Miami

 In 1983, during my 135 pounds of pure muscle freshman year, I watched in agony as one of my good high school friends was the punter and holder for the visiting Hurricanes as they kicked a late game winning FG to break our hearts in Doak. That Cane team (as many others) took that win and catapulted to a Natty. The next season, a day before a caravan of drunk frat brothers prepared to travel to Coral Gables, I came down with a 104 degree fever. The boys left to watch a blowout Nole win while I watched it in a blur at home. Two years later I finally made it to the Orange Bowl with hope and very little Espanol. The Stadium ran out of water 15 minutes in and only 3 bathrooms were functional in the whole damn building; after a miracle throwback kickoff return to Dexter Carter, the visitors faded and my first loss in North Cuba was a reality. In '88, the Seminole Rap and a preseason #1 ranking inspired a bunch of young Tampa professionals to ball out and rent a private plane for an opening day clash.  Yeah, a gallon of pregame Bloody Mary's did not sit well as 31-0 dried out your scribe and the only grace was a quick exit back over Okeechobee. Three more consecutive trips to that garbage dump disguised as a stadium in South Florida gave me an oh and five record and cemented my lifetime feelings about traveling to the U. In 1995, in the midst of the Dynasty, Debbie and I were at a Lake City Bobby Bowden Day dinner. These events were always special for her family as Coach treated her parents like Miccos as they helped create the Summer traveling road show that kick started Seminole Boosters. We were spending a quiet private moment with the legend when the subject of Miami came up. I offered up my lifetime road record and without missing a beat, Bobby looked me right in the eye and with conviction said "Son, don't go there to watch us again!". 37 years later, I have upheld that request. You...are...welcome!

If that game was not joyous, or if you have absolutely anything to feel down about this week, check your tribe clothes at the door. Yes, Miami should have been a strong candidate for the NCAA death penalty a few times in the last 30 years. It seems that orange and green boosters on boats with strippers and South Beach rap blaring while hundred dollar handshakes happen have been the norm. But, somehow, they have been on probation only once and that gave us a 47 point blowout. This game is next in the Hurricane humiliation  pecking poll. Think about that. In a season where they were preseason top 10, they were dealt a historic beatdown at home - after Middle Tennessee and Duke had prepped the guava juicer. That is nuts, and knowing that Miami puts absolutely every bullet in their recruiting holster into this biannual sellout, it makes it even sweeter. I assume our coaching staff planted themselves outside the recruiting section so they could shake every disillusioned hand as they exited. 

Welcome to the Trey Benson show. You think that kid had any fun sticking it to his old coach? Although he did seek him out after the game, and it looked like a congenial greeting. Benson is an enigma. He does not have the lower half of Earl Campbell, but he damn sure runs through tackles like him. He does not have Dalvin top end speed, but most humans not named Bolt don't have that either, and Trey seems to run away from everyone without an angle. He is a pro, and it is fun to watch him mature. Two straight 100 yard games, and a few dagger totes every week that just leaves hearts and sore arms in his wake. Friends, he and LT are doing this damage with the starter on the bench. Again, this is scheme success. You want to know why we struggle to score inside the 10. Because in this cramped space, our OL is usually not good enough to push the other guys back. But in the open field, with a Halloween level eye candy that Coach dials up with jets, TE motions and counter runs where the OL shows one look and pulls and traps to another is a migraine for opposing DC's. Just wait until we actually have more talent on the OL when our uber talented freshman all grow up. This is a top 20 national offense and we might have two NFL players in the starting lineup and none up front. Washington and Emmanuel have perfected the counter pull, and Trey and LT are very grateful. 

Jordan threw 12 passes - in the game. Whoah. If you had told me pregame that Micah and Johnny Wilson would have combined 1 catch and we win big, well I would have thought that they both got hurt. They did hurt the feelings of the db's that they were blocking, but Miami was committed to taking away the power forward, and that opened up the running game. Taking up the offensive aerial slack was our punt team. Yes, we just witnessed a game where we dominated special teams. Our newly blonde Aussie dropped two boots inside the 4 and the suddenly Africa sidewalk hot Ryan Fitzgerald nailed the kick as time expired in the first half.  We never miss field goals against Miami.  He also knocked every kickoff - and there were a glorious amount of them - out of the end zone to take the mystery out of this unit. 

Fabian Lovett got to break the rock this week, and if you looked at the stats, you may have wondered why. Well, he makes that kind of impact without racking up tackles. The middle was a mucked up mess all game when he was on the field and Miami eventually just gave up that part of their offense. Jared Verse and Patrick Payton wreaked havoc against an overmatched set of tackles for Miami, and Coach Fuller gets some credit for finally turning Jammie Robinson loose with a running qb in the game. New trick meet old dog. But my two favorite defensive plays of the night were actual real life interceptions by guys in our colors. When the human turnover - Garcia - entered the game, we dialed up a zone that (gasp) worked! As we have chronicled, facing the ball can really aid in the interception process. Greedy Vance discovered this oddity as did true freshman AZ Thomas who did the seemingly impossible late, and turned his head in man coverage to grab an oskie. Renardo Green was only picked on twice all game, and he was up to the task, but we do need some growth on the other side to make this back end competitive. 

The season opened up this weekend. All the theoreticals are gone and the reality of a three game stretch towards a major Bowl is right there. Even a 2-1 finish takes this club to 8-4 and a huge step forward from four straight losing records. So, why don't we do something special and sweep out and make this the start of something really big? We will be in Upstate NY this week sampling the wines around Canandaigua before trekking to the Dome. Enjoy the week, my fellow Noles, the Cane's are dead!