The Rundown Take
The Running Game Finally Shows Up as Miami Beats Florida State to Go 8-0 — But Nobody Trusts the Defense
Devin opened the show thanking the family for a great weekend before announcing he'd be on the road burying his grandfather, handing hosting duties to Larry Frank Jr. for the stretch run. The actual football business was a 36-4 win over Florida State that finally got Miami's running game working behind Damon Martinez and Fletcher — but the celebration kept colliding with the same defensive worries the panel has carried for weeks.
Key Takeaways
- Damon Martinez and Fletcher combine for Miami's best rushing performance of the season, taking pressure off a Cam Ward who never threw a pass longer than about 25 yards.
- Miami climbs to number five in the polls as Texas drops out of the top five, its highest ranking since 2017.
- Caller Mr. Magic says the defense is what it is at this point and the team will have to "ride the offense" through the rest of the season.
- Freshmen Zaquandre Patterson and Frederick start again, plus a first look at JoJo Trader on offense in the first quarter.
- A rival fan, "Will I Am," calls in to concede on-air that Larry Frank Jr. and Chris Kane were right about Miami all along.
Penalties and Pass Protection
Both Larry Frank Jr. and Mr. Magic zeroed in on undisciplined play as the real issue behind the score: uncalled holding on the defensive line all game, untimely penalties, and pass protection Larry Frank called flat-out "atrocious" despite a clean night for the run-blocking. Devin agreed Florida State's defense was sending zero blitzes because their season was already over, which masked how much trouble Miami's offensive line had in pass protection.
A Third-String Quarterback Exposed the Back Seven
The sharper concern was what a Florida State team playing its third-string quarterback was still able to do — extending drives, breaking off a long scramble, and converting a fourth down. Larry Frank Jr. connected it directly to what a more mobile, dangerous quarterback like Kyron Drones did to Virginia Tech, warning that Duke, Wake Forest and Syracuse will all be scouting exactly how three-loss teams like Louisville, USF and Virginia Tech nearly got there.
"We are number five and we haven't been the top five since 2017. That's cool, but we cannot beat ourselves by giving them the knife to stab us in the back."
Point-Shaving Talk Shut Down
A caller known as Studio floated a running "point-shaving" conspiracy theory about close covers league-wide, and Larry Frank Jr. pushed back hard on-air, arguing the theory is really a way to avoid admitting Miami's defense has real issues. The show closed with the panel unified on one thing regardless of the noise: eight wins beats seven every time, but the penalties and pass protection have to get cleaned up before the schedule gets harder.