IT'S A 'U' THING

Take a breather from the whining about the offensive line, secondary and every other imperfection and look at where @CanesFootball sits in year five under @Coach_Cristobal. Then listen to what the haters are relying on to cope. Against #FloridaState, it was outrage over a Hail Mary flag; against #Pittsburgh, it was feigned outrage over attendance at a noon game. It’s become Whack-A-Mole: Moron Edition as we smack down their half-baked takes, only to see new stupidity popping up. Empty seats. Rented stadium. Haven’t won the ACC. Couldn’t win the natty at home. Blah, blah, fucking blah-blah. Win the conference this year and watch it'll become, “Only won the ACC once!”—see some bad calls against Miami and they’ll be “deserved” for past sins. For people who spent decades accusing #Miami fans of living in the past, this contingent is awfully-dependent on keeping the conversation there—and by design—as the reality is the present becoming a real problem. Duke lands #DarianMensah from Tulane? Great pickup. The kid leaves Durham for a better opportunity down south? The #Canes represent everything wrong with college football. #PatNarduzzi wants to grandstand about “tampering”—he comes off as half-baked as his defensive back who swore they had a plan to stop #MalachiToney—gaslighting as if this current era of college football is build on handshakes and honor codes everywhere but Coral Gables. Last year was supposed to ‘expose' Miami. Remember our favorite jaded former #Seminoles quarterback #DannyKanell predicting the Canes wouldn’t even make a bowl? They finished 13-3 and played for a national championship. This year, Miami supposedly couldn’t replace its personnel losses. Now it’s 7-0 and No. 1—so blame the schedule, while ignoring the fact Miami is doing its job and the likes of Florida State, Clemson, Virginia Tech others aren’t holding up their end of the bargain, because in what world should the Noles, Tigers or Hokies be unranked teams when facing the Canes? There’s always another bullshit explanation as the target moves; anything to avoid acknowledging what’s being built behind the scenes here. And that’s the part even some Miami fans need to appreciate: in more than four decades following this program, I’ve never seen the university this aligned and on the same page, financially-invested in building a football powerhouse. The old joke was that UM never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity—and who could argue? Cheap hires. Half-measures. An operating model built on local talent covering institutional shortcomings. It worked until it didn’t and before we knew it, 7-5 became a lifestyle with a very liberal president who loved her medical school and saw athletics as a necessary evil. Cristobal didn’t leave Oregon’s money and resources to come home on a handshake and a nostalgia pitch; Miami finally committed to funding the ambition— because without that, he wasn’t coming home. And now look at who’s driving it. A white-collar world President in  #JoeEchevarria, who ran Deloitte LLP, before leading U-Health and ultimately the university—which he’s also doing like a CEO, more than an administrator. Listen to him discuss conference economics, media rights and Miami’s future; the man understands investment, leverage and what happens when your business outgrows its arrangement. Miami stayed out of the courtroom while Clemson and Florida State became the public faces of the ACC fight … and UM still benefited from the settlement’s television-based revenue changes, earning and keeping $20 million from its CFP run under the conference’s success incentives. Let somebody else lead the legal fight; be positioned to capitalize and deliver while others took their eye off the ball. Board chairman #MannyKadre helped deliver the cash-heavy Nike agreement worth more than $200-million over the next decade. #RudyFernandez, a Vice President and basically Echevarria’s right-hand man—he started his legacy helping bring Cristobal home and remains deeply involved in aligning university resources with football. While outsiders were fixated on the flashier John Ruiz, lower-profile power players like José and Jorge Mas were part of the circle helping shape Miami’s direction—and now @CanesConnection is benchmark for a well-oiled NIL machine. These people know how to build businesses and several know how to run professional sports organizations, as well. And the next athletics hire appears designed to strengthen that approach; the last reported shortlist consisted entirely of candidates with pro sports experience. Think franchise president: someone who can turn Miami’s brand into corporate partnerships and recurring revenue. That’s how you sustain this; turn attention into revenue, turn revenue into resources and ultimately give your coaches all means possible to keep winning big and loading up each new roster. For years, “Miami is back” was a television segment waiting to become a punchline after the next loss; fueled by the media, and consumed by rival fans—the early season vitriol when the Canes were hyped and the jubilation as the media tore the team down after a few later-year losses. That was then, this is now and success is becoming a pattern. Ten wins in 2024. Thirteen and a national championship appearance in 2025. A 7-0 start in 2026. Thirty wins across that stretch; that’s a hell of a long fluke. Does it guarantee a national championship this year? Of course not. There are still flaws to fix, players that need to get healthy, games to win and a late-season gear like last season, were Miami seemed to get stronger as the stakes got raised. But a bad quarter—or a bad Saturday—it doesn’t erase the operation behind this team. Miami has a born-and-bred head coach who views restoring this program as his life’s work, a president who understands its value and a leadership group willing to back the ambition with resources. The people making the decisions finally expect what the fans always held as the standard; and that in itself is nothing short of a miracle for a small private university in South Florida that has zero business competing with powerhouse state schools or public universities across the nation. Cristobal said it: Miami isn’t “back”—Miami is HERE—and even scarier for the haters, it’s not going anywhere by up from this point forward. The jaded bozos can keep counting empty seats or whining about schedules; the people running this program are building something that lasts and this fan base is only getting more emboldened after two decades of irrelevance. 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

A nickel's-worth of free advice for any smart enough to take it—don't waste a minute if your life engaging with this bullshit @CFBPlayoff rankings soap opera until December 6th, when it actually matters. Don't give them the clicks, likes, engagement or comments they want over the next 36 days. I mean talk about figuring out the plot line in the first minute of the movie; "Ooooh, Notre Dame is No. 11??" Yeah, because they're playing No. 1 Miami this week—which tells you two things: (1) if Notre Dame loses, they're cooked at 10-2 and that whole 'guaranteed Top 12' slot is cooked with their remaining schedule and (2) if the Canes slip up to the Irish, or anyone else, the plummet from the top spot will be massive—as the committee doesn't respect the strength of schedule; perfection or bust. I didn't watch this stupid show last night and won't waste a second of the next four Tuesdays tuning in, either. Homemade pornos have less plot holes and more intrigue. If you're Canes fan, you just need this team to win out—and if Miami drops one—it's do-or-die in the ACC title game. What other drama do you need by following a bunch of eggheads throwing shit at a wall every week as these non-football goons tell you who they think should be ranked where?

As the criticism keeps raining down regarding @CanesFootball's defensive production at #NorthCarolina, I keep coming back to this old quote from #Texas legend Darrel Royal: "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. Rewatching that 38-35 comeback in Chapel Hill, #Miami wasn't emotionally up for this one; especially on defense. No pass for #CoreyHetherman, but just as he didn’t deserve all the credit for last year’s turnaround, every defensive failure last Saturday wasn’t a play-calling issue. The staff’s internal film review reportedly counted 22 missed tackles that handed UNC another 100-plus yards. Did these defense suddenly forget how to tackle? A staff preaching “swarming” and “violence” suddenly stopped teaching fundamentals and players forgot the basics of knowing their assignment, taking the right angles and executing? Or did Hetherman lose some rounds and zig when he should've zagged against #BobbyPetrino, while his players compounded everything with poor effort and execution; South Bend inevitably on their minds—just like Notre Dame seemed off for a half against Navy hours before this one kicked off in Chapel Hill? As much as most of us spent last week trying to warn against the look-ahead—repeating the "1-0" mantra, talking about focusing on the opponent at hand and displaying a strong awareness of the history against North Carolina. The seven losses in ten trips to Kenan Stadium since joining the ACC—starting with No. 3 Miami getting punked by a bad 3-4 team back in 2004. But this year’s seniors were freshmen for the 2023 loss—a week after the Georgia Tech non-kneel—and they simply don’t carry decades of Tar Heels baggage just because longtime fans do. As much as many wanted to will it into existence with their 45-17 predictions and transitive property energy, there was nothing to manufacture against a 4-3 opponent—even if it was #BillBelichick on that other sideline and a wizardly effort from Petrino in the booth. To Royal’s point: this wasn’t one of "those" games; Miami needed execution. The well-oiled offense delivered; the back-end of the defense didn’t. Notre Dame? That's another story—that history belongs to THIS team and roster. Hanging on for that 27-24 win at HardRock in last year's season opener. Weeks on end of Miami pitted against Notre Dame as the media and jaded fans argued over that final College Football Playoffs' spot. The Canes making the most of their 10-seed and riding it all the way to the title game, while the Irish bitched-out on a lower-tiered bowl game and spent the entire postseason talking about all they could've, should've and would've done if they got in. Notre Dame circled November 7th, 2026 almost a year ago and fueled it with this "revenge" narrative; a belief that home field, colder weather and payback for both an early season loss and late season "snub" were going to make up for every misstep to date. Now that the win at North Carolina is in the books, can we not get off this Hetherman topic, shift the energy to all thing Notre Dame and accept that these week's showdown was occupying these players' mind last weekend, no matter how much everyone wanted to guard against a letdown? Adrenaline isn’t a weekly subscription. Players can’t stay at a psychological peak for an entire season. Sometimes a scare, a test, a challenge—or a loss—have to provide the spark. Last year, SMU dropped Miami to 6-2 and forced it into win-out mode. This year, the Canes escaped a few recent wake-up calls with narrow wins—so now comes the response. Two months of weak-schedule digs by the media, downplaying the depleted secondary and all these new mounting questions about the defense and guy calling the shots—a lot of these digs now friendly-fire as some dimwitted, rattled fans are immediately comparing this to the 2024 season. In the end, one will be right and the other wrong—and if Miami is the team many believe it is, South Bend is where a season-defining statement will be made. No. 1 visiting No. 4, with the Canes catching 5.5 points—but don't let that distract from the act Notre Dame carries its own pressure. The one-loss Irish have spent a year selling this revenge opportunity; hanging all their hopes and dreams on taking out the Hurricanes for the first time in a decade—as it's been two road losses (2017, 2025) since that last win in South Bend (2016). Miami loses? Refocus, regroup win the final three at home and finish 11-1 with an ACC title-game opportunity—the perks of being in a conference. Notre Dame loses? There a year-long revenge mantra goes up in smoke, while the "can't with the big one" noise amplifies after an 0-4 run against Miami, Texas A&M, BYU and Miami (again) is the headline. All of the hype has an expiration date. Somewhere late in the first quarter, the adrenaline wears off and somebody will have to execute. A year of warnings about those frigid winds blowing off Lake Michigan—sounds as moronic as Florida fans hyping the impact of 'The Swamp' for that 2024 opener Miami won, 41-17. Instead it'll be 42º F at kickoff this Saturday night and a clear night in northern Indiana. Weather and packed stadiums don't matter halfway through the first quarter. Fundamentals, assignments and discipline—doing your f**king job after the emotion fades. Miami wasn't as on-point in North Carolina as this fan base hoped. Still walked out of Kenan Stadium with a win; a monster defensive play and forced turnover the difference-maker—"1-0" for the week, back to work and onto the next ... which happens to be Notre Dame. There's no scenario where road-dog Miami or home-team Notre Dame isn't sky-high for this one; but *up* only gets you through kickoff—execution carries you home; @Coach_Cristobal and staff all fully-aware. A more-focused Miami rolls into South Bend this weekend and if all goes as planned, strolls out on the right side of history—another footnote in this season-long journey for #TheU.

I mean this wholeheartedly, but what happened to a large swath of this @CanesFootball fan base as of late? U-enthusiasts went from living in an unattainable ’80s-era past—where nothing but dominance and annual title contention was accepted—to a bunch of betas who pontificate and doom-post non-stop in these fan-driven social media groups. I saw more logic and common sense on late-’90s message boards when Miami was down 31 scholarships and NCAA probation wrecked half a decade—than I’m seeing with this undefeated, No. 1 team. These pages are now flooded with people holding court like they see something the rest of us don’t; daily warnings that this isn’t a championship-caliber defense. Thanks, Lombardi ... the rest of us SO wouldn’t see these weaknesses without your incessant online rants. “𝘞𝘌 𝘚𝘖 𝘞𝘖𝘜𝘓𝘋𝘕’𝘛 𝘉𝘌𝘈𝘛 𝘎𝘌𝘖𝘙𝘎𝘐𝘈 𝘐𝘍 𝘞𝘌 𝘗𝘓𝘈𝘠𝘌𝘋 𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘔 𝘛𝘖𝘔𝘖𝘙𝘙𝘖𝘞!!!” When then thank God that a potential playoff matchup is at least two months away. A year ago this week, Miami was 6-2 after losing at SMU—out of the ACC hunt and needing to win out just to have a shot at an at-large berth. Remember where that season eventually went? Months back, half this fan base wanted to give #CoreyHetherman a lifetime contract—petrified he’d leave for a head coaching gig—yet these same emotional wrecks want him out after #BobbyPetrino picked apart his defense like a buzzard on some roadkill on a hot South Florida day. So much of this “we’re in trouble if we don’t fix the defense” venting feels like self-protection. Fans spend their week arguing with rivals and prediction Miami would roll, then scramble to rip their own team before somebody throws those predictions back in their faces. I’ve gotten hooked on @RomanCane’s Student Of The Game breakdowns; actual Xs and Os explaining what happened, the predicament Hetherman faced and what needs to change—as the Sunday morning quarterbacking from a portion of this fan base has gotten insufferable. (Take 20 minutes and watch him unpack Chapel Hill: youtube.com/watch?v=Dq2gGA2D…) Petrino had Miami’s tendencies figured out. Motion to identify coverage. Quick throws exploiting safety rotations. Running backs isolated against linebackers or a defensive end. Counter looks forcing pass rushers to honor the run—buying #BillyEdwards time to make Miami pay. Sometimes the Canes got the matchup they wanted and lost the rep. Guys didn’t win one-on-one up front. Defenders got sucked underneath, leaving receivers open behind them. Screens hurt again. Coverage, tackling, angles and wrapping up weren’t consistently good enough. Does anybody rambling away in these groups think they see flaws the staff doesn’t? That coaches and players aren’t already breaking down those mistakes and getting back to Greentree to address them? One guy was ranting the other day that coaches “need to be accountable.” Is there a coach who preaches accountability more than Cristobal? Who sounds less satisfied when his team doesn’t execute? The same “back to work” mantra, same angst, win or lose. An intense head of this program that won two national championships as a Miami player; Cristobal understands the responsibility and the standard, as well as the outside noise that comes with both. Ro’s breakdown makes the work clear: better disguise, fewer predictable tendencies, a hard look at coverage assignments and better execution when guys ARE positioned to actually make a play. None of that guarantees a fix. Last year showed how much has to go your way just to get into the playoffs, let alone reach a title game. Hence the whole “1-0 every week” and the relentless work that comes with it. Many of us have said it: plenty of Miami teams over the past two decades lose at Wake Forest, lose to Florida State and absolutely lose that back-and-forth battle at North Carolina. Instead, Miami held UNC to three before halftime and got #MarquiseLightfoot’s strip sack, recovered by #JustinScott—the game’s only turnover—when it desperately needed a stop. Can this jaded bunch take anything good from a comeback win in a house of horrors? Miami had lost seven of its previous ten in Chapel Hill, and even the wins in 2011, 2013 and 2017 were dogfights, while UNC entered this one on a five-game winning streak. But those holding court in the Facebook groups predicted a 45-17 blowout—so 38-35 becomes an embarrassment they need get in front of and explain away. Look around college football. Where’s the juggernaut? Conference teams are beating up on each other and traditional powers are going down every week. Auburn went into Athens and beat No. 1 Georgia, then lost consecutive games to LSU and Ole Miss. BYU beat No. 2 Notre Dame, then lost at UCF—which promptly got wrecked 41-9 by Baylor under an interim coach. Ohio State lost Julian Sayin, yet its defense got torched at Southern Cal. Kentucky is getting all the love right not, but don't forget that 45-17 Alabama laid on their defense—that same Alabama defense that let Florida State score 36 while Ashton Daniels threw for 377, but his 298 yard day at Miami was the only one that drew massive criticism. What happened one Saturday doesn’t dictate the next; the whole, tired transitive-property bullshit fans cling to has never meant less. I don’t care whether you have full faith or zero confidence in this defense. Miami has a staff—and a head coach—that understands the assignment and won’t be outworked trying to solve these problems. Be frustrated with it and clamor for better—but let's lose the whole authoritative energy and air of superiority when trying to take the piss out of anyone here trying to enjoy some wins and this first trip back to No. 1 since the 2003 Fiesta Bowl. The defense produced three second-half sacks Saturday. Dawson’s offense kept answering, creating opportunities and trading blows with Petrino all night. Weren’t we just bitching about the offensive line and Miami's offensive coordinator disappearing late at Wake Forest? We can criticize that, but won't make his offense the focus in this road win against Belichick’s team? Sometimes the offense has to carry you. You’re allowed to win those games, too. And after a week hearing how penalties would doom Miami on the road? Three flags for 30 yards. We're just going to ignore that, while leading it with when the Canes are a hot-mess on the penalties front? There’s too much parity to treat every conference dogfight as proof your season is fraudulent. The other sideline has players, good coaches and a week’s worth of film—while we've seen for decades that the Hurricanes coming to town represents a lot of team's "Super Bowl". Wake Forest, Florida State and North Carolina threw the kitchen sink at Miami; the Canes won all three—and anybody who's watched this program the past two decades knows this team is 5-3 right now in that old economy. There’s a final regular-season month to improve while continuing to win. Earn a top-four seed and Miami’s first playoff game is nearly two months away. Demand better defense. But quit pretending the November version is all this team can become. Remember the hangover a year ago today after waking up with this team sitting at 6-2 after that brutal choke-job at SMU—and then look where things went over the next ten weeks; scrappy in ACC play to finish the regular season 10-2, the CFP berth and then watching beat Texas A&M, take out Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl and outlasting Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl—one drive short of winning a national championship as a 10-seed. Months ago, Hetherman needed a lifetime contract. Now it’s “For Sale” signs and a moving truck. The defense needs more consistency? Sure. But so do a lot of you. 1-0 every week. Back to work. Beat Notre Dame.

Seen some back and forth about @CanesFootball and that final possession after the failed onside kick (after that first onside attempt was almost a disaster for #Miami.) A few #Canes fans mentioning Sean McDonaugh on the @ABCSports broadcast with his little quip about @Coach_Cristobal running there—and shoehorning in a play call from over three years ago against Georgia Tech in disparaging fashion. Cristobal and Shannon Dawson absolutely handled that final series to perfection—and we’ll get to that—but not before a reminder of what we’re all watching when we tune into “sports entertainment”, which is always going to pander to its biggest audience. ABC’s numbers aren’t out as I post this on Sunday morning, but if 4.6-million tuned in for Miami at Clemson weeks back—this match-up will get better numbers—so we’ll call it 5-million for the sake of the argument. Let’s talk about the pecking order of those who tuned into this football game—of which ABC Sports and ESPN are well-aware of the demographics: 1. — 𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘰𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪, 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱-𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘦𝘵. 2. — 𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢, 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘯𝘪 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪’𝘴—𝘢 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘛𝘢𝘳 𝘏𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥. 3. — 𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯. Knowing this to be true—and accepting that you are watching sports entertainment and listening to commentators who are going to pander to their audience—can you not see that McDonaugh saw an opening to bring up that boneheaded Georgia Tech play so he squeezed it in there, even though from a football perspective he proved he’s a total egghead? To the point that Cristobal and Dawson played it to perfection, look at the numbers—as there was 1:35 on the clock and North Carolina had one final timeout—so three kneels was mathematically not an option; not unless Miami wanted #DarianMensah to run for his life for about ten seconds going into fourth down. 1𝘴𝘵-𝘢𝘯𝘥-10 — 1:35 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬; #𝘑𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘢𝘳 𝘏𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘵—𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 2𝘯𝘥-𝘢𝘯𝘥-6 — 1:29 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺—𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦—𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘵. 3𝘳𝘥-𝘢𝘯𝘥-4 — :44 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘸𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 #𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘔𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘩 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬—𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 :40 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘱 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. Had Miami just kneeled three times with 1:35 on the clock and North Carolina with one timeout, Miami is going into a 3rd-and-14 with around :51 left on the clock—meaning Mensah would’ve have to scramble for for over 11 seconds, or face a fourth down where they had to snap the ball one more time and make sure that the clock hit 0:00 so North Carolina didn’t take over on downs. For inquiring minds that have mocked the Georgia Tech game in 2023; yes Miami could’ve and should’ve kneeled that out on 3rd-and-10 with :34 remaining—and depsite #DonChaney NOT fumbling that ball—it was a terrible call by Cristobal that drew understandable ridicule, while arguably costing Miami a road game at North Carolina the following week (rolling in a 4-1 laughingstock instead of 5-0 after a comeback, gritty win). Miami is now 31-6 since the start of the 2024 season; a 10-seed that made the national championship game last year and came one throw away from upsetting No. 1 Indiana, after taking out No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 6 Ole Miss along the way. Yet here we are a season later and it’s nothing but ridicule for the top-ranked team in the country, because that’s the narrative the masses want in this world of sports entertainment. There’s a reason every podcast can’t leave the Miami Hurricanes out their mouths; a reason there’s this centralized messaging around the schedule. Why so many had selective outrage over a Hail Mary gone wrong for Florida State—while not giving two shits Notre Dame worked by Big 12 home cooking in Provo with a missed pass interference call and robbed out of :01 on the clock—because in one case the bad guys (Irish) lost and in the other, Public Enemy No. 1 (Canes) lost. It’s why the low IQ folks are screaming about ACC home cooking for Miami; a blue-blood redneck conference that not only shit on Miami from day one—North Carolina and Duke both voted against expansion in 2003, not wanting to let the Canes in. Yet now we’re to believe this same conference is running cover for Miami; despite the fact there is zero financial upside—as the ACC gets its guaranteed $109-million from the CFP as a partner regardless of a team getting in, or not—while the Clemson and Florida State lawsuits years back guarantees that ACC teams keep all their post-season money, which is why the ACC didn’t get a dime of the $20-million #TheU took home in 2025 after that title game run. (Side note; where was that “protection” late last November when a quirky tiebreaker rule about opponents’ total combined score was the differentiator in Duke reaching the ACC title game at 7-5 over Miami at 10-2? If that’s the SEC needing to “protect” a team, there is an emergency meeting to explaining and amendment to their tiebreaker—but the ACC wasn’t going against the old boys club in Durham.) And this is also why late in a ball game on October 31st, 2026 as Miami is working to close out North Carolina in this dogfight—Dr. Evil McDonaugh is pandering to an anti-Canes crowd with is little, “Remember when Mario Cristobal did that stupid thing back on October 7th, 2023 in his second season at Miami??”—knowing that zinger would stick and that a dumbed-down football audience would turn it into a, “See, I told you Cristobal sucks and he learned nothing from that Georgia Tech loss!”—when in reality Canes coaches played that final series to perfection. The holes with #CoreyHetherman’s defense are another conversation for another time, as #BobbyPetrino picked him apart like a buzzard on roadkill on a hot summer day—but McDonaugh’s reference to Georgia Tech was cheap theatre and a pandering effort to an anti-Canes crowd—clown show behavior from a total bozo.

God bless this man. So fucking tired of this do-nothing generation trying to make a career out of fucking with good people in the name of "content creation" and considering it a career. To watch a middle-age man with the weight of the world on his shoulders breaking in this moment while a bunch of Gen Z hacks just sit there with no ability to process what is happening in front of them—the kid with the glasses just filming and smirking—while none of these realize the heaviness of adulthood and what it is to really work, provide and carry a weight like this. This ratted me. Consider throwing something this way if the spirit moves you. gofundme.com/f/support-a-har…

So much moronic “trap game” talk this week as @CanesFootball heads to #ChapelHill to take on a Bill Belichick-led #NorthCarolina team—in primetime, on Halloween in a college town that will be going off—as an upset of No. 1 Miami would not only salvage their season; it’d legit be Belichick’s biggest win since Super Bowl LIII back in February 2019. Aside from @Coach_Cristobal’s “1-0 every week” and laser focus on whatever opponent is at hand—zero #NotreDame energy until the clock hits 0:00 late Saturday night—it’s not lost on anyone following the #Canes just what a thorn in the program’s side the #TarHeels have been since #Miami joined the #ACC in 2004. Some quick backstory for the “trap game” crowd implying there’d be any looking head to November 7th and South Bend. Miami is now 3-7 in Chapel Hill since joining the ACC and those three wins were all dogfights: 2017: 𝘕𝘰. 8 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘢 1-7 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘊𝘊; 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵—𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘬 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 356 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴—𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘢𝘳 𝘏𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘛𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 428 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 (𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴’ 415); 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 176 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 59—𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 24-19 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦, 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 2:54 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬, 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 37-𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦. 2013: 𝘈𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 13-7 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘌𝘚𝘗𝘕 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩-𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 23-13 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘴 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢 90-𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 :16 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬, 𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 27-23 𝘸𝘪𝘯—𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 2011: 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 27-3 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘭 𝘎𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯’𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 21-3, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘔 24-𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 30-24. Aside from never getting a comfortable or easy win at Kenan Stadium, the road losses have been even more gut-wrenching: 2004: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘕𝘰. 4 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪’𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩-𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘈𝘊𝘊 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦—𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 3-4 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘭 𝘛𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘩. 𝘈 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵; 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘢𝘳 𝘏𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 545 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘺 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘯’𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘯 𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 77 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 279 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥; 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘚𝘤𝘰𝘵𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 175 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴. 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 28-28 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨; 𝘏𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 3𝘳𝘥-𝘢𝘯𝘥-8, 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 42-𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩, 31-28. 2007: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘭 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘉𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘯; 𝘏𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 27-0 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘢 27-20 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩—𝘒𝘺𝘭𝘦 𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 33-20; 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘕𝘊 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵-𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭, 33-27 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦. 2009: 𝘈𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 23-7 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 23-17 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘬𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘢 30-17 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘹, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘜𝘕𝘊 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢 33-24 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦. 2015: 𝘈 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 58-0 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘰𝘯; 𝘏𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘶𝘱 31-0 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧, 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘜-𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 45-0 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘥-𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 59-21 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘢𝘳 𝘏𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 294 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴. 2019: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘻 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘔𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯; 𝘢 17-3 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧, 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢 25-20 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰-𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 (𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘙𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴)—𝘛𝘢𝘳 𝘏𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘢 4𝘵𝘩-𝘢𝘯𝘥-17 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦-𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦—28-25 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘵𝘸𝘰-𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥; 𝘉𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘢 𝘉𝘢𝘹𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 49-𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦-𝘵𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 :05 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬. 2021: 𝘈𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘮𝘢, 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢; 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵-𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 421 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 382, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘩 𝘋𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 11 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 28-10 𝘮𝘪𝘥-𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 31-17 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧—𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 45-42 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦-𝘢𝘯𝘥-𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢 3𝘳𝘥-𝘢𝘯𝘥-4 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘕𝘊 16-𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 :06 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘝𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘺𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦; 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 2023: 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭’𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘭 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘮; 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘭𝘦𝘥 17-14 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 21-0 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥—𝘛𝘦𝘻 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘊𝘈𝘈 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦; 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 132 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴; 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 38-17 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘴 41-31—𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘝𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘺𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬. This long-ass history lesson is for rival fans or talking heads who love to chop it up about Miami, but are clueless as to how lopsided this rivalry is when the Canes head to the house of horrors that is Kenan Stadium. Yes, streaks are made to be broken—and now would be a good time, as North Carolina has won not just the last three road games, but five in a row in this series. On paper, Miami should have this one in the bag—and the ghosts of Hurricanes’ past truly have no real bearing on how the 2026 edition of this rivalry will play out … but it’s been a wild ten games in Chapel Hill since Miami and North Carolina started going at it as members of the ACC.

They lied when they told us the Internet is forever: the old HurricaneSports.com has been revamped several times over the past quarter century and all my old @CanesFootball write-ups and interviews blew away like dust. Found this printouts recently; the only evidence of my interviews with #SantanaMoss and #DanMorgan before the October 7th showdown with No. 1 Florida State … also know as the day they done f**ked up and gave the wrong fan, er “photographer” a camera for a special gameday gallery. 😂

Outside of Malachi Toney being a 3-Star, this entire take is so fucking stupid late-October. Remember all the cold takes in the wee hours of November 1st when @CanesFootball was 6-2 after that loss at SMU—and then ten weeks later they were 13-2 rolling into a national title game after beating No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 6 Ole Miss, pulling up on No. 1 as a 10-seed and falling a drive short? Just stop with the mid-season click-bait on a team that’s been banged-up since week one. Buck in and enjoy the ride instead of giving your “halftime” takes. What does it matter in the grand scheme of things if you were “only” up 13-10 at the half if you go on to win 51-13?

The @OrangeBowlBoys and @RomanCANE nailed it here. Obviously there are no trophies for a No. 1 ranking mid-season—@Coach_Cristobal loudly and quickly reminded everyone this doesn’t mean shit in the grand scheme of things. But for those of us who have lived and died with this program for decades—especially the last twenty years of false starts and manufactured hope—seeing that “No. 1” next to “Miami Hurricanes” isn’t “nothing”; it’s proof that things are back on the right track and that the five-year financial and emotional investment into this rebuild it actually working. I was 28 years old walking out of Sun Devil Stadium punch-drunk in the week hours of January 3rd, 2002—back to the team hotel where I wound up in a 20 minute convo on the back of a golf cart with Brett Romberg talking about guitars, as there was nothing to say about football. I’m 52 years old now an that was the last time in my life “The U” held the top spot in the polls—not to mention the amount of energy and false hope put into Randy Shannon, Al Golden, Mark Richt** and Manny Diaz—just hoping and praying starts would align and the #Canes would find their way back. Three years ago this month the college football world was pointing and mocking #Miami for how that Georgia Tech game ended; a year before that, a home loss to Middle Tennessee State—No. 1 never felt further away. Made it to No. 2 last year with that miraculous and spirited CFP run; taking out No. 7, No. 2, No. 6 and a deep ball away from knocking out No. 1—hard to ask for more out of a 10-seed with a chip on its shoulder—but to be sitting at the halfway point of 2026, in a year with it’s share of casualties across the landscape, as the Canes keep overcoming injuries, drowning out the noise and just keep doing the work … yes, it’s worth taking a small moment this week to enjoy and appreciate that “No. 1 - Miami Hurricanes” every time you see it online or read it in the polls. The new ranking is less about right now than it is the past 24 years and especially the past five, with the fifth new head coach this program has turned to, tasked with bringing home number six. (**𝘕𝘰, 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘙𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴—𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘎𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥—𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱, 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 $1-𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺—𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘸; 𝘙𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘉𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 2001.)

It's 2025 all over again, except #ArchManning is the latest quarterback transfer rumor to the #MiamiHurricanes. Last year it was #LaNorrisSellers getting all that chatter—while the #Canes fanbase is now doing with #LukeNickel what they were doing for #EmoryWilliams the past two years with all that "homegrown" bullshit. Outside of the obvious trust-this-coaching-staff disclaimer—some of y'all still don't get the big business of the NIL and portal era, or the chess-not-checkers game now being played. When you are investing upwards of $50,000,000 a year in a roster—and CFP payouts can bring $20,000,000 in revenue for deep runs—you don't just wing-it and let "the guy who's been there" take over because he's "earned it". That is some rinky-dink small-time thinking that simply doesn't exist anymore in this big-time money era of college ball. Nickel is a solid kid and in a different era of college football, tossing him the keys as a junior might've worked, depending on what that room looks like—and while #DereonColeman has solid high school tape, #IsraelAbrams looks like the future for UM in the long run; that first really big time quarterback recruit this program has seen since finding another gear as a program. But this isn't that world anymore; not with this kind of money flowing around college ball and seeing the parity in today's game. This is no longer the stacking-talent era where #NickSaban racked up national titles and the cupboard was full; no, this is precisely why he left the game—because he saw where this was headed. Every season is now it's own standalone experience with recruiting, portal pick-ups, roster retention and making sure you're shored-up for a title run when you make financial investments at this level—and it's precisely why #TheU keeps going for the whole "one-year rentals" that the haters love to mock. Since when was it a bad thing to rent a Lamborghini for the weekend instead of cruising around in your busted-up PT Cruiser? Does anyone care you don't own the luxury vehicle? Or do they just see you rolling down the street like you're hot shit? @Coach_Cristobal and this staff will do what they need to do with that quarterback room next year—so let's leave it for next year instead of wasting mid-October energy on a nonsensical 2027 conversation. No. 1 Miami is gearing up for its first game in the top spot since the 2003 Fiesta Bowl and we have people wasting energy wondering what that goofy alpaca Manning is going to do next fall? Focus on the 2026 Canes who are now at the halfway point of another undefeated regular season.

What a warrior, gentle giant, wonderful human and hometown hero to the people of Sapelo Island who adored #AllenBailey. Another member of the #UFAMILY gone too soon; sending love to his family, friends and everyone who knew the man. #MiamiHurricanes #TheU

Sure, as #MiamiHurricanes fans you wanted a blowout and to deliver a knockout punch to a reeling #FloridaState football program last weekend—but credit to the #Seminoles, they brought their best and gave the #Canes a game. It wasn't the sweep-the-leg takedown most were expecting ... but in all reality, a double-overtime thriller couldn't have played better for just shy of a hundred recruits who made official visits to @UnivMiami this past weekend. Outside of what @Coach_Cristobal shared with @JoeRoseShow on Monday about pre- and post-game or getting with visiting kids on Sunday morning—you really have to look at the cinema this game provided. No. 2 Miami dog-walked No. 14 Florida State back in 2001 with the best team ever; ending their 54 home-game unbeaten streak and a 37 home-game unbeaten streak (tied Florida in 1994 and lost to Miai in 1991)—but the game itself wasn't "memorable" outside of the iconic #EdReed halftime speech, dawg. 21-0 early, 21-13 at the half and Reed's rant—a pick here, a scoop and score there, a punter running in a touchdown on a botch, in a game that ended a 49-20 blowout that was never in question. But a year later, one of the most-memorable showdowns between these two storied programs—No. 1 Miami rolling is as defending champs, finding themselves in a 27-13 hole, before a late second half rally against No. 9 Florida State—a game that ended 28-27 and gave the world Wide Left. 2004 was a dog of a game on Labor Day weekend; that first ACC meeting between the two long-time foes—but that 10-3 clunker came alive when #SinoriceMoss took that 2nd-and-10 jailbreak screen 30 yards to tie the game with :30 on the clock—where a #ChrisRix fumble in overtime gave #FrankGore a shot to run it in from 18 yards out for the 16-10 comeback victory. The last second throw in 2017 for the 24-20 win at Doak between No. 13 Miami and unranked Florida State—or the 17th-ranked Hurricanes in a 27-7 hole at home in 2018, rallying to a 28-27 win over another not-great Seminoles team; lowered stakes and games that meant nothing in the national title race—those in attendance still talk about those comebacks as they were rooted in all that we love about sports. Which brings us back to present day and the most-exciting game in the rivalry in half a decade. Working it backwards, 2025 was a dog, as well—No. 6 Miami with a late 28-3 lead before No. 18 Florida State went gimmicky and tacked on a few late to make a it a more-respectable, 28-22 loss in a game it never felt like they would win. In 2024, the #MikeNorvell plan was to not let #CamWard throw it all over the yard, so he dropped his safeties a mile deep and played not to get destroyed in what was a forgettable, business-like, 36-14 win for Miami. No. 4 Florida State was the team to beat in 2023; en route to an undefeated regular season—and while Miami shows some fight in the 27-20 loss with a back-up quarterback—the Seminoles remained in full control, while in 2022 it was a 45-3 massacre in year one for Cristobal, as the roster and quarterback room were injured and atrocious. You have to go back to Suck Bowl '21 where six-loss Florida State beat four-loss Miami—the Noles up 17-0 early and 28-20 late, before the Canes blew it and fell, 31-28. FSU picked up a "4th-and-14" on that final drive; quarterback #JordanTravis (weirdly) made shirts to commemorate it—but again, the entertainment value was everything for the winners—which brings us back to 2026. Yes, every Canes fan wanted carnage and the type of 47-0 game Florida State delivered in 2017, or the 52-10 kind of game Miami rolled out in 2020—but the reality here is that this game was for the 84 or so official visitors and recruits in that crowd; kids between 18 years old in that 2027 class, right down to those 14-year old cats graduating in 2031. "𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥? 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥! 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?" Yes, a blowout would've favored the Miami fan and season narrative; curb-stomping a rival to gain some respect—but every recruit in that stadium just got a core memory that will shape their collegiate decisions and futures. These future stars of tomorrow; they saw HardRock at its packed best. Ask anyone at the game and they'll tell you the place was going as hard as Notre Dame in 2017, if not harder. 583 yards on offense as #DarianMensah slung it around, while true freshman #JavianMallory racked up 108 yards and two touchdowns with #MarkFletcher banged-up—while the #MalachiToney show delivered again; 11 receptions for 154 yards, two scores and the superstar even threw the two-point conversion to #CooperBarkate for the eight-point lead. The forced fumble in a 21-21 game after Miami just tied it up, the go-ahead touchdown to #ElijahLofton—short-lived as FSU answered to #DuceRobinson on a 75-yard strike to make it 28-28 and headed to overtime—it had more twists and turns than a Hollywood blockbuster. The simple-minded Miami hater is still punching air that the Canes won and took the number one spot in the polls; feigning outrage at the "injustice" against Florida State ... while conveniently not giving two shits Notre Dame got jobbed on a pass interference call late an screwed out of :01 left on the clock; because that's the reaction when higher-ranked, loathed programs lose ("Shouldn't have been in that position late to begin with!") Watch the killer cinematic work by @JustinFitz10, @SnipedByKC954 and their co-horts and relive Saturday night's magic through the eyes of a recruit taking in HardRock and this Miami / Florida State rivalry, as it shapes their decision-making and future. youtu.be/Uy9furgXKAM?si=qXdV…

Timing is weird #Miami is back to No. 1 for the first time since December 2002—and THIS is the weekend they're officially rolling out their 25-year anniversary jerseys to honor that 2001 team. They're also doing it against #Pittsburgh this weekend—who besides being a former Big East rival, before both teams moved over to the ACC—is also the first team they played back in 2001 after 9/11, as the Washington game on September 15th was moved to November 24th and the #Canes had a bye on the 22nd. No. 1 Miami went on to beat unranked Pittsburgh, 43-21 in that Thursday night showdown. The last the Canes were ranked this high against the Panthers? No. 2 Miami lost, 24-14 at Heinz Field. Clinton Portis pictured below laying it on Pittsburgh; his son Camdin Portis will suit up Saturday at high noon against the Panthers as a back-up freshman defensive back.