Every fall there are a few college football Saturdays that defy logic and turn teams’ collective seasons upside down.
This proved to be one of those weekends and thankfully the Miami Hurricanes watched from the sideline, averted disaster and still managed to climb a few spots in the rankings. (Another added bonus—Florida lost. Always a beautiful thing.)
No. 13 going into the weekend, Miami found itself at No. 10 in the AP poll on Sunday morning. This marks the Hurricanes’ highest position since climbing to No. 8 in 2009.
Ranked 5-1, with wins over Florida State, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma and Florida A&M, Miami entered the top ten on Sunday October 18th, ranked No. 9 prior to a win at Central Florida.
A week later, ranked No. 8, Miami fell to Clemson in overtime, 40-37 and until this weekend had never returned.
Miami backed into this week’s top ten courtesy of a few monster upsets. Texas took down No. 12 Oklahoma in the annual Red River Rivalry and within the hour, Missouri upset No. 7 Georgia.
By day’s end, No. 5 Stanford was toppled at Utah, while No. 9 Texas A&M mounted a late comeback at Ole Miss, moving the Aggies to No. 7 in the latest rankings. No. 15 Baylor also averted disaster, surviving Kansas State and rallying for the, 35-25 win.
No. 3 Clemson had fits with unranked Boston College, needing a late fumble and score to eke out a 24-14 win—in Death Valley.
No. 18 Michigan blew a late lead at Penn State, falling to the Nittany Lions in four overtimes and as alluded to earlier, No. 18 Florida lost its second game of the season, falling to No. 10 LSU, 17-6.
Miami gets this week’s game out of the way early, taking on North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Thursday night. The nationally televised ESPN showdown has the Canes looking for a sixth win while the Tar Heels stumble in at 1-4.
The stage it set for some more movement next weekend if Miami can rack up another “W”.
No. 24 Auburn takes on No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 9 UCLA heads to No. 13 Stanford and of course, the monster primetime showdown with No. 5 Florida State at No. 3 Clemson.
A few take downs coupled with a statement against North Carolina this Thursday and Miami could climb a few more spots.
From there, Wake Forest treks south—one last tune-up before UM’s game of the year at Florida State on November 2.
The goal this week for head coach Al Golden and staff; guarding against complacency, remaining level-headed and respect for an opponent who doesn’t look good on paper, but will be upset-minded and has had the Hurricanes number in the past.
North Carolina 18, Miami 14 (2012) … North Carolina 33, Miami 24 (2009) … North Carolina 28, Miami 24 (2008) … North Carolina 33, Miami 27 (2007) … and who could ever forget that first-ever ACC loss in 2004.
No. 3 Miami, undefeated at 6-0 with wins over Florida State, Louisville and North Carolina State, takes on a 4-3 North Carolina squad and fell, 31-28, having given up a jaw-dropping 545 yards on defense.
History in this rivalry, as well as this last weekend of college football upsets, proved that there are no ‘gimmies’.
As a fan base, thinking about a 7-0 start and penciling in two more wins before a road trip to Tallahassee is understandable. For a coaching staff and group of players not used to winning in bunches or dealing with this level of consistent prosperity, this week has letdown written all over it.
Hopefully watching football this past weekend, opposed to playing it, served as a wake-up call and reminder for UM.
Earlier, I felt the GT game was truly a trap game. And, I was worried in the first half. However, the adjustments made during half time, which would never have worked last year, were as impressive as the victory over UF. With an offense that is becoming prolific, and a defense that is getting better every week, the Canes, while maybe not elite, are certainly an upper tier team. UNC lost their stud running back to the NFL, and although it’s a tough game every year, the Canes should prevail. (the Canes are the only team this year to score 21 on the Gators) Keep up the good work on this site! Go Canes!
David – Agree that GT looked like a trap game early. Yellow Jackets’ offense was definitely exposed by Virginia Tech and once Miami settled in, the Hurricanes made adjustments and prevailed. This squad definitely has matured and has character, unlike years passed.
The defense still has its work cut out, though. Florida put up 400+ yards and Georgia Tech wasn’t far behind. Miami is doing a great job creating turnovers, but can’t rely on that. Need to get the big stops when necessary.
As for North Carolina, definitely a different team without the tough-running Gio Bernard. Tar Heels also lost some overall talent and with scholarship losses are double-digits below the standard 85 players, I believe. Those numbers are definitely catching up with them this season.
Miami has the horses to get a big win in Chapel Hill. It simply needs the focus.
Another break for UM early this season—scheduling. FAU on Friday night opener. UF in game two (at home). Bye week to come down from high of upset win. Savannah State. South Florida having a down year. Georgia Tech limping in after being upset by Virginia Tech. Another bye week.
Miami got to focus with this week’s bye—especially seeing what happened to so many other big time teams this past weekend. UM will take UNC seriously, gets Wake at home and then treks to Tallahassee, rested and seasoned, for a huge game against Florida State.
Unlike years past, Miami gets to ease and grow into this season and if it remains focused, will be able to pull off some magic down the stretch, potentially.
I, for one, am not overlooking UNC at all. They and UVA always seem to have our number and we usually find ourselves in battles against these average ACC teams. They use their TEs a lot as well as backs out of the backfield which has caused us issues in the past. I think this year will be different, but this is only our second road game. Renner is a good QB and hopefully will not be close to 100%. I will say right now, their best weapon is the TE #85. We need to double that guy every play.
Miami can ill-afford to overlook anyone and a good thing about Al Golden—he is driving home the point that (1) every opponent needs to be treated equally and (2) that nothing has been accomplished yet. 5-0 doesn’t matter. No. 10 doesn’t matter. Big wins are all in the rear-view.
The Canes are back to business and will come to play. Doesn’t mean that the Tar Heels will roll over or that the game will be a gimme … but the days of Miami not showing up are over, thankfully.
As much fun as it is to see UF lose, it’s not during the years we play them. The more losses UF has, the worse and worse our win against them looks. To date, they’re the only team even remotely considered a good win for this Canes team. ANY other current top 10, hell make it top 25 team would of waxed through FaU, Sav St, USF, and GT. Right now that UF win was big, if they keep losing, suddenly we understand how the Canes were able to get a win. The true test will be against FSU, whom i predict will be top 3 by the time we get to Tallahassee. If UF keeps winning(proving they are legit)and Miami is able to top FSU, the argument of rather or not Miami is back, may just be over.