they need to be able to stop teams from running the ball. 

Miami's sloppy tackles alongside their inability to move the offensive line spelled disaster for them all season long.