Canespace

If U Only Had A Crystal Ball

When the 2022 college football season started, University of Miami football fans we ecstatic and overly enthusiastic for Mario Cristobal's first season as the Hurricanes head coach. Many, if not most UM fans, gazed into their crystal balls and boldly predicted a 10 win season under the experienced Cristobal.

After all, Mario was a hometown hero and had cut his chops first at FIU and then very successfully at Oregon as the lead dog. He was the next in a long line of "can't miss" head coach hires at UM. He was given a seemingly unlimited budget to hire the best, brightest and most illustrious group of coaches and support staff ever assembled at Miami. In theory at least.

But it wasn't long into the season that troubling signs showed up in the waters in South Florida. Once there was blood in the water the sharks started circling.

Tyler Van Dyke, last year's star QB and alledged high NFL draft pick and potential 2022 Heisman candidate, a player who finished the 2021 season with six straight games with over 300 yards and three TDs per game, looked lost and confused in Josh Gattis' new offense. It wasn't long until he was replaced by the turnover prone Jake "The Snake" Garcia and then Freshman Jacurri Brown. It made no differnce as the offensive struggles continued in spite of the changes.

The much maligned UM defense apparently couldn't get on the same page and subsequently started giving up points like parents hand out candy on halloween. The old nemesis of poor tackling and the inability to get off the field on third down managed to stick around right through all of the coaching changes. Lacking fundamentals, the defense was easily challenged by any team with even a glimmer of offense and often succumbed to their opponent's attack.

Early season losses to Middle Tennessee State University and Duke were inexcusable and simply unacceptable. A late season loss to Clemson was probably understandble, but mid-season meltdown led to UM getting blown out by FSU 45-3 at home. It was the biggest home loss margin is series history for the Hurricanes and an shocking, back breaking loss.

So your Miami Hurricanes now have one game left on their schedule against Pittsburg at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday at 8 PM. UM must win to become bowl eligible, and even if they do, their 6-6 record will be worse than last year's 7-5 posting. Last year this was a game UM won on the road by the score of 38-34. This year Pitt is favored by 6.5 points with Miami playing at home.

So our collective crystal balls for 2022 were clearly not accurate. No, we were not even close. So now, in our moment of complete desparation, we turn to the lyrics of 80's rock band Styx to help us through these troubling times:

Well, tell me, tell me where I'm going
I don't know where I've been
Tell me, tell me, won't you tell me
And then tell me again
My heart is breaking, my body's aching
And I don't know where to go
So tell me, tell me, won't you tell me
I've just gotta know

Crystal ball
There's so many things I need to know
Crystal ball
There's so many things I've gotta know
Crystal ball
Won't you tell me please before I go
Crystal ball

So It Is True: The U Is Now A Basketball School

On the same day that Mario Cristobal's Miami Hurricanes football team played Clemson and got blown out by the ACC dominant Tigers 40-10, Jim Larranaga's UM basketball team won in decisive fashion, once again proving the point that many have recently made: The University of Miami is now a basketball school.

Miami men’s basketball team defeated Providence by the score of 74-64 Saturday evening at Mohegan Sun Arena in its first game of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament.

The victory marked the 700th win of Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga’s illustrious career. The dominating win, in which his team led for 30-plus minutes against the reigning BIG EAST champions, came against his alma mater.

After Providence (3-1) took a 15-11 lead, Miami used separate 9-0 and 10-0 first-half runs to take early control, building its edge as high as 15 in the opening frame. The Hurricanes, behind 14 points from fourth-year junior guard Isaiah Wong, took a 12-point cushion, 38-26, into the locker room.

The Friars closed within six multiple times in the second session, but never got any closer. Fifth-year senior guard Jordan Miller banked in a 3-pointer with 5:48 left to cap an 8-0 run and make it 63-49. The Hurricanes’ advantage never dipped below double digits the rest of the way in the 10-point triumph.

Now, if only the UM football team could...oh, never mind. 

So Far, So Good

The University of Miami men’s basketball team cruised to an 87-61 win over Florida A&M Tuesday night in the finale of its three-game season-opening homestand. This is a very impressive start to the college basketball season.

The Hurricanes controlled play throughout the second frame, as Florida A&M (0-4) never got any closer than 13. Miami extended its lead as high as 28, on its way to the 26-point victory, its largest since an 85-57 victory over eventual NCAA runner-up North Carolina on Jan. 18, 2022.

Miami finished the night with 15 steals and posted a 25-3 edge in points off turnovers, committing just 10 and forcing 22. The Hurricanes, who scored 50 paint points and shot 53.0 percent (35-of-66) overall, tallied 22 assists, their most since notching the same total on Nov. 13, 2018, versus Stephen F. Austin.

Fifth-year senior guard Jordan Miller amassed 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go along with a game-best nine rebounds and three steals. Wooga Poplar scored a career-high 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, also setting a career best in makes. Fellow sophomore guard Bensley Joseph also tallied a career high in scoring with 12 points.

Miami now travels to Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament, first squaring off with Providence Saturday at 4 p.m., live on ESPNews.

What Can Brown Do For U?

This past Saturday the Miami Hurricanes beat the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta by the score of 35-14. It was an important ACC win and moves UM one win closer to being a bowl eligible team.

But that is not the story of the game, or the day, or the season.

No, the real story is how Freshman QB Jacurri Brown played in his first start.

With season starter Tyler Van Dyke injured and back-up Jake Garcia not playing well in his absence, Miami started Brown on the road in Atlanta and may have just found the answer to their future starting QB.

Prior to his first start on Saturday in Atlanta, Brown had led the scout team in practice, signaled in play calls from the sideline and had a very limited role in wild cat formations and short yardage situations.

Brown finished the game by completing 15 of 19 attemps for 136 yards and three TDs. He also rushed, no make that high-stepped, for 84 yards. To put it simply, Brown showed that he is a big time baller. At Miami, we like ballers.

Jacurri and fellow teammates DB Kam Kichens, who had a career day with 3 interceptions and one for a school record 99 yard pick six, and Jaylan "Rooster" Knighton, who ran for 118 yards and one TD (and NO fumbles), provided first year head coach Mario Cristobal at least a one week reprieve from the fans showing their dissatisfaction with the early results of his tenure. 

If Brown can show consistent progress in practice, stay healthy and produce positive results on the field, Miami may have found their future. And with the recent past UM fans have faced, a positive future sounds pretty good to us.

So now, the question on Hurricane fans' mind is: "What can Brown do for U?"

Just Another Ordinary Man

At this point early in his tenure at UM, our assessment is that Miami head coach Mario Cristobal is just another ordinary man who is a slightly below average head coach. Yeah, I said it, and I am certainly not taking it back.

He has taken an average team and turned it into a mediocre mess of poorly performing players. That takes a special kind of talent, or lack thereof. At this time it appears that Mario lacks the basic skills needed to succeed in his job.

That does not bode well for Miami or its fans who know how to dominate FSU unlike Mario who just got dominated by the Seminoles at home at Hard Rock.

There was once a band named Triumph, who wrote a song just for this occasion:

Look in the mirror tell me what do you see
Or can you lie to yourself like you're lyin' to me
Do you fall asleep real easy feelin' justified and right
Or do you wake up feelin' empty in the middle of the night
You want to think you're different, but you know you never can
You're just another ordinary man

The Hurricanes finished the 2021 season at 7-5 overall and 5-3 in the conference which then resulted in former head coach Manny Diaz getting fired. Manny is now the defensive coordinator for the 7-2 and #14 ranked Penn State.

The Hurricanes are now sporting a shameful 4-5 record, are 2-3 in the ACC and are seriously at risk of not making a bowl game this season. On these facts I rest my case that this "Ordinary Man" is simply a below average coach.

Argue as you will about the roster, the coordinators, the play calling, the cheerleaders and the fans "not showing up" but I remain convinced until proven otherwise. My eyes, the team's performance and the results do not lie.

The song "Ordinary Man" ends with these lyrics, read them twice:

No such thing as easy answers
You play to win and you take your chances
Here's to health, here's to wealth
May you never doubt yourself

U Don't Love Me Anymore

Mario we are talking to you.

These times are so uncertain
There's a yearning undefined
And people filled with rage
We all need a little tenderness
How can love survive in such a graceless age

Your first year has been unacceptable. 

And the trust and self-assurance that lead to happiness
They're the very things we kill, I guess
Pride and competition cannot fill these empty arms
And the work they put between us,
You know it doesn't keep us warm

We need you to beat FSU.

All the people in your life who've come and gone
They let you down, you know they hurt your pride
Better put it all behind you; cause life goes on
You keep carrin' that anger, it'll eat you up inside

If you win the game all will be well.

I wanna be happily everafter
And my heart is so shattered
But I know it's about forgiveness
Even if, even if you don't love me anymore

If you don't, we are done.

We Are Begging U To Beat Duke

Don't make us puke, please beat Duke.

Miami 37 - Duke 13

We Are Not Laughing At U, Just Laughing Near U

Your University of Miami Hurricanes football team appears to be both totally hopeless and seriously helpless. That is the sad truth about the 2022 season.

It is so bad early on in Mario Cristobal's first year as head coach that UM lost to lowly and completely unknown Middle Tennessee State University by 14 points at home at Hard Rock Stadium. The fans were not pleased to say the least.

MTSU then lost to University of Texas at San Antonio by 15 points.

MTSU lost today to the University of Alabama at Birmingham by 27 points.

So UM lost to team, that then lost to another bad team, and then lost to another really bad team. To the average fan that seems really bad, correct?

This is why Miami fans are not laughing at U, just near U.

In their first Alantic Coast Conference play against the University of North Carolina, Miami put up a late effort in the game only to lose it at home once again. And that was after a bye week, with time to heal, recover and prepare.

But that made absolutely no difference and was no advantage for the Hurricanes or Coach Cristobal. The offensive game plan was well, simply offensive. The defensive game plan was curious at best and in the end has no defense for giving up 27 points and 21 in the first half.

If Manny was fired for a reason, and Mario was hired for a reason, that reason is now decidedly unclear. Manny could have lost to MTSU. Manny could have lost to UNC. Manny could have had a poor defense and an anemic offense.

Then we have to ask ourselves, what has changed with this Miami Hurricanes football team? And the answer is right now...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

How Do U Spell Victory: V A N D Y K E

Since I quit caring, and quit the blog officially, we will keep it short and sweet:

After his worst performance as a Hurricane, we are going to boldly predict that UM QB Tyler Van Dyke will lead the Miami Hurricanes to a most glorious victory in a long time over the North Carolina Tar Heels Saturday.

Tyler certainly could use a WR like Andre Johnson right about now but Jake Garcia will not be needed. Of that we are most certainly sure.

However, the defense and the special teams will be required to perform way above average to support the seemingly and suddenly struggling offense.

And the fans will require the cheerleaders and the Sunsations to turn in their top performance of the year. Of this we have no doubt.

Canespace Prediction: UM 34 - UNC 27

Hurricane Ian: Real Life Interrupts Our Football Fantasy

As Miami Hurricane football fans we are addicted to sports and fantasize about winning another National Championship. Sure, we all want to see "The U" get their 6th National Championship ring. That would be very nice indeed.

But today, real life makes all of that seem so irrelevant and unimportant.

Earlier today Hurricane Ian hit Southwest Florida as an extremely highly rated Category 4 storm. It is likely to go down as one of the top five strongest hurricanes to ever hit The Sunshine State. This is not a good thing.

The official impact point was Cayo Costa near Fort Myers, but as one of the largest storms in terms of sheer size it's impact will be felt State-wide.

This powerful hurricane will not only be life threatening, but incredibly devastating and very long lived for those who live in the area. While it followed a very simialr track as Hurricane Charlie in 2004, another Cat 4 storm that devastated Punta Gorda where it took a decade to rebuild, Ian dwarfed Charlie is size and scope and will also have a significantly larger impact.

One of our long-time bloggers RoachCane lives in Englewood-Venice area that is very near the central impact point. In late August, my wife and I had dinner with Roach and his wife when we were on our vacation in Manasota Key Beach near Englewood. We had a great time reminiscing about the UM glory days and shared a delicious seafood meal together. Good times with good people.

Here is a previous article I wrote in 2019 about him and his amazing coaching accomplishments: Roach Coach

Today as the storm made landfall I was very concerned so I texted him to see how he was doing. I asked if he evacuated or hunkered down.

It turns out he stayed and was hunkered down with his wife in their "safe room", an interior closet with no windows. He thought that they may have lost part of their roof and that the situation was bad and seemed to be getting worse.

In times like this, football or any sport becomes completely irrelevant and insignificant. Real life, and real people, always matter so much more.

We hope and pray for Coach Roach and all other people in the path of this deadly hurricane. May they be safe and protected from harm.