The Old Lady Dies Weeping

This morning I'm still speechless and dumbfounded by the performance last night. As poorly as I believed Miami would be this season, and as good as I picked UVA to be (recall before the season on this site I picked Miami to finish below .500 and Virginia to win the ACC Coastal but lose to FSU in the ACC Title Game) I remarked yesterday morning that I believed the Cavs were 2 to 3 TDs better than UM any time other than this night, the grand finale at the OB. But the old lady I believed would be the equalizer, the intangible the spurred the Canes to at the very least an inspired close shave loss to a very good and nationally under appreciated Virginia team. The monster crowd last night wanted something good to happen and tried to spur on the team but alas the crowd cared a heck of a lot more than the team did.

But the disgraceful play which the emotionless Hurricanes demonstrated, totally stripped of any enthusiasm by Coach Randy Shannon's old school rules and regulations is an a complete embarrassment to South Florida, the legacy of this program and most of all to the old lady herself. The Hurricanes have a fickle fan base to start with. While public opinion polls and merchandise sales show Miami as one of the most popular College sports programs nationally, I would venture to say the majority of these people are actually not Miami fans but in fact fans of winning. They have "supported" Miami because of the winning football we have played for the last twenty five plus years. They have also by and large supported Miami because of the anti-establishment nature of UM's teams and exciting open pro style offense we played. My fear is that as a a small urban private university competeting in the conference and the state against larger public schools that Miami could go into a permanent state of decline. While I can be partly reassured by Miami's top 5 recruiting class this year, the reality as Steve Walsh described last night on Hurricanes Extra Point last night is that Miami traditionally took players that flew under the national radar (2 and 3 star recruits), instilled an attitude in them of world beaters and then took on the big boys who had the 5 star recruits and usually whooped them.

Larry Coker's failures have much discussed on this site, and while I feel for many reasons Coker gets a bad rap, his biggest fault was his obsession with recruiting ratings and his psychopathic loyalty to Kyle Wright, whose failure after being to top HS player in the nation will go down as symbol of this failed era of UM Football. I still recall the first game of 2004 sitting in the West End Zone as we trailed FSU arguing with numerous fans who wanted Brock Berlin benched and Freshman Kyle Wright to enter the game. I pleaded with these people that Brock had done it before and could do it again, that he'd never quit on this team or our fans. I was right: Brock took us 89 yards in the last minute and then led us to an overtime win. The next week I sat in horror as during a blowout win over LA Tech the crowd gave Kyle Wright making his first UM appearance a standing ovation. Not only was it insulting to our incumbent starting QB, but it was too much of a burden for one kid to endure. When I saw Wright play against GA Tech three weeks later in mop up duty after Berlin had thrown 3 TDs in an easy win, I was horrified. How could this guy be a future starting QB at the U, I wondered?

I had hoped I would be wrong. I had hoped all the flak I have taken both on this site and at the games the past four years about not trusting Wright would be wrong. But my initial hunch was dead on. What was worse is that Larry Coker failed to sign another decent QB during Wright's tenure and let 4 QB commitments sign elsewhere. Kirby Freeman had his moments last season, as Wright did the year before. But both QBs had substantially regressed as Juniors and in Wright's case he has regressed even further as a senior. But it isn't all his fault. Around him are a group lifeless, emotionless players who go through the motions far too often to be appreciated.

The old lady is about die a violent death at the hands of City of Miami's greed and avarice. As I left the Orange Bowl for one last time last night, I couldn't believe a group of impostors wearing a "U" on their helmets had so little regard for what that stadium meant to the game. The OB is the cathedral of the College game, the place where championships were won and the place where the feeling was always so special. Were this some other town in the US, or some other part of the world, they wouldn't be tearing down the old lady. But this is south Florida where the transient nature of the people and the pro sports culture deems the Orange Bowl a "dump." I understand why UM had to move north to Dolphin Stadium, though I wish it weren't so. But I don't understand the City of Miami and their rush to demolish the stadium and presumably replace it with condominiums or something of the sort. I suppose the Hurricanes play last night typifies the attitudes in this town towards the shrine that is the Orange Bowl. May she rest in peace and not remember the last several games her 70 year long spouse played on her field.

Orange Bowl Finale in Photos Part Two

Pictures from the Orange Bowl Finale Part 1

Orange Bowl Countdown: #2

1986 Miami vs Oklahoma

The 1986 matchup between Miami and Oklahoma was the first #1 vs #2 matchup Miami had ever played in. The Sooners came in ranked at the top of the polls, as the defending national champs while still smarting from a loss to the Canes the previous year. The stakes were high for this game and CBS had hyped the matchup for weeks as a potential national championship game. The Hurricanes came out behind Vinny Testeverde who had his signature Heisman moment in the first half on a wild run which believe it or not only gained a net of 9 yards and stormed out to the lead. Fullback Melvin Bratton and WR Brett Perriman had particularly good first halves and the Canes never looked back. Jamile Holloway and the Oklahoma offense was suffocated by Jerome Brown, Daniel Stubbs and the Miami front four. Miami's linebackers led by George Mira Jr. played a critical role as well in 28-16 victory which never seemed that close.

Orange Bowl Countdown: #3

2000: Miami versus Florida State

As our #4 selection described, Florida State turned the tables on Miami in the mid to late 1990s, dominating the rivalry and also arguably playing the best football anywhere in America. While the talent gap between Miami and Florida State had clearly narrowed in 1999 when the Hurricanes gave the #1 Noles a game in Tallahassee.

2000 was the year Miami had to beat Florida State. Butch Davis came into the game 0-10 against FSU and Virginia Tech. The Canes behind a rare Orange Bowl sellout raced out to a 17-0 2nd quarter lead behind TDs from DJ Williams and Najeh Davenport. Right before halftime Chris Weinke, the eventual Heisman Trophy winner drove Florida State down the field but Dan Morgan picked him off in the end zone.

But in the second half FSU stormed back and after Najeh Davenport had gotten a potential game clinching first down, the ball was stripped and two plays later Weinke hit Atrews Bell to give the Noles a 24-20 lead inside of two minutes to go. Then Miami ripped off an epic drive, spearheaded largely by Santana Moss and Ken Dorsey. Jeremy Shockey caught a TD to give Miami a 27-24 lead, but Weinke rallied FSU again bringing them into FG range before Matt Munyon missed the potential tying FG wide right. Weinke finished the game throwing for 496 yards a record for any opponent.

Florida State was the better team on that day and the better team that season. Lots of controversy ensued at the end of the season when FSU jumped Miami in the BCS poll to play in the National Title game. Florida State was the better team, no doubt but this loss thanks to to wild OB atmosphere should have given Miami or perhaps Washington (who beat Miami) the spot alongside Oklahoma in the BCS title game.

Orange Bowl Magic Countdown

Tomorrow we'll begin out look at the five games where the Orange Bowl made the biggest impact on UM's fortunes since 1980. I'm excluding bowl games from this countdown so the Miami-Nebraska game of 1983, the obvious #1 game and probably the most significant college football game (and perhaps the most entertaining as well) of the past twenty five years is excluded.