I missed the first half of Saturday’s game while doing various things around the Homestead resort with my family. I was following the score, and was stoked to get back up to the TV in my room to see the second half of a 24-17 game. Since I’m only able to follow the score on my archaic cell phone, I thought we were right there in the game; little did I know that we’d been out gained 233 to 92 and that all of our points were created following an interception and two blocked punts – things that were not likely to carry over into the second half. I anxiously turned on the TV and settled in, only to watch the ‘Hoos just get smothered in a dismal second half that went over about as well as The Ring 2.

There isn’t much left to say about this season. Anyone who has read a single football column here knows how I feel about Al Groh, and by now it seems everyone everywhere else agrees and it’s just a matter of counting down the days until Al resigns, is fired, retires, or does something else that still means he’s packing up his office. At this point, I not only want him gone, I want the next guy to bring the closest thing to a fresh start that we can possibly have: no Al Golden, no Mike London, and certainly no Ron Prince. I want the football equivalent of the Tony Bennett hire – even if it makes me gnash my teeth for a day or so before I realize I love it.

BC comes to town Saturday, and now every game is a must-win if this program is to become bowl eligible. It’s also a must-win if I’m going to see a victory this season, as I’m 0-4 currently and skipping town after Thanksgiving to watch the Tech game with my Dad in Williamsburg. At this point, all I want from the rest of the season is for us to appear respectable in each game – and for the Tech game to go better than 2005 did.

What I Liked:

1. Rashawn Jackson’s hard running.
Big 31 was a beast again, but our piss-poor offense once again struggled to stay on the field (only 24 minutes of possession) and didn’t call many runs (just 24) and so he picked up his 77 yards on only 8 carries – numbers that are still good even without the 34 yard touchdown run. Our offensive line is struggling mightily to create holes, leading Rashawn and his battering ram approach to become our most effective back against better competition. Doc Walker actually referred to our offensive line as being solid during Saturday’s telecast, which led me to wonder if he’s even watched any of our games this year.

2. The punt blocks.
I only got to see these via highlight, but it was nice to see these unit finally get to a couple. Terrence Fells-Danzer – who could use some time on the defensive units – did a great job stretching to get a fingertip on the first one, and Trey Womack (who I’d forgotten was on this football team) just obliterated the second one. These plays take on even more significance when you realize we might have lost 52-3 without them. 52-17 looks bad, but at least it’s double digits.

3. Cam Johnson recording his first career sacks.
Cam did a good job getting to Harris, evading the protection and bringing him down three times – twice for sacks. The first two were good, athletic plays. I’ll get to the last one in the next section.

4. Ras-I Dowling’s pick and return.
Ras-I made a great read coming back to make a pick on an attempted Miami flea-flicker, and the corresponding return that set up our first field goal was the kind of thing I love to see – a talented player in his element.

What I Didn’t Like:

1. The play of Marc Verica.
Let’s not kid ourselves: MV was a lightly recruited two star guy out of high school that was originally pushed into duty because Jameel Sewell couldn’t pass his classes and Pete Lalich was all too eager to pass the bong. He was brought here to provide depth at quarterback and fill out the roster, not to eventually become a starting quarterback in the ACC. Despite showing a live arm in 2008, he still threw twice as many interceptions as touchdowns, and any confidence he gained as a starter has seemingly been lost this season. Saturday, his first start of ’09, will go down as one of his worst: just 11-29 for 75 yards with an interception. Get well soon, Jameel.

2. The defense once again spending way too much time on the field.
Miami controlled the ball for 36 minutes, a troubling statistic that can be attributed both to the run defense (268 yards allowed) and our own offense (2.8 yards per play, 2-12 on third down). Our D has some talent, but they get a really low margin of error when we can’t keep them off the field against offenses like Georgia Tech and Miami while not putting up any points.

3. The run defense.
The Miami game won’t be one that our defensive line looks back upon at the end of the year with any degree of fondness. The ‘Canes ran the ball at will (268 yards, 5.5 ypc), which set up Jacory Harris to pick us apart (232 yards and two scores) and keep the ‘Canes offense on the field, grinding down our will. Miami just kept running out able athletes at tailback – Graig Cooper, Lee Chambers and Damien Berry all took their turn kicking sand in our face.

4. Cam Johnson’s third sack attempt.
Cam has been effective getting to the quarterback this season, but many of his attempts to actually make the tackle have looked more like either Frankenstein’s monster, a wounded bear, or middle schoolers dancing. His first two sacks looked good, but for some reason he took Jacoby Harris down by his head on this one – an awkward move that looked more difficult than a traditional tackle would have been and awarded the ‘Canes half the distance to the goal and a first down.

5. Third down execution.
The offense was an atrocious zero for ten on third down before two conversions while playing out the string late in the fourth quarter. The blame for that can be distributed evenly between Verica, who simply missed some balls, and Gregg Brandon, who made some poor calls.

6. Special teams play.
Ron Prince’s group gave a short summary of their season during Thearon Collier’s long first half return for a touchdown: poor tackling attempts plus out of position cover guys plus a poor kick plus a lack of hustle equals a negative play. Nathan Rathjen had a nightmarish first road start, averaging 25.8 yards per kick, shanking a couple, and managing a long of just 35. Jimmy Howell found himself back in the driver’s seat by the start of the second half.

I don’t have much else to say about this one. I only saw half of the game – the bad half – and I’m tired of seeing the same things go wrong every week as this team continues to stay the course and ride this season out. I can’t wait for Tony Bennett’s basketball program to tip off on Friday night – so to celebrate, expect the last twelve player profiles as well as a season preview to hit this site this week.