Badgley & Elder Early Season MVP’s For Canes

allCanesBlog.com guest columnist Scott Alan Salomon talks about two unsung heroes and early-season MVP’s for the Miami Hurricanes; kicker Michael Badgley, who knocked down five field goals and the game-winner in overtime against the Cornhuskers, and cornerback Corn Elder, whose end zone interception all but sealed the win over Nebraska.

In the wake of the 36-33 victory over Nebraska, new heroes emerged from the smoke as the Hurricanes ran their record to 3-0 on the season. Sophomore kicker Michael Badgley and junior cornerback Corn Elder saved Miami who gave up 23 points in the last eight minutes of play.

Badgley had five field goals, including the game-winner in overtime, and Elder continued his stellar play this season with an interception in the end zone which thwarted Nebraska’s drive in overtime and led to Badgley’s heroics.

“It’s a big win, but I’ve always said to myself ‘take this win with a 24-hour rule. Celebrate as much as you want and then on to the next.’ We’ve got a bye week coming up and it’s time to focus on Cincinnati,” Badgley said.

“Have this great win, see your mistakes and continue to be great out there. Everything is going to happen. It’s going to be fun.”

Badgley was most impressed with the fact that Miami head coach Al Golden gave him so many opportunities to score for his team on Saturday. With all of the noise surrounding his coach, Badgley is one of Golden’s most ardent supporters.

“Him and I go back and fourth all the time. Obviously I’ll defend that guy to the world and back,” Badgley said. “He’s the greatest coach in college football and there is no question about it.”

Golden loves his kicker as well and it shows in his conversation about the kicker that won a game for Miami that they were very close to losing. He and Badgley have a special relationship, one that even entitles the coach to make jokes about the kicker’s hairdo.

“He works hard. He’s got bad hair, but he works his ass off. He’s tough. I can see him being focused at the end, he’s just going to strike it. The ball has been jumping for him lately, he’s been really working hard. I thought the protection was good on the unit tonight, thought the operation was good,” Golden said.

“You need to have that for him to be confident. Tomorrow is a day we talk about not getting touchdowns in the red zone. Tonight we celebrate what we did in the end zone, and that’s obviously what Badgley did.”

Golden said that he did not say anything to the team of any special magnitude going into the fourth quarter. He just maintained his belief that one of his players would do something special and that they would win the game.

“I said, ‘Nothing-nothing, and we’re at home.’ That’s what I said. ‘Nothing-nothing, and we’re at home. Don’t worry about it.’ Everybody was relaxed, I looked over and the whole offense was on the field, out though the numbers. I think they wanted the ball,” Golden said. “We elected to go on defense, and obviously it turned out in our favor. It gets hairy down there, whether to try and punch it in or just center it. But it just felt like centering was the best probability there, and obviously Badgley nailed it.”

Elder, meanwhile, spoke about his game-winning interception humbly as possible when addressing the media after the game.

“I didn’t have a receiver to my side, so I was basically just playing the field,” Elder said. “I see them scramble and I just took off deep. He threw it and it just came right to me.”

Elder came to Miami as a two-sport player, who expected to have a role under head coach Jim Larranaga with the Canes’ basketball program, but he decided last season to concentrate solely on football and the dedication and decision has apparently paid off for the Tennessee native.

“Just focusing on football I’ve gotten stronger, faster and my technique has gotten better.”

Golden was impressed with his budding defensive backfield star, who just continues to make big plays.

“He’s a super athlete. That play that he made, he opened his hips completely and caught the ball. He has great hand-eye coordination. He’s just a great kid. All those kids fought,” Golden said after the game.

“Give Nebraska credit for the way they played, but give our kids a lot of credit for fighting, scratching, clawing, staying together, having poise and finishing it in overtime.”

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