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The U: Talented And Smart

Twenty-six student-athletes earned degrees Thursday from the University of Miami in 2018 Fall Commencement exercises, which were conducted at the Watsco Center on the UM campus in Coral Gables. The UM student-athletes were among the more than 1,000 University of Miami undergraduate and graduate students who earned their degrees during the fall ceremonies.
 
Graduates from all of the University of Miami's schools and colleges were recognized by name and walked across the stage to be congratulated by University President Julio Frenk and their respective academic deans.
 

"Today is a memorable day for 26 of our student-athletes as they achieve their goal of earning a degree from the University of Miami," Director of Athletics Blake James said. "It's a testament to the hard work and dedication displayed by these outstanding young men and women, and I couldn't be prouder of them. I can't wait to see where their life's journey takes them from here, and I hope they realize that they are always welcome back and will always be a part of our U Family."
 
Seven of Miami's athletics programs were represented in the fall graduation ceremonies. The football team led all programs with 13 graduates, including 2018 All-ACC honorees Jaquan Johnson, Michael Jackson, Sheldrick Redwine and Tyree St. Louis.
 
Women's golf standout Dewi Weber will earn her bachelor's degree in advertising/motion pictures. She is one of the most decorated student-athletes in UM golf history as a three-time All-American.
 

The list also features several former Hurricanes who returned to school to complete their degrees, including former First-Team All-America defensive back Daryl Williams, who played at UM from 1989-91 before moving on to an 11-year NFL career with the Cincinnati Bengals and Seattle Seahawks. He was an NFL Pro Bowl honoree in 1997 and inducted into the UM Hall of Fame in 2017.
 
Former men's basketball standout Darius Rice also returned to earn his degree. Rice ranks fourth in career scoring at UM with 1,865 points and was a three-time All-BIG EAST honoree. He played at UM from 2000-04 and has had a 14-year professional basketball career.
 
Additionally, the list includes baseball standouts Danny Garcia, Ricky Eusebio and Brandon Lopez, each of whom went on to play professional baseball, and Tyriq McCord, a former football linebacker who played in 51 career games.

We Talkin' About U Willis!

University of Miami redshirt senior defensive tackle Gerald Willis III added to his postseason awards list Monday, picking up second-team All-America honors from both the Associated Press and Football Writers Association of America.

After a standout senior season, Willis was named a second-team All-American by Sports Illustrated and The Athletic last week.

A New Orleans native, Willis started all 12 games in the regular season and finished with a career-high 59 total tackles, four sacks, one fumble recovery and a whopping 18.0 tackles for loss, the most by any defensive tackle in FBS.

A midseason addition the Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation's top defensive player, Willis posted five games with at least two tackles for loss and led the ACC in tackles for loss.

Willis' 18 tackles for loss were the most by a Hurricane since Jacksonville Jaguars' Pro Bowl defensive end Calais Campbell had 20.5 in 2006. Willis was named a midseason All-America by both ESPN and The Athletic.

Willis' selection as an All-America marks the second straight year a Hurricane has earned the honor; safety Jaquan Johnson was named a second-team All-American by Sports Illustrated and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) last December.

Willis Goes Full Beast Mode

University of Miami red-shirt senior defensive tackle Gerald Willis III was recognized for his outstanding season with second-team All-America honors from Sports Illustrated, the publication announced Thursday. 

A New Orleans native, Willis delivered a dominant final year with the Hurricanes en route to national honors. Willis started all 12 games and finished with a career-high 59 total tackles, four sacks, one fumble recovery and a whopping 18.0 tackles for loss, the most by any defensive tackle in FBS.

A midseason addition the Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation's top defensive player, Willis posted five games with at least two tackles for loss and the led the ACC in the category.

Willis' 18 tackles for loss were the most by a Hurricane since Jacksonville Jaguars' Pro Bowl defensive end Calais Campbell had 20.5 in 2006. Willis was named a mid-season All-America by both ESPN and The Athletic.

Willis' selection to the All-America Second Team by SI represents Miami's second straight year with such an honor; safety Jaquan Johnson was named a second-team All-American by the publication last December.

It's Up To U...New York!

The ‘Canes have been selected to play in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl vs Wisconsin. The game will take place at Yankee Stadium in New York.

 

 

All Hurricane Club Members’ ticket requests will be given priority over the general public. Tickets will be assigned based upon your Hurricane Club Allocation Tier. The deadline to request is Wednesday, December 5 at 5 p.m.

 

Hurricane Club Allocation Tiers for Post-Season Play:The Hurricane Club Allocation Tiers allow for an organized ranking of members for events, away football play and post-season play. Your Tier is based on annual level of support to the Hurricane Club. Your ranking within the Tier is based on lifetime and consecutive years of giving or if you blog on Canespace.

 

Exceptions may be made if you wear a Sean Taylor #26 t-shirt as seen below.

 

 

If you would like to increase your Tier by making a Student Impact Donation, please call the Hurricane Club at 305-284-6699 starting Monday at 8:30 a.m. The deadline to make a gift to increase your Tier is Wednesday, December 5.

The Best Of The Rest

A total of 11 Miami Hurricanes were among those recognized with all-conference recognition, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced Monday.

Headlined by junior linebacker Shaq Quarterman's selection to the All-ACC First Team, six Hurricanes were named first-, second- or third-team All-ACC, while another five players earned All-ACC Honorable Mention recognition.

Junior running back Travis Homer, true freshman tight end Brevin Jordan, senior safety Jaquan Johnsonand redshirt senior defensive tackle Gerald Willis III were all named to the All-ACC Second Team, while sophomore cornerback Trajan Bandy was selected to the All-ACC Third Team.

Five more Hurricanes were among those who picked up All-ACC Honorable Mention recognition: senior offensive lineman Tyree St. Louis, junior defensive end Joe Jackson, junior linebacker Michael Pinckney, senior cornerback Michael Jackson, Sr., and senior safety Sheldrick Redwine.

The honor was the third of Quarterman's career, but first first-team recognition. Homer, Jackson, Sr., Johnson and Pinckney each picked up the second honors of their respective careers, while the other six players were honored for the first time. To view the entire list of All-ACC honorees, click HERE.

The Pillage (And The Plunder)

This is the story of the once infamous, yet soon to be famous, Canespace blogger TruCane81. You see this wise and creative man came up with the name for the University of Miami Defense. He called it: "The Pillage".

We added "The Plunder". But for a real and true definition let us be clear: 

'Plunder' refers to the roving of soldiers through recently conquered territory in search of money and goods. 'Pillage' describes the act of stripping a conquered city or people of valuables. As pirates are not soldiers, they would now pillage, but as they are soldier-like they could also plunder.

The Miami Hurricanes defense under the highly competent direction of Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz has been nothing short of spectacular this season. They have pillaged and plundered early and often.

We like that. Yes, we like that a lot.

As in the pirate days when the rogue warriors would simply pillage and plunder whatever they wanted from whoever they wanted whenever they wanted with no questions asked. This is exactly what the UM defense did this year.

With an offense struggling to even have a pulse, the defense has carried this team to where it is today. Not the lofty perch we all once wished for but the current favorable two-game win streak that not only made Miami bowl eligible but even praise worthy.

And all this is spite of a horrid offense coached by an incompetent coordinator with a useless offensive line coordinator and a QB coach as his son.  Yeah, I said it and I don't in the least bit regret it. That waste of needless and wasted offensive energy needs to move on and much sooner rather than later.

Tonight or even tomorrow would be just fine for most 'Canes fans.

If not for "The Pillage" (and The Plunder)  Miami could easily be 3-9. Instead, thanks to the defense we salvaged a 7-5 season in a weak ACC division.

Simply put, in 2018 we got lucky. But lucky ain't going to cut it going forward.

Scoring points is what we need and what Mark Richt is not good at.

The time for change is near. In fact, on offense, it is here right now. 

Game Day Blog: Miami vs Pitt

I am going to keep this short and simple.

For my Christmas wishes to come true our University of Miami Hurricanes need a win today over the Pittsburgh Panthers.

I will be attending the last game of the season to see if Santa Claus (aka Mark Richt) will grant me the second of my three wishes for Christmas.

I will be wearing brand new kicks to ensure that the Canes will win by the score of, you guessed it, 34-13.

Did Christmas Just Come Early?

So your Miami Hurricanes, who slept through their last four games like they were on a tryptophan high, went out and ate some serious turkey on Saturday way before the official Thanksgiving Holiday on Thursday. But why complain?

In doing so they answered at least one of my Christmas wishes by beating the Virginia Tech Hokies convincingly by the score of 38-14.

Homers like Go Canes and Big Windy Cane were absolutely giddy with the results. RoachCane, KYCane and NativeCane simply could not believe their eyes at the offensive outburst. It was a performance not seen around here recently.

And even traditional "Negative Nancies" like WWIN, AeroCane and Herbibis had no bad words to say about Miami's hot performance on this cold night in Blacksburg, VA. The Grinch was silenced on this night by the boys from the 305. 

Head coach Mark Richt finally grew wise enough to have QB Malik Rosier sit in his proper place on the bench while should-have-been-all-along-starter N'Kosi Perry looked better than anyone could have dreamed other than Old Skool and RaizeCane who were cheering for him like little school girls.

Wait for it...hold it...wait, let it marinate...the Hurricanes actually scored like some real points on offense during the game like they may have had a real clue what they were doing with the ball in their hands. Amazing, but true.

I know, it is hard to fathom, but yes, it is actually true. And there was not even a debate, the scoreboard said so. Take that you bunch of Hokies!

So now all we need for Christmas is another win over Pitt this Saturday at The Rock. That is not really too much to ask for Christmas, is it?

And then a nice bowl game win to end the 2018 season on a high note while recovering from our Thanksgiving turkey induced tryptophan high (look it up).

Then as long as SolarCane and I don't drown on the Chattooga River this Summer, we can all take a deep breath, sit back and relax and let recruiting takes its natural course and maybe even go go horizontal for a few months.

That is until Spring football, the Legends of The Fall and the stress of another season, starts all over again. May God help us all!

All I Want For Christmas Is Two Wins And A Bowl Game

Two wins and a bowl game. No seriously. That is all.

Is that asking too much? I really don't think so. Do you?

The only question left is will the Miami Hurricanes comply with our request?

I sure hope so. We all want a successful end to a difficult season.

If we finish at 7-5 and are bowl bound and win the bowl game...

Then we might have it!

The Fat Lady Has Sung

It is over.

Yes, it is finally and officially over.

The 2018 college football season is over for your Miami Hurricanes.

The fat lady has sung and all that is left is the crying among UM fans.

With yet another embarrassing loss to an ACC opponent on the road, Mark Richt and company have sunken once again to new lows when an opportunity to right the ship presented itself in the game against Georgia Tech in Atlanta.

This ship has been taking on water for a while, but is now run aground and has sunken to the bottom of the abyss. The salvage crews will be out in the morning to recover what is left of the wreckage of the churning hunk of burning junk.

Richt is not right; he is simply wrong.

His once hopeful song has faded away like so many others over his first three years of trying to write a ballad worthy of the Miami Hurricanes glorious past.

There is no more hope or joy or vision for the future other than more of the same old misery we have endured over the last three regimes.

The sooner it ends the less painful the breakup will be. Trust me.

End it now or carry the burning torch of pain with you for the next three years like the last guy did. The misery and malfeasance now carry on like a contagion into our DNA from our once lofty perch among college football greats.

It seems like the pain will never end for the Miami Hurricanes football team.