Canes have score to settle, and they will
COMMENTARY / JEFF MILLER
jamiller@herald.com
Jeff Miller
The Miami Hurricanes will win the next Sugar Bowl because of what happened in the last Fiesta Bowl.
This is a ticked-off program today, and the drive to undo the memories of that overtime defeat to Ohio State will offset the other losses, those of players such as Willis McGahee, Ken Dorsey and Andre Johnson.
The memories to be erased, by the way, don't belong to the Hurricanes; they belong to you. There are few things in sports as dangerous as a Miami football team out to prove something to a watching nation.
You pick against Miami at your own risk. You pick against this Miami at the risk of your spouse, children and house pets, too. So there goes Greg Cote, showing complete disregard for his dodo bird, which, incidentally, also is named Greg Cote.
Much like his selection, Oklahoma, Cote also is OK -- but not quite good enough. The Sooners are plenty good enough to make it to college football's championship game, where they will be disappointed by UM and the next Hurricanes star, Brock Berlin.
The key to reaching New Orleans will be not to misstep in a place like Tallahassee or Pittsburgh. And that begins an important question: Who exactly will beat the Hurricanes this season?
The schedule highlights: They play host to Florida, Tennessee and Syracuse, and Miami hasn't lost at home in the regular season since September 2000. They are at Boston College (rarely easy), at Virginia Tech (never easy), at Florida State (see Boston College) and at Pitt (tougher this year than most).
The Hurricanes could lose any of those road games, and don't dismiss a Tennessee team that has to stop underachieving at some point. But can they lose more than one of them? In a season that seems devoid of a dominant team, 11-1 (assuming the one doesn't come too late) has Miami Sugar Bowling.
Clearly, coach Larry Coker has lost some talent, what with eight players going in the last NFL draft. But you'll find a snowdrift in Coral Gables before you'll find a notable shortage of talented football players. Coker has this monster machine humming again.
The Hurricanes will finish No. 1 because no one has them there to start. They notice things like that at Miami.
Based on their departures and the transition to a new quarterback, the Hurricanes shouldn't be on top in August. But they should be there in January.
And they will be there in New Orleans.
COMMENTARY / JEFF MILLER
jamiller@herald.com
Jeff Miller
The Miami Hurricanes will win the next Sugar Bowl because of what happened in the last Fiesta Bowl.
This is a ticked-off program today, and the drive to undo the memories of that overtime defeat to Ohio State will offset the other losses, those of players such as Willis McGahee, Ken Dorsey and Andre Johnson.
The memories to be erased, by the way, don't belong to the Hurricanes; they belong to you. There are few things in sports as dangerous as a Miami football team out to prove something to a watching nation.
You pick against Miami at your own risk. You pick against this Miami at the risk of your spouse, children and house pets, too. So there goes Greg Cote, showing complete disregard for his dodo bird, which, incidentally, also is named Greg Cote.
Much like his selection, Oklahoma, Cote also is OK -- but not quite good enough. The Sooners are plenty good enough to make it to college football's championship game, where they will be disappointed by UM and the next Hurricanes star, Brock Berlin.
The key to reaching New Orleans will be not to misstep in a place like Tallahassee or Pittsburgh. And that begins an important question: Who exactly will beat the Hurricanes this season?
The schedule highlights: They play host to Florida, Tennessee and Syracuse, and Miami hasn't lost at home in the regular season since September 2000. They are at Boston College (rarely easy), at Virginia Tech (never easy), at Florida State (see Boston College) and at Pitt (tougher this year than most).
The Hurricanes could lose any of those road games, and don't dismiss a Tennessee team that has to stop underachieving at some point. But can they lose more than one of them? In a season that seems devoid of a dominant team, 11-1 (assuming the one doesn't come too late) has Miami Sugar Bowling.
Clearly, coach Larry Coker has lost some talent, what with eight players going in the last NFL draft. But you'll find a snowdrift in Coral Gables before you'll find a notable shortage of talented football players. Coker has this monster machine humming again.
The Hurricanes will finish No. 1 because no one has them there to start. They notice things like that at Miami.
Based on their departures and the transition to a new quarterback, the Hurricanes shouldn't be on top in August. But they should be there in January.
And they will be there in New Orleans.
