Posted by Dan Hauser on Nov 3, 2014 in A Featured Post, Dan's Blog
One month ago the Miami Hurricanes suffered a bad loss to Georgia Tech and there were talks that maybe the coaching staff just wasn’t working out with the talent that the school had. The schemes, especially on the defensive side of the ball were under heavy scrutiny. Banners were being flown over Sun Life Stadium calling for Head Coach Al Golden’s head and many prominent alumni were echoing the same sentiments for him as well as defensive coordinator Mark D’Onofrio. The program seemed to be spiraling out of control in the wrong direction. That was one month ago and boy how things have changed. In that time the Hurricanes have ripped off three straight wins headlined by Miami’s beat down of North Carolina on Saturday 47-20. In the past three games, Miami has outscored their opponents 132-60. That discrepancy could have been even higher if you factor in that most of Miami’s starters did not play much in the fourth quarter Saturday and Miami’s defense held the Tar Heels to just three points through the first three quarters. It was another dominant performance on offense for the Hurricanes, led by now Heisman contending running back Duke Johnson who added another 177 rushing yards and three total touchdowns to both his season and career totals. At 3,080 total rushing yards for his Hurricanes career, Johnson passed Edgerrin James Saturday for second on the all time Hurricanes rushing list and is just 252 rushing yards away from being the leading rusher in Hurricanes history. It wasn’t all just Johnson on the offensive side of the ball though. Brad Kaaya had another impressive start on Saturday, completing 11 of 17 passes for 189 yards and three touchdowns. Kaaya connected with six different receivers, lead by Tight End Clive Walford who had six catches for 89 yards and two of Kaaya’s three touchdown passes. The offense has been there all season though. More importantly, the defense had a solid performance for the third straight game. Through the first three quarters, the Hurricanes defense allowed just six points to the Tar Heels and appeared to dominate, especially at the line of scrimmage. The big question is will the Hurricanes be able to continue to click on both sides of the ball as they welcome the #1 ranked Florida State Hurricanes into town on November 15th. The game will be played in prime time at 8pm and will be aired nationally on...
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Posted by Dan Hauser on Oct 24, 2014 in Dan's Blog
Heading into last night’s prime time contest with conference rival Virginia Tech, the Miami Hurricanes season had been one resembling a rollercoaster ride. While the Hurricanes were a perfect 4-0 at home, the wins came largely against inferior opponents and even in the wins the team looked shaky at times, especially on the defensive side of the ball. In addition, Miami had yet to record a road win despite coming up just barely short on a number of occasions. As a result, there was a lot of unrest among the Hurricanes faithful with the way the program was being coached, especially by head coach Al Golden and defensive coordinator Mark D’Onofrio. All this resulted in a must win game Thursday night in Blacksburg if Miami wanted to save their season and still be alive in the race to get their first ACC Coastal Division title. Behind 249 yards from star running back Duke Johnson and a defensive performance that resembled that of the days of the Hurricanes of the late 90’s and early 2000’s the Hurricanes did just that, they kept their season alive. Not only did the Hurricanes dominate on both sides of the ball, they did it in a place (Blacksburg, Virginia) where the program had only won once since 2003. In fact, in that time period, the Hokies were 8-3 against Miami overall. All those statistics didn’t seem to phase the Hurricanes who improved to 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the ACC. Weather the Hurricanes have officially “turned their season around” has remained to be seen. While they now have back-to-back blowout wins over Cincinnati and Virginia Tech, the true test will now come over the next three weeks. In that time period the Hurricanes will play two home games against two of the tougher teams in the league. The first will come November 1st against a North Carolina team that, while down this year, has given the Hurricanes problems the last few years. The second comes just 2 weeks later when Miami welcomes the #1 ranked Florida State Seminoles into town. In addition to it being a big in-state rival game and by far the biggest game of the year for the Hurricanes, Miami will look to ruin Florida State’s run at a second consecutive National Championship. Last night’s win was a step in the right direction to saving what at one point seemed to be a lost season for Miami, the question will become can they sustain it over the next few weeks and ultimately down the final stretch run of the...
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Posted by Dan Hauser on Jun 26, 2014 in Dan's Blog
The United States went into their final Group G matchup against Germany on Thursday needing a win or draw to secure their spot in the round of 16. While they were unable to get a point against the Germans, they still did manage to finish runner up in the group and advance to the knockout stage. In soggy conditions and a solid rainstorm throughout the match, the Americans and Germans played to a nil-nil tie to end the first half. A goal by Thomas Muller in the 55th minute put Germany up 1-0 and despite some valiant attempts by the U.S. side late, that would end up being the final score. Luck was on the Americans side though. At the same time they were facing the Germans, Portugal and Ghana were facing off in the other Group G game. If the U.S. were to lose their game they needed a tightly contested matchup between their Group G mates. The Americans got just that. After battling back and forth for the entire game, Portugal striker Christiano Ronaldo put Portugal ahead 2-1 in the 80th minute. That goal would result in the U.S. side advancing with 4 points based off of goal differential. Up next for the Americans is a knockout stage matchup with the winner of Group H on Tuesday at 4pm ET. Their opponent will likely be Belgium who currently sit at the top of the Group H...
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Posted by Dan Hauser on Jun 23, 2014 in Dan's Blog
The U.S. played another tough back and forth battle yesterday as they took on Portugal in the second of three games in Group G play. After Germany only managed a draw against Ghana on Saturday, the United States was poised to clinch a berth in the round of 16 as well as lock down the top spot in Group G with a win over Portugal. Portugal got on the board first when Nani scored in just the 5th minute. They took the lead into the half before Jermaine Jones put in the equalizer in the 64th minute once again off a cross from Graham Zusi. Clint Dempsey scored in the 81st minute to give the Americans the lead and it looked as if the United States was going to punch their ticket into the next round. After the match referees put 5 minutes of extra time on the clock at the end of the game the United States side was trying merely to run the clock out anyway possible. Michael Bradley held the ball at midfield deep in the 94th minute when he turned it over and the ball was quickly sent to Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo along the right wing. He quickly sent a cross in and it was headed in by Varela for the game tying goal just before the final whistle blew. Going into the game, Portugal was a perfect 11-0 in International competition when they scored first and held the lead at the half. The record remains intact as they came back to manage a 2-2 draw with the American side. As a result no team in Group G has qualified for the next round, while at the same time no team has been eliminated. Germany and the U.S. play each other Thursday as do Portugal and Ghana and the qualification process for the United States in pretty simple. A win or tie against Germany and the U.S. (as well as the Germans) advance to the round of 16 where the United States would likely take on Belgium. If the U.S. lose to Germany on Thursday the qualification process gets a little more complicated but is still possible. A U.S. loss coupled with a draw from Ghana and Portugal would allow the United States to advance with 4 points. If the United States lose and either Ghana or Portugal win, the U.S. will have to hope that they will be able to advance on a goal differential tie breaker. No matter what way you look at it, Thursday at 12 noon will be a huge day for the U.S. National team and American soccer fans as they look to keep their 2014 World Cup...
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Posted by Dan Hauser on Jun 17, 2014 in Dan's Blog
Clint Dempsey scored a goal 30 seconds into the match and John Brooks added the winning goal late as the United States shocked Ghana 2-1 Monday night in the first match of Group G play. The United States came on with a lightning fast pace as Dempsey scored the fifth fastest goal in World Cup history to put the American side up early. The lead would last for over 80 minutes of game play as Ghana missed on several opportunities throughout the second half. With the U.S. starting to show some fatigue late in the game Ghana scored on an Andre Ayew goal in the 82nd minute. The goal tied the game for the Ghana side and it appeared that the game would end in a draw earning both teams one point. The tie only lasted four minutes though. In the 86th minute the United States’ Graham Zusi fired a corner kick off the head of 20 year old new comer John Brooks to give the U.S. the lead again. This time they would hold onto it for good. “I told my teammates that I had a dream two days before that I scored. My dream came true,” Brooks said. Brooks and Zusi were both substitutes that U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsman made at the half, making Brooks the first substitute to score a goal for the United States in the history of the soccer program. The win served as a revenge game for the United States as it was the same Ghana team that knocked the Americans out of both the 2006 and 2010 World Cup’s including the heartbreaking defeat 4 years ago in extra time in the second round. The win did not come without some loss though. The team might have lost Jozy Altidore for the remainder of the group stage after he pulled up with what appeared to be a left hamstring injury in the 21st minute. He had to be carried off on a stretcher and will undergo further evaluations over the next several days. Next up for the United States will be a match up with Christiano Ronaldo and Portugal on Sunday in Manaus. Portugal was routed by Germany 4-0 earlier in the day leaving the Germans at the top of the table with the...
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