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

Fisch talks drops, Duke, Stephen Morris, Carolina D

Offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch discussed the Notre Dame game and looked ahead to this week's North Carolina matchup on Monday.

The Hurricanes (4-2, 3-0 in ACC) were plagued by drops against the Irish. Fisch agreed drops seem to be the only real negative that has affected his offense this season.

"It definitely has hampered us at times from really the Boston College game," Fisch said. "We kind of looked back and I think we had seven drops in that game and we had seven drops in this one. I think there are games where we are getting better at it. I don't think we were dropping it in the games that we had our bigger games in terms of production. We had less drops [in those]. This one got us. Against Kansas State we dropped a pretty good amount. It is one of those things that you have to work through and be able to find ways to catch the ball and execute the plan."

Fisch called Saturday's performance against the Irish "weird" because the offense performed well but only produced three points. "We look back on the game and we had two offensive penalties the whole game, we didn't turn the ball over, no interceptions, no fumbles," he said. "I thought Stephen Morris did have a good game, and we walked away with only three points. What do you tell them? How does that happen? Well it happens because we didn't execute. We didn't finish. You can throw a beautiful ball, but if you don't catch it then you don't finish."

> There weren't many changes on the Canes' depth chart on offense. But there was one notable new addition: freshman Robert Lockhart is now listed on the two-deep. Fisch said Monday he would "like to have a role for [Lockhart]" in Saturday's game against North Carolina.

"I'd like for him to have an opportunity," Fisch said. "He's done a great job competing each week and improving. He has a good understanding now. I think we can use him as one of our weapons. He has a better understanding now and I think we can use him as another one of our weapons."

> While freshman Duke Johnson continues to rank in the top five in the ACC in all-purpose yards (1st, 168.3), kick return average (3rd, 27.9), and rushing (5th, 63.5), his overall production rushing and receiving has begun to slow down a bit in the past three weeks. He's scored just one touchdown in the past three games and had 57 yards combined total offense versus the Irish. Fisch said Duke's drop in production Saturday was just a case of not being able to get things going on offense at all.

"Obviously, you would like to hit on some of those bigger plays because that would have given us more plays and not dropped the ball on the third down," Fisch said. "When you get more plays, you get more opportunities to run the football, you get more opportunities to get the ball in Duke's hands. I think in terms of our ratio to plays run and his touches, it was good, I just don't think he didn't have enough touches because we didn't run enough plays."

> Duke has had some drops during some games this year. Is that unlike him?

"It is certainly not like him in practice," Fisch said. "I don't even know if I could think of a play that Phillip dropped a ball in practice. It is not like him either. It's not like Duke. Duke didn't drop that slant against Kansas State all week long when we practiced it. It just happens to be sometimes that it happens. No, it is very unlike Duke to drop it and it is very unlike Phillip to drop it. I don't expect it to be an epidemic by any means."

> Fisch said the accuracy of quarterback Stephen Morris "has really improved."

"One of the things that we were talking about going into the season was that we all knew he had a very strong arm, but how was his accuracy going to be?," Fisch said. "That was an earlier knock maybe. I think it's A, hard work; and B, I think his ability to be accurate is due to how hard our wide receivers practice during the week. If you are always running full speed, then you are practicing that way and you become more accurate. When you have guys practicing at different tempos all the times -- and that is an issue we had until this season -- our guys practice full speed everyday. Phillip runs that route that fast Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Therefore were able to become more accurate throwing it on Saturdays.

"I think we have been able to convince Stephen to trust himself. Trusting yourself means that if you believe somebody is coming open, throw it then. You don't have to wait until you see them come open every time. That's part of it. Trusting yourself means that if we tell you that he is going to run by the safety 40 yards down the field, trust it and let your feet do the talking -- meaning throw it on one hitch, don't wait until three or four hitches and wait and wait and wait. That's a huge difference. I think that's why he is more accurate and more confident and our receivers are doing a great job running routes in practice."

> One player who continues to gain the trust of Morris and Fisch is fifth-year senior Davon Johnson, who is now fourth on the team with 16 catches for 262 yards.

"DJ's done a really great job," Fisch said. "He has made some of the tough catches and some of the easier catches that sometimes when you are wide open and thinking about it. You're thinking about 'I got to catch it.' He has been very mature. It think his age has shown up, his maturity. He has been around the program for a while and I think that's helped him and I think that's helped his consistency."

> North Carolina's defense isn't as highly touted as Notre Dame's, but they still present a good challenge, Fisch said. The Tar Heels rank 26th in scoring defense (17.83 ppg), 20th in total defense (312.33 ypg) and 11th against the run (86.33 ypg).

"They are very fast up front, their secondary is good," Fisch said. "Obviously, Butch [Davis] did a great job recruiting, so they are very talented players. They do a great job schematically -- really a great job. It is going to be a challenge for us. It's going to be an all day challenge for us.

"Their defensive line is excellent, they are very active. Their secondary does a great job of ball-hawking. I think they have a number of interceptions, a high number of takeaways and a high number of sacks. So our [offensive] line is going to have to do a great job. I think our line is giving up a sack once every 34 passes, which is double compared to last year when we're 1 for 17. It is going to be an all day event on Saturday. They're not a big man team. They play zone. They're very aggressive and their safeties are very good."

UM-FSU an 8 p.m. kickoff on Oct. 20

The Hurricanes Oct. 20 Homecoming showdown with Florida State will be televised live at 8 p.m. on ABC, the Atlantic Coast Conference office announced Monday.

Miami (4-2, 3-0 ACC) sits atop the ACC Coastal Division standings and hosts North Carolina at 2:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPNU.

Al Golden releases newest depth chart after #UM #Canes game against Notre Dame

Good morning.

We got our newest depth chart this morning, two days after UM released another chart minutes before kickoff Saturday at Soldier Field.

 Olsen Pierre is back as one of the starting tackles, opposite redshirt freshman Corey King, who made his first start against Notre Dame. Pierre was injured but Al Golden said he will play against North Carolina.

Gionni Paul is starting again at weak-side.

At cornerback, Ladarius Gunter is now listed as the starter, with freshman Tracy Howard and sophomore Thomas Finnie co-backups.

Mike James and Duke Johnson still have an "AND" between their names as co-first-teamers at running  back -- as they did when UM released the depth chart before the game.

 Seantrel Henderson started at right tackle Saturday. The depth chart says: Ereck Flowers OR Henderson, as it did before the Notre Dame game.

Clive Walford, who had a nice 28-yard catch Saturday on that unforgettable opening drive, is now the starting TE.

  DEPTH CHART, courtesy UM

OFFENSE
WR	80	Rashawn Scott	6-2	190	So.
	86	Herb Waters	6-2	185	Fr.
LT	79	Malcolm Bunche	6-7	325	RSo.
	64	Hunter Wells	6-4	300	RFr.
LG	70	Jon Feliciano	6-5	314	RSo.
	68	Jeremy Lewis	6-4	316	RSr.
C	62	Shane McDermott	6-4	295	RSo.
	75	Jared Wheeler	6-5	314	RJr.
RG	65	Brandon Linder	6-6	308	Jr.
	63	Danny Isidora	6-4	320	Fr.
RT	74	Ereck Flowers -OR-	6-6	314	Fr.
	77	Seantrel Henderson	6-8	340	Jr.
TE	46	Clive Walford	6-4	250	RSo.
	49	Dyron Dye	6-5	255	RJr.
	82	Asante Cleveland	6-5	263	Jr.
FB	33	Maurice Hagens	5-11	240	Jr.
	43	Sean Harvey	6-4	262	RSo.
QB	17	Stephen Morris	6-2	214	Jr.
	11	Ryan Williams	6-5	221	RSo.
RB	5	Mike James -AND-	5-11	220	Sr.
	8	Duke Johnson	5-9	188	Fr.
	23	Eduardo Clements	5-9	195	Jr.
WR	4	Phillip Dorsett	5-10	185	So.
	83	Kendal Thompkins -OR-	5-10	182	RSr.
	6	Robert Lockhart Jr.	6-1	188	Fr.
WR	1	Allen Hurns	6-3	192	Jr.
	24	Davon Johnson	6-0	188	Sr.

 

 

 

  

DEFENSE
DE	71	Anthony Chickillo	6-4	262	So.
	99	Jelani Hamilton	6-5	271	Fr.
DT	67	Corey King	6-1	295	RFr.
	72	Earl Moore	6-1	300	Fr.
	66	Dequan Ivery	6-1	303	Fr.
DT	91	Olsen Pierre	6-4	300	So.
	93	Luther Robinson  -OR-	6-3	288	RJr.
	98	Darius Smith	6-2	315	Sr.
DE	51	Shayon Green	6-3	260	RJr.
	17	Tyriq McCord	6-3	236	Fr.
OLB	44	Eddie Johnson	6-1	238	RFr.
	34	Thurston Armbrister	6-3	222	So.
	58	Gabriel Terry	6-3	215	Fr.
MLB	52	Denzel Perryman	6-0	229	So.
	56	Raphael Kirby  -OR-	6-0	218	Fr.
	59	Jimmy Gaines	6-3	230	Jr.
OLB	36	Gionni Paul	6-1	230	So.
	31	Tyrone Cornileus -OR-	6-2	210	Jr.
	57	Nantambu-Akil Fentress	5-9	205	So.
CB	37	Ladarius Gunter	6-2	198	So.
	3	Tracy Howard -OR-	5-11	185	Fr.
	20	Thomas Finnie	5-10	183	So.
S	2	Deon Bush	6-1	190	Fr.
	22	Kacy Rodgers II	6-2	210	Jr.
S	30	A.J. Highsmith	6-0	202	RJr.
	7	Vaughn Telemaque	6-2	204	RSr.
	29	Rayshawn Jenkins	6-1	203	Fr.
CB	21	Brandon McGee	6-0	194	Sr.
	39	Antonio Crawford	5-11	188	Fr.

 

 

 

 

SPECIALISTS
P	13	Dalton Botts	6-3	205	Sr.
	40	Jake Wieclaw	6-2	193	RSr.
FG	40	Jake Wieclaw	6-2	193	RSr.
	18	Matt Goudis	6-0	170	RFr.
KO	40	Jake Wieclaw	6-2	193	RSr.
	18	Matt Goudis	6-0	170	RFr.
H	13	Dalton Botts	6-3	205	Sr.
	11	Ryan Williams	6-5	221	RSo.
LS	61	Paul Kelly	6-1	262	RSr.
	59	Jimmy Gaines	6-3	230	Jr.
SS	61	Paul Kelly	6-1	262	RSr.
	65	Brandon Linder	6-6	308	Jr.
PR	4	Phillip Dorsett	5-10	185	So.
	8	Duke Johnson	5-9	192	Fr.
KR	4	Phillip Dorsett	5-10	185	So.
	8	Duke Johnson	5-9	188	Fr.

 SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN