Eye on the U

B-Rad First-Team All-ACC; Football roster making space; McDermott on Rimington Watch List.

Bryan Radziewski was not his usual self during his last regular-season start, but he was amazing all season -- coming off shoulder surgery nonetheless.

The left-handed junior was among five starting pitchers named to the 2013 All-ACC First Team on Monday.

B-Rad, as he is called by his fans and teammates, ended the season ranked among the conference leaders in nearly every statistical category. He ranked third in ERA (1.64), tied for second in wins (eight), tied for second in complete games (two), third in strikeouts (96) and first in batting average against (.175).

Radziewski is one of three pitchers in the ACC averaging more than 10 strikeouts per nine innings (11.27). The former Baseball America Freshman All-American has recorded 204 Ks over 33 starts and has a 19-4 career record and career ERA of 2.64. 

Miami begins its quest for an ACC title at 3 p.m. Thursday, when it meets No. 1 seed North Carolina in a Pool A matchup in Durham, N.C.

UM lost in the title game to Georgia Tech last year.

RICARDO WILLIAMS OFFICIALLY OFF FOOTBALL TEAM

   Chris Yandle, director of communications for UM athletics, just confirmed to me that 6-5, 251-pound defensive end Ricardo Williams is no longer on the team. A redshirt sophomore, Williams is out of Homestead Senior High. Williams played in one game last year -- against North Carolina. 

   Williams' name has already been removed from the football roster.

   Wide receiver Robert Lockhart Jr., who also has been granted his release, according to Canesport.com, is still on the roster.

    "As far as Robert Lockhart, I have not been informed about anything,'' Yandle said.

   Lockhart is a 6-1, 183-pound redshirt sophomore out of Fork Union Military Academy, via West Boca Raton High.  Lockhart was a four-star recruit by Rivals.com and ESPN. As a high school senior he had 34 catches for 686 yards and six touchdowns. He chose UM over Virginia Tech. Lockhart played in two games last season -- UNC and FSU -- but sustained a season-ending knee injury.

 SHANE McDERMOTT ON RIMINGTON WATCH LIST   

     UM center Shane McDermott is one of 44 players named to the 2013 Rimington Trophy spring watch list. The award is presented annually to the nation's top collegiate center.

    McDermott, a junior, missed spring practice after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery.

     An All-ACC honorable mention selection in 2012 by league coaches, McDermott started all 12 games at center for UM. UM had the ACC's third-best passing offense (295.4-yards-per-game average) and fifth-best total offense (440.2). As a redshirt freshman in 2011, he played in 10 games, allowing no sacks and not being flagged for any penalties.

    McDermott is from Lake Worth. He was awarded the Walter Kichefski Endowed Football Scholarship at the most recent UM Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet. He will earn his bachelor's degree this summer.

    McDermott's younger brother (I won't say "little'' brother as he's 6-6 and approaching 300 pounds), Kc McDermott, has already pledged his commitment to UM for the Class of 2014, a huge get for the Canes.
 Kc is a four-star lineman, according to Rivals.com, and is listed as the 40th best player overall, regardless of position. He is listed as the fifth best tackle in the Class of 2014.

   Notre Dame also wanted Kc, and actually still wants him, but Kc said he's not budging from his commitment to the Hurricanes.  

     SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN

Grading the Canes - Week 1: UM has obvious work to do on defense after BC win

Enjoy this one. Savor it. Al Golden definitely is and told his team to do the same. 

His young Hurricanes battled back from a pair of quick upper cuts Saturday afternoon at Boston College and survived 542 yards of offense from a team that finished last in the ACC last year in that department and still won 41-32.

Not bad, especially when you consider seven Canes -- LB Thurston Armbrister, S Kacy Rodgers, CB Thomas Finnie, DL Olsen Pierre, RB Duke Johnson, OT Ereck Flowers and C Shane McDermott -- were all making their first career starts and several others were getting their first real taste of action. Like youth movements? The Canes put eight players on the field who weren't here last year -- including seven true freshmen (Deon Bush, Tracy Howard, Tyriq McCord, Malcolm Lewis, JaWand Blue, Flowers and Johnson).

Saturday was fun if you bleed orange and green. But the truth is, Golden knows much tougher challenges lie ahead. As talented as those freshmen are UM is going to have to solve major issues on defense moving forward if the good times are going to keep rolling.

Now, to the first round of grades/observations for the Canes:

> Play/Player of the Game: True freshman Duke Johnson had three huge plays -- including touchdown runs of 56 and 54 yards -- to spring UM to life and rally them to victory. But the biggest play in my opinion was the two yards he picked up on 4th and 1 and UM down 14-0 left in the 1st quarter. For all the talk about Duke's lack of size, Johnson barreled past three defenders to get the first down. BC was flagged an additional 10 yards for a facemask on the play. If Johnson doesn't stick his nose in there, the flag might not happen. Eduardo Clements scored three plays later to make it 14-7.

> Offense: A. Hard to find much wrong with what the offense did other than the three big early drops that lead to UM falling behind 14-0 (and a couple of flags on the offensive line that hurt). Allen Hurns, Kendal Thompkins and Rashawn Scott all looked bad early, but Hurns recovered nicely and had a career day at receiver with eight catches for 81 yards. He scored big points with me when he raced over the middle of the field on 3rd and 16 and snagged a 21-yard pass from Stephen Morris on the drive that eventually put UM ahead for good when they were down 23-21. If Hurns doesn't make that catch, maybe game sways a different way. Stephen Morris, meanwhile, was truly fantastic. He scrambled for a couple of big first downs and put several tough balls on the money en route to a 28 of 45 for 207 yards, 1-INT, 1 TD performance. The pick wasn't his fault either. It was Scott's. The offensive line, meanwhile, was stellar. UM ran for 208 yards on the ground and gave Morris plenty of time when he needed it. Morris was sacked just once.

> Defense: D. No pass rush. No pass defense. And not a lot of good other than three turnovers, Denzel Perryman's 41-yard interception return for a touchdown and a couple stops on 3rd-and-1. We can debate about UM's coverage woes. BC quarterback Chris Rettig threw for 441 yards and two touchdowns. But when nobody breathes on you and you have time to order pizza, bake a cake and plan the rest of your Saturday night before making a pass, how else is the pass defense you are going against supposed to look? UM obviously didn't produce a single sack and there were times when receivers (Alex Amidon 10 catches, 149 yards) had nobody around them. But I believe this all stemmed from the success BC had running the football early for big chunks. The Eagles only finished with 101 yards on 34 attempts (3.0 average), but they ran play action off their early success and kept UM's secondary off balance. Meanwhile, Rettig exposed horrendous coverage by the Canes' linebackers and safeties who always seemed out of position when the quarterback rolled out. Whatever defensive coordinator Mark D'Onofrio planned in terms of creating a pass rush failed miserably. He's got to devise something new. It's going to obviously take time. But Saturday was a day to forget.

> Special teams: A. Now you know why punter Dalton Botts is so respected. He took a bad snap right before halftime that could have turned out badly and got it off. He finished with five punts for 40.6 yards including two inside the 20. Miami's return team of Johnson and Phillip Dorsett, meanwhile, put a good enough scare into BC after the first half the Eagles basically refused to kick it to them anymore. The Eagles, meanwhile, never took over possession outside of their 30-yard line following a kickoff or punt. That's good coverage.

RISING STOCK
- WR Allen Hurns. Emerged as the go-to-guy when times were tough at receiver.
- QB Stephen Morris. Coaches were right. He is a lot better. Tremendous arm. Very few mistakes.
- RT Ereck Flowers. Didn't hear his name for anything bad during the broadcast once. Seantrel Henderson is going to have trouble getting his job back.
- WR Davon Johnson. Came in with six career catches. Had a huge third down catch down the sideline to pick up a first down. That wins you more chances.

STOCK SLIPPING
- S Vaughn Telemaque. He was already getting bushed by true freshman Deon Bush for playing time. He was out of position too often.
- RB Mike James. He finished with 54 yards on 14 carries (3.9 a carry) and had a couple nice runs. But the Duke arrived Saturday. It's going to be hard for James to take on the lead role with him around.
- WR Kendal Thompkins. He started after shining in practice all camp. But he dropped at least two balls in the game and finished without a catch. Just disappointing. 
- Defensive coordinator Mark D'Onofrio. He's a standup guy, a great quote and a good coach. But his defense can't go on like this. 

Golden calls win over BC 'Herculean effort' by youngsters

Coach Al Golden kicked off his second season at UM by playing a boatload of freshmen and pulling off a 41-32 come-from-behind win against Boston College.

And by the sound of it, he didn't much care that the Eagles put up 541 yards of offense against his defense. He's happy he got out of Chestnut Hill against a team that beat the snot out of his last year with a victory. And you know what, Miami fans should probably be satisfied with that for right now, too. 

Here is what Golden told WQAM shortly after the win. 

"We knew it was going to be hard fought," Golden said. "We had a lot of guys playing for the first time -- not just the freshmen. [Phillip] Dorsett, [Rashawn] Scott, Shane McDermott. I can go on down the line, guys playing, shouldering the burden for the first time. [Tight end] Dyron Dye. [Defensive end] Kelvin Cain. [Linebackers] Eddie Johnson [and] Thurston Armbrister. Think about that in addition to the freshmen. Herculean effort to come in here and do that on the road."

The Hurricanes went to an up tempo offense themselves to and produced 414 yards of offense against a team they could only muster 17 against last year. Golden was obviously pleased with how offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch was able to prepare a lot of new young players in a short amount of time. True freshmen Duke Johnson and Malcolm Lewis each scored for Miami, which saw new starting quarterback Stephen Morris shine as well (28-45, 207 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT).

"We're getting there," Golden said. "There's a lot of things we got to clean up from this one. We know that. Just coming out of the media. They focus on the no sacks or the passing yards we're giving up and all that. Just to come him with a win with the way the odds were stacked against us -- it's just huge. So many guys were baptized today and came through for us.

"Stephen Morris. He runs the show. First thing I came in and gave a lot of credit to the coaches for doing all the things they did in 29 practices with all these guys who have not played. And we basically played an opponent that had everybody coming back, that held us to 14 [points] a year ago. We lost everybody and put 41 up. That's big. Again, we thought we would have an advantage in conditioning against BC because it was 75 [degrees] and not 98 like we've been seeing [in South Florida], 50 percent humidity and not 80 percent humidity. So we just kept with the tempo and I'm glad that we did. I'm glad we had the ability to do that."

Golden said he liked the fact the team didn't fold down 14-0.

"We're in better condition. It's going to be tested now Saturday against this Kansas State team in the tempo and the heat and that turf. But we played a lot of guys today and we'll regroup and fix some of the things we didn't do so well," he said. "We opened with a really good opponent on the road in a meaningful game and we're down 14 and the guys didn't flinch.

"It's one thing to be down 14-0. It's another thing to be down 14-0 when you have an offsides, drop a pass, you have a blown coverage. It looks like the wheels were coming off. They just settled in there. I give a lot of credit to the leadership on the team to hang in there. Was it perfect? No. But man we know where we are right now. It's not like we played somebody and could have won 50-0 and played everybody. We played a lot of guys anyway against a big, strong physical team. This is a big win to go on the road and win with the youngsters we did it with."

Golden said there were a lot of true freshmen who shined for the Canes Saturday -- not just Johnson.

"As well as Duke played, I can go on down the line. How many times did you call [right tackle] Ereck Flowers getting beat today? Didn't happen. He was steady," Golden said. "Duke is the same way. He finishes every rep. He's ready for that opportunity today because he's in such great condition, he finishes every rep in practice. You ask him to block, he blocks. You ask him to line up somewhere else, he studies it and prepares. He catches the ball in the backfield and obviously has breakaway speed and great lateral movement.

"And then how about Malcolm Lewis I got news for the fans out there listening. Malcolm Lewis didn't really practice this week. He had a hamstring. We got a little bit on Wednesday and a little bit more on Thursday. He goes out and does that. Big time.

UM's defense took the ball away three times despite giving up 30 points. Golden said the interception return for a touchdown by Denzel Perryman was "exactly what he was coached to do on that play."

"He was in position and he executed," Golden said. "Again, there is going to be a lot that we'll fix and we have time to do that. I just want to enjoy. I want these guys to enjoy it. They worked hard. Since the day after this game a year ago, they went to work. Got stronger and better condition and went out and did that.

UM performed very well on special teams, returning several kickoffs back for good field position. They also did a good job in coverage. The only hiccup was a bad snap on a punt, that Dalton Botts was still able to get away.

"All the young guys on their coverage units right now. We don't really have any upperclassmen on those. So, the young guys did a great job there. I can't tell you what happened with the snap [that almost led to trouble on the punt]. That's never happened. That's something we work on every day and it never happens. It wasn't even remotely close to that. I thought it hit the middle guy, but it hit the left guy which I don't understand."

Gameday blog: Canes at Boston College

It's finally Game Day.

The Miami Hurricanes will be taking on Boston College at 3:30 p.m. this afternoon at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill. The game can be seen on either ABC or ESPN2 depending on where you are.

Our Susan Miller Degnan and Greg Cote are there to cover the game. I will be here at home watching the game on TV like most Hurricanes fans.

Feel free to participate in our CoverItLive.com chat below. All you need to do is sign in with your email address.

OPENING DAY STORYLINES

> The Canes, coming off a 6-6 season and still under investigation by the NCAA, have a really young team coming back from last season. Coach Al Golden said he expected about 14 to 15 true freshmen to see action in this game. In all, UM has 15 freshmen or sophomores listed on the on the depth chart on offense and 18 listed on defense.

> Right tackle Ereck Flowers and cornerback Tracy Howard could end up becoming the first true freshmen to start in their first college game at UM since 2008 when Jacory Harris and Aldarius Johnson did against Charleston Southern.

> While the Hurricanes come into the game relatively healthy (only DT Curtis Porter and LB Raphael Kirby are out among those listed on the two deep) Boston College is a little more banged up. Tight end Chris Pantale, who lit UM up last season in BC's 24-17 win at Sun Life Stadium, is among a few Eagles that are out. Tailback Rolandan Finch (foot) is banged up.

> For more on BC read up here. 

Game Day! Finally. The Hurricanes are about to get this season rolling. Will it be a happy Saturday night for UM fans?

Good morning Canes fans.

Game Day -- love those two words.

It is an absolutely gorgeous day here in Boston, and I'm sure the Hurricanes are incredibly excited, anxious, nervous -- whatever word fits for whichever player -- about starting the season.

Last season ended so disappointingly against these same Boston College Eagles.

I believe UM will take care of business today and win the opener IF:

* Quarterback Stephen Morris protects the ball first and foremost, and does not throw interceptions. I'm not doing an over-under on picks, which had become a sad tradition among many when Jacory Harris was the quarterback. But how promising would it be if Stephen didn't throw any today and keeps his composure?

* The UM defensive line can hold up to the physicality that is Boston College's MO.The Eagles rushed 50 times in last season's finale. UM has proven so porous in its run defense the past few seasons that you just know the Eagles will give it a shot. However, BC's top running back, Rolandan Finch (he rushed for 96 yards on 22 carries) has an injured foot and is not expected to see a lot of action today (we'll see about that, too).

* The UM linebackers tackle the way they've been taught. Sometimes in the first couple of weeks we see a lot of missed tackles.

* The Hurricanes' running game emerges. With no Lamar Miller, you just have to hope that Mike James is ready to get some yards. If not, we're going to see a lot of Eduardo Clements and Duke Johnson.

* The offensive line does a decent job.

Who are you, as fans, most eager to see play today?

I can't wait to see Duke Johnson, and interested in seeing how Ereck Flowers does at right tackle.  Also looking to see how Deon Bush and Tracy Howard do, if they get in, which I suspect they will. I'm sure a lot of these guys will start out with special teams and then get integrated into the offense or defense.

Boston College has a lot of injuries, which you never want to see, but helps the Hurricanes.

Al Golden just wants to win, but a well-played victory would do wonders to start out the season.

Our Manny Navarro will be blogging live during the game, so be sure to join him!

Oh yes, people are asking me my prediction for the game. I know I had all those qualifying "ifs'' above, but I do predict a win for Miami today. Don't ask me the score. Who knows?

SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN