Canespace

Duke Game Day Pics and Summary

It wasn't marked on any calendar, and nobody sent out any notices or invitations, but in case you missed it, "Upset Saturday" was celebrated early this year on September 29, 2007.  And, after this past weekend, the Short List may have just gotten a lot shorter!  All you had to do was look at and listen to Sooners' coach Bob Stoops (pictured at left) cry about his team's crushing last second defeat at the hands of Colorado to know that things just got a lot more complicated in Norman and many other college towns across the country.

With the number 3, 4, 5, 7, 10 and 11th ranked teams going down in defeat yesterday (among others), it is beginning to look more and more like at least one if not both of this year's BCS championship teams may have one loss.  But, we will leave that debate to OGV to summarize this coming week in his The Short List To The Superdome: Week 6 article for Canespace.

So, just in case you haven't been paying attention to The Short List, surprisingly the U, as our Canespace/MySpace friend Jenna (pictured at left) is so aptly displaying, is still in it for at least one more week.  Of course that is still a very long shot even if the Canes get ranked in the top 25 this week after an unimpressive and uninspiring 24-14 win over Duke.  The Canes needed a late game TD pass from QB Kyle "U had me in stitches" Wright to TE Dajaleon "Not Too" Farr to seal the deal against the Blue Devils. 

Up next for the Canes is old friend, new enemy Butch Davis and the UNC Tar heels. Just be glad this isn't basketball season.  Can you imagine having to face Duke and UNC back-to-back in round ball?  Now that would be a tough schedule! 

And of course, there still is unbeaten and number one ranked USC to deal with and a fast rising OSU team that has an easy schedule all the way home.  The Canes motto has to be: "Just win baby" and time will tell us the rest.  The most important things to come out of this week's games actually have nothing to do with the Canes:

1. Notre Lame is 0-5.  After doing extensive research the Canespace investigators have determined that their little leprechaun and their big head coach have both lost their mojo BABY!  And it doesn't look to us as though they may get it back anytime soon either.  If you haven't looked lately, there is some obvious tarnish showing on that Golden Dome.  Have you ever seen a head coach go from genius to loser in less time than Charlie "Not So" Weiss at Notre Lame?  We have Solacane checking the record books on this one!

2. The hated Gators LOST in the Swamp to former 'Cane DC Tommy Tuberville and the Auburn Tigers.

3. While you weren't looking USF may just have become the BEST football team in the State of Florida.

Here are some photos of the Duke game from Canespace blogger DelrayCane:

 

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Here are some photos of the Duke game from Canespace blogger RoachCane77:

The Short List To The Superdome: Week 5

It has only taken four whole weeks, but the Shortlist to the Superdome has arrived at a milestone of sorts as we open play in week five of the season: the invites to the Superdome will only be sent to teams from BCS conferences. 

Air Force of the Mountain West and Tulsa of Conference USA were the final two holdouts, but saw their Cinderella dreams strike midnight in a pair of blowouts.  To mark the occasion, the Shortlist to the Superdome now only lists the teams still left in the the race for one of the two precious invites from now until the end of the season, as follows:

LSU, Alabama, Mississippi St., Georgia, South Carolina, UF, Vanderbilt, UK, Penn St., Ohio St., Wisconsin, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan St., Indiana, Oklahoma, Texas, TAMU, Texas Tech, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas St., Kansas, VT, Miami, FSU, Clemson, BC, Southern Cal, Oregon, ASU, Cal, WVA, USF, Rutgers, Cincinnati, and UConn.

Only 37 possible invitees remain on the Shortlist of which only 24 are still unbeaten.  The margin for error is razor thin amongst the unlucky 13 once-beatens, any slip up now will find them being left out of contention and looking to next year.  Only a pair of teams I called for exclusion last week survived to see the list above:

Georgia gets it done in an overtime thriller 26-23 over Alabama in what I thought was the game of the week last Saturday.  I give Coach Mark Richt all the credit in the world for rallying his team after the shocking loss at home to South Carolina just a few weeks ago.  The Bulldogs are the first team to spoil Nick Saban's honeymoon in Tuscaloosa, proving that you can flee Miami, but the city will find a way to exact it's revenge on you one way or the other, sooner or later.

Four BCS conference teams dropped games they shouldn't have last week, and as a result, now look to next year for any shot at National Championship glory:

1) Arkansas can't rebound from it's last second loss to Alabama two weeks ago and was run out of it's home stadium by Kentucky 42-29.  The death-watch on Houston Nutt's career in Fayetteville is now at fever pitch.  It's obvious this Hogs team is a step below last year's edition, but that fact might not have much merit when the new AD steps into legendary figure Frank Broyles' shoes at the end of the season.

2) Maryland allows Wake Forest to find a way to force overtime where they go on to lose by a score of 31-24 in a game that has Deacon fans flashing back to last year's magical run.  Ralph Friedgen figures to find a way to coax a bowl berth out of this team yet, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the Terps give Rutgers all it can handle in Jersey this Saturday despite the Scarlet Knights coming off a bye week.

3) Louisville falls to pieces in full view of the college football public, loosing to a still rebuilding Syracuse team at home 38-35.  The honeymoon didn't even last until October for new coach Steve Kragthorpe who has seen his image go from miracle worker to idiot in a span of one summer.  The Cardinals are just too good offensively to completely tank, but a once promising season has officially gone astray for this year.

4) Pittsburgh surprisingly refuses to answer the bell at Heinz Field, falling to UConn 34-14.  Dave Wannstedt looked primed for his first bowl berth as the Panthers coach to start the year, but when he drops games like these at home against teams he should handle easily, it makes you wonder just how he got all those Super Bowl rings he owns after all.  The loser of this weeks tilt at Virginia between Wannstedt and Al Groh could have the inside track at polishing their resumes for a return to the NFL as an assistant coach, seeing as how both these schools fan-bases are already growing impatient with both of them.

The teams that will be dropped from the Shortlist this week read as follows:

Alabama, Mississippi St., Illinois, and Indiana.

For however million dollars Tide boosters are shelling out for Nick Saban, I don't think they expected to be out of the championship hunt as quickly as this.  I suppose you can chalk it up to the fact that money can't buy everything in life.

With so few teams left in the only race that matters, on a personal note, I'm glad to see I was, in fact, wrong last time when I called for the Miami Hurricanes to not make it onto the Shortlist for another week.  They joined Georgia as the only other team to avoid exclusion despite my calling for otherwise.  They'll stay at least one more week longer, as Duke finds out what kind of blowout a fully stocked Hurricane team puts on opponents when half of the roster isn't sitting on the bench for brawling with a joke of program the week before.  I expect only 33 other teams to be able to join them on Sunday, as the Shortlist to the Superdome grows more and more exclusive, game by game, from here on out.  Enjoy the contests this weekend as league play begins and the contenders step to the front while the also-rans quickly step aside.  I'll see you here next week as we sort it all out after the fact on the Shortlist to the Superdome.

The Canespace Campus Connection

Hey CANES fans! This is RT6, your on campus reporter for Canespace. I am freshman at the U and from South Florida myself. Actually, I graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas just like the Playmaker, T-Good and now Hank. I am a microbiology major on a pre-med track but don't let that fool you; my dad thinks its sickening that I want to be a doctor with all the sports knowledge I have. Anyway, my portion of the site is designed to give you guys an on campus perspective because this is where these guys live their lives.

Basically, I am going to check in once a week and report just about anything that I hear or see the players do and game day atmosphere on campus with some comments on the blog here and there. I will do a game prediction for the week and I will also be covering all home pep rallys and homecoming. Also, I am in close with the producer of the wvUM radio station, Alex, so I should get some airtime soon and I will definitely give a shout out to Canespace. Maybe an interview 86Cane; I know you would like that.

I ran into Richard Gordon in the dining hall couple days ago. I can see why everyone's mouth was watering when The Boss said Richard Gordon would be returning kicks. He is HUGE. I am 6'1" and RG towered over me. I sure as hell would have got out of his way if he had built some steam. CC is probably the friendliest of all players. He always has a smile on his face and talking to anyone that he sees. He's got an afro now which looks kind of cool on his huge frame.

The thing that impresses me about the players now is how they treat non-players. For instance, I see Coop and CC talking and laughin with this one kid who has a handicap. You can really tell how Coach Shannon has changed this team just by the fact that the way they present themselves. Also, I ran into my boy Hank at AllCanes, a store down Ponce de Leon blvd, where students get 10% off on all purchases, but I digress. He told me he is second on the depth chart, and just for the record, this kids hands are the size of a baseball gove. He's tall and has huge hands and can get down field pretty quickly from what I have in high school. Does this remind ya'll of anybody?

Pep rallys are on Thursdays. For the TAMU game they had a pinata of an Aggie hanging where Sebastian beat the hell out of it and then jumped on it while Crank Dat Soulja Boy was playing in the background. If you haven't seen it go to youtube and search "Sebastian the Ibis". No other mascot has rythym like Sebastian. Thursday nights is when everyone goes out to let out all that built tension from the week. We hit the Grove and The Pawn Shop "Nightclub" and the Strip and some even make it to South Beach.

And the student section at the OB is always CRAZY!  Trust me on this, the whole stadium could be empty except the student section and we would rock the OB like Hurricane!

Written for Canespace by Student Reporter RT6 (copyright 2007).

Canespace LIVE Chat Feature

Tonight from 8-9 PM Canespace LIVE is hosting Manny Navarro from the Miami Herald in our regular season long series called: ASK MANNY!

Manny is a hard core 305 guy who cut his teeth covering Dade County High School football and now covers the Canes for South Florida's leading (and some here say ONLY) newspaper.  Manny knows Canes football and is a both a fan and reporter when it comes to covering UM football. With his access to the team and the coaches we rely on him to give us the scoop.

Manny agreed early on even before the season started to partner with Canespace and bring the "news U can use" to all of the Canes fans out there.  We alternate weeks here on the Canespace blog and other weeks at the Herald blog.  With Partners like Manny, Canespace has rocketed to the forefront of all Canes blogs. 

So, tonight chat live with Manny and get your questions answered LIVE on Canespace, the leader in Canes coverage!

In addition to Manny, Canespace would like to announce a new contributor, RT6, a student blogger at the U, who has agreed to bring us the campus story from inside the dorms and class rooms on campus.  Not only will RT6 bring it, but he will fling it with the best of them here on the blog!  So tune in as he brings us the news from on campus and at the games!

One More Night

This article and attached photos courtesy of HurricaneMitch for Canespace (Copyright 2007).

"One more night, give me just one more night", Phil Collins, the drummer/singer/songwriter of Genesis fame who went on to a successful solo career wrote those lyrics about his longing to maintain his love for a woman.  And, after the Miami Hurricanes' big 34-17 win over Texas A&M at the Beautiful Old Lady on Thursday night in front of 45,000 plus, Canes fans had "one more night" to fall in love with their team all over again. 

The Hurricanes showed at least for one more very special night in the OB that they could play with crisp execution, a dynamic high scoring offense and a stifling defense in a demonstration of dominance that had not been scene in the OB in a very long time.  Some even saw it as a huge milestone for the 2007 team and the new coaching regime and compared it to the 1998 victory over UCLA that signaled that the Canes had indeed made it back and were once again a team to be reckoned with.

Now, two days later Canes fans everywhere are all asking the same questions: Is this the same Canes team that was unimpressive against Marshall, got hammered in Norman by the fourth ranked Sooners and beat an under matched FIU by only 14 points or is this a totally different team now that they have notched their first big win of 2007 under new Coach Randy Shannon against a ranked opponent?  Could the confidence from this win propel the Canes toward an ACC Championship?  Or was this an anomaly, just an aberration of success in a season where the Canes will later prove that they are still one or two years away from what many believe is their rightful spot atop the college football world once again?

The Canes start their ACC schedule next week against perennial doormat Duke.  Last year the Blue Devils played the Canes tough through four quarters before a last second interception by back-up safety Willie Cooper sealed the victory.  After Duke comes the heart of the ACC schedule against North Carolina and Georgia Tech at home and then on the road to Doak Campbell Stadium against old friend Bobby Bowden and new OC Jimbo Fisher and the dreaded Seminoles in Tallahassee.

So Canes fans it is time once again for U to make the call.  What will it be?  The TAMU win creates the big mo' leading to an ACC Championship or was the TAMU game just a hiccup in a season to be filled later with disappointment against GT, FSU, VT, and BC?  U make the call, and give us your season predictions once again!

Canespace/UM Alumni Game Watch: Charlotte, NC

Once again a good time was had by all at Carolina Wings and Ribs in the Ballantyne area of Charlotte.  Turn out was close to 40 or more people which is not bad for a Thursday night game.  Needless to say the Canes HUGE win over TAMU was just what Canes fans everywhere had been hoping and waiting for!

Jim Barnett who heads the Charlotte Chapter of the UM Alumni Club was enthusiastic as always - even wore one of our Canespace T-shirts.  Jim started the Charlotte Chapter of the UM Alumni Club 5 years ago by obtaining a copy of the alumni list from the U.  Five years ago he sent mailings notifying the area members of a gamewatch.  After not receiving one response he wondered if anyone was going to show - that first gamewatch had about 30 people.  Now the Chapter boasts 285 members and growing. 

Enjoy the pics and savor the victory...GO CANES!

The Short List To The Superdome: Week 4

This season long series, "The Short List To The Superdome", is written for Canespace by Christopher Welpton.  Join us each week as Chris, also known as Orange and Green in Vein or OGV on the blog, eliminates the losers and salutes the winners in the chase for the 2007 National Championship...

As the first month of the season draws to a close, more than half the list has been pared down already.  As a quick reminder, the legion of "wait until next year" teams reads as follows:

Troy, Memphis, Louisiana-Lafayette, FIU, N. Illinois, Toledo, UAB, New Mexico, North Texas, SMU, Baylor, Nevada, CSU, C. Michigan, ECU, Marshall, Idaho, Houston, San Jose St., Utah, Arizona, W. Michigan, E. Michigan, New Mexico St., Utah St., ULM, Temple, Army, Ball St., Buffalo, Middle Tennessee, Arkansas St., Rice, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa State, Virginia, NC State, Tulane, Southern Mississippi, Kent State, Notre Dame, Akron, Syracuse, UNLV, Bowling Green, Miami-OH, TCU, Fresno St., FAU, UTEP, Wake Forest, Duke, BYU, Navy, San Diego St., Louisiana Tech, Boise State, UNC, Ole Miss, Tennessee, UCF, Colorado, Ohio, Wyoming.

Joining these unlucky schools this week are a sample platter of BCS conference teams that saw their title dreams evaporate in the dust of upset losses that have left their fan bases more than a little miffed:

1) UCLA implodes on the road against Utah 44-6.  The troubling thing for Bruin fans is that traditionally the team usually plays better earlier than late in the year thanks to the school being on the quarter system.  I for one wouldn't have been surprised if UCLA had been undefeated going into the cross town rivalry against USC, but with this loss, they can now only play spoiler for the second year in a row.  Go Bruins!

2) Oklahoma State falls to Troy in the great state of Alabama 41-23.  The Cowboys barely survived past week one here thanks to an opening loss to Georgia, but they find themselves unceremoniously done in on this list by a team that's not even from a BCS conference. Ouch, that's going to leave a mark!  Never a fun way to start looking toward next year.

3) Auburn can't recover from last week's upset loss and will lose again to Mississippi State 19-14 at home.  Former UM Defensive Coordinator Tommy Tuberville is back in the hot seat again.  He's survived all kinds of intrigue and political maneuvering to keep his job before, and thanks to this result may have to warm up those skills once more to keep his seat as the Head Coach at Auburn.  It's a shame as he put together a dominant undefeated season just three years ago only to have it go unrecognized by the college football public at large since then.  The Tigers will bounce back to reach a bowl, but this one will sting for a while.

The total number of eliminated teams from the Shortlist to the Superdome now stands at 70 out of 119. Three lucky teams avoided an elimination I called for them last time:

1) Air Force escaped the ax once more, this time in OT, beating TCU 20-17 at home.  For the third week in a row, I expect the Falcons to finally come crashing to earth, this time at BYU in a game that gets out of hand late.  Against BYU it will be the Falcons turn to finally say: eject, eject, eject! 

2) Miss St. as mentioned above comes through in a big way for Coach Sylvester Croom.  Last week I mentioned that the three SEC coaches whose teams I called for exclusion from the list all could use a win badly.  Croom was the only one who bagged one which sets him up for a job saving bowl berth if he can continue to keep the breaks rolling for his squad.  The Bulldogs will handle Gardner-Webb this week, but their time on the Shortlist grows rarer by the day as South Carolina will most likely escort them out of the list of potential invitees.

3) Tulsa survives a shootout with BYU at home 55-47.  The smallest little private school in all of D-I tries to do something the most successful little private school in D-I football failed to do just two weeks ago, beat Oklahoma, or failing that, keep the score close.  They won't, and the don't on Friday night in Tulsa, while they watch their shot at the big prize blow out of town in the midst of yet another OU blowout on the year.

Congratulations to the three teams above are in order, while I expect both Air Force and Tulsa to join these teams this week as exclusions off the Shortlist come Sunday:

Georgia, Northwestern, Iowa, Georgia Tech, Stanford, Washington, Oregon State, Washington State.

The BCS leagues begin to feast on their weak and sort themselves out starting now.  And speaking of starting now, it seems once again I've left another team off my list of eliminations, honestly, I still haven't recovered from the fourth quarter in Norman.

Miami of Florida gets dropped from the Shortlist this week as the more lunatic fringe of the fanbase in South Florida have already seen enough of this regime in Coral Gables.  I am not one of them mind you, but I promise they do exist and will boo on Thursday night as the Hurricanes fail to defend the honor of the greatest venue in the game today in it's final season.  If you thought last week's Shortlist was bitter, you haven't seen nothing yet.

In the wake of Miami's passing game struggles, rumors have abounded about recruit poaching on behalf of the reining National Champions in football.  I decided to go to the smartest Gator Fan alive today, once again, braving the dangers of the gator filled Lake Alice of Gainesville to ask this sage of Florida football what can Urban Meyer possibly sell to South Florida recruits to get them to come up there? 

His answer, again straight from his mouth just like last week, was as follows: "Well he could suggest they might actually be interested in their academic future as well as football and might want to go to one of the leading public university's in the nation and get a really good college education. He might suggest that perhaps the less urban and "hectic" pace of life in Gainesville might be more conducive to focusing on both school and football.  And he probably would invite them to help continue the tradition of winning conference titles and adding to the latest national title to be won by a Florida college."

So there, reading between the lines I understood what the Gator was essentially saying.  "Kyle Wright sucks and once he's gone in a few months the recruits will flock to UM for a chance at being the guy who restores the prestige back to the wide-out position at Miami."  For that I risked losing a leg in that god-forsaken swamp?  I could have told you that myself. 

Enjoy the games this weekend and I'll see you back here next week to answer the question that's on my mind, and I know is on yours as well: Will the Hurricanes still be on the Shortlist come Sunday?  We'll see...

MNW-SLC High School Game Photos

This post was written by DallasTexasCane also known as DTX on the blog.  He attended the MNW-SLC game and has this report...

Random thoughts from Sat's MNW-SLC "Clash of Champions":

The atmosphere of the game was incredible. Attendance - 31,896

As expected, the stadium was a sea of SLC green. However, there many MNW fans made the 1,300 mile trip and there were even some local MNW fans to be found (perhaps rooting against SLC more than rooting for MNW...).

Let me say...this was simply the best football game I've seen in a long, long time - at any level. I'd take either of those two teams against a lot of college teams.

I won't bother with a play-by-play since everyone knows the outcome and probably watched the game. Instead, let me share a few impressions I took away after watching it in person.

The entire spectacle was 1st class. There may have been something I didn't notice, but as far as I know, there wasn't any fights or disturbances of any kind. In fact, the SLC fans applauded the MNW team as they exited the field at the end of the 1st half. The MNW band and fans were loud and let their team know they were "in da house". They looked like they were having a great time. Again, nothing but classy behavior on display all night long.

Both teams are the "real deal". This was an even game folks. Both teams made some mental errors. Both teams made some spectacular plays and both teams "laid the wood" - the hitting was FEROCIOUS! The final result being a one score game was fitting...neither team deserved to lose that game.

The "talent" gap between the teams was much less than I expected. MNW does have more "athletes", but the SLC kids were big and fast also. The speed of the SLC receivers was a surprise for MNW, especially on the 1st drive of the game.

Both teams were well-disciplined and well-coached.

SLC QB Riley Dodge is the real deal. Too bad he's going to play for NTX next year - try to help his father build that program. It'd be interesting to see how his college career would pan out if he went to a major program. SLC has an awesome kicker.

Of more interest to us CANE fans...Jacory Harris is AWESOME. I've never seen Marve play in person, but will say he better take advantage of being a year older = year ahead at UM, cause Jacory is going to be good, really good.

Marcus Forston is a monster. The entire MNW DL is really, really good. We could probably rotate them in against A&M Thu.

Sean Spence is likely to make an immediate impact at LB for UM next season unless someone who is not a senior emerges this season! He was all over the field and very impressive.

We need to lock up Tommy Streeter! If we get him and Aldarius Johnson we won't need to worry about that other WR loving on UF.

Finally, my plea to Randy Shannon...THE BOSS...make SURE all the MNW recruits sign on that dotted line! Win over Streeter! And...offer the SLC kicker a scholly! We could use him right now!

I was really impressed by both teams. I was pulling for MNW for several reasons and I think SLC, as a community, is too conformist and "Stepford Wife-ish". BUT...I've got to give them props for scheduling this game. They could easily have looked ahead and scheduled it AFTER breaking the Texas HS record for consecutive wins. Why not schedule some teams you know you can beat to ensure you get the record?? The chance for 50 straight wins doesn't happen often. Instead, they scheduled MNW. In my book, that was a gutsy call. Then, they played MNW head's up. It was an even game - maybe MNW wins 6 of 10 against SLC. Anyway, props to SLC for putting the record on the line against the best HS team in the nation!

Good news CANES FANS...those MNW kids are going to be awesome!

Against All Odds (and Aggies)

The Miami Hurricanes enter the fourth week of their season with a record of 2-1 after beating Marshall in the opener, losing BIG to OU in Norman, and then defeating FIU this past Saturday.  So far, the Canes have shown some progress on offense, continue to play well on defense (except for the the fourth quarter against OU) and still show some need for improvement on special teams and at the at QB and at WR positions.  One thing that remains clear is that there is much work to be done to transform this team from pretenders into contenders for an ACC title or a national championship.

In front of the Canes possibly lies their biggest game of the season in a nationally televised game at home against Texas A&M on Thursday night.  It could very well be the last night game ever in the historic Orange Bowl.  There is no doubt the Orange Bowl will be rockin' when the Aggies come a knockin' in what is slated to be a slug fest between two teams committed to running the ball.  The Legion of Canes fans and the nation will find out once and for all if the Canes are a myth to be ignored or a monster to be reckoned with in 2007.

After extensive research (a few beers) and interviewing of several Canes fans (my brothers and and this guy I met at Publix) and UM players (some guy wearing a 80's vintage #2 jersey and another who claims he was a walk on in 1995) here is what we believe will be the deciding factors in the game...

The Canes DL against the Aggies OL: The Miami DL has to show up BIG against the Aggies for the Canes to have a chance in this game.  The Aggies are going to pound the rock right at the heart of Miami's D and the DL and LBs better be ready to slug it out in the trenches.  The Canes main man Calais Campbell, who has been held in check so far this year, has to play up to his pre-season billing and the DTs will have to clog the middle so LBs Gooden, McCarthy and Atkins can make plays and force turnovers with big hits.  Control the LOS and the Canes will shut down the Aggies main weapon and plan of attack.

The Canes offense against the Aggies defense:  For the Canes to have a chance Thursday night they will have to score points early and often.  Hurricane receivers Darnell Jenkins, Lance Leggett and Sam Shields, along with the supporting cast of freshman will have to show up big for UM to score quickly and efficiently.  The running tandem of JJ and Coop will have to get enough first down yards and help convert third downs while the Canes find their missing link, the TEs, who will have to make their first appearance of the season.  We think the Canes need a minimum of 17 points in each half to force the Aggies out of their game plan and throw the ball.  If the Canes fall behind early and allow TAMU to run the ball it will be a long night for the Canes defense.

Canes special teams against the Aggies special teams:  As has been documented here numerous times, the Canes special teams remain anything but special.  This unit has no scores, no blocks and has yet to find a decent punter or kick off specialist.  The Richard Gordon Project lasted two games before being pulled in favor of true freshmen Shawnbrey McNeal and Lee Chambers.  Gordon looked like a bear wearing snow shoes looking for a tree to run into while returning kicks.  This might have seemed like a good idea to fans doing shots of tequila but what the coaches saw here to seriously consider this option is beyond us.  The Canes' Matt Bosher averages 35 yards a kick while the Aggies Matt Szymanski averages around 10 yards more per kick. UM somehow, someway has to find a way to win the special teams battle and get an easy score to help their struggling offense for the Canes to win.

Canes Coaching and home field advantage:  Randy Shannon is in his first year as the Canes Head Coach.  Randy Shannon is admittedly old school.  Randy Shannon will need to coach his butt off if the Canes are going to win against the Aggies in the OB this Thursday night.  Shannon's biggest hire this off-season was Patrick Nix, who previously coached at Georgia Tech under Chan Gailey.  Nix has met with mixed results so far and has even faced some early criticism from fans due to some suspect play calling.  Nix the Fix will have to bring it against TAMU and prove to be the up-and-coming offensive guru many made him out to be when he was hired.  It says here that the Canes will need 34 points to win the game, of which Nix and his offense will need to generate at least 27 of.

The Orange Bowl, often referred to affectionately by Canes fans as The Beautiful Old Lady, could very well be hosting the last night game of her long and illustrious career.  The 12th man, led as always by the Ibis and the West End Zone Crazies, will have to bring their "A game" if the Canes home field advantage is going to pay dividends.  Let us review...a nationally televised night game on ESPN on a Thursday at the OB?  That can only mean two things: (1) 70,000 rowdy, highly intoxicated Canes fans cheering loudly for their team; and (2) at least 10,000 sick calls (read: hang over) in to work on Friday morning!

Our absolutely infallible prediction (that's me, the alleged walk on, the guy in the vintage #2 jersey, the other guy from Publix, my 3 brothers, et al): Canes 34, Aggies 27.  We're going with one special teams score, one defensive score, Sam Shields having a career night and the missing link (TEs) showing up! 

Bet on it!

The Short List To The Superdome: Week III

This season long series, "The Short List To The Superdome", is written for Canespace by Christopher Welpton.  Join us each week as Chris, also known as Orange and Green in Vein or OGV on the blog, eliminates the losers and salutes the winners in the chase for the 2007 National Championship...

I'm pissed.  You have no idea how much I've been wanting to just go out all last week and goad somebody into a reenactment of the pre-halftime entertainment from last year's inaugural "Across the Ocean Rivalry."  I don't see myself altering my intentions any time soon until the Miami Hurricanes find AT LEAST TWO receivers that can catch a football whenever they are in the game and then begin to throw to them constantly. 

I expect "new" starter Kyle Wright to have a career day against FIU or simply sit back down on the bench in order to let his backup get starting reps for the rest of the year for the good of the program.  Just to review, the list of disappointed dreamers in the only race that matters in College Football this year reads as follows:

Troy, Memphis, Louisiana-Lafayette, FIU, N. Illinois, Toledo, UAB, North Texas, SMU, Baylor, Nevada, CSU, C. Michigan, ECU, Marshall, Idaho, Houston, San Jose St., Utah, Arizona, W. Michigan, E. Michigan, New Mexico, Utah St., ULM, Temple, Army, Ball St., Buffalo, Middle Tennessee, Arkansas St., Rice, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa State, Virginia, NC State, Tulane, S. Mississippi, Kent State, Notre Dame, Akron, Syracuse, UNLV, Bowling Green, Miami-OH, TCU, Fresno St., FAU, UTEP, Wake Forest, Duke, BYU, Navy, San Diego St., Louisiana Tech.

Compounding my foul mood this week is the following two additions to the envious eyed masses of also rans that I missed on last week:

1) Boise State; The only legitimate "Non-BCS" Shortlist invitee, thanks to last year remaining so freshly minted in fans minds, falls to Washington in Seattle, 24-10.  Does this count as the evidence of Pac-10 defensive aptitude that Cal failed to submit on my behalf last week?  Of course not!  Boise routinely looses to the big boys on the road.  Still, Willingham is back in familiar territory out west, and he doesn't have the stricter Stanford standards in place.  One of the most attractive opportunities in college football is the fallen traditional power, because you can always bring whatever used to be there "back" and then become legendary if you surpass that.  The Huskies have been on a spiral downward ever since handing Ken Dorsey a loss in 2001.  He won't be splitting a AP title off from anyone this year, but if he can continue to recruit as he traditionally has, Washington has no ceiling as a program.

2) UNC; You have NO IDEA how close I was with calling for ECU to knock off Butch Davis squad at home 34-31. I went back and forth twice before going back to change last weeks list of exclusions. Ultimately, I thought Coach Davis could catch the Pirates on an emotional ebb on the road. Look for the Tar Heels to rebound this week, as always the man who restocked the cupboard at Miami has his team looking sharper than expected.  I thought Al Groh was in for a breakout year this year, but now I'm not so sure.  Carolina should at least make it interesting in friendly confines of Kenan Memorial Stadium.

59 teams on the outside this year.  Only 60 remain in the running for the honor of one of two coveted invitations.  Congratulations are in order for the following overachievers who ducked exclusion from the hallowed roster of possible Superdome invitees;

1) Washington; As noted previously, Ty Willingham is right on schedule for a resurrection of the once proud Husky program.  Ohio State, and the thief wearing a sweater-vest, come to town this week, as always playing outstanding defense to date.  This will be the barometer for how sooner or later Washington will be a factor in the Pac-10 once again.  The Huskies will drop the game, but not off the Shortlist this week while Willingham still has his work cut out for him to get bowl eligible.  Thankfully the season finally is at Hawaii, so there will be a nice day near the end of the "rainbow" for them either way.

2) Indiana; There's plenty of reason to disparage the Big Ten every year for their results on the field, but I give credit to the Hoosiers here.  For a program that is dealing with the death of it's head coach and is sometimes accused of not "focusing" on the sport enough, they went on the road and put up a solid victory over a Western Michigan team that I believe will be shown to be one of the best in the MAC this year.  The Big 10 schedule will be rough on them, so a moment in the sun is well deserved for this mourning program.  They find a way to avoid a rule non-BCS loss departure from the Shortlist this week against Akron, providing the kind of inspirational healing for their fans Virginia Tech failed to provide for theirs this year for at least another week.

3) Air Force; To be honest, I'm not expecting much from the Falcons this year.  Coach Troy Calhoun is replacing a (slightly tarnished) legend in Fisher DeBerry and his wishbone offense.  Calhoun has announced he will be scrapping the bone, but so far has found a way to delay the loss of production this season from the offense as the fly-boys were able to muster enough points to upset Utah on the road last week 20-12.  A disheartened TCU team comes to Colorado Springs Thursday night, after watching their Shortlist and BCS dreams evaporate against traditional tormentor Texas.  The air jockeys get the honor of a captive audience to their crash and burn before their subsequent removal from the Shortlist by playing earlier in the week, but they'll be among the National Championship wreckage before Saturday even dawns.

But of course, YOU ALL LASTED TWICE AS LONG ON THE SHORTLIST TO THE SUPERDOME THAN MICHISHAM AND NOTRE LAME DID!  As Austin Powers would say: "It seems the little Leprechaun has lost his mojo baby!" Now, see, that made me feel a little better.  I hope it did the same for you as well.

4) Wyoming; Yee-haw!  Joe Glenn and the Cowboys ride high again!  Last week I didn't call for the boys from Laramie to get dropped from the running for it all and they didn't disappoint, handling Utah State 32-18, but this week I don't think the Cowboys are in for a very smooth ride on the blue turf of Boise.  Most teams find it impossible to pull the upset on that all-too-familiar-for-Canes-fans turf and the Cowboys will be no exception this week.  It was fun ride while it lasted guys.

The role call of exclusions includes these also-rans this week who will end up off the Shortlist this weekend: Miss. St., Ole Miss, Tennessee, UCF, Colorado, Ohio, Air Force, Tulsa, Wyoming.

Only nine unlucky teams on the spot this week facing down championship mortality.  Of them all, Phillip Fulmer of Tennessee has the most to lose in my opinion.  In fact, all three SEC coaches included above could use a win desperately about now.  The list of exclusions will soon be growing exponentially as the season goes on, but a thinning of the herd (no offense Marshall) continues none the less.

Enjoy the games this week, cheer for Kyle Wright to score six TD's in the first half so he can sit the second and give that FIU fan across the aisle from you a hug.  Even if the Gators are afraid of us, that shouldn't mean we feel the same way about our fellow Floridians across the ocean.  I'll be back next week to review who bowed out, who moved up, and who's in line behind who on the Shortlist to the Superdome.