Tonight your Miami Hurricanes will take the field for the first time with Al Golden as head coach when they open the 2011 campaign against the Maryland Terrapins in College Park, Maryland at 8 PM.
Even though it is only the first game of the season most college football fans would agree that there is more meaning attached to this game than the usual or typical season opener.
Golden's Hurricanes will not get an easy first week warm-up game against a unfortunate bottom feeder team like a Kent State or UL-Monroe and instead will open on the road with an ACC opponent with something to prove and with a new coach of their own in Randy Edsall.
Today on the blog we present a new feature staring our very own Christopher Whelpton who is also known as Orange and Green in the Vein (OGV) on Canespace. The new feature is titled "Hurricane Game Day" and will be a weekly presentation about how the current week's teams match-up and include a predicition of the expected outcome of the game.
OGV predicted a close game with Miami squeaking out a 21-20 win over the Terps on the road at Maryland.
I am not so sure that the game will be that close or that Miami is capable of winning a close game on the road to open the season. With the weather expected to be rainy and miserable for most of the game it may be mistakes and turnovers that determine the winner or possibly special teams play that weighs most heavily on the outcome of this ACC contest.
I see the UM ground game of "Smash and Dash" dominating the day behind an effective if not overpowering offensive line and an efficient if not exciting passing game on display from starting QB Stephen Morris as expected starter Jacory Harris sits at home and serves his one game suspension. It is no secret that Morris must limit the turnovers for the 'Canes to be successful on the road at night against a tough conference opponent.
Defensively I think the depleted Hurricanes will give up a lot of yards and first downs but not a lot of points to the Terps. I look for the Canes to play conservatively on D and not get too complicated or show a lot of specialty packages that they will implement when several starters return against Ohio State on September 17.
CANESPACE GAME PREDICTION: MIAMI 34 - MARYLAND 24.
1st
Posted by: TJL | September 05, 2011 at 02:22 PM
Oye!! Yea!!!! I get the 2011-12 version of the space T shirt??????
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: TJL | September 05, 2011 at 02:23 PM
3rd.....hope we are first tonight!!!!
Posted by: VA Cane | September 05, 2011 at 02:24 PM
close to first.
Go 'Canes!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: welcane | September 05, 2011 at 02:25 PM
CONCLUDING REMARKS: The man who is best organized and does the best teaching job, is the best coach.
Posted by: CaneRock | September 05, 2011 at 01:49 PM
There IT is right there.
GREAT comment on the last blog by CaneRock.
Thanks for helping young UMike out with the old coaching thing. U and VACane ROCK!
Posted by: SOUP | September 05, 2011 at 02:27 PM
OK, TRUE STORY:
So I take the wife to one of her favorite lunch spots, the Tropical Cafe Smoothie, a place we have been to like a hundred times in charming downtown Winter Haven, FL.
We place our order at the front counter and they always give U a number to take back to your table so they can find U when they bring out the food and smoothies that U ordered, right?
So this time, and only this time out of all of the 100 times we have been there, I want U to guess, go ahead just guess, at what number they gave me?
That's right baby: NUMBER 1!!!
GOOD SIGN CANES FANS, REALLY GOOD SIGN...
Posted by: SOUP | September 05, 2011 at 02:33 PM
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/05/2391489/at-bcs-schools-players-tend-to.html
Posted by: TJL | September 05, 2011 at 02:38 PM
the joke is up for college football.. the Golden Era has begun.. all they are going to be asking is who let the dogs out?...woo wooo woooo woo woooo!!!!! its time to get back to serious cane football... goooo CANES!!!!
Posted by: mi@mic@ne | September 05, 2011 at 02:50 PM
CONCLUDING REMARKS: The man who is best organized and does the best teaching job, is the best coach.
Posted by: CaneRock | September 05, 2011 at 01:49 PM
There IT is right there.
GREAT comment on the last blog by CaneRock.
Thanks for helping young UMike out with the old coaching thing. U and VACane ROCK!
Posted by: SOUP | September 05, 2011 at 02:27 PM
Best coach = Al Golden and staff
Posted by: windycane-forecast1 | September 05, 2011 at 02:53 PM
A win tonight will make the Golden Era "Golden". Will make the U family proud and confident that a NC will come home soon.
Go Canes!!! Miller Time....
Posted by: Alberto | September 05, 2011 at 03:01 PM
Good job OGV!
Posted by: canechic | September 05, 2011 at 03:19 PM
Thanks guys for all the help...great stuff..I love this place. Cant wait to get down for the OSU game..BTW SOUP, my daughter loved seeing her picture with the cheerleader a few blogs back
Posted by: UMike | September 05, 2011 at 03:22 PM
Let's go canes !
Posted by: toledocane | September 05, 2011 at 03:23 PM
I am going with 27-17 Miami.
Yes we are short handed, new staff, rain in forecast, on the road.....so what? I like the new kids, play those young boys give them their shot tonight. SM17 your chance to step up..do it. Yes ESPN, Dan Patrick and the Fagettes, and hell, the rest of the known world picking against us or wants us to lose.
Too bad...we have no excuses, no crying or complaining, we are 5 time NC Miami....lets play solid fundamental football and show them a thing or two.
Hey baby, VA Canes 4 Cs of Champions
Character, Commitment, Comradarie and Confidence = Champions!!! Five times...and counting!!!!
Go Canes!!
Posted by: VA Cane | September 05, 2011 at 03:24 PM
OGV great presentation....you kind of remind me of your good buddy from B-burg...old Scarface!!!!!!
Great job man!!!!
Posted by: VA Cane | September 05, 2011 at 03:26 PM
Good job OGV!
Posted by: canechic | September 05, 2011 at 03:19 PM
I second that emotion!
Posted by: SOUP | September 05, 2011 at 03:26 PM
BTW SOUP, my daughter loved seeing her picture with the cheerleader a few blogs back
Posted by: UMike | September 05, 2011 at 03:22 PM
U know that's how we roll!
Posted by: SOUP | September 05, 2011 at 03:27 PM
I just got here from the last blog and I have to say I'm a little miffed with all the UM loss predictions back there! UM is gonna whip that azz and then ask the turt's, "How'z my "junk" taste byatch?"
Let's go 'canes!
Posted by: Sarasota 'cane | September 05, 2011 at 03:38 PM
Orange on one side, green on the other side!
Orange on one side, green on the other side!
Orange on one side, green on the other side!
That's right, UM...UM...UM won't stop!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwPv5pm-Hog
Go 'canes!
Posted by: Sarasota 'cane | September 05, 2011 at 03:42 PM
TD Glade Central!
Posted by: Sarasota 'cane | September 05, 2011 at 04:07 PM
I enjoyed that OGV - LOL even with the yard dude using the blower and the sprinklers. I remember we looked at Edsall - I remember I did not want him. This is an exciting night for Al Golden - opening college football weekend at night on Labor Day - would have NEVER happened at Temple
Posted by: CGNC | September 05, 2011 at 04:08 PM
UM-31
UMD-17
Posted by: Hurri | September 05, 2011 at 04:13 PM
All about dem Canes baby!!!
Nothing else matters!!
Posted by: Aces & Canes | September 05, 2011 at 04:13 PM
28-24 UM!!!
Posted by: pbcfrcane13 | September 05, 2011 at 04:13 PM
35-17 canes
Posted by: toledocane | September 05, 2011 at 04:18 PM
2 (FSU) + 3 (UF) = "THE U"
5 x National Champion's!!!!!!
Let's go 'canes!!
Posted by: Sarasota 'cane | September 05, 2011 at 04:22 PM
Keep the predicitions coming.
The closest guess will win a Canespace T-shirt!
Posted by: SOUP | September 05, 2011 at 04:24 PM
24-17 'canes!!!
Let's go 'canes!!
Posted by: Sarasota 'cane | September 05, 2011 at 04:32 PM
Everyone who is predicting a large win...don't turn on WQAM because Don Bailey Jr. will bring you back to earth....yikes laying it out like he did...is just scary!
Posted by: canechic | September 05, 2011 at 04:32 PM
yea listening to it and they are actually right the only reason i say28-24 is because even with 10 guys in the box trying to stop LM6 and James is i believe the Oline will be able to open holes and then the RB will be able to make a guy miss and break big runs. Well se though
Posted by: pbcfrcane13 | September 05, 2011 at 04:37 PM
pb that description was downright scary! But he is right, I just hope some new stars are born tonight.
Posted by: canechic | September 05, 2011 at 04:38 PM
"If this can be done," said Penn State's Joe Paterno, Golden's college coach and longtime mentor, "Al will get it done."
Funny, just about everyone says that now. A
few people even thought that to be the case five years ago.
Golden interviewed for the Temple job in 2006, one day after Virginia - he was the Cavaliers' defensive coordinator - beat the Owls 51-3. Golden met with Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw, who had already talked to some candidates and was on his way to talk to more, even though he quickly realized any further interviews were pretty much a waste of time.
"About 15 minutes into our initial interview with him, at a cramped hotel room in Charlottesville, I wrote on a legal pad: This is our guy," Bradshaw said in a telephone interview. "That impressive he was. That precise he was."
Temple had been forced out of the Big East and then went 0-11 in 2005. Players didn't want to lift weights or watch film, figuring - well, knowing - that they had no chance to win anyway. The school's Academic Progress Rate scores were awful and as a result the Owls could only offer 54 scholarships, 31 less than most schools.
Golden decided to seize the opportunity, when others winced at the notion.
"What he did was monumental," said former New York Jets standout Joe Klecko, a Temple alum. "Whether anybody else could have done that, I don't know. I know there's a lot of great coaches out there. But when Al Golden was there, I have to admit, I've never seen more efficiently run practices in my life. And I've been around football a few years. He had everything. I've never seen anybody so well organized."
Temple won 17 games over the past two seasons under Golden. The program has never been stronger. Even now, months after Golden left Philadelphia for Miami, Bradshaw insists that his former coach has built the Owls "to last."
"In the end, that's what leadership is, right? Setting a standard," Golden said. "You can't be a leader unless you have a moment of crisis, to be quite honest. You haven't been proven."
Posted by: SOUP | September 05, 2011 at 04:44 PM
Everyone who is predicting a large win...don't turn on WQAM because Don Bailey Jr. will bring you back to earth....yikes laying it out like he did...is just scary!
Posted by: canechic | September 05, 2011 at 04:32 PM
He's just trying to lower expectations so UM fans don't blow a gasket IF the Canes lose the game.
Posted by: SOUP | September 05, 2011 at 04:46 PM
Canes 17 to 14.
Tom---I've been wearing my new shirt all day, walking around the neighborhood.
I'm going to see if I can get WQAM up here in Michigan. GO CANES I'm nervous already)!
Posted by: MaryLouAlumni | September 05, 2011 at 04:46 PM
It's 3 hours before game time... no time to get pessimistic now! Remember the greats who stepped up in bad situation before.
Let's Go... IT'S ALL ABOUT 'THE U'!
Posted by: HawaiiCane | September 05, 2011 at 04:47 PM
I just wish I was at the Sandbar in Coconut Grove....I could go for a great fish taco right now.
Mary lou here is a link
http://www.wqam.com/streamer/index.php?displaystreamer=true
Posted by: canechic | September 05, 2011 at 04:49 PM
31-14 the U takes it. And finnie gets a pick.
Posted by: Bcourno | September 05, 2011 at 04:53 PM
Manny Navarro commented on his Wall post.
Manny wrote: "Not going to pick the Canes to win in this one. They are the clear underdogs. Maryland 26-24. Hope I'm wrong."
He must be hangin out with Don Bailey Jr. and Joe Zagacki?
I'm jus sayin...
Posted by: SOUP | September 05, 2011 at 05:05 PM
Tom---I've been wearing my new shirt all day, walking around the neighborhood.
Posted by: MaryLouAlumni | September 05, 2011 at 04:46 PM
I've got my Canespace shirt on too, as do Justin Antweil and Chris Whittyngham from WVUM, because that's how we roll!
GO CANES!!!
Posted by: SOUP | September 05, 2011 at 05:07 PM
Ive got a lot of upside in this one. First i look at the changes in this coaching staff and im seeing illusions of Jimmy..Davis.. and wanstat level of focus. Al said both qbs have developed tremendously since spring and he likes the attitude of the defense. I was looking at some of the young starters on the LSU D so im not worried about our level of performance with this coaching staff tonite
Posted by: mi@mic@ne | September 05, 2011 at 05:12 PM
Who the hell lined up the field that Dwyer and Glades Central are playing on...
Posted by: CaneRock | September 05, 2011 at 05:12 PM
Maryland 27 Miami 13. Hunch.
Posted by: Felipe. | September 05, 2011 at 05:13 PM
Just got back Walmart in Olympia(the capital) of WA in my canespace Tee, my son was in his Canespace Sean Taylor Tee......12%ers in the house baaybeee. I don't predict games, I predict seasons!
Posted by: coldcane | September 05, 2011 at 05:14 PM
Canes win 27-17
Posted by: alf | September 05, 2011 at 05:24 PM
Coldcane...way to go! That's how it is done my man, just like that!
Felipe...I hope your hunch is wrong and I think Miami wins but to tell the truth I have NO IDEA what is gonna happen in this game tonight?
Posted by: SOUP | September 05, 2011 at 05:36 PM
Miami-27
Maryland-24
Go Canes!!
Posted by: TLuv | September 05, 2011 at 05:37 PM
24 to 3
Canes win!
Posted by: 2002nemo | September 05, 2011 at 05:40 PM
Soup if I see better execution, passes completed, tackles made (not 10 yards after the fact), half the players not looking like they want to be at home on their x-box, and timeouts used appropriately, that is a huge step in the right direction no matter the outcome. 10 years ago I never would have thought I would have made such a statement but there it is.
With that said I think some way some how we do it tonight
GO CANES
Posted by: CGNC | September 05, 2011 at 05:48 PM
Opening on the road, in the rain, at night on national television, all the media eyes on Lamar Miller and Stephen Morris
This thing is setting up perfect for America to see Mike James come from out of nowhere and win this game.
Posted by: solarcane | September 05, 2011 at 05:56 PM
It's the great pumpkin solarcane! Yowza, did that thing fit in your car?
Posted by: CGNC | September 05, 2011 at 05:58 PM