The Ghosts Were Crying

Saturday night, the Miami Hurricanes visited the venue of their long  lost glory.  Marlins Park is on the same hallowed ground that housed 5 national championship Hurricane teams as well as many epic January 1 clashes, the Orange Bowl.

Their opponent:  Johnny-come-lately to the FBS ranks, Florida International.  Florida International was not only zero-for-forever against the U, the Panthers had NEVER beaten a Power 5 squad.

Just like FIU claimed a first by upsetting Miami, the Hurricanes also claimed a first:  the first team to lose three games in the same year as favorites of at least two touchdowns (14 points versus Virginia Tech, 18 points versus Georgia Tech and 21 points versus FIU).

In one way, the FIU game started out as a replay of the Virginia Tech game.  Jarren Williams was spewing interceptions at will to put the Hurricanes in a big deficit.  One difference:  Williams was yanked in the first half of the Va Tech game. In last night’s game, he rode the rapids with Williams and we are talking Class V!!

Let’s analyze Diaz’ coaching acumen further.  Thanks to a Week 0 tilt against Florida, Miami had 3 byes.  One might think that the added prep time for their 3 post-bye clashes would be helpful.  Nope! Not only did the U lose all 3, check out the cumulative first quarter scoring:  48-3 for the post-bye opponents.  If the Temple athletic department is dancing in the streets this morning, we would certainly understand.  Diaz was their coach for less than a month before bolting for his “dream job” in Coral Gables.  While coaches often spew hyperbolic spam about their dream jobs, such enthusiasm really did apply in Diaz’ case.  After all, how many would not want to coach in the city where their father had been Mayor?  Imagine Diaz at a sub-dream job in cold Philly instead of his solid successor, Rod Carey.  So, one has to feel sorry for Diaz when he said after the game that the game was one of the “dark, dark days” in program history.  But he should look in the mirror, as his handling of the quarterback situation with Williams, N’Kosi Perry and Tate Martell is so baffling. Only Kevin Sumlin’s QB machinations in Tucson with Khalil Tate have seemed at least as head scratching.

FIU was outgained by 116 yards and generously donated 144 yards worth of penalties yet somehow still prevailed.  One FIU player chortled, “We are the team of Miami.  They are from Coral Gables.”

Have the ghosts of the aged Orange Bowl been vengeful since being abandoned by the U for Hard Rock stadium?  How many quality coaches and quality quarterbacks has the U had since the Hurricanes left for a venue even farther away from Coral Gables?

Many thought former Miami QB, Mark Richt, was the answer after his 2015 hire and the program looked to have solidly rebounded as recently as 2 years ago.  The 2017 Hurricanes started off 9-0 after a joyous 41-8 drubbing of Notre Dame at Hard Rock.  All downhill since.  And not slalom downhill!!   After a 2nd consecutive bowl loss to Wisconsin last year at the Pinstripe Bowl, Richt cashed in his chips and said goodbye.  Or perhaps he was pushed out, given how surprising and abrupt his departure.

Last night, Marlins Park did feature one quality coach with strong ties to the U:  FIU coach Butch Davis.  Davis again showed he could win both at the U and against the U (Davis was 3-1 against Miami while coaching at North Carolina).  The Odyssey is truly happy for Butch!

How many more pratfalls are the Hurricanes going to take before getting back to their glory days?  One almost has to try to be mediocre in talent-rich Miami.  Maybe the Orange Bowl ghosts are not crying.  They might be sporting knowing smiles, thinking, “I told you so.”