The minute the South Florida Bulls upset the No. 13 Florida Gators in Gainesville last weekend, the national spotlight turned its focus to this weekend’s match-up against the No. 5 Miami Hurricanes at HardRock.
For anyone having watched South Florida over eight quarters this season—the Bulls survived the Gators, 18-16 in Gainesville, a week after upsetting No. 25 Boise State; the Broncos traveling across the country for this out of conference road game—and somehow became a media darling in the process.
Miami took out then-No. 6 Notre Dame in a spirited Sunday night opener weeks back, before an all-business and clinic dissection of Bethune-Cookman at home last weekend—yet for some reason, South Florida is the story; some going as far to say that wins over No. 25, No. 13 and No. 5 this weekend should vault the Bulls to the No. 1 team in the nation.
The hyperbole doesn’t stop there, as many with short memories talk up the buzz coming out of Tampa and how this is the most-exciting and most-impressive football ever played by South Florida—as if the Bulls didn’t get off to a 6-0 start in 2007, where they upset N0. 17 Auburn and No. 5 West Virginia, where they rose to No. 2 in the nation by mid-October before hitting a three-game losing streak.
As for Miami, the played out trap-game talk, the fact that Mario Cristobal has had off weeks where he’s lost bad games when he had the better team—as well as the fact that the Hurricanes as a whole have underachieved or stepped down in step-up moments as a program over the past few decades.
Of course all of this really is meaningless; treks down memory lane—good, or bad—as well as any manufactured narratives the media and talking heads want to spin for the sake of clicks, likes or bringing more attention to the game.
OUT WITH THE OLD IN WITH THE NEW
This isn’t last year’s Miami team; the Hurricanes rolling into Tampa with Cam Ward—and a shoddy defense—last fall and heading out of there with a 50-15 victory, outscoring the Bulls 28-0 in the second half.
The pundits called that one a trap game, as well—Miami having opened with a monster game at Florida, while ACC play kicked off with Virginia Tech on a Friday night days after smacking up South Florida—but when the lights came on and the hype died down, it was X’s and O’s, execution, game plan and effort.
Parity is more-prevalent in college football today than it’s ever been.
Looking back on that 2007 season when South Florida got out to the solid 6-0 start; September 1st kicked off with Appalachian State upsetting No. 5 Michigan in The Big House, 34-32—which was just unthinkable at the time.
But just like this era where average kickers are booting 65-yard field goals, or Major League Baseball’s home run race where somebody finally got past the magic number of 61—once the little guy toppled a giant, it became more commonplace in the sport, as it just took somebody to do it first.
The game itself has changed tremendously over the years and the talent disparity isn’t what it once was, either—while today’s players seem more prone to let-down games, or not getting up or lesser competition.
Look no further than Troy hanging tough with Clemson last week, while LSU hosting Louisiana Tech, or Georgia taking on Austin Peay in Athens—none of those showdowns matched the expectation.
Florida State made mincemeat out of East Texas A&M, while Alabama tried to get the embarrassment of their stumble in Tallahassee out of everybody’s minds by abusing Louisiana-Monroe—the Noles and Crimson Tide both scoring 70+ points against glorified high schools—as each has something the prove; FSU still trying to shake off 2-10 last fall, while Bama fell to 5-5 in their past ten games after opening weekend.
All of that bringing Miami to where it sits going into week three, hosting South Florida—with Florida in town next weekend, then a bye week before the first road trip of the season at Florida State.
The narrative around the Hurricanes isn’t super-exciting to the masses, as there’s not as much glitz and glam as last year. Ward rolling into Gainesville and throwing for 385 yards and three touchdowns; it was the type of college football welcome party that is going to dominate headlines right out the gate—a Washington State transfer putting up video game numbers and fearless as he chucked it all over the yard, taming The Swamp.
That high-flying offense wound up masking just how piss-poor Miami’s defense really was; a 22-15 dog fight at South Florida even felt a little too close for comfort until that blow-it-out-second half—the Canes fully exposed a week later when Virginia Tech rolled south and ran roughshod on confused Miami defenders.
HERE AND NOW; LAST YEAR IN THE PAST
No, this year’s Miami team has a much more different feel—the excitement factor ratcheted down a few notches, as Carson Beck has a different role leading this bunch. Beck doesn’t need to be Ward—and with a even-more mature and stout offensive line, Cristobal wants offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson to have this team looking a little more like 2015-era Alabama and Nick Saban; just wearing opponents down to a nub and running the ball down their throats.
Beck doesn’t need to be a magician in the backfield; he needs to be a tactician—taking what’s there, moving the chains, hitting his check-down and taking the occasional shot when it’s there, after baiting defenses with a steady diet of ground-and-pound.
Effectiveness is key where Miami has this type of balance, whereas the temptation to let Ward be Ward was the modus operandi—especially with a Hurricanes’ defense that couldn’t get a stop. Miami was constantly having to answer every score, couldn’t play a field position game and had to take more risks as scoreless possessions could be detrimental to the mission.
All of the “Cardiac Canes” stuff sounded exciting barring Miami fought back and got some exciting wins against Virginia Tech, Cal or Louisville—but any true analysis of those games; it showed just how one-dimensional the Hurricanes were as a unit and why this team wasn’t built for any College Playoffs Run.
Miami as a whole might feel bland this year—especially after the excitement on offense last year—but in reality, having an offense that can run, block, throw and catch, while an attacking defense gets the Canes the ball back, creates turnovers or helps flip the field; this team is build for a bigger and more-authentic run that last year.
Five national championships in less than two decades for the Hurricanes; even those great teams that won it all—there was never this type of focus on the trenches or building an offensive line that was such an oversized asset.
Miami’s offensive line average with its starters is 6’6″ and 318 pounds, while South Florida’s defensive line averages out at 6’2″ and 281 pounds—and while the Bulls have a slight size advantage with their offensive front, the Canes’ defense line is more athletic and explosive than what USF line can down when they’re coming after Beck, or trying to stuff the run.
Winning in the trenches; such a counter argument to the older era of Miami football where “speed kills” was the mantra, as the Canes were faster than everybody. In today’s game, opening up running lanes, or getting your quarterback that extra couple of seconds to find the open man—it’s everything if aspiring to complete for conference and national championships.
GATORS GAVE IT AWAY ON A PLATTER
Much of the hype around South Florida beating Florida is rooted in the talent argument; the fact that on paper, the Gators have a stronger roster and should’ve outlasted the Bulls late.
Instead, Florida head coach Billy Napier really showed how inept he is by allowing the Gators to get pulled into precisely the type of ballgame the Bulls needed to play to pull of the upset.
From the get-go. it looked like Napier and Florida understood the assignment; run the damned football.
Jadan Baugh ran for 14 yards on the Gators’ first play from scrimmage and tore off a 15-yard run on the next play. DJ Lagway threw for 12 yards and after an incompletion on his second pass attempt, it was back to Baugh who ran for 10 and then seven more—the drive officially stalling out after false start left Florida setting on a field goal.
Baugh carried five times on that initial drive—rolling or 51 yards—and Florida moved it again on the second possession, before constantly shooting itself in the foot took points off the board.
Thrice on the Gators’ second drive of the game a holding call, a personal foul and offensive pass interference—two of the three negating touchdowns, before Florida was in a 2nd-and-25 and 3rd-and-14 it couldn’t overcome; up 6-3 in a game it could’ve easily led 14-3 with better discipline and play calling.
Florida finished the game with 11 penalties for 103 yards; none more critical than Brendan Bett spitting in the face of Cole Skinner—the Gators giving up 28 valuable yards after back-to-back mistakes on what proved to be South Florida’s game-winning drive; Nico Gramatica drilling a 20-yard kick as time expired, closing out the 18-16 upset.
To their credit, South Florida found a way to survive a road game in Gainesville where 18 points was enough to pull it out; the Bulls losing the time of possession battle by close to ten minutes, but never turned it over—the Lagway interception the lone giveaway on the day.
If Florida came out and played anything close to a decent football game, the Bulls are a 1-1 football team heading south this weekend and the feel good narrative is nothing close to what’s been said about this Alex Golesh-led team all week—which honestly could be a great thing for Miami, barring the Hurricanes show up and take care of business, as expected.
What looked like a pedestrian Saturday afternoon game on the CW network—this fast became a Top 20 match-up where some have been baited into prediction an upset, as the South Florida hype train rolls on.
CANES WERE ALREADY READY FOR THIS
Some have said South Florida winning last week ruined their shot as sneaking in as an underdog, or creating that aforementioned trap game opportunity—but even that is disingenuous to Cristobal’s one-at-a-time mantra for Miami this fall; a slate of 12 one-game seasons, where the ultimate focus, attention to detail, preparedness and respect for opponent are driving forces in year four.
Translation; the Hurricanes were never going to sleep on or overlook the Bulls—Miami coaches with too much respect or South Florida’s staff, as well as Byrum Brown a big, athletic gamer of a quarterback.
First-year defensive coordinator has already made it clear this week he’s gaming for Brown and will have that spy on him looking for containment all afternoon, while Miami’s front seven will have to do their job in shutting down the run, getting the offense back on the field.
As for that offense; a steady dose of everything Florida didn’t do last week—hard to believe Miami coaches didn’t take note of that and won’t impose the Hurricanes’ will with a punishing ground attack.
Mark Fletcher is rolling, Jordan Lyle is expected back from injury and ChaMar Brown will forge ahead as the ball of knives he’s proving to be; Gerald Pringle could even see some carries as fresh legs late in the game remains a staple in Miami’s offensive play calling.
Running the ball effectively; it opens up the passing game for Beck, as well—who can use death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts to keep the chains moving for Miami all afternoon, while getting some chances to spread it around to CJ Daniels, Malachi Toney and anybody else in that receivers room ready to step-up and be the guy.
Miami is where everyone hoped the Canes would be going into this one; 2-0 having taken care of Notre Dame in the opener, while playing a clean game in taking out Bethune-Cookman.
Injuries have been at a minimum—losing true freshman defensive lineman Hayden Lowe for the year and hurting the rotation being the biggest setback to date—and now Miami gets the bonus of hearing all week how South Florida is the hot-shit team in the nation; adding some extra motivation to a game the Hurricanes were already taking seriously.
Expecting a run-heavy outing, an effective game out of Beck, a solid defensive performance from the Canes—and if the football gods want to make it interesting, some type of special teams magic as Miami is still looking or a breakthrough on that side of the ball; be it Toney or Keelan Marion taking one to the house to give HardRock some extra mojo on what is set to be a sold out ballgame.
The Canes gets it done in an all-business showdown and moves on to Florida week while the Bulls get brought back down to earth as three won’t be the charm this weekend.
The Call: Miami 38, South Florida 16
Christian Bello has been covering University of Miami athletics since the mid-nineties. Getting his start with CanesTime, he eventually launched allCanesBlog—which led to a featured columnist stint with BleacherReport. He’s since rolled out the unfiltered, ItsAUThing.com where he’ll use his spare time to put decades of U-related knowledge to use for those who care to read. When he’s not writing about ‘The U’, Bello is a brand storyteller for some exciting companies and individuals—as well as a guitarist and songwriter for his Miami-bred band Company Jones, who released their debut album “The Glow” in 2021. Hit him on Twitter for all things U-related @ItsAUThingBLOG.