Canes "Motivated" for Meaningless Game

by Kartik Krishnaiyer
Canes Rising Staff

Miami plays an absolutely meaningless ACC game on Saturday in Raleigh. From a pure positioning standpoint it is the least meaningful game Miami has played since the rescheduled 1999 season finale against Temple. That game which was delayed due to Hurricane Irene simply gave the Canes a chance for an eight regular season win and did affect the conference title race or bowl eligibility.

Miami has seven wins in 2008 thanks to a superb coaching effort by Randy Shannon. Miami fans and message board residents protested the Shannon choice and have since done everything they could with their limited long term view to ridicule the job the new Miami head coach has done. But realistically if you objectively look at the ACC, Miami is one of the three or four worst teams from a pure talent standpoint. Miami's offensive line is poor, and has fewer takeaways than any other team in the league on defense. Miami's secondary has only one interception all season, and the offense still lacks game breaking playmakers. Yet the Canes have won four times in the league, the best season in the ACC since 2005. That comes down to coaching and Randy Shannon deserves the credit. Miami's record in close games the second half of the season speaks for itself and that comes down to the coaches making the right calls at the right times.

According to the morning papers the Canes are motivated for a game which means nothing for Miami but everything for red hot NC State. The Wolfpack started the year 0-4 in the ACC but now have won three straight to chase bowl eligibility. Russell Wilson has been the best offensive player in the league the last month, and Tom O'Brien's defense has begun to make big plays.

The fact that the Canes are truly motivated and it is believable (not simply some loudmouth players giving impromptu comments as was the norm in the Coker era) is another credit to Randy Shannon.

Paul Johnson will be ACC Coach of the Year. Georgia Tech as I have discussed previously I feel will be a national power of the Florida/Oklahoma/USC caliber once PJ has a few recruiting classes in his system. David Cutcliffe has also done a credible job this year at Duke. But when looking for other coaches who have done an outstanding job this year in the ACC, Randy Shannon stands out. That alone should have Canes fans excited about the future.