Bringing you some Miami Hurricanes-related thoughts a day later than usual.

Yes, it is, and thanks to Hargray’s multi-state internet outage yesterday, I was left in limbo for pretty much the entire waking day and evening yesterday. Nothing I could do about it, except collect my thoughts.

Sooooooo, let’s get at it now on this fine day-after-Monday.

1) Man, those USF Bulls fans are BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG mad after Saturday.

I know there’s a lot to talk about regarding the game, but I can’t recall a fan base that was so boisterous the week leading up to the game on social media, and then turned to whining about Canes fans’ behavior and other petty stuff after getting their stadium taken over and their team demolished.

I used to live in Tampa, and I never really had an issue with their fans before. Went to two Canes games there in 2011 and 2013. So this one was a bit of a surprise to me. But lord have mercy, there were an alarming number of such fans on the ol’ interwebs pounding away at their keyboards about it. I just found that extremely odd. If you’re going to talk that ish, own it like an adult after you get smacked.

2) That was the killer instinct I wanted to see from Miami in the face of adversity.

After South Florida took the lead back at 15-14, I wasn’t extremely worried. I was mostly just moderately annoyed at the Canes’ inability to get some separation.

Then, Sam Brown and Cam Ward decided that was enough annoyance for one day and put the Canes up on a 76-yard bomb. Couldn’t have been more on the money.

And then Miami decided they were done playing around and steamrolled the Bulls with extended drives and a grinding offensive line. 12 play, 80 yard touchdown drive. 10 play, 80 yard touchdown drive. Four second half drives (excluding the kneel down) = four touchdowns. THAT’S how you finish a game.

3) And what that tells me is that Miami is built to win this year.

South Florida has pretty good talent, but the drop off depth wise afterwards is pretty sharp. Good programs don’t have that problem because they have strong talent at two deep and sometimes beyond. That’s why Bama closed the door like they did on the Bulls late two weeks ago. And that’s why Miami did, too, on Saturday.

Strong depth is key, and Miami just might have it this year. They surely do in some key areas, like their defensive front.

4) Isaiah Horton had himself a coming out party on Saturday, didn’t he?

My word, he was electric. He led Miami with 8 catches for 108 yards and a score, and he looked flat-out uncoverable at times.

Miami has needed someone to step up as a strong #2 option alongside Xavier Restrepo, and this is the type of performance that makes me believe someone can do that. Brown also showed what he can do when he gets loose. I picked Brown as that guy back in August as who I thought would emerge as #2. I might have been wrong there. It might be Horton. We’ll see when things get turned up a notch in ACC play.

5) Miami’s defense wasn’t a brick wall in the second half despite the shutout, but they did what they had to do.

South Florida managed to move the ball early in the second half, getting into field goal range on two of their first three possessions. However, the Canes dodged a bullet on the first drive with a fourth down conversion nullified by a hold, and USF had to punt. The next time after getting into the red zone, Mishael Powell had a nifty interception in the end zone that wiped out another drive.

Not the best day at the office, but any time you find a way to hold a team scoreless for a half, that’s pretty darned good. Still, perfection is the goal, and there’s plenty to work on.