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Deck The Halls

For Dan Morgan, sharing the news that he’d finally been selected for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame was emotional and special. There’s no doubt Morgan’s pending induction into the College Football Hall of Fame puts him in some very exclusive company.

According to the Hall, only 0.02 percent of college football players and coaches can claim the same honor. Of the 78 FBS players on this year’s ballot, Morgan was one of 11 first-team All-Americans to make the cut.

And despite Miami’s storied football history, Morgan will become just the ninth former player to join the Hall along with Bennie Blades, Don Bosseler, Ted Hendricks, Russell Maryland, Ed Reed, Vinny Testaverde, Gino Torretta and Arnold Tucker.

Former Hurricanes coaches Dennis Erickson, Andy Gustafson, Jack Harding and Jimmy Johnson are also enshrined and for Morgan – who is now the director of player personnel for the Buffalo Bills – having his name linked to those Miami greats is the stuff of dreams.

“I wanted to play at Miami ever since I was a little kid. To be able to go there and play linebacker there – there’s so many great linebackers that have come through there,” Morgan said. “I just wanted to live up to their expectations and be the best that I could be. It all worked out well and I’m just proud I could represent them in the Hall of Fame.”

Morgan – who was recruited out of Broward County’s Taravella High School as a fullback – more than lived up to those expectations once he switched to playing linebacker at Miami.

His 532 career tackles make him the Hurricanes’ all-time leader in that category. He led the team in tackles three of his four years on campus and in 2000, Morgan became the first player in history to sweep college football’s three major defensive awards in a single season when he won the Bednarik, Butkus and Nagurski Awards.

That same season, he was a unanimous First Team All-American and the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year. He was a four-year starter at Miami and a three-time captain, becoming the first sophomore in Hurricanes history to earn that distinction.

After his stellar college career, Morgan was drafted 11^th by the Carolina Panthers in the 2001 NFL Draft and it was there that he earned All-Rookie team honors and was a 2004 Pro Bowl selection. He made a Super-Bowl record 18 tackles in the Panthers’ 32-29 loss to the Patriots – though coaches in Carolina tabulated that number even higher.

For more on Morgan click here: https://miamihurricanes.com/news/2021/01/11/morgan-celebrates-hall-of-fame-moment/

Just For Kicks

In 2019, Jose Borregales – who grew up cheering for the Hurricanes and hoping to one day suit up for them – was at FIU, where he broke school records and kicked field goals of 29, 50 and 53 yards in the Panthers’ stunning win over Miami.

Not long after that game, though, Borregales sought a bigger stage on which to showcase his skills. He entered his name into the NCAA’s transfer portal and eventually, found his way to his dream school in Coral Gables.

He wasn’t sure how his new teammates would receive him, not after that fateful night at Marlins Park. So he put his head down, threw himself into every offseason training session and worked to show the Hurricanes he was more than just a special teams player who kept to himself.

“Coming in, you know, obviously, you’ve got to win the locker room. I tried doing that by doing everything with the team and during workouts, doing everything they would do,” Borregales said. “I didn’t want to be the typical specialist who just goes to practice, does his kicks and is there by himself. I tried to get involved with the wide receivers, the linebackers, the linemen, all of those guys. I’d crack jokes with them in the locker room or on the field and sometimes, I think that that was one of the things they liked. Once I started making kicks, they loved it even better. … Ultimately, we became a family.”

His efforts paid off.

Borregales’ work ethic – and his booming leg – won over those new teammates, a fact that was on full display at Louisville during Miami’s second game of the season.

“Jose’s a great player. Every time we cross the 50-[yard line], I know we’re in field goal range,” Hurricanes quarterback D’Eriq King said that night. “That’s a big deal for us as an offense, just knowing on third down I don’t have to force it. I know we have a great kicker, so let’s keep the ball moving, try to cross the 50-yard line, try to get in field goal range and I’m confident he’ll make the kick.”

King’s early-season assessment of Borregales proved correct.

The kicker went on to finish the season as Miami’s leading scorer. He was 20 of 22 on field goals and was a perfect 37 of 37 on point-after attempts.

At season’s end, Borregales was named a first-team All-ACC selection and a first-team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association, the Associated Press, the Football Writers Association of America, the Sporting News and the Walter Camp Football Foundation.

His distinction as a first-team All-American means his name will now hang from the rafters at the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility along with those of his fellow Hurricanes All-Americans.

Thursday, he became the first Hurricane to win the Lou Groza Award and the first Hurricane to win one of college football’s major awards since 2003. Combined with his career at FIU, Borregales is second in the nation among active kickers with 70 career field goals.

Read more here: https://miamihurricanes.com/news/2021/01/08/borregales-leaves-a-legacy-at-the-u/

What We Learned In 2020

What we always knew is that cliches are for losers. Some people use terms like:

"At the end of the day."

"Look at their whole body of work." 

""Take them one game at a time."

"Offense sells tickets, defense wins championships."

Yeah, yeah, yeah...yadda, yadda and whatever.

Beyond that, what we learned during the 2020 college football season is this:

• Manny Diaz and his Miami Hurricanes are not quite ready for prime time football. Transfer QB D'Eriq King saved Manny and his bacon (read: questionable coaching staff) from yet another emabarrasing season all by himself. King alone was good for at least three wins and elevated Miami's record from an almost certain 5-5 to a smooth 8-3. Manny was heard saying" "King me."
• Clemson was a good football team that beat Miami, lost to Notre Dame without their star QB, won the ACC over the Irish but eventually got their a** handed to them by a very motivated and determined Ohio State team. Teaching us that NO team is unbeatable and some can be beaten even when very good and well coached.
• Notre Dame tried to fake it before they could make it but did not succeed. We hate the Golden Domers so good riddance.
• Cincinnati surprised many yet fooled few in their seemingly amamzing, if not historic, run up to the top of the polls. They gave Joe-Ga everything they could handle in their bowl game before the Dawgs eventually wore them down and won by a single point (not couting a meaningless last second safety). Their coach is an awesome guy and significantly better than the guy UM.
• Which brings us to Iowa State and Coastal Carolina. They have really, really good coaches who you have never heard of who do more with less as compared to the crew in Coral Gables. Imagine what they might do with the talent in the 305? The Iowa State motto this season was: "We do not have a 5 star talent, but we have a 5 star culture." Yeah, I got excited too.
• Roll Tide! Alabama has a head coach, forgot his name, who alledgedly is really good at this whole "coaching thing". He loses his top coaches and coordinators almost every year or two but still keeps on winning, recruiting, and winning some more. We would like a genetic clone to come to Miami anytime soon if possible. In God we trust
• COVID-19 is highly contagious. COVID-19 is dangerous and can be deadly. Basically COVID-19 sucks. But if football players can play football in their highly competitive, close contact and contagious environment, then healthy, normal people can go to restaurants, stores, school and work like no big deal. This is a no brainer or as we used to say back in the day: "No shit Sherlock!"
• The Miami Hurricanes do not play well after bye weeks, during bowl games or anytime they have time to plan, prepare and think about what they should actually do during the game. This is a very concerning trend that only SolarCane can explain but alas, he is in limbo in a self imposed time out. We need him back to help us understand this concept.
• The concern going into the 2020 college football season for UM was squarely on their offense. Could King play? Could Lashlee coordinate? Could the OL hold up? Could anyone get open or catch the ball if they did? The answers are YES, maybe, and so-so. The run game was horrible as was the play calling at times, but they made it work.
• The concern at the end of the season was squarely on the defense. Is Baker up to the task? What does Rumph actually do if he can't recruit? Can anybody cover anybody or set the edge? No, we have no clue, no, and no are the answers. The defense got run through like swiss cheese (pun intended) early, often and at times in an embarassing fashion like in the loss to North Carolina a score of 62-26. Ouch!
• Miami's completely "un-special" Special Teams coach, who will not be mentioned by name to protect his identity, completely lucked out by having possibly the two best plyers on the team on his side. Punter Hedley and kicker Borregales were always consistently brilliant even when their coach was not. Answer me this: How many kicks or punts did Miami block in 2020? How many kickoff or punt returns for touchdowns did the Hurricanes have? I will wait, go ahead. 

At the end of the day, and after evaluating their whole body of work, (please forgive me) what we really learned in 2020 is that your Miami Hurricanes have a long way to go to compete with UNC, Notre Dame and Clemson for an ACC title and an even longer journey to compete for a National Championship.

But we are in this for the long haul. I have been going to games since the 1970's, winning championships since the 1980's and suffering since 2004. I guess I will stick around until Manny Diaz wins it all, or until his successor is named.

Either way, we seem to keep learning things every year as we go. 

Sure, 2020 was more complicated than most, but still the same.

Let's go Canes!

Let's Go Bowling: 2020 Edition

Your Miami Hurricanes have one final piece of business in 2020 and that is a game against Oklahoma State in the Cheez-It Bowl today at 5:30 PM. The Canes know a victory at Camping World Stadium will put the finishing touches on a strong season and give the program momentum to build off of in 2021.

“I think it could certainly serve as that effect,” head coach Manny Diaz said. “I think the last time we came to Orlando [for a bowl], and I think our big win against West Virginia really set us up for a great offseason. Where we started 10-0 the following year, so I do think there is a kick-on year. But every year still exists in its own universe as we’ve seen. Obviously, we’re nothing like the team that played in Shreveport a year ago. We would like this to sort of be a bridge to next year, but we know there will be some key additions coming to our team next year.

“There’s a way we want to do things and a way we want to establish the program and we’re trying to sort of knock down these things that have sort of gotten us in the past and a bowl win is staring us right in the face,” Diaz added.

“It’s a big deal for us. [Orlando] was the site of our last bowl victory back in 2016,” Diaz said. “And that was the only bowl victory for a decade prior to that. We’ve been trying to build the program step by step and part of doing that is you kind of try to accomplish things that have been hard to accomplish here over the past few years. Winning a bowl game is right in that category and then to beat a team with the quality that Oklahoma State has will mean a lot as well.”

Miami received some great news a couple of days ago, as redshirt senior quarterback D’Eriq King announced his intentions to return for the 2021 season. The unquestioned leader of the offense and one of the Canes’ four team captains, King believes his team is eager to earn a victory on Tuesday to finish the season on a high note.

“Bowl games are kind of weird in that the team that wants to be there and wants to win will most likely win the game,” King said. “It is very important for us. We have a nasty taste in our mouth from the North Carolina game and I feel like the last two weeks of practice have been good. I hate losing more than anything, so we are trying to go out there and prove a point.”

Redshirt junior safety Bubba Bolden, who is Miami’s leading tackler with 65 stops on the season, believes the Hurricanes defense is looking forward to the opportunity to bounce back from the regular-season finale against North Carolina. While the Canes had a tough showing against the Tar Heels, they have turned that loss into motivation ahead of their game against the Cowboys.

WATCH: Cheez-It Bowl Trailer

“We take this very personally and [especially so] after the last game’s performance; that was not the Miami way,” Bolden said. “That was not how we play football, especially on the defensive side. So, we are coming into this game with a lot of fire, I’ll tell you that right now, and we’re going to come out and that’s what’s going to happen.”

For more information from hurricanesports.com, click here:  

https://miamihurricanes.com/news/2020/12/28/laying-a-foundation-for-the-future/

We Wish U A Merry Christmas

On behalf of all of the many talented bloggers here at Canespace we want to wish U a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

As you know if you have been around here for any amount of time this blog is more than just a Miami Hurricane sports blog.

It is a family. A family that at times can be a little dysfunctional but still a family of fans like no other blog on the Internet.

We would also like to thank the many good folks at the UM Athletic Department for their on-going support of our blog as well.

As we make our Christmas wish list, we ask U to join us this Holiday season in wishing peace on Earth and good will towards all. Well, everyone except Florida State and Florida Gator fans of course.

Here are our simple Canespace Holiday wishes for 2020:

1. That UM wins their bowl game against Oklahoma State.

2. That Manny Diaz turns out to be a better coach than anyone could imagine.

3. That UM baseball makes an early season statement on their way to Omaha.

We would like to wish all of U a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

As you know if you have been around here for any amount of time this blog is more than just a Miami Hurricane sports blog.

It is a family. A family that at times can be a little dysfunctional but still a family of fans like no other blog on the Internet.

We would also like to thank the many good folks at the UM Athletic Department for their on-going support of our blog as well.

As we make our Christmas wish list, we ask U to join us this Holiday season in wishing peace on Earth and good will towards all. Well, everyone except Florida State and Florida Gator fans of course.

Here are our simple Canespace Holiday wishes for 2020:

1. That UM wins their bowl game against Oklahoma State.

2. That Manny Diaz turns out to be a better coach than anyone could imagine.

3. That UM baseball makes an early season statement on their way to Omaha.

We would like to wish all of U a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

You Can't Always Get What You Want

But if you try sometimes, you get what you need...

Or so goes the Rolling Stones song about life and college football recruiting.

Your University of Miami Hurricanes did not get every player they wanted on the early signing date for the 2021 class but they got what they needed. And that is all we can ask after the negative finish to the 2020 season.

Manny Diaz and his merry men did better than expected on early NSD 2021 by landing several of their top priorities. This included QB Jake Garcia, Leonard Talyor and James Williams. And to that they added a bunch more 4* players.

Life is apparently very, very good in Coral Gables.

For more on Miami's recruiting today that ranked #10 click on the link below:

https://247sports.com/college/miami/Season/2021-Football/Commits/?utm_source=247Sports&utm_medium=ExternalEmbed&utm_campaign=TeamRankings

For more details and a breakdown of the players, click here:

https://miamihurricanes.com/nsd21/

U Give Love A Bad Name

Bon Jovi said it best when they said:

"Shot through the heart, and you're to blame, you give love a bad name."

We should have known better.

We should have been smarter than that.

We should have learned from previous years.

But we are fanatics and we never, ever seem to learn to protect ourselves from failure. No, we were drawn in once again by just enough shiny objects and other positive outcomes that we fell for it once again.

And so shame, shame on us for doing so. This train wreck was as probably as predictable as the sun rising in the East and setting in the West.

So today's overwhelming loss to North Carolina in the season finale was so beyond awful that we had no way of preparing for this humiliating, devastating, and embarrassing event.

In fact, we were shocked that Miami never showed up for the game, never competed and never showed that they even cared. It was that sad.

Mack wiped Manny's team up and down the field on both sides of the ball to, get this, a reversal of fortunes that resulted in a final score of 62-26.

Like I said, it was sad.

With so much on the line how do you come out flat and disinterested? It got ugly early and often. It simply was not pretty. (And the fans were not having any of that. We will show some responses from the fans later in this blog).

We promised Manny Diaz our true, forever and faithful love IF he won this game. We were more that ready to buy the ring, take a knee and make it official. Instead, we are breaking up with him like a horrible nightmare of a relationship with a stalker.

Obviously and simply put, Mack Brown owns Manny Diaz.

They do not even belong on the same field as coaches. Mack Brown is a grown man and a good coach. He once fired Manny Diaz as his defensive coordinator. Now he humiliates him as a peer. It is sad and disheartening.

Losing 62-26 to an ACC rival in the final game of the season makes that clear.

Yeah, I said it and I don't care.

If This Is It

As a result of the announcement by the ACC this week of the cancellation of the Georgia Tech game scheduled for December 19, your Miami Hurricanes will enter today's game against North Carolina at Hard Rock Stadium as their final game of the 2020 college football regular season.

And oh, what a season it has been so far.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many players have missed home games or have been prevented from traveling to games on the road. Many conferences and teams have had games postponed or cancelled outright.

So with this being the final game for UM this season we are hoping to remain head over heels in love with our team and head coach Manny Diaz.

To his credit, Diaz has managed to navigate many obstacles, jump through several hoops and over more than a few hurdles to get the Hurricanes to 8-1 during this very trying and tumultuous college football season.

Singer/songwriter Huey Lewis broke the news (pun intended) to us in one of his hit songs from 1983. It was a very good year and the chorus went like this:

If this is it, please let me know
If this ain't love you'd better let me go
If this is it, I want to know
If this ain't love baby, just say so

So a win today would go a long way to solidify our current love affair with Manny and Miami in 2020. This final game will say a lot about where this team is and where it might be going in 2021. It will definitely impact recruiting this off-season and a win could be enough to push the Hurricanes over the top for some of the top talent in the Country in the 2021 class.

A loss today against the Tar Heels could have the opposite effect on the fans' current cozy relationship with Diaz and could be a barrier to landing the talent in 2021 that Miami needs to land to compete with Clemson and Notre Dame for an ACC championship. Only time will tell if true love is here to stay.

Huey Lewis (And The News) summed it all up pretty well just like this:

I'll be alright one way or another
So let me go, or make we want to stay
If this is it, please let me know
If this ain't love you'd better let me know
If this is it, I want to know
If this ain't love baby, just say so  

We hope true love is here to stay, so we will predict the game this way:

Miami 34 - North Carolina 13

Miami Dunks Duke

We would have been perfectly happy with a convincing 34-13 victory.

We would have been happy with any win after consecutive losses against Duke.

We would have settled for a last minute kickoff return for a miracle touchdown.

But no, instead your Hurricanes decided to finally open up a rather large bottle of perfectly aged whoop ass on the Blue Devils to the tune of 48-0.

And oh, let me tell you the truth, that tune sounded so good!

Miami finally played liked they meant it, and the final score showed it. The back-ups got to play in the fourth quarter as planned and everything. It was almost like the good old days and almost too good to be true.

So it now appears that this guy named Manny who happens to be the head coach at UM may actually be on to something here. It is still to early to tell but he apparently has things headed in the right direction at the current time.

We like that. And yeah, we have to admit, we like that a lot.

Now Coach, about that next game against North Carolina...

The Long And Winding Road Leads To Duke

Former UM head coach Randy Shannon lost some credibility when he said playing Duke in Durham, NC was difficult because "It is a long walk from the locker room to the field." 

We are not going to dispute Shannon's claims because that would be silly. But we are going to caution Miami's current coaches and players that playing Duke will be difficult due their coaches and players.

Yeah, I said it.

Even the University of Miami's official athletics website put it like this:

Despite all of the adversity they have faced, the Hurricanes are excited to be back at practice and preparing for this week’s 8 p.m. kickoff at Duke.

“Being off for two weeks makes you miss football and want to focus on football,” quarterback D’Eriq King said. “I would do anything to play another college football game and I am excited to get back out there this Saturday.”

The Hurricanes and Blue Devils are set to meet for the18th time in the series, which Miami leads, 13-4, including a 7-2 edge in games in Durham, N.C. The Coastal foes have met every year since 2005 and Miami has won 12 of the 15 head-to-head games since the Hurricanes joined the ACC in 2004.

In last year’s matchup – also at Wallace Wade Stadium – Duke emerged with a 27-17 victory. The Hurricanes have dropped two straight to Duke.

While Miami is 3-1 on the road in 2020, this week’s game will be the first the Hurricanes play without fans in the stands. The empty stadium could bring a different feel for the visiting Canes, but Diaz is confident his team will come ready to play regardless of the attendance or lack thereof.

“You definitely have to bring your own energy, bring your own juice when you’re playing on the road or at home,” Diaz said. “We’ve had some unique environments when we’ve played. We felt like when we went to Clemson, for example, I don’t know how many they had in there, but you still felt the crowd there. I thought NC State did a good too, and Louisville. It’s just a little different every week.”

So we would like to suggest to the Miami Hurricanes squad traveling to the Tar Heel State that they take this game very seriously, come out with a sense of purpose, direct intent and a game plan to win this game.

And that they do it convincingly.

We say they will.

Canespace Prediction: Miami 34 - Duke 13