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Hurricane Ian: Real Life Interrupts Our Football Fantasy

As Miami Hurricane football fans we are addicted to sports and fantasize about winning another National Championship. Sure, we all want to see "The U" get their 6th National Championship ring. That would be very nice indeed.

But today, real life makes all of that seem so irrelevant and unimportant.

Earlier today Hurricane Ian hit Southwest Florida as an extremely highly rated Category 4 storm. It is likely to go down as one of the top five strongest hurricanes to ever hit The Sunshine State. This is not a good thing.

The official impact point was Cayo Costa near Fort Myers, but as one of the largest storms in terms of sheer size it's impact will be felt State-wide.

This powerful hurricane will not only be life threatening, but incredibly devastating and very long lived for those who live in the area. While it followed a very simialr track as Hurricane Charlie in 2004, another Cat 4 storm that devastated Punta Gorda where it took a decade to rebuild, Ian dwarfed Charlie is size and scope and will also have a significantly larger impact.

One of our long-time bloggers RoachCane lives in Englewood-Venice area that is very near the central impact point. In late August, my wife and I had dinner with Roach and his wife when we were on our vacation in Manasota Key Beach near Englewood. We had a great time reminiscing about the UM glory days and shared a delicious seafood meal together. Good times with good people.

Here is a previous article I wrote in 2019 about him and his amazing coaching accomplishments: Roach Coach

Today as the storm made landfall I was very concerned so I texted him to see how he was doing. I asked if he evacuated or hunkered down.

It turns out he stayed and was hunkered down with his wife in their "safe room", an interior closet with no windows. He thought that they may have lost part of their roof and that the situation was bad and seemed to be getting worse.

In times like this, football or any sport becomes completely irrelevant and insignificant. Real life, and real people, always matter so much more.

We hope and pray for Coach Roach and all other people in the path of this deadly hurricane. May they be safe and protected from harm.

That Is All She Wrote

It has been real. It has been fun. 

But it is now officially over.

Your Miami Hurricanes are toast after losing to Middle Tennessee State.

Mario Cristobal is not that guy. And never will be.

And I am out as your host here at Canespace.

KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid

The goal for Miami is simple: find a way to go 1-0 this week.

“We always assure that when you leave a game, whether you win or lose, you still assess ‘Was it your very best?’ and whatever it was, you have to elevate it. For us, it’s always going to be that,” Cristobal said.

“Losing a game, for myself personally, it doesn’t get any more difficult than that, especially when you played at a place you coach at. It probably hits a million times harder and that’s okay, as long you’re using that as continued motivation to get back to process and get better.

“You still have to go back. How can we get better? How can we improve? That’s the only way to make progress towards your goal. We feel like we have made progress. We feel like we are improving the areas that showed up in negative way on Saturday. But there’s no flinching. There’s no hesitation as it relates to that. It really is full speed ahead, with nothing on our minds but improving.”

Two of the areas the Hurricanes have focused on this week are Improving their efficiency in the passing game and in the red zone. While Miami (2-1) outgained Texas A&M 392-264, the Hurricanes had just three field goals from kicker Andy Borregales to show for it. Drives ended because of penalties and miscues.

Making things tougher was the fact the Hurricanes were without top receiver Xavier Restrepo, who is sidelined with a foot injury. Miami’s available receivers dropped a handful of quarterback Tyler Van Dyke’s passes.

Van Dyke finished the day 21 of 41 for 217 yards.

“We each have to focus on our execution. That’s the thing. That’s what it comes down to. It’s the little details,” said fifth-year senior tight end Will Mallory, who had a team-high 56 receiving yards against Texas A&M. “Every little bit is something that we have to really, really focus on. We have to improve on that. All of us feel we’ve got playmakers. We’ve got nothing but belief in everybody. We’re going to keep spreading that ball around.”

Said offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, “We’ve obviously got some deficiencies there from a depth standpoint, some challenges we’re facing. But we’ve got to be better. We’ve got to be better consistently. That’s across the board. That’s ball placement. That’s quarterbacks, running backs, tight ends, wide receivers. 

Too many balls were on the ground. Too many open opportunities. Obviously, when you lose someone as important as Restrepo, he’s our leader, captain, there’s a significant difference in that room. We have to overcome it. There are no excuses. There’s challenges and we have to overcome.”

Miami’s defense, meanwhile, did a solid job of pressuring Aggies quarterback Max Johnson throughout the game, sacking him three times and hurrying him three more times. The unit will look to do the same this week against a Middle Tennessee (2-1) offense that likes to move quickly and pass the ball.

Blue Raiders quarterback Chase Cunningham has completed 71.9 percent of his passes through Middle Tennessee’s first three games. That ranks 12th nationally. He’s also thrown for 592 yards and four touchdowns. Running back Frank Peasant, meanwhile, has totaled 218 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Both will pose their own unique challenges for Miami on Saturday.

CANESPACE PREDICTION: CANES 49 - MTSU 13

Heard It From A Friend Who

Heard it from a friend who, heard it from another that Mario has just been messing around. Well that is what the word on the street is anyway. Whether you like the REO or Pitbull version of the song is not what is important here.

What IS important is that Super Mario has this University of Miami Team ready to play hard, play well and win their first prime time game of his tenure in tonight's match-up with Texas A&M.

Was Mario really holding back the reigns in the first two warm up games against Bethune Cookman and Southern Missouri?

Were the Canes really going straight vanilla with their play calling during the opening contest aginst lesser oppoenents?

Is the defense better that what they showed and can the DBs cover anyone?

Is the new offense up to the task and can UM run effectively on TAMU?

Is talented QB Tyler Van Dyke ready for the bright lights of Saturday night?

Miami fans are still suffering post traumatic stress syndrome. They want to be hopeful, they want to be confident, but they have been burned so many times in recent years they are only cautiously optimistic of the outcome.

To be honest, nobody outside the team has any idea how this game is going to go and anybody who tells you that they do is lying. Miami is a 6.5 underdog to TAMU so Vegas is not buying the fact that the Hurricanes are back just yet.

Only time will tell but we are feeling bold enough to predict a Miami win tonight by the following score:

Miami 31 - Texas A&M 30.

Sleep Walking Can Be Very Dangerous

Some University of Miami football fans may have been very happy with today's home win at Hard Rock Stadium over the University of Southern Mississippi.

Sure we understand that they may feel snug, happy and comfortable with the second win of the 2022 season and the final 30-7 score.

But not me or any other hard core, long time Hurricanes fan. No, not even close. We have seen this movie way too many times in recent years.

What we saw was a slow start. A lack of motivation. Poor game planning. And of course playing down to the competition. This must end now.

Fans absolutely hate this and will not tolerate it any longer. There, I said it, and out loud too. Mario was hired to kill this disease that has permeated this campus, team and culture. But the stench is still lingering around it seems.

We all counted on Super Mario to fix all of this. He was hired, along with what seems to be 35 other coaches, assistants, advisors,  administrators and other support personnel to make UM right and make all of this go away for good.

But what is in the water, or the flawed system at Miami, appears to have lingering effects. The hangover is real and it needs to be gone tomorrow.

In my opinion, he should run, hit and punish this team for their performance on their home field in only the second game of the first year as head coach.

I know, I know, you home grown fans think this is way too much and way too soon. But after the last 15 years of total suckage we are done with poor execution, poor motivation and lack of accountability for mediocre play.

No other major media sites will address this, or report on this, because they need to hold on the media credentials. But we the fans are allowed to speak our minds and demand better. This is not good enough.

Mario, I know you are just waking up to your new job, but you are now on the clock. Pay close attention. Focus on details. You must do better.

And I hate to beg, but please, please, please...make us proud!

And So The Season Begins

It’s a moment that’s been months – some might say years – in the making.

When the Hurricanes take the field at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday afternoon for their season opener against in-state foe Bethune-Cookman, it will mark the start of a new era.

A talented quarterback will look to build on a remarkable rookie season. Some new faces will don orange and green for the first time. And a former two-time national champion offensive lineman will again run through Miami’s famed smoke, this time as his alma mater’s head coach.

But as special as that moment may be, Mario Cristobal insists it should not be about him. His focus, as it has been since he returned to Coral Gables last December, is on the 16th ranked Hurricanes – the players, the coaches and the staff that he wants to be in a position to succeed, not just on Saturday, but on every day that will follow, too.

“I think I’m the smallest part of this thing, as small as it could be,” Cristobal said this week. “It’s about making sure I’m doing all the things to make sure our players, our coaches, our administrators, our recruiting department, development department, you name it, analysts, everybody can do their job at the maximum level as we put together this game plan – which is already in place and we’ve practiced for a couple of days – so we can operate at a really high level and always get the players the best chance to be successful.

“I have to make sure I do my job and stay in my job and make sure we get to game day and work through the game and beyond, so again, we can have the best chance to always come out 1-0. I’m simple. And boring. You don’t have to worry about me getting caught up in anything.”

The Hurricanes have already learned first-hand how process-oriented and driven their coach is.

Shortly after taking the reins of Miami’s program, Cristobal put together a top-notch coaching staff that includes the likes of 38-year coaching veteran Kevin Steele as defensive coordinator, 2021 Broyles Award winner Josh Gattis as offensive coordinator, three-time national championship coach Charlie Strong as co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach and veterans Alex Mirabal and Joe Salave’a as offensive line coach and defensive line coach, respectively.

He helped bring former Stanley Cup winner Eric Renaghan to Coral Gables to work with strength and conditioning coordinator Aaron Feld as the head of Miami’s new sports science department. He added Pro Football Hall of Famer and Miami Dolphins legend Jason Taylor as an analyst. And he has worked closely with Hurricanes great Alonzo Highsmith, who returned to his alma mater earlier this year to work as Miami’s general manager of football operations after more than two decades of working in the NFL.

All of that knowledge, experience, and know-how – combined with their coach’s drive – will make a difference this season, the Hurricanes say.

“He’s going to make sure everybody’s in line,” sophomore safety Kamren Kinchens said of Cristobal. “He just brings the energy. It may come off serious to most people, but it just comes off as great energy to us. That’s what we know we need behind us. It has everybody going. After he gives any speech, we’re ready to run through a wall for him."

Junior cornerback Tyrique Stevenson said, “It’s nothing but love that [Cristobal] has for this program. All the practices that he puts himself into and everything that came behind him. I feel like it’s love and I feel like that’s the main reason he’s so serious and on top of everything. He wants everything to be a certain way because he knows how this organization is and he knows what this organization means, what it means to the world. I think it’s just his love for the University and everything, just to have him locked in and always going.”

And Saturday will be the Hurricanes’ first opportunity to see just how much they’ve grown over the course of the last 10 months, a stretch that has included offseason workouts, spring drills and most recently, fall camp.

Miami’s offense will be led by quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, the reigning ACC Rookie of the Year who, last season, threw for at least 300 yards and three touchdowns in six straight games before finishing the year with 2,931 passing yards and 25 touchdowns.