ANALYSIS: Keys for Miami Hurricanes heading into second fall scrimmage

The Miami Hurricanes’ opening fall scrimmage was held last weekend in front of fans at Hard Rock Stadium.

The second and final fall scrimmage? That’s set for today and is closed to the media and public. It’s a final live full scrimmage opportunity for Miami coaches to make sure players understand the ins and outs of the playbook, run gameday looks at gameday tempo in gameday situations. And it can help shore up some key areas of the team, depending on what occurs.

Heading into the final scrimmage, here are our big five takeaways:

5. CONDITIONING

Players said they were getting tired at the end of the first scrimmage, which is understandable in the heat. But it would be good to see some acclimation to a full game-like situation where guys are able to finish at somewhat the same speed/energy at which they started. That will be a big measuring stick for how heavy the rotation will need to be at certain spots, particularly along a defensive line that doesn’t have much interior depth.

4. IMPROVED PASS PROTECTION

While the quarterbacks are touched down in these scrimmage situations, some counts last weekend had the defense approaching 10 sacks. That obviously is unacceptable, regardless if many were against the backup unit. Miami needs depth on the offensive line and great pass protection, and you can’t just chalk it up to the team having a really good defensive front. Miami will face other strong defensive front 7 units during the season, including in game 2 vs. Texas A&M. So the things going wrong in protection in scrimmage 1 should look better in scrimmage 2.

3. EYE ON THE RUN DEFENSE

It was exciting for Miami fans to see Nebraska transfer Ajay Allen and true freshman Mark Fletcher combine for around 150 rush yards and a couple of TDs in the opening scrimmage, but multiple 20-yard plus runs are a black eye for the defense. Other teams know that Miami’s DT situation and depth isn’t great when it comes to run stopping, and Lance Guidry has to find ways to plug holes and make sure this team is playing with gap integrity. If there are more explosive runs in scrimmage 2, it won’t be a great sign for this being a strong run-stopping front 7.

2. SMOOTH IMPLEMENTATION OF OFFENSE AND DEFENSE

Miami coaches kept it vanilla and fairly simple in the opening fall scrimmage, which was understandable given it was open to the public and you don’t want to show your opponents too much. But now in a closed scrimmage the two new coordinators can really throw a lot of the playbook in there and see if players are able to manage it. Lance Guidry, in particular, expressed concern early in fall camp about how much his side of the ball was truly “getting” his schemes. So this scrimmage can go a long way toward assuaging that … or perhaps he’ll have to keep a portion of the playbook on hold if there are a lot of busts.

1. SHORE UP LINGERING DEPTH CHART BATTLES

Coaches always say after the final fall scrimmage is when the depth chart gets set. Game 1 is now two weeks out, so you really want to have your starters and second team in place so everyone can focus on their roles, know who they are playing next to and gel. There’s no reason by now coaches won’t be able to have a set depth chart, although of course competition will be ongoing as the season moves along and players either thrive or struggle in games. As for the biggest depth chart battles we think Miami coaches need to figure out after reviewing tape of this scrimmage? On the offensive side let’s start with the line, where it’s going to be all about the depth. The starters have been pretty much kept the same (L to R Jalen Rivers, Javion Cohen, Matt Lee, Anez Cooper, Francis Mauigoa), but aside from Matthew McCoy are there other linemen that are ready to make an impact? At center, is Lou Cristobal really the guy that comes in if Lee is banged up? At QB, if Jacurri Brown’s accuracy issues pop up in scrimmage 2, will it be the true freshman Emory Williams that would come into a close game if Tyler Van Dyke gets banged up? The heavy receiver rotation also needs to be solidified with starters and backups, and perhaps most interesting on this side of the ball is the running back situation. Are bigger backs Ajay Allen and Mark Fletcher better options than returning starter Henry Parrish? They just might be. On defense Nyjalik Kelly will have to continue to hold off Jahfari Harvey at one end spot, and the DT second team needs to be solidified – is it Jared Harrison-Hunte and true freshman Joshua Horton that will be in that rotation? Does KJ Cloyd remain with the ones ahead of Wesley Bissainthe at OLB? And does true freshman Damari Brown get the nod ahead of Daryl Porter, Jr. and Ja’Dais Richard? At nickel is it going to be Jaden Davis ahead of returning starter Te’Cory Couch? As you can see, there are still a lot of starters and depth areas of competition that need to be finalized.

The post ANALYSIS: Keys for Miami Hurricanes heading into second fall scrimmage appeared first on On3.