Hurricanes Shut The Door On Any Plans For A Big Four

There were all kind of nasty rumors floating around out there. 

Some seemingly very intelligent people appeared to actually believe them. 

No, I am not talking about some little known golfer named Tiger Woods who apparently shanked his drive and recently had a minor car accident where he allegedly took out a fire hydrant and a tree with his Cadillac Escalade at 2:30 AM near his mansion in the expensive and exclusive enclave of Windermere, Florida.   Fortunately for Woods his lovely wife was there to get him out of trouble as the word on the street is that she used a five iron to hit a high fade and free him from the vehicle by breaking out two windows.  Phew, that was close, huh?

No that's not it at all.  You see it seemed to some relatively well informed people that some how while the good folks in Coral Gables, Gainesville and Tallahassee were not looking, a little upstart University over in Tampa had caught up to the "Big Three":  Miami, Florida and Florida State.  

Yes, some smart and educated people really thought that there was now a "Big Four"; one that included Big East Conference representative USF. 

Clearly this smart and attractive young lady pictured above had fallen head over heels for her Bulls and was seen proudly representing the USF D-Fence early in the game.  That was until Miami scored on their first possesion.  Then she sat down and got real quiet just like the rest of the USF faithful on hand to witness the slaughter of their home town Bulls. 

Others even went so far as to consider a "Big Five" that would include the ever growing University of Central Florida in Orlando. 

Well, as Lee Corso from ESPN would say: "Not so fast my friend!" 

Corso, who for the record predicted on College Game Day from The Swamp in Gainesville that USF would beat Miami, said he believed it: That USF had finally matched Miami in talent, speed and coaching.  But Mr. Corso, who many claim is entertaining but at the same time question if he is playing with a full deck, was eventually exposed by his now obviously misguided prediction. 

In some ways Corso fell victim to the hype.  It might even be understandable from the outside looking in at the UM program.  After all, Miami did get blown out by VT in Blacksburg early this season and more recently dropped two more ACC games to Clemson and UNC. 

Add to that the fact that UM QB Jacory Harris was nursing a sore thumb, starting LT Jason Fox was out with an illness and the Hurricane defense was decimated by injury. 

Miami seemed ripe for the picking.

The Grand Illusion over in Tampa had even our own Manny Navarro from the Miami Herald predicting a USF victory.  Of course he then spent most of Saturday and Sunday apologizing for his embarrassing faux pas.  If only the Mandingo would have listened to me and my prediction of UM 27, USF 17, he would have been fine.  But nooooo!  Well, we forgive you Manny (sort of). 

But can you really blame Corso or Navarro for their swoon over the new kid on the block?   Not really.  Shoot, there were even some hard core Canespacers who openly stated here on the blog that they were "worried" or "concerned" about the USF game.  They also were taken in by the hype, the misdirection and the smoke and the mirrors that Jim Leavitt was wielding over there in the 813.

After Saturday's 31-10 whipping of the Bulls by the Hurricanes anyone who might have subscribed to the theory of evolution of the Big Three becoming the Big Four can cancel their subscription. 

That bull is over and done with.  End of story.  Period.

Sure they have a pretty stadium.  They have won a few big games.  They even were ranked in the top 10 a few times over the last couple of  years.  But with no Big East Conference titles or National Championship trophies in their case the delusions of grandeur at USF need to be treated with some serious psychiatric medication, not the respect of the college football world or the media.

And while I don't usually condone violence, especially that of the domestic kind, I am confident that next year when the Bulls come on down to the 305 to play the Canes at The Shark you can bet that they are going to get smacked around worse than an Ike Turner girlfriend. 

Or a Tiger Woods owned vehicle might look like after an attempted late night run.

Or maybe like Canezilla and his crew might do to a bottle throwing USF fan at The Ship. 

Not that any of that would actually happen.  I'm just sayin'...

Comments

[Mia Chi 'Cane '98]

1st...

[Mia Chi 'Cane '98]

Really? I am first?

[MIA Chi 'Cane '98]

Do I really get a shirt?

[CaneRock]

3rd is the new 1st

[SOUP]

I am so proud of this team and the way they dominated on Saturday! and the best is yet to come! GO 'CANES!!!

Posted by: JSQ | November 30, 2009 at 11:15 AM

JSQ...glad to see your back and made it home safe. It sure was a good turnout by UM fans and a great time was had by all over in Tampa!

[SOUP]

Chi Cane 98...no t-shirt sorry, third is the new first.

JUST KIDDING: Of course U get a shirt!

Email me your mailing addy and SIZE to:

[email protected]

and I'll send U one out this week.

Just curious...how long have U been trying to get a FIRST and were you even breathing when U saw you had a real chance at it?

[Lou of M]

I knew this game was in the bag when I saw the 3 usf male color guards..

[16 grams]

86 any more pics of the formations.. thats the stuff i love.. by that pic alone I'll tell U what D miami is running.. (more like the QB pre-snap read).

Miami in Nickel D--
the 2 safeties are playing halves aka 2 deep.. the outside corners are playing bump and run man...
the Nickel back(in the slot) and the 2 LB's are trying to disguise if they are in zone or man.
two more frames and I'd know for sure but my guess is both LB's dropping in Zone while reading run first, and that nickel back will be in man.

Dam only one more game left this year :(

[DallasTX Cane]

Really nice to see the CANES finish strong and take care of business. Great season in that we did as we were supposed to do, IMO. We didn't overachieve, but had the opportunity to do so if we hadn't beaten ourselves twice. We certainly didn't underachieve either. The games were FUN again (except for VT)! I'll take a young, exciting team getting better with a huge upside over the slop we've been suffering thru the past three years.

CANE FANDOM should be VERY EXCITED about the future.

Congrats 2009 CANES - players AND coaches - GREAT SEASON!

[Lou of M]

Those new uniforms were horrriibblee!! Looked like a 3rd grader designed them. I could of done a better job...

[16 grams]

What i hated most about the uniforms was it was hard to read the number of the players and dam near impossible to read the name on the back of the jersey..

if they were gonna go with a 2 color number the pants shoulda been green and orange not all white..

[Lou of M]

The only thing dope about the uni's were the gloves

[SOUP]

HM...I have a few more formation photos that I'll post later. They also used the LBs to read run first and then spy the QB who as U know scambles a LOT!

When U sit up top U see a lot of formations and away from the play action. I have one in LIVE action with great 1:1 coverage by the each Cane DB LOCKED UP with their man all across the field.

[SOUP]

HM...check email. I'll send you another with the photos attached later. If U want to use them on your blog to talk formations and coverages that's cool too.

[moneycane]

C'mon guys. I loved the new uni's. The CANES looked sharp from head to toe. I guess my taste is different b/c I loved the one orange sleave thing we wore vs. G Tech. Didn't like the outcome as much back then though

[MIA Chi 'Cane '98]

Soup, never really ever tried being first. I pretty much read the blog and comment every so often. Really could not believe when I logged on that no one had posted and debated for a few seconds to make the 1st comment.

Any ways, a great season for the 'Canes. Very proud of the team. Hopefully they will win their bowl game and build momentum for the '10 campaign and preseason top 5 or 10 ranking.

Looking forward to congratulating Randy and his coaches when they make their annual trip up to Chicago this spring.

[CGNC]

New Uni's needed some color - too white for me. LOL the O-Line looked like marshmallows

[moneycane]

Man this season was a blur. We gripped and complained about this and that, and before you know it the season is over. Just think for the next couple of saturday's there will be no CANE football. That's why I try to enjoy every game as much as I can.

[Six]

I know Damien Angry Berry liked the new threads the Canes were wearing ... I have it on tape & am going to try and upload it as soon as I can

moneycane - those uni's that the Canes wore with the orange sleeve were butt ass ugly, it was embarrassing ugly like some quilt an old lady with cataracts put together out of shop rags and hunter's vests

Come on brah, you got more style than that, ha

[moneycane]

Soup what's the deal with the creepy looking security guard behind you. He looks like he is posing for his facebook profile pic. I swear i've seen that dude on to catch a predator. If you look close you can see Chris Hansen's shadow by the stairs

[Six]

Ya, they did look like big Stay Puff Marshmallow Men like CGNC said

The whole team did look bigger in those uni's though, like a lot of other people on here said. Not that some of them needed that to help them look big

Did I mention that Orlando Franklin scares the pee out of me? Dude is LARGE and has that crazy twitch in his eye

[16 grams]

DZ8 check your email.. you shall enjoy...

okok.. I'm coming out of the closet.. I AM A PROUD FOOTBALL NERD..

for those that want to see what USF's Playbook looks like.. well here it is..
http://Fastandfuriousfootball.com/collegeoffense/2002%20South%20Florida%20O.pdf

this is what i was reading on my travels out of miami.. i have never posted a link from this site before cause its kinda of a coaches secret... Please don't spread it around....

[CGNC]

Six - LOL you have a way with words

[16 grams]

got the first email soup.. understood and thanks

[moneycane]

Damn Six u didn't have to crush my dream like that. I just though they were cool. Although I was a 23 year old pot head at the time.

You were spot on about the Tecmo Bowl reference. I remember dropping back 80 yards and throwing a 2 yard touchdown to Jerry Rice. I watched BJ when he went to Lincoln and I dont remember him scrambling that much.

[SOUP]

Money...that dude was eyeing me from the get go. Or maybe it was Mrs. 86 he was eyeing? Hmmmmm...that makes more sense!

Either way he's one of those dudes who takes his job seriously. U would be wise to keep your distance. LOL

I likes the new unis myself. I didn't think I would but I did.

[SOUP]

I'm coming out of the closet.. I AM A PROUD FOOTBALL NERD..

Posted by: 16 grams | November 30, 2009 at 02:08 PM

Hi I'm Tom, welcome to Canespace Support Groups (CSG) section of the blog.

The Football Nerd Support Group (FNSG) starts promptly at 4 PM in room 145, just past the cafeteria down the hall on the left.

Show up early, it fills up fast!

[16 grams]

LooL

[JSQ]

The Football Nerd Support Group (FNSG) starts promptly at 4 PM in room 145, just past the cafeteria down the hall on the left.

Show up early, it fills up fast!

Posted by: SOUP | November 30, 2009 at 02:18 PM

I'm still waiting for someone to join me in the "I think every song is about the Miami Hurricanes" support group.

Until then, I'll be singing along with "I've Got U Babe" on repeat.

[Captain Optimist aka Cavaleer]

Soup, WAY TO RUB IT IN. Now can someone please direct me to a USF blob.

"the O-Line looked like marshmallows"

Posted by: CGNC | November 30, 2009 at 02:00 PM

>>>>>

CGNC, that's funny. I think a little more color or a top or bottom with full orange would be sharp but they looked like Storm Troopers to me.

[moneycane]

JSQ I got a new song for []_[]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSF3cm0u4L8

[Six]

moneycane - sorry brah, ha. You gotta go back and look at those though man.

You know how you see some guy rolling around at the store or on the street and he's wearing a crazy shirt that looks like a mix between a Ed Hardy some kind of animal picture & ugly long sleeved silky Roca Wear shirt .... looks like a paint factory exploded on it in all the wrong places .... and that guy bought it in the mall at some store named "N.Y. GENTLEMEN THREADS" .... and you wonder what in the hell kind of mirrors or jedi mind tricks the salesmen in there have to get someone to buy that puke on threads?

I think that's what Nike did with those uni's that had the one sleeve.

The VTech ones were even worse ... the UiF Croc ones were the overall worst. Just orange and blue together looks like a middle school combo

[Six]

moneycane - Ya, I remember all that about Tecmo Bowl, I loved it.

I'd use the Chiefs just to use the "Nigerian Nightmare" Christian Okoye and also Barry Word in the backfield. Everyone else I knew always tried to use Bo Jackson or would use Eric Dickerson. They had a lot of beasts on that game ... LTaylor for the Giants and the Giants running game, obviously ... Derrick Thomas on the Chiefs ... the whole Philly Iggles D was NASTY and Randall Cunningham was unstoppable ... of course the Niners like you were saying .... I loved that game

[DZ8]

Posted by: 16 grams | November 30, 2009 at 02:08 PM

Thank U!

[Six]

CGNC - I just say what pops into my head, ha

Sometimes though it gets me in trouble, but I've learned to get a handle on that - when I want

[JSQ]

Another photo of formations during the game:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=40276276&l=c7e09b9444&id=10600596

[JSQ]

JSQ I got a new song for []_[]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSF3cm0u4L8

Posted by: moneycane | November 30, 2009 at 02:34 PM

I love it. That might have to make the game day mix next year!

[CaneRock]

16 grams, that shot looks like 2 deep man under...

[SOUP]

I'm still waiting for someone to join me in the "I think every song is about the Miami Hurricanes" support group.

Until then, I'll be singing along with "I've Got U Babe" on repeat.

Posted by: JSQ | November 30, 2009 at 02:30 PM

Yeah that group hasn't caught on as much as we though it would. I know "they" are out there but they are obviously still in the closet and not ready to come in for treatment yet.

BTW...how are those psych meds we mixed into the jello shots workin' out for U? U did the orange ones right? LOL

[16 grams]

I'm hurt... you haven't hear the real Hurricane Anthem yet 4th Qtr..

http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/2069369

[16 grams]

thx for that pic jsq

[Loco]

I beg to differ. I would say second greatest sport.

Posted by: Loco - for holiday gifts look at www.cutco.com then email me at [email protected] | November 29, 2009 at 08:11 PM

>>>>>

Yeah. Like I said......

Posted by: Captain Optimist aka Cavaleer | November 29, 2009 at 08:33 PM

Explain to me how.

[JC]

Hey ya'll, now that the stress of football season is over maybe I can come back and chat sometimes. Though I know there is another JC on here, but I think it has been nearly a year since I chimed in, tho I do read. Can't take the excessive highs and lows from week to week during the season though.

I think 9-3 in an absolute sense was a great year. It is disappointing to think they had an opportunity to go 11-1, but on the flip side they were lucky to win at Wake, so really 10-2 I think is the max they could have reasonably gotten. Still not enough to pass GT unless Wake had beaten them, in which case the Hokies are probably in the ACCCG now, so nothing really changed. I'd rather GT than VT.

I just hope we get the Gator Bowl, since it is more high profile and would cement the similarities between this team and 1999, which would be super. But if it is in Orlando, at least its easier for us to go!

As for the unis, I have to agree that they are not so great, I hate all white whenever the Canes do it. But I do really like the gloves, those should stay.

As for next year, I am very hopeful for big things, but it won't be easy. Miami plays @ Ohio State and @ Pitt in the first month. OSU will be top 10 at least, if not top 5, and Pitt will be top 15 if not top 10. And they finish up with USF at home. That is a tough OOC sked.

And in the ACC, they have to play @ Clemson and @ Georgia Tech, who will both be ranked. So that is four road games against ranked, talented teams. Not saying the Canes won't be up to it, but the schedule won't be front loaded or easy. Va Tech, FSU, and UNC at home will also be challenges.

At the very least, it is ACC title or bust. They can probably afford to slip up in one of the four road games. If that happens to be against OSU only, then it would be eerily similar to 2000 when the Canes lost to an elite team on the road then blitzed the rest of the sked to get to 11-1. History repeating itself anyone?

[JSQ]

BTW...how are those psych meds we mixed into the jello shots workin' out for U? U did the orange ones right? LOL

Posted by: SOUP | November 30, 2009 at 02:53 PM

Not so great, 86: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=40276192&l=7c9450e93c&id=10600596

They had some unintended side effects - see above, me pictured after someone insulted Randy Shannon. I'm about to throw down there.

[Sean Spence is a Beast!!!]

I think VT wore their pro combat unis twice, is there a chance we might do the same and maybe wear them again during the bowl game but instead of all white, maybe like all orange or all green???? that would look hot!

[JSQ]

The right photo is not showing up. I have a photo of me making my "game face" that is pretty intimidating. It's not exactly Orlando Franklin-esque, but I'm pretty fierce looking.

[reggaebob]

at first all i did was moan about these unis, but i have to say they really do look good in a rout. The jersey itself leaves something to be desired, but the pants are sick.

In any case, im sure everyone here is fairly proud of how this team played this year, and the "experts" finally got the record right.

Oh and one final note - Im so glad that UGA beat GT. I dont care if its SEC vs ACC, ive always liked the dawgs and it was nice to see UM alum willie martinez have a nice showing in what is probably his regular season game as DC. I never thought he was a good coordinator, but he is a cane nonetheless.

[moneycane]

Is it just me or does Orlando Franklin look like Keenan from Keenan and Kel. I hope he doesn't read the space or I'm in trouble

http://www.gossipcraze.com/_mm/_d/_ext2/53556/big_Kenan%20Thompson01.jpg

[Daytoncane]

and with that, Charles Weis is gone. look for him in the next nutrisystem commercial.

the guy who i think should be the hire is Gary Patterson. Patterson has led TCU to 8,9, and 10 win seasons almost every year he's been there. and being in Texas, he probably has strong Midwest ties.

also ND has sucked on defense for the longest time. Patterson would rectify that problem with the quickness. and he's the guy that most resembles Urban Meyer to me, a guy that has consistently won at smaller schools. i just hope he's a better person that Meyer.

as much as it pains us to say it, ND, along with all the other traditional powers, is good for college football. you guys don't want to see teams like TCU, Boise State, and Utah in the major bowl games? then the traditional powers must return to prominence.

[reggaebob]

Posted by: Daytoncane | November 30, 2009 at 03:12 PM

Patternson would be a very wise move for ND. He wouldnt cost as much as Stoops or that guy from gaineseyville (despite saying he wont take it, its Notre Dame...), which is of concern considering their huge buyout of the man once called "the inventor of offense." Patterson is also a great strategist, and with the way ND schedules these days he should have them to double-digit wins within 3-4 years.