Alex Donno gives his five biggest takeaways after Miami's 29-26 overtime win over Virginia.
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00:00 to give you my five biggest takeaways from Miami's 29 to 26 win against Virginia in overtime this
00:06 past weekend. Takeaway number one, it's very clear that true freshmen and transfers are helping
00:14 change this culture and improve this team. Not exclusively of course, because Cam Kinshens,
00:20 James Williams, they were here before Mario. These guys were awesome this past week, but
00:25 a lot of freshmen and transfers guys are making a difference. Reuben Bain, true freshman,
00:30 he had another two sacks in this game. Branson Dean, a transfer, another defensive lineman,
00:35 had two sacks of his own help change this game coming back from injury. Mark Fletcher scores
00:40 the game-winning touchdown. He comes back from a four-week injury. And by the way, I thought this
00:45 was a really fun factoid from the game. I'm so glad it played out this way, okay? So another thing
00:52 that Chris the Ball revealed when he was on the Joe Rose show this morning was, and Miami doesn't
00:57 mess around with this stuff, they're very careful with injuries. So Mark Fletcher, he'd missed the
01:03 last four weeks, right? They cleared him to return the medical staff, but they had him on a very
01:11 strict rep count and they were not going to go even one snap over the rep count that they had
01:17 Fletcher on. The touchdown that he scored in overtime happened to be the final rep available
01:23 to him. And Chris the Ball didn't say it explicitly, but he strongly implied that had Fletcher not
01:30 scored on that run, we still would not have seen him carry. And maybe it all would have worked out
01:35 because A.J. Allen might've come in and scored a touchdown or, you know, Brashard Smith or something,
01:40 but Fletcher happened to score the TD on the final rep that was available on his snap count coming
01:45 off of injury. I thought that was a really cool story that he told, right? How's that for clutch?
01:49 Another true freshman, Jaden Wayne had an impact on this game. Transfer running back A.J. Allen
01:56 scores one of the nicest touchdowns of the season with that hurdle and he kept his balance. That
02:00 was incredible. Transfers Javion Cohen, the guard and Cam McCormick, the tight end helped block on
02:06 that final touchdown play. They were tremendous. So yeah, freshmen and transfers are really helping
02:12 turn this team's fortunes around. Takeaway number two. We did already crown this man Game Changer
02:18 of the Week, but come on, Andy Boregalis, the kicker, he deserves more praise. Sometimes fans
02:25 just don't give enough love to the kicker because if he misses even one of those three attempts,
02:30 Miami loses the game. But Boregalis was clutch and perfect from 47 yards, 48 yards, and 50 yards.
02:39 And Mario Cristobal said that they're almost at a point where they would trust him to hit a 60
02:44 yarder if needed. And what an advantage that is. Because usually if you're in the neighborhood of
02:48 a 60 yard kick, you're probably either going to punt or you're going to go for it on fourth down,
02:53 depending on the distance, right? In Miami's case, no. We've got automatic Andy. This guy
02:58 could probably hit a 60 yarder. He was doing that pretty consistently in warmups before the game.
03:03 Groza candidate, his older brother won the Groza at Miami. Let's hope Andy can keep that family
03:07 tradition going. And are there any more of these guys? Are there any more Boregalis? I don't think
03:14 they have another brother. Do they have a cousin? Do they have like an uncle with some eligibility?
03:20 Maybe they got someone in the family that didn't play college ball that can come in and kick for
03:25 us. Let's find some more Boregalis pronto. My third takeaway, yes, Miami's safety duo,
03:33 they lived up to that hype in this game. James Williams was all over the field. He led the team
03:38 in tackles. Cam Kinshens, he had a pick six. Just like every one of the Boregalis kicks,
03:45 if Cam Kinshens doesn't get that pick in the touchdown, Miami doesn't win that game. You don't
03:51 win that game without that play. And you can count on Cam to make game changing plays like that.
03:55 Takeaway number four, yes, the offense, they've slown down since conference play began,
04:02 specifically the passing offense. And I've noticed something here that fans can't seem to decide
04:08 whether to put most of the blame on Tyler Van Dyke, on Shannon Dawson, or on Mario Cristobal,
04:16 right? Is Shannon Dawson, is he failing to adjust? Has he been figured out by opposing
04:21 defensive coordinators? Is Mario Cristobal now micromanaging the offense and forcing
04:27 Dawson to go conservative? Is it just your quarterback struggling and making the coaches
04:32 look bad? These have been some of the big questions that people have been asking.
04:36 I know people have this conspiracy theory, the Oregon fans will be like, you see that?
04:43 That's Mario. He's handcuffing his OC. I don't know if I believe that. I think to me, it comes
04:50 down more to personnel. I don't really feel like Dawson or Mario have intentionally changed the
04:58 identity. Honestly, guys, if anything, if you want to make your identity more of a power running team,
05:05 maybe you should go a little bit even deeper into that trench, right? Cut down on some of
05:09 these interceptions, let your physical offensive line wear opponents down during the game.
05:13 Miami does have some injuries in the running back room, but if you can get that room
05:17 a little bit healthier again, you can keep fresh legs on the field. Just based on the way the
05:22 quarterback play has been, I don't think it's necessarily a terrible thing if Miami leans
05:28 into the power running thing a little bit more. Obviously, you're going to have to make some big
05:32 throws. You're not just going to beat Florida State with three yards and a cloud of dust.
05:36 You're going to have to hit some big plays down the field. But I mean, listen, man,
05:39 if that's the identity of your personnel with this offensive line,
05:44 maybe you lean into that even more than you have. Okay. Takeaway number five. Yes,
05:50 six wins is not the goal, but let's appreciate how far this team has come. Okay. And let's not
05:57 forget now. I know that, Hey, if ands or buts, but if Miami had just taken a kneel down or if
06:05 the officials had properly called a non-fumble, if either of those things that happened in the
06:11 Georgia Tech game, you'd be seven and one right now. So let's appreciate the process. All right.
06:17 I don't want to sound like Joel Embiid, but let's appreciate how far this team has already come
06:23 from a five and seven year last year.
06:25 [BLANK_AUDIO]