- 10 minutes ago
Ahead of Miami's showdown in South Bend, Alex Donno joins Joe Rose and Danny "Hollywood" Rabinowitz to evaluate where the undefeated Hurricanes stand. The crew unpacks national criticism of Miami's secondary, missed tackles on tape, Marquise Lightfoot's standout strip-sack, and what Mario Cristobal's squad needs out of its front four. On offense, Donno praises Darian Mensah's poise, Malachi Toney's hands, and Elija Lofton's versatility in open space.
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00:00all right woody thank you uh man i can't wait you know you get older i don't want to push
00:05time too
00:05fast i like i want to slow them down a little bit but man sometimes you got a big event
00:12coming up
00:13that we kind of we knew at the beginning of the season there was a chance and a lot of
00:18people
00:18said if there's two teams are going to be undefeated it was looking at their schedules
00:24the best opportunity was going to be to be fair miami and notre dame and notre dame slipped up
00:31against byu and miami has not slipped up even in a couple of tight ball games so so here we
00:38go
00:38this saturday at notre dame uh the canes and notre dame fighting irish i hope we don't do that con
00:47i hate what they call us convicts and catholics that would make me both uh that's a tough one
00:52anyway alex donna host of locked on canes podcast joins us donald how you doing there brother how
00:57you holding up joe i'm doing well i'm excited you know it's only tuesday i feel like this week is
01:03going to move very slowly with all the anticipation we have for this one but i cannot wait into what
01:09you're saying about notre dame having slipped up i have to wonder joe if miami is able to pull this
01:15off on saturday like does that does two losses does that knock notre dame out of the playoffs because
01:21they'll have lost to the two teams that they face you know wisconsin yes wisconsin's not good they
01:28still play smu later but smu just lost to syracuse so this might be playoff on the line for notre
01:35dame
01:35you know we talked about that uh we're last week or the week before the same thing if notre dame
01:40loses
01:40both these games um yeah they they could be out although there's gonna be a lot of pressure on that
01:46committee to give them that 12 spot you know you know how this thing works that's let's be honest so
01:51hey i always wonder i've never asked you you're always a mellow guy and been around you for a lot
01:56of years and did shows next to you in the past here at wqm and everything else i'm a maniac
02:03watching canes football games especially the florida state game and then the other night i was so
02:11embarrassed my wife said it was embarrassing to listen to you in the other room screaming and yelling
02:16do you get like that when you're watching these games joe i get downright nasty um and kind of
02:21depending on the moment i don't necessarily scream but i i pace and i brood and then it like this
02:29happened during the north carolina game and i was like extra kind of antsy because for the first part
02:34of the game we were out with my son trick-or-treating i'm walking around the neighborhood watching the
02:38game on my phone right but then for the entire second half i'm in the living room and like my
02:47kid is also into it um but then like my wife is trying to ask me questions about like do
02:53i need
02:54to throw something away in the kitchen i'm kind of snapping at her like i'm all nervous so i don't
02:59know i'm very superstitious i'm wondering should i change rooms to watch on a different tv like yeah you
03:05don't want to be around me when these games are close by the way what an entertaining game i mean
03:11it's a lot more entertaining as i sit here in south florida doing this show this morning that they won
03:15the game like they did the florida state game but uh let's get into it and um i gotta ask
03:21you so i hear
03:23everybody going hey man we're undefeated we're number one and then the old big butt comes but man
03:27what happened to our past defense everybody's going after us and and everything else and by the way
03:33if uh i got woody i want to play what bill belichick had to say about the canes defense listen
03:42and yeah they didn't mix it up they did what they did the whole game they ran what they ran
03:46the whole
03:47game which is honestly what they didn't run the whole year he says hey man they just line up and
03:51play the same thing they don't they don't change it up they run the same thing all the time he
03:55was a
03:55little salty after the game but what do you think um you know i in in the case of that
04:01game i think
04:02that was true i don't think uh in a couple of these recent games there's been much of an adjustment
04:07from cory heatherman but i i've seen it from him before uh in you know there there were notable
04:12adjustments in the second half of the wake forest game for example when miami's offense hardly had the
04:18ball and it was the defense on the field the entire time so you know i see people reacting to
04:23that quote joe which has been making the rounds you really i think he said it saturday but it really
04:28got it got out to miami people yesterday for whatever reason and you know i i listened to
04:34the longer version of of the quote with the question in there i think bill um because he
04:40was basically asked the question how come miami's pass rush started to get to you guys like later in
04:45the game did they mix it up and i i think that the way he answered that question wasn't really
04:51i don't
04:51think his intention was to say yeah you know what their defensive coordinator sucks he never mixes it up
04:56no i didn't take it that way i just right i didn't take it that way either good yeah right
05:01i think the
05:02intention of the quote was to say no like we i didn't get out coached we got outplayed i think
05:07was
05:08what bill was trying to say like they didn't make some magical adjustment that we didn't have an
05:12adjustment for so you know i i just feel like a lot of miami fans are like using that quote
05:18and i'm not
05:19saying you're doing this joe i'm more reacting to the social media part of it like they're using that
05:23belichick quote to try to weaponize it against cory heatherman i don't think that was bill's
05:28intention there uh but at the same time i will fully admit joe miami's defense has been problematic
05:34recently like there's no there's no sugarcoating that and i heard mario on your show yesterday and
05:40i obviously agree it starts with the tackling like the tackling has really gone down the tubes
05:46in recent weeks um i think the pro football focus credited miami with 14 missed tackles but then i
05:53was listening to cory heatherman yesterday and i'm sure miami doesn't use pff they use their own you
05:59know they may evaluate their film he said 22 missed tackles was what he saw whether it's 14 or 22
06:05too much yeah well for him and listen he's gonna be more critical as a defensive coordinator i understand
06:11that yeah 122nd in past defense right now in the country uh giving up what 251 yards a game
06:18so i got some thoughts on it uh i think we're actually i was going to say we're much better
06:24coming up and and and getting after people uh run and blitzing and playing but when the coverage
06:30they've obviously the last few weeks found out some matchups that everybody likes whether it's
06:36linebackers trying to get linebackers in coverage uh that they can't do um which
06:41most linebackers can't to be honest and then finding guys in the secondary if you don't get
06:47there there seems to be some really open areas how are you let's go back the original part of this
06:52the pass rush for you right now minus marquise lightfoot who makes the play of the game really
06:58to be honest that what that was the the strip sack was the play of the game yeah you know
07:03a couple
07:04things statistically the pass rush has been effective but it feels like it's not uh as effective
07:10without blitzing as it was last year you know you don't you don't get uh you don't get as much
07:16pressure uh with your four-man front uh but marquise lightfoot has been incredible uh he is not part of
07:22the problem um i i do wonder what's it going to take for damon wilson to step it up again
07:28joe because
07:28he had a couple of really good games earlier this season i think it was against clemson when he had
07:33just
07:33uh he was leading the nation in in hurries and he got himself up to three and a half sacks
07:38on the year
07:39i think he's had maybe one pressure in the last two or three games like it's it's really dropped
07:45off a cliff that production and i don't i don't know everything that's going on is he playing
07:50through injury i don't know everything going on behind the scenes for him but i i wonder what it's
07:55going to take for him to really step up again because yeah the pass rush the numbers through the
08:00season joe had been really good but you also feel like it doesn't hit consistently during games right
08:07like against uh north carolina for example they had some success like on carolina's first drive and
08:12then in the fourth quarter didn't see a whole lot of them in the second and third quarters yeah
08:17armando blunt uh a great pass rusher in high school i mean not quite ruben but but right i mean
08:25he was
08:26unbelievable i was gonna say he went central or northwestern i think he went to central central central
08:32um what he's another guy they thought potentially you know 265 27 would be a great pass right how's
08:37he been um i think i think he's been really really good at times but again not nearly as consistent
08:44as
08:44lightfoot um you know i think there there have been certain games in certain moments when you think man
08:49armando blunt is really affecting that play uh i also think his versatility gets undervalued uh with
08:55how good he's been against the run this year and sometimes you've been able to kick him inside
09:00so yeah you obviously you haven't seen the bane level of dominance from blunt but i i think he's
09:06a little bit underrated and undervalued but you know lightfoot has definitely been the guy who's
09:11consistently performed the best in that edge rotation how has lucas been i i'm asking you because i'm
09:17gonna get your opinion how he's back and he's supposed to be our number one dog and you know we
09:21went
09:21through a lot to get him here american heritage plantation guy a lot of great players coming out of there
09:26um how's he played in your opinion since being back not that well joe um you know it i kind
09:33of
09:33wonder you know is is it just taking him a long time to sort of get his sea legs under
09:39him is he fully
09:40recovered uh because it i don't feel like i'm watching the same guy that i watched last year who
09:45yes one of the best corners in the acc um and you know i know in that defensive backfield you
09:51know if
09:51there's one weak link in the chain even if it's not necessarily lucas that could affect the whole
09:57unit if the communication is not there but at the i i certainly haven't since he's come back i think
10:02it's been three games back for him now off of injury the third game back was the north carolina game
10:07i don't feel like i'm watching one of the top corners in the acc which is absolutely how we felt
10:11about him last year that's right that's a good point we felt good and the other guy of course is
10:15is hurt
10:15as well and i don't even know i don't think he's going to be back this season unless he comes
10:20back
10:20late from out of saint thomas aquinas but anyway uh let's talk about the offensive side but i thought
10:26the offensive line played pretty good man they did i thought those guys did a good job and um and
10:32and you know the the other two guys minsa and malachi uh wow uh this is not normal they're talking
10:41about them nationally i mean it's not some secret they're good for business uh the both of them uh
10:47want a quarterback to have what 25 touchdowns only one interception is amazing but malachi continuing
10:55um you know i can get on belichick too while he's sitting here talking about like that's the guy and
10:59you let him in big situations go one-on-one i don't care how good your corner is those delays
11:05whether
11:06he's running that fade route or going to run that quick post he sets you up and he is something
11:12else
11:13for a guy that's 510 yeah north carolina did a pretty good job against him for most of the game
11:19but you give malachi one two five opportunities and he's going to maximize all of those joe you know
11:28he's probably the best route runner in the country uh he's the most sure-handed receiver in the country
11:35doesn't drop anything so even if you you know you frustrate him for most of the second and third
11:40quarter in that game after he had a big opening drive and then he comes alive and beats you in
11:45that fourth quarter and you know darian mensa i mean joe he's now back on top of the heisman trophy
11:51odds you know for what that's worth because obviously depending on how things go against
11:55notre dame he can either maybe cement his favorite spot for the heisman trophy or you know if miami
12:02doesn't win he can drop lower but uh mensa's in a great spot right now with the way he's playing
12:07and i agree with you on the offensive line i thought that that was uh that was a really good
12:11game for them overall against carolina you know i had a conversation about that unit yesterday on
12:16locked on canes with casey mcdermott who played o-line for miami in the good one in the 20 in
12:22the 2010s
12:23and like you know he got a little critical because you know casey's analyzing it but he did he did
12:28say
12:28the unit is definitely gelling i guess his only critique was that uh they don't they don't
12:34necessarily play with enough of the physical nastiness early in games like he's noticed once
12:40the defenses get worn out in the second half is when you start to get that push he wants to
12:45see
12:45a little bit more of that physicality kind of early in games when it comes to pushing with the running
12:50game and everything so maybe they can find a little bit more consistency with that it's really hard
12:56when you try to compare this year's o-line to last year's o-line which was you know maybe the
13:01best o-line miami has ever had a year ago so the bar is not necessarily fair to compare but
13:06i like the
13:07way this unit's coming together don't know i got to ask you this question because it's not a shot and
13:11i know sometimes it does when we want to match last year's team and potentially of this year's team
13:17there there just seems to be two areas that we we were concerned about because you lost so much
13:23two pass rushers on the outside both first round picks and dominated from start of the season the
13:29end and by the way equally good against the run as a pass and that starting five the way they
13:35move
13:35people around physically throughout throughout the playoffs they they got after people that starting
13:40five and you know let me see how many of them are are playing right now two are starting um
13:47that it
13:48was a damn good group and and it's hard and probably not fair to this group they're like well
13:52why aren't you as good as those guys last year well they're all playing in the nfl how do you
13:58do that
13:58how do you break that up on me because i don't want to make it sound like it's a shot
14:02at these guys but
14:03you know i said before the year man like these first round picks on the outside and what we just
14:08saw
14:08is not normal and what and and they played even better in the playoffs last year and uh and and
14:15honestly the offensive line they got in second half some of those playoff games they just go hey
14:19ohio state we're gonna run at your ass right now we're running at your ass right at you
14:25yeah i mean first of all uh i mean you're right you're not going to be able to replicate the
14:30exact
14:30uh just pure physical dominance that you had in those units last year um i i think in the case
14:37of
14:37this year's miami team it's different in the form of it's more dangerous on the perimeter on
14:44offense than it was last year so you hope that you can compensate for the fact that okay your
14:49offensive line it's never going to be as physical as the 2025 unit but malachi tony is even better than
14:56he was last year absolutely you've clearly upgraded at the quarterback position because darian mensa is
15:02is truly special and he seems to be playing himself into the first round of the nfl draft
15:06right now well people had doubts about that before the season started but it's looking like he's going
15:11to be that dude uh you've got weapons all over the place we saw cooper barkate had a great game
15:17against carolina elijah lofton is playing the way we've been trying to say joe you've been to a lot
15:23of practices you've seen for the last three years what elijah lofton does in practice when are we going
15:28to see it consistently in games we're seeing it now so the team is more dangerous uh on the perimeter
15:34uh the defense has to get better joe like i what you saw against carolina that's not a championship
15:40defense there has to be improvement there no question but i also i noticed not just watching
15:46miami but i watch a lot of college football um i don't feel like there's any a lot of perfect
15:52teams
15:53out there i agree yeah like there's no perfect team out there like maybe like maybe people would say
15:58georgia is probably the most consistent but they don't have the sort of speed and perimeter threats
16:04miami has same thing with notre dame like notre dame doesn't blow you away with their playmaking ability
16:09and then there's a lot of other teams joe after that you know ohio state i would have i would
16:14have
16:14hyped them up but without julian saying they're a completely different team as we saw that this past
16:20saturday so i mean there are a lot of imperfect teams so it kind of makes you say why not
16:25miami if
16:26you can find some momentum and find a way to be more effective defensively this offense can score on
16:32anyone in the country i agree with that donald great stuff man really appreciate you coming on with
16:36this this morning thanks man thanks guys alex donna host of locked on canes podcast joining
16:42us this morning we got more chris perkins going to join us we're going to talk some uh dolphins matter
16:46of fact perk has agreed to stay around for the eight o'clock hour and talk some uh dolphins
16:51more chris perkins
16:51more chris perkins
16:51more chris perkinsildicator