MIAMI FOOTBALL

NOTEBOOK: RedHawks will have busy week

By MIKE SMITH
-- The Pitt loss was ugly
-- The extent of defensive struggles was unexpected  
-- QB David McComb is recognizing his mistakes and anxious to correct
-- There's work to be done by everyone. 

Those were some of the points covered by Miami head coach Chuck Martin in Monday's weekly press conference at Yager Stadium. 

Click Read More to continue . . . 

---

THE ROUT/DEFENSE
"We got taken down to the woodshed. ... We weren't prepared enough on either side of the ball," Martin said of Pitt's 59-14 win over Miami. 
The Panthers 646 yards of total offense, eight touchdowns (7 passing) and 33 first downs pointed to a host of problems on defense. 

"As I said after that game, I didn't really know we were capable of playing that bad on defense, because we've played such good defense for such a long time," Martin said.  "Right now our defense is not very good, but I've got a lot of faith in our coaches and a lot of faith in our players."

Since MU limited Pitt's ground game most of the day, particular focus will be directed to pass defense. Panther QB Mason Heitschel put on a clinic, completing 31-of-41 passes for 453 yards and seven touchdowns to seven different players. 

"Their quarterback is really, really good -- no doubt, 100 percent props. They have a good offensive line and good receivers, good backs and good schemes," Martin said. 
"Everything in the pass game, credit to Pitt. They were really good, (but) we were terrible. ... It was not competitive in the passing game."

He continued, "We have to improve (against) the pass game immediately. We got on our heels, and we started guessing and floating around out there. There's times you look at the tape and its, like 'Wow, I don't even know what we're doing here'. ... We got back on our heels and at times started running around like chickens with our heads cut off. ... If we don't cover this week back to front, its going to be an easy completion for a first down or a touchdown."

Part of the pass defense solution, Martin said, will be to improve quarterback pressure. He noted Heitschel seemed to have similar time to seven-on-seven (no rush) football, making it difficult to maintain extended coverage on receivers.  

McCOMB DEBUT
Quarterback David McComb spent a good portion of Saturday trying to avoid a deluge of Panther blitzes. After a slow start, he guided Miami to a pair of second quarter touchdowns. 
The freshman, seeing his first game action, completed 16-of-33 on the day, good for 240 yards with one TD. 
"I'm really excited about David ... not (necessarily) how he played, because he didn't play near good (enough or) make decisions good enough to beat anyone, let alone Pitt," Martin said. "But his demeanor was incredible, his compete level was incredible, his voice was really good, his taking care of the football was really good for the most part." 

Now in his 13th year at the Miami helm, Martin noted McComb's debut and response reminded him of a former RedHawk standout -- quarterback Brett Gabbert -- during a tough debut against Iowa. 

"There was zero excuses. There was total accountability, and he couldn't wait to get back out there -- (much) like (Brett) Gabbert his freshman year. Gabbert was not having a great night at Iowa, but he couln't wait for the next series." 

"He should grow from this. I don't know why he wouldn't. I'm very optimistic," Martin continued. "Some of the guys did spit the bit. ... Our quarterback didn't. ... There were plenty of excuses going around Saturday. He wasn't a part of it." 

"For him, it's so much the mental part, the decision-making -- seeing (things) and reacting to it and putting us in the right stuff at the right time. This (week's game) will be just as big a challenge for him as it was last week from a mental standpoint."

THE CLEANUP
Holy Cross, who visits Yager Stadium Saturday, is 0-2 thus far. The Crusaders' most recent outing was a 35-10 loss to Colgate. While there is the usual opponent prep at practice this week, Martin declared staff and players will also be getting back to basics and the foundation of Miami football. 

"If you think there were (just) a few things we need to work on, I was at the wrong game. There's not a few things. We need to work on everything. ...  Every position has a lot to clean up, so we're going to focus on ourselves." Martin declared, adding,
"I still have a ton of belief in our coaching staff and (a firm) belief that we still have kids that have talent and want to be good. We didn't show it on Saturday, so I have to make sure we show it (this) Saturday."