Miami hangs tough with Florida…

Miami versus Florida wasn’t a football game – it was a title bout.

In one corner, the ‘champ’ – a seasoned veteran, a heavy favorite and the hometown crowd behind him. In the other, a feisty up-and-comer given little shot for the upset, but amped up after being disrespected and counted out.

Early on, the underdog took everything the champ could throw his way and kept fighting back. For nine of the twelve rounds, it was almost evenly matched. The champ won a few rounds, but so did the underdog, absorbing blows and delivering enough of his own to strike fear in the favorite.

For a while, it looked like the newbie actually had a shot at dethroning the champ. The capacity crowd spent most of the evening in stunned silence, worried that the unexpected might soon become a harsh reality.

In the end, the champ used his experience and maturity to get out of the hole he found himself in and put away the underdog in the final rounds, even delivering one last cheap shot after the final bell, frustrated that it took over three-quarters of the evening to flex his muscle.

Miami may have walked out of Florida with a loss, but if there’s any such thing as a moral victory, this may have been it. Nationally, some folks will see 26-3 and assume the Gators blew the Canes out. If that’s the case, they didn’t watch the first three quarters of action. The Canes said they were coming to play and that they did.

Leading up to game day, Florida faithful were talking ‘blowout’. The Gators were going to hang half a century on the Canes defense. Tim Tebow would own Miami. Florida’s defense would punch Robert Marve in the mouth all night and snap the first-time starter like a twig.

Then the game started and both sides came out swinging, proving that talk is cheap.

Miami proved for the majority of the evening they could hang with the No. 5 team in the land, rattle a Heisman-winning quarterback and leave the largest crowd in the history of The Swamp (90,833) in stunned silence for over three quarters.

The “most hostile environment in college football” was a monastery until early in the fourth quarter, with Urban Meyer looking like a confused, rattled monk on the sideline. Maybe that’s why the frustrated, arrogant Gators coach decided to tack on a final field goal with :25 remaining in the game. One last attempt to ‘pour it on’ since his team was unable to do so the majority of the contest.

With 1:56 on the clock and a 23-3 lead, Meyer had Tebow passing on first and second down, ran on third down and with an opportunity to run out the clock, instead sent his field goal unit on for a ‘run their nose in it’ final score (much to the chagrin of gamblers nationwide who took Miami plus the points.)

The classless move, typical and what the sports nation has come to expect of the Gators – prompted a half-hearted midfield handshake out of Randy Shannon at game’s end.

The score may have read 26-3, but those who watched all sixty minutes know that two special teams blunders by Miami and two questionable calls accounted for 16 of Florida’s 26 points.

After the initial three-and-out, Matt Bosher sailed his first punt 14 yards, setting Florida up at the Miami 35-yard line. Five plays and a miracle grab later, it was 7-0, Gators. Bosher kicked and punted out of his mind the rest of the evening, nailing a 50-yard field goal, setting up good field position and twice leveled Florida returners.

With the score 7-3 late in the second, a Florida punt pinned Miami at the 1-yard line. Seven plays later, faced with a 3rd and 14, the young Canes suffered their first meltdown of the evening in the form of a personal foul on Orlando Franklin. Punting from the end zone on 4th and 24, Bosher’s punt was blocked and the ball was pushed out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

The third quarter proved scoreless for both teams. The defensive battle ensued.

Miami stayed the course, chewing up over seven minutes of game clock with two drives. The Canes succeeded in keeping the Gators potent offense on the bench, yet failed when it came time to punctuate their offensive drives with scores.

Late in the third, Florida got their third gift of the night, this time in the form of an all SEC officiating crew who reversed a questionable call.

On a 3rd and 9 from the Miami 33, Tebow threw a strike to Carl Moore. Miami’s Randy Phillips got underneath Moore, appearing to drive him out of bounds, where the ball popped loose as soon as he hit the ground.

The play, called incomplete on the field, was reviewed and eventually reversed, stating that Moore’s elbow hit inbounds.

Maybe it did, maybe it didn’t – but no crew in the nation other than some SEC homers are overturning the call on the field. The ‘conclusive evidence’ was only conclusive to a handful of officials who announced the reversal of the call with a full-on southern twang.

The Canes held steadfast, forcing Tebow into an incomplete and stuffing Brandon Moore for a one-yard run. On a 3rd and goal from the five, Phillips was again the victim of a semi-questionable call, getting hit for pass interference on Percy Harvin on what looked like a bang-bang play. With the way the SEC crew called the game, hardly a shock Miami got hit with another there.

With a 1st and goal from the two-yard line, Miami stuffed Mr. Heisman twice en route to the end zone but buckled on third down, giving up the two-yard score to Harvin – a play in which Miami’s Chavez Grant was held, yet the all-SEC zebras again let one slide.

Even with a fairly officiated game, Miami most likely still loses – but a shame that the officials were so blatantly biased with some calls and non-calls.

16-3 with 5:50 left to play, Florida’s gift touchdown proved to be the straw that broke Miami’s back. The final minutes of the game played out the way the masses expected the previous 54:10 to. The Gators defense penetrated a tired Canes’ offensive line, sacking Marve while the potent offense tacked on 10 more points in consecutive drives, while Tebow and crew stepped up their game and put together an impressive scoring drive.

Florida got the lucky breaks, capitalized and did what good teams do, putting the underdog away late. But Miami’s effort for over 54 minutes of play – there’s your real story. The Gators did what was expected, but the Canes on some level shocked the world, proving they could hold No. 5 in check.

Some positives? How about Miami’s gem of a defensive coordinator in Bill Young? The Canes though Shannon was a guru, calling the defensive shots the better part of this decade, but Young proved he was a true mastermind. Close up shots of both Tebow and Meyer showed the nation their frustration all night. New looks were brought every series and confusion was the name of the game.

Based on last night, you have to believe the Canes defense is going to run roughshot all over ACC offenses this season. Young proved he’s the real deal and that sound you heard was a collective, “oh s**t” from offensive coordinators conference-wide.

Offensively, Marve looks like he’s a great one in the making. In his first-ever collegiate action he strutted into the Swamp, flexed his muscle and never once flinched or backed down.

Unfortunately, Marve’s receivers didn’t always help him out, his highly-lauded offensive line looked porous at times and the rushing attack that needed to play difference-maker was only good for 61 yards. Miami’s ground game better improve as the season rolls on and the wideouts need to haul in more passes to help out their rookie QB.

The ‘Fire Patrick Nix’ posts are already sprouting up in cyberspace, with armchair quarterbacks chastising Miami’s signal caller. While all that talk might be premature, Nix is definitely guilty of calling a conservative game and will need to open things as the season progresses. In his defense, this was Marve’s first game in a hostile environment and keeping it close to the vest offensively was the best way to chew up clock time.

Nix has the rest of 2008 to get this offense rolling. If not, he needs to look no further than former defensive coordinator Tim Walton to see what happens if a playcaller isn’t cutting the mustard. Nix got a mulligan for last year, due to damaged goods at quarterback and a lack of playmakers. That excuse won’t hold water in 2008. These kids may be young, but the talent is there to complete. Show some cojones, Patrick.

While Miami’s defense played stout and was in Florida’s face, there were no defensive turnovers to help a green offense. Just once, it’d have been nice to see the Canes offense with a short field and a chance to build up some confidence.

The Canes are 1-1 and head into a bye week before heading to Texas for an out of conference road game at Texas A&M and then conference play will be underway. While a win at Florida would’ve been great for bragging rites, it means nothing in regards to the ACC and trying to get to Tampa.

Miami needs to crawl before they walk and yesterday was a big step forward. The Canes proved they could hang with the Gators and that all this talk of The U’s demise has been grossly overrated.

Florida didn’t pour it on and expose a huge talent gap between the two programs, even though Meyer inherited a better team than Shannon and has been building depth, hauling in four solid recruiting classes at UF. Shannon saved the 2007 class, but 2008 was his first year of recruiting his own talent and reeled in what ESPN thought was the best class in the land.

Let’s see where the Canes are at after Shannon repeats the feat and has as much time to stockpile as Meyer has.

If anything, Miami showed that with a few more players and a little more experience, the Canes should be back on the Gators’ heels as quickly as next season.

Until then, it’s all about 2008 and getting better every week. After seeing the effort and potential last night, an ACC title game berth is certainly within reach, if Miami can play with the heart they showed against No. 5 in a hostile environment.

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