Here is a direct quote from the LEAD STORY on ESPN.com after the Miami Hurricanes beat Florida State on the road this evening.
“Miami is back. Maybe not on the national scene, but certainly on the state level, where the Hurricanes beat their archrivals to the north Monday night.”
Let me help you out here and read between the lines. No one at ESPN will give anyone at Miami a single ounce of credit until they are ranked in the Top 10…which is OK all by itself, until you realize that everyone who votes in the polls also has an axe to grind for the ‘Canes. The Miami Hurricanes will be ranked in the Top 10 by the end of the 2009-2010 college football season.
I am not going to make excuses for the way people love to hate my beloved ‘Canes – they have well and truly earned their reputation as a bunch of thugs who happen to be great football players that are playing in a no-shit football factory. It makes certain fans of other teams jealous and others just annoyed. The fact that Miami has never won with grace or lost with class makes it even worse. Well, none of those things has ever changed…even when they stunk…they were just not getting the same class of athlete they have gotten traditionally.
Well, now they have Randy Shannon on board, and they are starting to get the same class of recruits they used to get when Jimmie Johnson was running things. Please, no hate mail or whiney comments about my comparing Shannon to Johnson. Randy Shannon is the worst in-game coach in all of Division I football right now. He is Henry Winkler in The Waterboy before he got his manhood back. He blows through time outs like a newly divorced trophy wife burns through cash…and from a whole bunch of bone-headed stuff. Poor substitutions, late play calling, poor situational recognition, you name it. In short – all things that teams with good in-game coaches do NOT do.
But let’s make no mistake. Randy Shannon is a player’s coach, and he is going to recruit the HELL out of Southern Florida. It might be 10 years before another blue chip recruit from Southern Florida goes anywhere other than Miami. Which means only one thing – get used to Miami back in the mix for a national championship year after year, and all of the strutting, swagger and trash talking that comes along with it.
Make no mistake about this, either. Miami went into Florida State’s house and OWNED them. As the 38-34 score indicates, there was not a lot of defense in this game, which should concern all Hurricane fans as it does me. But, any defensive stops that happened seemed to happen when The U was on defense. If not for a weird hit arm / deflected pass returned for a touchdown, Miami might have won this game going away. But one thing is for certain after that game…Jacory Harris is, hands-down, the coolest customer I have ever seen at the collegiate level. If you have not seen the game yet, it will be on ESPN Classic tomorrow as an instant classic. Do yourself a favor and watch it. Watching Jacory Harris in this game will make you think of Vince Young in the 2006 Rose Bowl…except for he is even more under control at every point in the game. Sure, it’s a Week 1 game and not the BCS Title Game, but the fact that I making the comparison at all should tell you all you need to know about how composed Jacory Harris looked during this game.
One final point to tick off all the Miami haters – they have a very favorable schedule for a pretty prestigious bowl game this year. Here are the next 3 opponents for Miami — #15 Georgia Tech, at #7 Virginia Tech, #3 Oklahoma. After that, they will have 8 games left, 7 of which should be easy wins and one game at #21 North Carolina. I would say that after the win on Monday night, a 2-2 start is a definite possibility. Then, let’s assume that North Carolina will hold on at home and beat the Canes…and let’s also assume that Randy Shannon will flat-out blow a game against an inferior opponent.
Ladies and gentlemen – that will amount to an 8-4 record from a team in a BCS conference…and probably gets them into the Top 3 in the ACC at least…maybe even with a chance to win the ACC outright, as they might only have 1 loss in conference. The ACC Champ plays in the Orange Bowl – could you imagine the Hurricanes playing in the Orange Bowl on January 5? The #2 team in the ACC plays in the Chick-fil-A Bowl on December 31 in Atlanta. The #3 team in the ACC plays in the Gator Bowl on January 1 in Jacksonville.
Don’t be surprised when you see Miami playing in a major bowl game this season, and don’t be surprised if they ride Jacory Harris into the BCS.
Popularity: 1% [?]
