Al Golden defends D'Onofrio, Phillip Dorsett's Twitter "naysayers'' and Stephen Morris comments

GOLDEN DEFENDS D’ONOFRIO

    Fans have been highly critical of defensive coordinator Mark D’Onofrio, whose Hurricanes are ranked near the bottom nationally of every defensive category. Golden was asked Tuesday if he sensed any frustration on D’Onofrio’s part.

   Golden: “Any frustration that he has on his part… because there’s no fan out there that can match his intensity or his dedication in trying to get his trade right. The last two years the same guy had two Top-20 defenses in terms of scoring defense. So, as angry as everybody is, they’re not watching it, they’re not living it everyday like he is.

    “As I say to him and the whole defensive staff, we’re moving the team forward. Just keep moving it forward. As I said to you guys before, it’s not like we’re hiding a bunch of fourth and fifth-year seniors on the scout-team field. Where are they? There are no fifth-year seniors, there are no fourth-year seniors – only a couple – and there are very few juniors.

    “The guys we’re playing with right now are fighting every day, they’re learning, but they’re learning under fire. I think you go to Parris Island before you go to war, right? They’re learning on the battle field. Just stay positive, man. Just keep moving forward. We’ll get there. I promise you we’ll get there.’’

    I checked the NCAA statistics again and D'Onofrio's and Golden's last season at Temple in 2010, the Owls finished 16th in scoring defense (19 points a game allowed) and 16th in total defense (317.6 ypg allowed). Last year, the Hurricanes, under D'Onofrio and Golden, finished 17th in scoring defense (20 ppg allowed) and 29th in pass defense (198 ypg allowed).

    D'Onofrio's rushing defense last year at UM was ranked 68th (161.9). His rushing defense at Temple in 2010 was ranked 47th (139.5).

DORSETT BRUSHES OFF “NAYSAYERS’’

   Receiver Phillip Dorsett spoke Tuesday about his critical drops Saturday at Notre Dame, saying he was “really excited to get back on the field’’ and catch balls again.

  “I’m still confident,’’ Dorsett said. “I had a bad game last week, I know. But I’m going out there and working hard everyday, and I know I should be able to have a great game this week.’’

   Dorsett later told reporters about “naysayers, people threatening’’ on Twitter, but didn’t elaborate on specifics.

   “I just look past it,’’ he said.

   When asked by The Miami Herald about the criticism he took from the public, Dorsett brushed it off, indicating that fans are fickle and that he didn’t pay much attention to it.

    Dorsett, known as @BrickByBrick_4 on Twitter, posted Sunday:  “I had a bad game, I didn’t play to my standard, but you better believe that will never happen again.. It’s going down next week #hungry.’’

    Another one of his Sunday Twitter posts: “Games like yesterday shows who really supports you through the ups and downs of this game.’’

STEPHEN MORRIS TELECONFERENCE

    This is Miami Herald intern R.J. Rico’s last week with us, but I’m sure you’ve noticed some of his stories the past few weeks. R.J. was on Stephen Morris’ teleconference today, and transcribed these comments:

   On North Carolina: “They’re a very fast defense. They’re very physical. They’re extremely well coached. They’ve done extremely well in the red zone, on third downs, and situational football. They’re a very well-coached team. They know their insides and outs. They play fast and get to the ball very fast. It will be a great challenge.’’

      On Notre Dame: “After a game like that you really just have to take the positives out of it. Obviously it wasn’t the type of game that we wanted to have. The biggest thing to do is to learn from the mistakes that we made and make sure that they don’t happen again. We had too many costly mistakes and that led to bad drives on offense that didn’t lead to points.”

     On Phillip Dorsett: “I just want him to have a great game. I want him to bounce back extremely strong. We’re just looking to get him started. I know that he’s going to be excited to go out there and be able to play again. That’s the best cure for a game like that – just going out there and letting loose and having fun. I think that’s what he needs. I’m going to be behind him no matter what. It’s a growing pain. He’s growing and he’s going to make his own mark.’’

 STEP RIGHT UP!

    Per UM: Due to President Barack Obama’s visit to the Miami campus, BankUnited Center ticket office will be closed to walk-up sales Thursday. Instead, fans interested in purchasing tickets that day can visit the Hecht Athletic Center. The Hecht’s ticket office will be open from 8:30 to 5 p.m. Thursday. If you’re interested in the $9 before 9 a.m. special, and it happens to be Thursday, visit the Hecht from 8:30-9 a.m. that day.

SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN

Comments

[raymond roy]

If Miami beats North Carolina, they will probably win the coastal division even if they lose to FSU and Va. Tech. Va. Tech has to play both FSU and Clemson.

[CaneFan'72]

The comments of Golden sound familiar, "Forward, we're just moving forward". Sounds like Obama to me, and we have seen what he has done. Maybe Notre Dame should have to share some of the points with us and we did not lose so badly. Maybe just lay off some of the def coaches, (they aren't working anyway), and save money for volleyball. It's very evident, winning is not a priority for the program anymore

[Lotsathings]

Those calling for instant results when it comes to the U, never attended the U. They are dorks looking for something winning to attach their self worth to. And when they don't see it, they start calling for heads to roll.

[MikeS]

I don't think you can compare anything Temple did to Miami. Temple's defense did not consistently play against the quality of miami's. Not that the ACC is so great, but it still is better than most of Temple's opponents. I watched alot of the NC VT game, we will have to score alot of points. Their offense is really working, and they will stop our run game, forcing the receiversto not do what they did last week. GO CANES

[Eudocimus]

Manny - all of that info on Pee Wee Allen was came out in December of 2011, everything has already been reported by Yahoo! News. Did that other writer get an interview with Allen where he said all the same things again or something?

Why would you run that story, with no new information or insights, on the front page of the Miami Herald immediately after a high profile game like Notre Dame unless you were trying to draw maximum attention to it?

It just seems like the Miami Herald is embarrassed that Yahoo! Sports and even the Miami New Times were on this Shapiro story WAAAAAY before they knew anything about it and are trying to make up for it with this sensationalist BS 10 months after the fact.

Whatever the reason, go screw yourself fatty, I'm done with the Herald.

[playthefreshmen]

I attended the University of Miami from 2000-2003, so STFU!! RS had the same issues (even worse) than AG and D Corch, yet RS had better results..

The same people that were on RS for everything being his fault because he was the HC now give AG a pass AND DEFEND THE WORSE DC THAT MIAMI HAS HAD IN ITS HISTORY!! D corch sucked, sucks and continue to suck..

He played this stupid scheme at Temple where they face slower, less talented WR, TE and RB's; but at Miami we face strong BCS teams and D corch's scheme is exposed every time we play a good opponent.

[championships is all that matters]

Mike no one is comparing the talent that was at temple to the talent we have or play against. You just said it, the teams that they played against at Temple were not as good as the ones we play now, which in most cases is correct. But he did not have the players at Temple that he has at Miami. So the scheme will work because as they have upgraded in talent, they also have upgraded in opposition. Just look around at the coaches that have come out of the MAC and done well. Saban used the same schemes when he was there, Meyer used the same when he was there, Brian Kelly used the same schemes when he was there and Golden is going to do the same. The common denominator in all of this is their schemes worked against the level of competition they faced with the talent they had. It will work it is going to just take time for these kids to learn and get stronger with time in the weight room and experience on the field.

[CanesFan'72]

playthefreshman, you are too dumb to have graduated. just because you stepped on campus(selling hot dogs at baseball games) doesn't mean you know squat. Temple was a national power, Golden should have been coach of the year, and you could serve him hotdogs. weenie

[rchy12]

Who cares what AG said, we see the same game he does.

We have talent
We have fans
We have players
We have a HC
WE have a OC
We need a Stadium
We need a DC
We need a DL coach
We need some D-Linemen
We need a AD
We need our Green jerseys back
We need our Nike combat Jersey
We need our Army Fatigues
We need this victory Saurday
We need all the Canes to show up and cheer
We need 3 more years

[360Cane]

Hahahahahahahaha...told you fools! But yea, don't listen to the guys that actually played, studies film, applied it to the field, understand learning curves, understand you ain't going to do anything with a team of 41 freshmen or any of the FACTS. You just keep trusting your couch skillz.

[rchy12]

It would be nice if President Obama could fire both the Troll Donna Shalaya and her counter partner Mark D'Fino.

Please can we get some help here in Coral Gables.

NOW HIRING

[PineCountyCane]

I am so tired of hearing about his supposedly sound resume and top 20 scoring defenses...lets take a look at that shall we.

Mark Donofrio's career

2006- played 2 ranked teams lost by combined 125-9.
2007- played 1 ranked team lost 31-0
2008- played 1 ranked team lost 45-3
2009- played 1 ranked team lost 31-6
2010- The vaunted #16 ranked scoring defense...played 1 ranked team lost 22-13
2011- 17th ranked scoring defense...50th overall.
2012- 118th total defense.
Stop talking about top-20 scoring defenses, this is not the mac, you dont make adjustments...donofrio is in over his head.
I must admit i liked Golden so much that i didnt even look at the defensive hire. I have a feeling no one else did either.
There is no defense for his defense.
He is Garbage.
Go canes, beat UNC ill be in the front row with my Donofrio Must Go Sign!!

[rchy12]

@PLAYTHEFRESHMEN
dont pay attention to these clowns that is defeding Al Golden and his DC. We all see he is a terrible DC

[St pete cane]

they stink on defense

[dbc]

Ok coach and players,

Get out there and do your best.

Phillip, you've got what it takes.

Stephen, you can have another great game.

Defense, get after it and play with passion!

You can beat UNC.

Have your best game of the year

and, remember, IT'S GREAT TO BE A MIAMI HURRICANE!

[Brian]

I just don't believe that youth is to account for all of the defensive woes. Yes, we are younger than virtually everybody. I'll buy the notion that this can result in mistakes from inexperience and often getting pushed around until they bulk up as veterans. Sure, this can explain a poor defense. However, we are awful, just miserable on D. Coaching and schemes have to be at play here. There is no reason we should be THIS BAD, youth or not. I don't see much progress from week to week either. I kept telling myself that we will be nasty soon enough, but I honestly don't know if that will happen with this coordinator. I hope it does, but my gut tells me we won't. I believe in what Golden is doing, and I think he has done a phenomenal job. But he has to be able to see this. He has to. I also agree with a comment from a few days ago stating: what happened to "no excuses" this year? In postgame interviews all we hear is: "nobody else is this young."

[MikeS]

Champs, it's good that your so positive in your posts. I was really sold on Golden, but it's just that we are SO bad on defense. After the last 2 coaches, it's hard to take anymore. I know Golden can't be blamed for the others, but it's hard to watch anymore. I'm not going anywhere, I've been around too long. I hope you can tell me "told ya so" soon. GO CANES

[Dorsett will be smile by senior time ear to ear!]

Lord please make it mandatory for a IQ test to Blog.
People just keep breeding IDIOTS!!!

[Tallycane]

Yeah I agree I had to warm up to golden an I think he and the oc are good coaches. However the dc is hot garbage. Golden does have the same problems Shannon did in his tenure. Shannon had a descent defense and a garbage oc in nix and whipple. Golden has a descent offense and a garbage defense. They are all one in the same until they prove otherwise. Please don't satin we are young when the corners are playing ten yards off the ball and the line backers playing in the way off as well. He said last year the hasn't learned his scheme what's the excuse this year. Shannon won 9 games one year and we could only hope to get nine wins this year. Everyone knows the defense is unacceptable. The worst part about it instill feel like we could have beat notre dame.

[Carlos]

Not even Tim Walton was this putrid as a defensive coordinator.

[PineCountyCane]

Saban used the same scheme? You lose all credibility. Donofrio employs the exact opposite of sabans attacking scheme. Wow. Clueless.

[PineCountyCane]

Temple was a national power.....wow. they went 8-4 and no one even invited them to go to a bowl. Man the nonsense that gets posted here in blind support. Support your team but my god be realistic...

[zone3cane]

This guy D'onofrio is a joke... why do we keep letting him get away w/ trying to compare Temple stats in the MAC conference to what's going here???

The MAC is MAC talent.... this is BCS talent. If you look when Temple had to play Penn St. The defense didn't do s***. Bernard Pierce their star running back, who is now on the Ravens, had to keep scoring for them to stay in the game.

That defense is trash.... their is always going to be holes in it. He has our players thinking too much instead of reacting. The Linebackers have to guard receivers and stop the run. The Safeties have to play the field and cornerback b/c we never use nickel packages.

Golden keeps crying about youth this and youth that.... not every team is going to field Seniors every year, WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO W/ A DT BEING ABLE TO SHED A BLOCK!!!!????

[SJMPARMAN]

Let's take a quick look at how thi year's Miami defense stacks up against some of the worst in recent college football history. I found an article on the subject from a reporter of the University of Kansas defense in 2011. Here was his breakdown of some of the recent worst defenses:

WORST DEFENSES OF ALL TIME

Total defense: Maryland allowed 553.0 ypg in 1993 (6,083 yards in 11 games)

Scoring defense: Louisiana-Lafayette allowed 50.3 ppg in 1997 (553 points in 11 games)

WORST DEFENSES SINCE 2000

2010

Scoring defense: New Mexico 44.33 ppg

Total defense: East Carolina 478.77 ypg

2009

Scoring defense: Rice 43.08 ppg

Total defense: Washington State 512.0 ypg

2008

Scoring defense: North Texas 47.58 ppg

Total defense: North Texas 482.58 ypg

2007

Scoring defense: North Texas 45.1 ppg

Total defense: Minnesota 518.67 ypg

2006

Scoring defense: Louisiana Tech 41.7 ppg

Total defense: Louisiana Tech 483.23 ypg

2005

Scoring defense: Temple 45.3 ppg

Total defense: Northwestern 480.42 ypg

2004

Scoring defense: San Jose State 42.6 ppg

Total defense: Army 490.09 ypg

2003

Scoring defense: Mississippi State 39.3 ppg

Total defense: Louisiana Tech 510.50 ypg

2002

Scoring defense: Eastern Michigan 47.2 ppg

Total defense: Eastern Michigan 519.92 ypg

2001

Scoring defense: Idaho 45.0 ppg

Total defense: San Jose State 500.83 ypg

2000

Scoring defense: Buffalo 41.1 ppg

Total defense: San Jose State 470.58 ypg

Source: http://m.cjonline.com/sports/2011-10-13/ku-defense-could-be-historically-bad

Miami's 2012 stats

Scoring Defense: 34.67 ppg

Total Defense 510.00 ypg

We are currently on pace to be worse than 7 of the 10 teams in total defense from 2000 to 2010 in total defense. The scoring defense number is helped only by the fact that we did hold Bethune Cookman to a low number of points. Exclude that game, and we are giving up 39.60 ppg versus FBS competition.

I am going to quote something Paul Johnson said when he fired Al Groh, because I think it is very prophetic.

Johnson on the difficulty of the decision: “It’s really disappointing and frustrating. You never want to do these things. You never want to have to, but to me, that’s part of being a leader. Sometimes you have to do hard things..."

A leader recognizes when mediciocrity and the race to ineptitude must end and takes bold action to try to change things for the better. He doesn't stand complacent in the face of disaster and act like it is all okay. I don't like Paul Johnson as a football coach but I do admire his leadership in saying enough is enough at GT. I don't admire AG's defense of his coordinator when the stats clearly show he is an epic failure.

[Mike]

This is the eventual tipping point of the season that we are all used to. These baby Canes can buck the trend by beating NC this weekend setting up a very viable road to an ACC championship game.

Still a big fan of Dorsett. That was something of an anomaly this past weekend. Expect big things from him and the rest of the WR corp this weekend.

[Canesjunkie]

Golden isn't getting rid of his dc in the middle of the season so just ley the season play out. Give Golden 3 years to get this pointed in the right direction. A new dc isnt a magic bullet.

[zone3cane]

i'm not even worried about Dorsett.... he is just a sophomore who is being taught under a very good WR coach.

My concern is strictly w/ this defense... Jethro Franklin needed to be fired yesterday. He is the WORST D-Line Coach I have ever been around to witness.

O'nofrio needs to stop feeding us this horsesh** about how the defense is too young.... NO you suck and the players aren't buying in to your garbage system!!

[DNix]

Sorry but some of u 'fans' don't have a effen clue!! Unbelievable! Wait until the bandwagon is rolling like u want it, then jump on. Root for FSU or UF.

[PineCountyCane]

DNix,

Since you "Have a clue" enlighten us please.
Dont let us suffer while you hold all the secrets as to why we run this scheme...Im very interested.
and just because we want a new DC doesnt mean we arent die hards. It means we want the best for the boys who put the jerseys on every saturday.
If anything im more of a fan bc im not willing to just accept that these kids dont deserve better.
They deserve to play closer to the line of scrimmage where they can make a play.
I mean how in the hell can you make a play on the ball when you're 15 yards away from the action every single down.
Im never off the wagon. Ill always be a fan.
Now go ahead...wow me with the secrets to a soft zone defense...

[5Titles]

You can't make plays if you don't scheme to make plays!

I hope the new AD tells Golden:

I did not hire you, but I will Fire YOU!

Keeping D'Suckio around would be insane!

[Al]

Don't buy that BS on No'D. He sucks big time. Numbers don't lie. Because of him the whole team is suffering. Even my 3 year old can run over miami's No'D. Shame on u Golden. Stop making excuses saying we are young. We are sick of your sorry excuses. Every team loses players every year and 117 of those teams have a better defenses. We are Miami, not Temple. We should be top ten every year. That's what we are used to in Coral Gables. So...put up or shut up.

[5Titles]

Release a depth chart on MONDAY and Dorsett is starting! WhatThePhuck!!!!!!!!!

I guess dropping passes is encouraged by Golden! SMDH!

Dorsett should have been demoted until he proved he deserved to play again!

[Terry King]

THERE ARE TWO REASONS THIS DEFENSE IS SO BAD AND YOUTH IS NOT ONE! THEY ARE COACHING AND SCHEME. THE DEFENSE COACHING IS AWFUL BECAUSE JETHRO FRANKLIN IS A TERRIBLE DL COACH! HOW HARD IS IT TO FIND YOUR BEST RUN STOPPERS AND BEST PASS RUSHERS! IN FLORIDA THE EMPHASIS IN HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL IS SPEED! TEAM SPEED! GREAT CONDITIONING! MAN TO MAN IN YOUR FACE COVERAGE WITH STRONG PASS RUSHERS! DC WE HAVE HERE SUCKS BECAUSE HE CAME IN WANTING TO CHANGE FLORIDA STYLE FOOTBALL ON DEFENSE TO THAT B..L SH.T! TYPE OF BIG TEN FOOTBALL! THAT WILL NOT WORK AND HE MUST CHANGE! CASE IN POINT! LOOK AT OHIO ST UNDER COACH MEYER THIS YEAR! EMPHASIS IS ON SPEED AND QUICKNESS! THEY WILL WIN THE BIG TEN AND THEY WILL BEAT MICHIGAN! I HOPE THEY DON'T( HATE COACH MEYER/OHIO ST) BUT HIS SYSTEM IS WORKING AND DOMINATING! WANT TO CHANGE THINGS ON DEFENSE! 1 RUN BLITZ TO STOP RUN! 2 PLAY MAN/MAN COVERAGE ON 3RD DOWN AND LONG AND BLITZ JOHNSON ON ONE SIDE AND RUSH CHICKALO ON OTHER SIDE LEAVE PERRYMAN TO SPY QB AND PAUL FOR RUNNING BACK! PUT EMPHASIS ON PUSHING LINEMEN IN THE BACKFIELD! IT THIS DO NOT WORK FIRE THE ENTIRE DEFENSIVE STAFF END OF SEASON! MIAMI WINS COASTAL DIVISION WITH A TERRIBLE DEFENSE IMAGINE WHAT EXPECTATIONS WILL BE NEXT YEAR! GO CANES 38 NC 24

[mike]

There aren't college football fans in Miami, there are bandwagon people...how about supporting these kids? Everyone knows the defense is bad...you think it is all on the coach? How about the depth, ecperience and talent???? Did Penn State have good defense? That's where these guys learned and played.. They aren't oblivious.. Of course time will tell...but in general it is much better to support young kids in college than to tear them down.

[mike]

MikeS, no but Temple had 2 1st round defensive draft choices in the NFL draft, which is 2 more than the U had the last 2 years.

[mike]

Eudocimus, it's news because Pee Wee had not yet testified before the grand jury, and there was no corroboration to Shapiro's story. Do you think that because a story isn't written the whole thing is going away, not a chance. Get your head out of the sand. Amazing.

[mike]

Canesjunkie, well said.

[mike]

5Titles, I read such idiotic posts. You want to sit the leading receiver on the team whose caught 29 passes for 470 yards which also leads the team. Whose 2 prior games were 9 receptions for 184 yards and 1 TD, and 7 for 191 with 2 TD's including a game winner. Are you stupid or what, go coach a rec league team.

[CaneFan'72]

68 and 47 in defense golden's and d'os the last two years, 47th after four or five years at temple.

And yet golden says d'o is good in defense?? Is he kidding? What is d'os defense this year, and this year against just KSU and ND because Miami must play top teams year after year in FSU, ND or KSU, VT, NC, UF. The Canes never get a cake walk schedule like Boise State to play one tough game a year.

And the worst thing golden did was blame the players or blame their youth. What he failed to blame was himself and DC in their crap prevent-the-win defense which allows an opposing team to run through Miami.

Players win games. Coaches with crap formations LOSE the games.

3 down linemen defense. Miami loses,
LB's 5 yards off the line of scrimmage, Miami loses,
Zone pass defense, Miami loses,
NO effective blitz by fast corner back, Miami loses,
Throwing hail mary OR flat passes instead of 10-15 yard passes downfield, Miami loses.
Failing to throw to big tight ends, Miami loses.
Failure to have a one big fullback in the backfield, Miami loses.
Blowing siren on third down. Miami loses.

[mike]

CaneFan'72, it's called a 3-4 defense, and they have to play zone because the DB's aren't strong enough to play press. What's wrong with the 2 passes to Dorsett, on the money, and played on ND's tendencies. Tight ends are blow par pass catching, no fullback is because they go 3 wide in the WCO. Anything else, man get some knowledge.

[850 Tally Cane]

No one needs to criticize Stephen Morris. He's putting the passes where they need to be. And he moves out of the pocket very well. Stephen Morris is great I like him alot. Now far as Phillip Dorsett goes your forgiven. We all have our days and it's just to bad that it was on a game that really counts. But I know you show up for the rest of the season. But I can say this the Offense has improved alot. Too bad I can't say the same thing for the Defense. Much as I hate to admit But I would like to see Randy Shannon & Mark Stoops take over the Defense for the U again. Coach D is horrible I can't even front lol.

[Julienne]

Be careful UM kids! BO will try to dazzle you with fanciful lies and deceit. The numbers don't lie...our country is in terrible shape, thanks to BO.

[rocket]

Yeah Randy was so talented that he sat for a year with no offers - finally back coaching LBs. It's called the Peter Principle. Randy is where he should have been all along. Not racist - just the truth

[202canefan]

Stoops was never the DC; he was a DB Coach..

[valdis moseley]

Al Golden sounds like Mitt Romney to me-a clown!

[ted]

Golden specifically said at the start of the year that youth is no excuse. Remember that?

[Coach C]

Worst fans in america

[ColaCane]

Man has ANYONE on this blog EVER played football in high school??? I'm guessing NO, because some of your comments are so ridiculous it's hard to sit back and read them. Name ONE team that is KICKING BUTT that has as many freshmen/sophmores playing as we do, just ONE. Many of these kids just got out of high school, and the others hardly had any playing time.

We lost a helluva lot of leadership from last years team, and you dont' just walk onto the field for the FIRST time in college football and you're automatically a bad-ass.

You SO-CALLED fans are the most impatient dweebs I'v ever seen. We STILL have have the makings for a great season.

[JamesJaxon21]

Youth is an excuse for a struggling defense. It is not an excuse for a defense that is ranked somewhere in the 100's out of 121 teams.

Youth is an excuse for 30 or so points vs Alabama or something, not 30 or so vs BC.

You can't sugar-coat it, there is something more than inexperience going on here. Someone said it before -- the coaching staff is starting to sound like Obama. Was Rany Shannon George Bush?

I understand UM will get better, and has some challenges, but when you use stuff like this as an excuse for poor performance, you use anything as an excuse for poor play. Next year the offense will be too inexperienced. The year after that we'll have too many injuries. The year after that the sanctions will be too tough, etc. etc.

There are a lot of really young teams in the top 25. They don't seem to use it as an excuse. Own up to it, and do something about it.

[CaneFan'72]

mike, you are a moron about defense.
A 3 down def. lineman is called a prevent defense. All it does is prevent the win according to Super Bowl winning coach John Madden because it can not stop a run and it can not get pressure on the QB. So, he has all day to find a receiver ESPECIALLY in a zone pass defense where there are huge gaps in the middle of DBs.

I suppose you would tell Coach Madden to get some knowledge if he were still alive. No one in the NFL uses a 3 down lineman defense unless they have some HUGE, extremely talented guy like Wilfork as a noseguard.

As to the talent of our DBs, you are a joke. The Cane DBs have the speed and talent to match up with anyone in a man for man defense for the three seconds it should take for FOUR down lineman and a blitzer to tackle a passing QB.

golden and the DC are morons just like you. I know. I was forced to play a 3 down lineman defense and there is no way any defensive lineman is going to get through 2 blockers to get to a QB. After the first quarter, the defensive lineman feels like his legs are gone in a 3 down defensive line. And forget about stopping a run. The distance from the outside of the line to the center is impossible to cover. That distance is twice the space the DL can cover plus also prevent end runs.

And don't give me crap about the tight ends not catching balls. The one pass to the Cane TE was caught. What was Dorsett's catch percentage?

Same with a big back to get the Canes three yards. Put a refrigerator Perry in at full back if necessary. Get the GD three yards when you need them.