(07-16-2017 01:25 AM)pono Wrote:  

(07-15-2017 11:02 AM)ToledoMike Wrote:  

(07-15-2017 02:13 AM)pono Wrote:  A lot of this game will come down to how well Miami prepares after FSU. They have more overall talent than us, but we are good enough on offense to take advantage of them if they are not on their game. Of course, defense is a concern. Our D last year really struggled against the run and lost it's top run stopper and penetrator. Miami is rebuilding at QB but they have a good line and talented young backs so we'll have to find some success in run defense to have a shot.

Agreed. And, if we can move the ball and have a bit of running success, we can keep the ball away from their offense. Not going to be easy though against their front 7 though. On ESPN (I know it is early), the UMiami game is the only game they are predicting us to lose. Not sure we have seen our stock this high preseason in quite a while, but our schedule is likely softer than it was the last couple years, especially due to the decline at NIU and this year a slight drop off at WMU. I'm hopeful for a good season, and Woodside is the real deal, but I am still not sure how we are going to overcome losing Hunt, Roberts, CJones, Hester, and 3 starters off the O-line (and perhaps others that I am not mentioning). If we have talent that good to step in and not miss a beat from last year, I will be very impressed!

P.S. Hey, just noticed this is my 1000th post, LOL.

Yup, congrats or condolences, a 1000 man.

i realize we lost a lot on offense but we generally reload offensively. jones could make some tough catches and yards after the catch but he is replaceable. we have other fast little guys who want playing time and also mid sized talented young receivers coming off injuries in n'shaka and d johnson. roberts will be missed in the red zone but his blocking can be replaced. fisher was pushing him for the starting job last fall. kulon is healthy as blocking stud. line not too concerned. we've lost more in the past and reloaded. we've got good players to plug in and aren't forced to play anybody not ready. hunt is not replaceable but swanson is very solid all around and i'm excited to see some of the young guys who now have had a year or two to mature, plus the frosh from down south looks real good.

on defense, they got to prove it to me. our linebackers got outplayed too much last year. our db's were solid but didn't always give us an edge. and our line was down a bit and now has lost the top 2 guys. my hope is the overall dine depth is good and a disruptive play maker emerges. our great d of 2 years ago was led by physical guys who disrupted a lot of plays and made it hard for teams to execute their stuff on us. last year's d felt passive because it was often just holding ground after the snap. we need to get back to that mentality of defensive players winning a matchup, even if it doesn't lead to tackle. just blowing up a block or forcing an offensive blocker to help out. miami has a high paid coaching staff. they will identify ways to take advantage of their strengths unless we take them away.

Haha, "condolences" would be what my wife would say about the 1,000 posts! She does like Rocket football though, so she's a keeper, LOL.

Thanks for your insight. Glad to hear Fisher is that good and can likely fill the void at TE. And, I thought Kulon had graduated, so that is good news as well. We don't use him or the FB position as much as we should IMO. We do have some big boys up front with some experience, so I guess I am feeling pretty good about the offense as well. Hopefully Swanson has a breakout year, I think he is ready. I also have high hopes for Thompkins, but not sure what other RB's that may surprise us this year?

The defense...well, I am about as hopeful as you are. If we could somehow put together a dominant D during the same year we have one of our high scoring offenses, that would be a treat to see. The D was good two years ago in 2015. I felt we could pretty much stop the run efficiently against anybody outside of the top 10. Probably that defense and the one we had in 2000 when we beat PSU are the most memorable over the past couple decades. Hopefully this year can resemble one of those as opposed to some of the horrible ones we have seen during this period!