Observations from Florida State vs Miami

Well, a deliciously long weekend of college ball came to a close right at midnight last night as Miami outlasted FSU and it's last second crack at the endzone to win 38-34. (Other action yesterday, Cincinnati pasted Rutgers in Piscataway - "Oh where have you gone, Greg Schiano? Big programs no longer look to you - woo-wooo-wooo."

Back to the biggie:
1) This FINALLY looked like the glory days of the rivalry that once determined the national title. Both defenses looked solid but more importantly, the offenses were effective and nasty. Christian Ponder is going to make FSU fans forget about Weatherford, Rix, the gambling kid, etc. etc. Ponder is like an old school FSU QB with serious wheels. And under center for the orange and green was Jacory Harris - who threw two picks (one the result of getting tattooed as he released the ball) but more importantly made some HUGE plays by staying calm and finding receivers (Tyrod Taylor - pay attention!). Total offensive output Miami 476 yards - FSU 406 yards.
2) On a related note - I saw three ACC teams in action this weekend. Preseason #7 VT, preseason #18 FSU, and unranked Miami. Totally reverse the order. Miami with a slight edge over FSU with a large gap to the VT. The Hokies are in big trouble when Miami comes to Blacksburg at the end of September.
3) Brad Nessler and Tood Blackledge are, by far, the best team in college football broadcasting.
4) The Todd Blackledge "Where did Todd eat?" bit has got to go. Let me shortcut it for you: If Todd is at a southern game, the restaurant review goes like this "They had good fried food."; a northeast game? "They had good seafood."; a mid-west game? "They had good steak."; a west coast game? "They had good sushi." Done. Seriously, this bit almost ALWAYS cuts into game time. Stop.
5) Dear Erin Andrews, Please, for the love of all that's holy, eat a sandwich or two. Love, Ultimate Bill
6) As much as we all know Bobby Bowden doesn't do anything much on the sideline anymore, it is important for Jimbo Fisher to remember there is still an "in-waiting" tag on his head coach title. Prior to the last play, a failed pass attempt in the endzone, Jimbo was scouring his playsheet and the old man came by to make a suggestion. It seriously looked as though Jimbo ignored him. Jimbo - Bobby Bowden has forgotten more football than you know. Listen to the man.
7) Back to coaching - I know FSU and Miami's coaches get paid a lot of money to make important decisions. Furthermore, I know these people know far more about football than I ever will. But could SOMEONE explain to me the following decisions for each team:
a) 4:25 left to play. FSU just went up by a field goal 34-31. What do they do? Squib kick. Miami fields the ball at their 37 and return it 4 yards to the 41 yard line. So, when you are up a field goal, and playing a team that's moving the ball, AND has a kicker with a 50 yard range, you squib kick? I don't care how dangerous the Miami return man is (and he was effectively handled most of the night), you just gave them the ball at the 37 - which is about 32 yards that the return man would have had to earn with his legs if you had simply let your golden-toed frosh kicker blast one to the 5. Of course, Miami went on to score a TD after an unbelievable play by Harris, but even still, the Canes only needed to go about 25 yards to get in range of their kicker to tie. Onto an even MORE perplexing call...
b) 1:53 left. Miami up by 4. Kicking off. What do they do? Squib kick. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? FSU fields it at the 29 (about 24 yards ahead of a normal boot) and returns it 20 yards to get to their own 49. FSU MUCH score a TD and you give them 25 yards right off the bat? This goes on top of Miami's insistence on hitting fly ball kicks all night and giving the ball to FSU at the 35 at least on almost every kick-off possession.
The only thing I can think of is that coaches have a tendency to overthink some situations. These two squib kicks made absolutely NO sense.
8) If one needs to understand the Hokies woes, one need look no further than Donna Shalala's comment in regards to last night's game. The Miami U president had this to say, "What’s not to enjoy? We’ve got an offense.”