Raising 'Canes

I've made three different radio appearances in the last seven days: one in Orlando with Brady Ackerman and Jerry O'Neill and two in Tampa with the Killer B's (midday) and Scot Brantley (afternoons, with the Fabulous Sports Babe, who still hasn't lost her fastball. Anyone else remember how the afternoon TV simulcast of her national radio show pretty much kept ESPN2 afloat during the early days? The Babe and Jim Rome built that network. Honestly, they should both be honored with bronze statues on the Bristol campus. You better recognize. I'm digressing).

Anyway, during all three shows, the question of Miami came up. Not just the Randy Shannon handshake thing (not the best way to express himself, but who cares) or the Meyer-running-up-the-score thing (get serious), but the Hurricanes in general. So here's what I told them all:

If Miami plays as hard every week as they did against Florida last Saturday, these 'Canes will contend for the ACC title this year. Not next year, not two years from now (when the 22 true freshmen who played in their opener become juniors) -- this year.

The ACC is down, of course, which makes that statement far less fearless than it looks. Consider the following, just from the first two weeks of the season:

--NC State got bageled by South Carolina
--Virginia was destroyed by Southern Cal (no shame in losing to the Trojans, but 52-7? And you're a member of a BCS conference?)
--Virginia Tech was beaten by then-unranked East Carolina (again, less shame now than it was then, as the Pirates appear to be for real, but still...East Carolina? Frank Beamer used to put East Carolinas on his cereal in the morning.)
--Maryland was lucky to beat Delaware
--Clemson got crushed by Alabama (on national television, no less)
--North Carolina had to score 14 points in the 4th quarter to beat McNeese State (!)
--Maryland lost to Middle Tennessee State

...and Miami added to the conference's early-season woes with a 23-point loss to a vicious rival in the Florida Gators.

We know nothing of Florida State yet; their opener against Western Carolina was impressive in that they handled their business against a clearly overmatched team, but that's all we can take from it. I don't expect to learn very much from Chattanooga this week, either. Their first test comes September 20th against Wake Forest, one of the few ACC teams that has looked halfway decent over the first two weeks (although that barnburner against Ole Miss makes me wonder). Hell, for all we know, Florida State might be the class of the conference this year.

But the topic was Miami, and not only have I seen them play in person this year, I've seen them play in person the last couple of years -- not at Miami, but in high school, where more than a dozen current Hurricanes played in FHSAA State Championship games televised by Sun Sports and/or FSN Florida. Robert Marve, Jacory Harris, Sean Spence, Marcus Forston, Leonard Hankerson, Brandon Harris, Kendal Thompkins -- the list goes on. And what's impressive to me about Miami is the fact that all of these athletes are going just as hard as they did in high school.

What I mean is, it's pretty clear from watching the Hurricanes in person that they believe in themselves. Despite a Swamp-record crowd of over 91,000, the 'Canes didn't get flustered -- they just got beat, by a better, more experienced team. Florida's execution in the second half was a result of being there before; they weren't necessarily faster, or more talented, than Miami. They were just wiser.

Which brings us back to the Atlantic Coast Conference. With so many programs in flux this year, Miami's talent could be enough to carry them in their division. The key question is coaching -- not just from Randy Shannon, but from Patrick Nix and the rest of the offensive staff. Miami's biggest weakness against Florida was an inability to execute offensively, and a lack of adjustment when it became apparent that the Gators' defense was especially salty on that night. They've got to learn how to toss the game plan out the window when it's obviously not working, something that comes with, well, experience (on the part of the coaches as much as the players).

But man, do they play hard. That squad did not embarrass themselves last week. And in a conference that has looked pretty embarrassing so far, that might be enough.