Sporting News College Football ’08: Miami Preview…

Thank God I live out west and was able to score a Gator-less copy of the Sporting News College Football ’08. I’ll take USC’s Rey Maualuga on a cover instead of Jesus Christ Tebow and a dirty Seminole (Greg Carr) as the inset.

Not only are the Miami Hurricanes absent on the regional cover (pictured above), but outside of the ACC preview, The U gets virtually no love anywhere else in the mag.

That’s not an implication of a Sporting News bias. It’s simply life after 5-7. No preseason All-Americans. Nobody on the Heisman Watch list, or any other award list. No games that’ll dictate the National Championship chase – in our out of conference.

All-ACC was the best Miami could muster up and that was OT Jason Fox. No skills players and no defensive superstars. Just a senior offensive lineman in what TSN calls the sixth-rated conference.

The two bright spots? Wide receiver Aldarius Johnson was one of eight named to the ‘Freshman of Impact’ list and linebacker Arthur Brown was named the ACC’s Top Impact Freshman.

The writing’s on the wall. A youth movement is underway and for the Canes, it’s a “rebuilding” thing.

TSN did acknowledge Miami’s top-flight recruiting class, ranking it #1 in the ACC (5th overall) and has the Canes penciled in for the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando.

A few years back that’d be considered a down year, but after no bowl in 2007 and the Blue Turf Bowl the previous one, this year’s prognosis may as well be a BCS berth for this win-starved program.

Humbled Hurricanes. That’s what happens after going 12-13 over the past 25 games and leaving the Orange Bowl with a whimper thanks to a 48-0 shellacking at the hands of Virginia.

TSN has Miami ranked 2nd in the Coastal behind Virginia Tech, meaning divisional rights could be on the line come November 13th when the Hokies trek south to Dolphin Stadium.

TSN’s Power Ratings give Miami a 3-of-5 regarding offense, 4-of-5 for defense, 3-of-5 for special teams and 3-of-5 for coaching. Nothing to write home about, but until the Canes prove it, no one is going to hand it to them or give The U the benefit of the doubt. Not after the past few seasons.

Potential and name recognition doesn’t win ball games.

The offense gets a boost thanks to a new crop of receivers, a now-healthy running game, the best offensive line Miami has seen in a handful of years, as well as new life at the quarterback position – albeit, green.

Defensively the Canes will be as deep at linebacker as they’ve been in half a decade, though most of that talent was playing high school ball last season.

On the coaching front, Randy Shannon seems to have grown leaps and bounds thanks to addition by subtraction. After Miami’s first losing season since 1997, Shannon cut ties with first year defensive coordinator Tim Walton and welcomed defensive veteran Bill Young from Kansas.

A more stubborn coach might’ve stuck by his guy – and few would’ve faulted Shannon for giving Walton one more shot – but he didn’t. The culture needed to change and experience was necessary at DC if Shannon was going to remain hands-off and focus on being a head coach.

Respect. It’s something Miami isn’t going to get a lot of this year until it starts winning some ball games and turning some heads. Shannon knows that, as do his players.

“We lost a lot of respect,” said junior running back Javarris James. “People don’t respect us, so it’s time to outwork people so they will respect us.”

It all sounds good on paper, but will it translate to the field?

The Canes have always played the ‘us against the world’ card, but that only means something if you earn the “W”. This isn’t about moral victories. It’s Xs and Os, execution and this youth movement surviving their baptism by fire by not making ‘rookie’ mistakes.

James is quick to play up the now-healthy backfield, calling it the ‘focal point of the offense’ – which is a must, considering quarterbacks Robert Marve and Jacory Harris are yet to take a snap as a Cane.

Shannon seems mildly ‘wowed’ by the receivers, applauding their receptions and ability to get some yards after catches this spring, but until it’s done on game day, it’s all theory. Kayne Farquharson, Sam Shields and Leonard Hankerson all return and Jermaine McKenzie is ready to do some damage after missing his freshman year due to a preseason car accident.

Toss in a half dozen highly-touted freshman wideouts and Miami is loaded (with potential) at the position. Marve or Harris won’t have the same excuses as their predecessors. The talent is returning to the skills positions and it’s put up or shut up time.

TSN’s Miami coverage called it as fair as you’ll see it after the past two seasons of Hurricanes football. They applauded the recent recruits and gave reason to be optimistic, but logic was still employed as nothing has been proven.

Second-ranked in the Coastal Division is a fair assessment after watching Miami go 2-6 in the ACC last year.

One last note – the ‘Game To Watch’ section, where TSN writes, “A visit to Florida gives the Hurricanes a chance too prove the doldrums of 2007 are behind them and create early momentum.”

Last year’s Canes couldn’t do a thing after a “statement game” against Texas A&M, rolling 34-14 in the Orange Bowl and losing 6 of their next 8. Can this year prove different?

Shannon said he was recruiting winners from winning programs. A 2-0 start out the gate and a win against a hated rival would be epic, but most likely isn’t in the cards for a young Miami team. Motivation will have to come either at aTm or when conference play kicks in and regardless of a ‘signature’ win, the Canes will have to take one game at a time and focus. This a young team that needs to find itself.

However it plays out, 2008 will be a year of growth and moving forward. The 5-7 campaign of 2007 was Miami hitting rock bottom. All that could go wrong did. Close, winnable games were all lost. Players quit and the new coaching staff went through it’s growing pains.

It’ll take a few years to turn it around, but improvement is on the horizon come fall.

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