Emerald Bowl: Miami vs. California

By ANDREW GARDA - PAC-10 INSIDER

December 27, 2008 * 8:00 * ESPN
AT & T Park * San Francisco, California

After a one-year hiatus from going bowling, the ‘Canes are back and second year headman Randy Shannon is looking for his first bowl win at the helm. Miami is not all the way back, but this youthful squad is full of potential and a bowl win could provide a solid building block. The Golden Bears start eight freshmen or sophomores themselves, but have a veteran core leading the way with the likes of center Alex Mack on offense and three senior starters at linebacker on defense.

When the Bears Have the Ball

After an overall disappointing season, the Golden Bears will have the opportunity to end on a high note. They have to be salivating over a Miami defense, which collapsed in its last two games and surrendered 691 yards on the ground. Jahvid Best will certainly be eager to continue his outstanding season (1,394 yards and 13 TDs) against that defense and California coach Jeff Tedford will likely test Miami early on the ground. However, the Hurricanes do have some very fast linemen and can adjust on the fly. On top of that, the Golden Bear offensive line has struggled due to injury and has had problems opening lanes for Best as well as protecting whichever quarterback is behind center. Both senior Nate Longshore (starter) and sophomore Kevin Riley took some snaps in the last game but neither one has been prolific the last few games. Riley has been the lead horse in this stable but has turned the ball over in four of the last five games. Often the California pass game will throw for no more than 100 yards so it is hardly surprising that they have no marquee wide receivers, utilizing instead a group of solid athletes who can catch the ball, run crisp short routes and help move the chains. But their ability is limited both by who they are as well as by the problems at the quarterback position. If Best stalls running the pigskin the Golden Bears could very well struggle to move the ball.

When the ‘Canes Have the Ball

Like California, Miami has flopped quarterbacks to little effect. Neither Robert Marve nor Jacory Harris has played particularly well. Marve, who has more yards but has also thrown 13 interceptions, is suspended for the contest. Meanwhile Harris has thrown 10 touchdown passes but has only barely crossed the 1,000-yard mark. Overall the Hurricanes have turned the ball over a stunning amount and rank 101st in the nation in turnovers. This could be a major problem – Miami throws interceptions and the Golden Bears are ranked third in the nation in interceptions with 23 and are second in the Pac-10 in defensive scoring. With the turnover problems, Miami may be best served by handing the ball off to their tandem of Graig Cooper and Javarris James. Neither of the tailbacks is in Best’s category in terms of game-breaking ability, but when the Hurricanes can get them going, it helps the offense stay moving. Both backs can move the chains and would keep the defense honest.

Final Analysis

Another potential factor could be the long trip to the Bay Area from Florida. California only has to hop a bus to the stadium while Miami must fly across the country. After completing the regular season with a two-game skid, the Hurricanes could struggle to get going after the long trip.

Inside the Numbers – Pass, Run & Catch

Miami Hurricanes (7-5, 4-4)
Pass: Jacory Harris – 1,001 yards, 10 TDs
Run: Graig Cooper – 778 yards, 4 TDs
Catch: Aldarius Johnson – 321 yards, 3 TDs

California Golden Bears (8-4, 6-3)
Pass: Kevin Riley – 1,360 yards, 14 TDs
Run: Jahvid Best – 1,394 yards, 13 TDs
Catch: Nyan Boateng – 412 yards, 5 TDs

The CFI Prediction: California 27, Miami 17

Photo Credit: Collegiate Images, University of Miami Sports Media Relations Office

Hurricanes' run at Orange Bowl ends with visit by No. 23 Virginia

By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Sports Writer

MIAMI (AP) -- More than a few Miami players wish they could smuggle their lockers from the Orange Bowl as souvenirs. Some will sneak onto the turf after this farewell game to pluck some blades of grass as
keepsake items.

Randy Shannon wants to take something away, too. "A win," the first-year Miami coach said. "Simple." That truly is what the Hurricanes need most from their matchup with
No. 23 Virginia on Saturday night, when Miami's 70-year run of calling the historic Orange Bowl home comes to an end.

A loss would further jeopardize Miami's chances of reaching a bowl game, and end whatever hope might remain of winning the Atlantic Coast Conference. After losses in their last two home games, the 'Canes (5-4, 2-3) sound desperate to close this era with a victory.

"It's real important and it's kind of a motivating factor knowing that this is going to be the last game ever played in the Orange Bowl," Miami center John Rochford said.

"So you want to bring your best effort out there. You're going to see guys really laying it on the line."

Virginia (8-2, 5-1) will do the same. The Cavaliers hit the eight-win mark earlier on the calendar than ever before. And a team that wasn't even bowl-eligible last season has eyes on a Bowl Championship Series spot -- the one bestowed to the ACC champion -- after a mindboggling string of nailbiting wins.

Virginia has three wins by one point, two wins by two points. No team in major college football history has ever won so many games in the same season by such a slim margin.

"Sometimes you have to have what they call luck," Shannon said. "But they create their own luck."

A play here, a play there, and Virginia could be in far worse shape. The reverse can be said for Miami. There's some statistical eeriness between the teams in everything but their won-loss record. Virginia has scored 220 points, Miami 219. Both teams have allowed exactly 192 points. But it's the Cavaliers sitting atop the ACC's Coastal Division, while the Hurricanes are sputtering and on the cusp of missing the postseason.

"It's a different feeling than we've had around here in a while. You can't deny that," standout defensive lineman Chris Long said. "We're in a place that we haven't been before."

Still, Virginia coach Al Groh, whose alma mater is 0-15 all-time in Florida, doesn't expect this one to be easy.

"To this point, Miami is overall the most athletically gifted team that we've played," Groh said.

And Groh knows the Hurricanes will get an emotional lift from the Orange Bowl farewell, so he's concerned.

"When you have a highly talented team such as Miami, that maybe isn't accomplishing quite what they want, sometimes a really galvanizing event like this brings out the very best in them," Groh said. "That's what we are assuming is going to be the case and we will have to have our team ready play at that particular level."

He's right on this count: Saturday's game will be an event. The Hurricanes began playing at what's now known at the Orange Bowl in 1937 and won three of their five national titles on that field. Miami will move to Dolphin Stadium next season to begin a planned 25-year stay there, and the Orange Bowl will soon be demolished.

To commemorate the occasion and all that history, Miami has invited all former players back to form the pregame tunnel for players to run through as they emerge from the locker room. Grammy award winner Jon Secada, a Miami grad, will sing the national anthem. A special halftime ceremony is planned, and there'll be postgame events as well.

Winning would make the sendoff even sweeter. "We're playing for all the millions of people who've walked through that Orange Bowl and saw a game and all the old players, whether they're still here or not," said Miami quarterback Kyle Wright, who'll
start despite a nagging left ankle sprain. "We're playing for a lot.

It's going to be a special night."

Source: A.P. Wire; Photo Credit: University of Miami Sports Media Relations Office

CFI: ACC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME PREDICTION

CHRISTOPHER J. KRESGE
ACC COASTAL INSIDER

Can you really predict anything in college football this year? Probably not, but at this point in the season, you can start to gauge where teams are heading at least mentally and which way their momentum is leaning.

So, that all being said, this is what I see for a showdown in Jacksonville for the ACC Championship game:

CLEMSON vs. MIAMI

Go ahead and choke on your ham and Swiss sandwich, but that is the way it is going to end up and here are my points:

Clemson is starting to play on all cylinders after a little bump in the road against Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech, both games were indicative of Clemson’s horrific special teams play and nothing else. What wins championships? Defense! And Clemson has one of the fastest and hard-hitting in all of college football. They have Duke this week, followed up by Wake Forest then at home, Boston College. Duke will be road kill this weekend and while Wake is a better team than what we are use to in the past, they are still no match for Clemson in the valley. Then Boston College comes to town. Now, I am well aware Boston College controls their own destiny, but they escaped in Blacksburg with a win and still have to play a much more talented FSU and Miami team. One, if not both of those teams will beat Boston College. Clemson will be so ready for this match up at home if Boston College comes in with one lost, it will be chaos in Death Valley that night. As unpredictable as Clemson has been over the years, the one constant they have shown is the ability to win big games at night at home.

Miami in the championship game? Not Virginia Tech, not Virginia? Yes and the sole reason I am making this prediction is the leadership and no-nonsense attitude of first year coach Randy Shannon. Every quote, interview, sound bite all year coming out of Coral Gables is that Coach Shannon will not tolerate quitting or half hearted efforts by anyone on the football team. And I truly believe the team has started buying into this philosophy and are starting to get that swagger back. They will over-match NC State this week. Then Virginia plays November 10 in the Orange Bowl for what will be the last Canes game ever at the infamous OB. Guess what Virginia, you lose and lose bad that night. By that point, the only two remaining games will be at Virginia Tech and at Boston College. I am predicting that the wining ways will cause momentum to shift their ways and beat a Virginia Tech team that has been overrated all year that has got a lot of injuries weighing them down and a Boston College team that will be out run all day. My only concern is the cold weather at that point in the season, but Randy Shannon is the man to get them motivated even if they had to play in Alaska.

My prediction for the winner? Not yet, let’s wait and see my first prediction come true.

PHOTO CREDIT: University of Miami Sports Media Relations Office

Beating rival Florida State gives Miami some late-season momentum

By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Sports Writer

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) - When he arrived at the office Sunday morning, Miami coach Randy Shannon was eager to watch the final few moments of the Hurricanes' comeback win over Florida State from the night before.

He wanted to see how one particular thing happened.

Not Darnell Jenkins' two nifty catches on the dramatic game-winning 83-yard drive. Not Kirby Freeman's pinpoint throw to Dedrick Epps for the go-ahead score with 1:15 left. Not Graig Cooper's three big carries on that march, or Teraz McCray's fumble-causing hit that led to Colin McCarthy's 27-yard touchdown return.

No, Shannon only wanted to see who dumped the water bucket over his head amid the celebration.

``Nobody would tell me,'' Shannon said.

Miami defensive linemen Courtney Harris and Calais Campbell may want to stay away from Shannon for a little while, then, since their postgame revelry was the only thing dousing the first-year coach's mood Sunday.

The Hurricanes' 37-29 victory over the rival Seminoles did more than snap a two-game Miami losing streak. It may have saved the season, since another defeat would have essentially eliminated the 'Canes (5-3, 2-2) from Atlantic Coast Conference contention - hopes there are slim to begin with anyway - and put Miami's chances of simply making a bowl game in jeopardy.

``Not too many people win at Florida State,'' Shannon said. ``If you win at Florida State, you take it and you wrap that one up and you put it in a vault because you don't get that many wins there.''

Most teams don't. Miami actually does.

The Hurricanes are 13-7 in Tallahassee, and this one was for the record books, since it ended a streak that dated back nearly a quarter-century.

On Oct. 13, 1984, the Seminoles (4-3, 1-3) lost at Doak Campbell Stadium to Auburn 42-41. Since then, Florida State was a staggering 102-0-1 when scoring 29 or more points at home.

That is, until Saturday, when a Miami team that had lost five straight on the road somehow pulled one out in stunning fashion.

``Maybe they're just starting to realize what we're saying,'' Shannon said. ``They can do it now.''

There were no shortage of Miami players being lauded in the tiny visiting locker room after the game. Freeman, McCray, Jenkins, Cooper and McCarthy all got deserved pats on the back.

But the biggest praise may have been directed toward someone who lost his starting job one day earlier, relegated to backup duty.

Francesco Zampogna - the sixth-year walk-on kicker who was the starter until this week - probably threw the biggest pass of Miami's season. His fake field-goal toss for a touchdown to DajLeon Farr in the third quarter gave Miami a 24-23 lead and, perhaps more importantly, a huge emotional lift at a time where the Seminoles seemed poised to pull away.

``First pass ever,'' Zampogna said.

It was a tricky play and a trickier call.

Miami had the ball on the Florida State 26 _ the exact spot on the same side of the field where the new starting kicker, Daren Daly, made a 44-yard field goal earlier. But Zampogna was summoned, Farr ran away from two defenders, caught the ball and scored easily.

``I was thinking to myself, 'I hope they don't catch on,''' Farr said. ``But they didn't.''

So now Miami heads into a bye week with some hope.

The break comes at a good time, since the Hurricanes could use a few days to heal - especially at quarterback. Kyle Wright hurt his left leg and Freeman was shaken up late in the game, although Shannon said he thinks both players will be ready when practice resumes Tuesday.

Home games await against North Carolina State (Nov. 3) and Virginia (Nov. 10), followed by road trips to nationally ranked Virginia Tech and Boston College to end the season.

``This was the breakthrough game that we needed,'' Campbell said. ``Now we've got momentum.''

Source: ncaafootball.com; Photo Credit: Miami University

CFI: THE ACC REPORT

BY CHRISTOPHER J. KRESGE
ACC COASTAL INSIDER

MIAMI 27 - UNC 33
This game was indicative of two teams going in complete opposite directions. The Butch Davis regime is starting to take form as the young Tar Heels, a roster that has 42 freshmen on it, played hard and focused shutting down a Miami team that looked lost and disinterested for at least the first half of the game. Coach Randy Shannon kept saying in his post game presser that the players still have the mentality instilled in them from the last coaching staff at Miami. Weren’t you the Defensive Coordinator from that last coaching staff Coach Shannon? Let me speak for Coach Shannon and let you know how bad the Canes are without making excuses. The defensive secondary not only does not cover man-on-man well, but do not make any big play tackles, and most of the time give a lackluster effort by trying to arm tackle opponents. In addition, when your strong safety, Kenny Phillips, leads your team in tackles, there are major breakdowns on your defensive line and linebackers. UNC’s team is starting to mature anDavis is making his mark in the Carolinas. Anthony Elzy ran for 95 yards and one touchdown and sophomore Hakeem Nicks had five catches for 76 yards. The ‘Canes have plenty of talent on this team, but it will be interesting to see if the coaching staff can get them going in the right direction because their season can get real ugly with future road games against Virginia Tech, Florida State and Boston College.
NEXT WEEK: Miami vs. Georgia Tech
NEXT WEEK: UNC vs. University of South Carolina

VIRGINIA TECH 41 – CLEMSON 23
Two words best describe this game, Beamer Ball. An interception returned for a touchdown, a returned punt for a touchdown and a return kickoff for a touchdown. Two more words best describe the state of Clemson football, Fire Bowden. Tommy Bowden is in his ninth season as head coach and it is a lot of the same, mediocre, inconsistent play and the biggest one, no championships -- ACC or BCS. The Clemson’s fan base have had enough of this and anything short of a BCS bowl bid, this will be Bowden’s last year in Tiger Town. Defensively, Clemson is playing at a very high level and they were able to contain freshman quarterback Tyrod Taylor for most of the game. Branden Ore is without a doubt a step slower this year and linebacker Vince Hall broke his wrist. As for Clemson’s “Thunder and Lightning” combo of C.J. Spiller and James Davis -- they were non-existent. The main reason is that opposing teams are stacking eight men in a box, daring Clemson to beat you with the pass. Which Cullen Harper has been doing a good job of, but again, the multitude of special team mistakes and turnovers are too much too overcome. Maybe Coach Beamer will share some tips on special teams play with Bowden before he gets fired.
NEXT WEEK: Clemson – Bye Week
NEXT WEEK: Virginia Tech vs. Duke

GEORGIA TECH 26 – MARYLAND 28
Fans that came out to watch the top two rushing offenses collide in College Park were treated instead to an air attack. The two teams combined for 550 passing yards compared to only 263 rushing yards. Maryland’s combination of Lance Ball and Kenny Lattimore, Ray Lewis’s half brother, is both punishing and efficient. Tashard Choice returned to form by rushing for 135 yards and one touchdown. It is going to be very interesting to see how both teams fair the second half of the season in the ACC. Maryland is starting to gain momentum while Georgia Tech is still trying to figure it out.
NEXT WEEK: Georgia Tech vs. Miami
NEXT WEEK: Maryland Bye Week

DUKE 36 – WAKE FOREST 41
Good news for Duke fans is quarterback Thaddeus Lewis continued lighting up ACC defenses and threw for 291 yards and four touchdowns against Wake Forest. Lewis continued to find his favorite target, Eron Riley, who caught two touchdown passes and totaled 143 yards. Bad news for Duke fans, their defense still cannot stop anyone. Wake is good team, but 41 points? My bold prediction for this year is that Duke will win an ACC game this year. I am not ready to predict the week, but any team that can consistently put up this many points a game will get a big W this year.
NEXT WEEK: Duke vs. Virginia Tech
NEXT WEEK: Wake Forest vs. FSU

VIRGINIA 23 – MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE 21
News flash for UVA…HAVE YOU SEEN ALL THE UPSETS THIS YEAR IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL? Once again this year we almost saw a nationally recognized program fall to a lesser known mid major. There are officially no off weeks now in Division I college football. UVA is starting to resemble Wake’s football team last year. They are very underrated, have a solid defense, which is lead by All-American Chris Long, and a productive, but not flashy offense. They showed that they have depth at running back as both Keith Payne and Andrew Pearman stepped up in the absence of Cedric Peerman who left with an injury. Tight end Tom Santi continues to put up good numbers; he blocks well and has soft hands. Santi is a good NFL prospect.
NEXT WEEK: Virginia vs. Connecticut

Photo Credit: University of Miami Sports Media Relations Office

Miami Hurricanes learn discipline and focus from Randy Shannon

By David Kaye

Coral Gables - Head coach Randy Shannon has been on the job for less than a year, but in his brief tenure, he has installed accountability, discipline, toughness and credibility in his players.

Gone are the glory days under Larry Coker who lead the Hurricanes to an astounding 60-15 record in six seasons, but in are first rate student athletes who treat everybody with respect and are admirable on and off the field.

‘’If you can’t be discipline on the field you can’t be discipline off the field,’’ senior wide receiver Darnell Jenkins told CFI after practice. ‘’He (Randy Shannon) has made players focus more on what’s right to do than what’s wrong. It says in our minds to stay positive and do what you have to do and at the total outcome at the end you’ll be successful.”

Shannon has his players entering the 2007 season with a totally revamped mindset about how to play the game of football properly. Following an embarrassing brawl on October 14th of last season against Florida International where 13 Miami players were suspended, the program has suffered through extensive bashing by the media, fans and even former alumni.

The prospect of being one of the premier Division I programs in all of college football was quickly eliminated and what entered was this negative persona of being a thuggish and inadequate school that could not control their players. The environment in Coral Gables was not conducive to winning and a new regime needed to be implemented.

Fortunately, athletic director Paul Dee had to look no further than defensive coordinator Randy Shannon (although they did) who had guided the Hurricanes defense to five top ten finishes in six years. He may not come well groomed as an experienced coach from another university might have, but he’s a Miami guy who has been with the program since 1985 (stepping out here and there) and has played an integral part in three of the school’s five national championship teams, both as a player and as a coach.

Shannon believes that all disciplinary issues are behind them as they are set to take on FIU this week, no extra security is necessary according to the coach.

Randy Shannon is the perfect man to guide the Hurricanes into the future and set a precedent that behaving exemplary off the field will lend to a winning formula on the field.