I am confounded. I am hurt. I am disappointed. I am confused. I am not surprised. The Miami Hurricanes over these past 20 years have become that team that builds you up to let you down. We are not a national powerhouse anymore and we are not back. We never have been.
The dominant win over Florida to start the season feels like eons ago now and the joy and optimism of that moment has inevitably worn off like a supreme high that gives way to sobering sobriety. Like a party rave with drunkenness that gives way to a heartbreaking hangover. Now we sit on our knees folded over a proverbial toilet bowl, heaving up our stomach contents of disgust and disappointment. However, even while we were celebrating and penciling in our undefeated run through the easiest schedule we had seen in years, in the back of my mind I was waiting and wondering what shoe would drop to expose the charade and rain on our parade? Little did I know that the defense we would field this year would end up being a historically bad product and that we would somehow manage to waste an all-time great Miami Hurricane offense with a generational talismanic quarterback at the helm.
There is a reason Cam Ward made us wait at the altar while he kicked the tires on the NFL draft. He defaulted to coming to Miami only after all other options were exhausted. Cam wanted Ohio State but Ohio State did not want him. Cam wanted the NFL but the NFL was not yet ready for him. The reason why is because Cam wanted his final season to not only give him a financial and draft position boost, but he also wanted to play for something. He wanted to win a national championship and he truly did not see that pathway as clearly if the road he took went through Miami.
Yet here we are. At the end of our regular season. Twenty years into our membership in the Atlantic Coast Conference and Miami still has yet to win the conference or go undefeated in a regular season despite being scheduled against average competition in the Coastal division for decades. SMU paid their own way through their first season in the conference and went completely undefeated and seem poised to do something that has been perpetually elusive to the Hurricanes for an entire generation now. To make matters worse, SMU is doing it with a former Miami offensive coordinator, former Miami assistant coaches, and former Miami players who transferred after not being productive or given as many opportunities in Mario Cristobal’s program. Yet here they are.
The questions linger in my mind. What was Guidry’s obsession with playing man coverage despite being shown time and time again that the personnel we had available to us simply couldn’t do it at a high level? What was Guidry’s deal with sending Mesidor in coverage and constantly putting Mauigoa in coverage on backs and tight ends when it was clear that Akheem is a pass rushing specialist and Kiko is better suited as an old school downhill fill the gaps thumper type? Why would Cristobal depend on analytics that told him to kick the field goal on 4th and goal when it was clear that this defense couldn’t stop a toddler? Why has Bain regressed? Why didn’t Wesley develop into an All-American? Was the defense only good last year because of the presence of James Williams and Kam Kinchens? What happened to that beastly pass rush in the non-conference part of the schedule and why did they vanish against ACC opponents? Why are so many of the biggest producers on this team Manny recruits and are we truly replacing them with equal or better talent? Is Mario an elite talent evaluator or is he just a star chaser? I have 21 questions and the answers seem obvious to me but the regular season is over and we have yet to receive the answers from the Miami staff and coaches.
So now here we are. Our fate is in the hands of the College Football Playoff committee and in the hands of Rhett Lashlee and the rest of the former Canes at SMU. We desperately need Clemson to lose in the ACC Championship game on Saturday to even have a chance. We desperately need the committee to look kindly on Miami’s resume this year and resist the urge to select College media darling Alabama. I ain’t too proud to beg because I don’t want this season to be over. I ain’t too proud to beg because I want to see this offense light up a scoreboard one more time. I ain’t too proud to beg because playing in single digit temperature South Bend, IN and watching our poor tackling get even worse because it’s too cold for these Florida boys to want any parts of hitting anyone, is better than not playing at all.
However, I am faced with the reality that the odds are against the Canes and the likelihood is that it’s a wrap. The chances are we will end up in some upper tier bowl, but not an elite one. The chances are, our draft eligible guys will opt out and we will be faced with the reality that next season may not be as fun because guys like Restrepo and Arroyo and Ward will be gone. I am faced with the reality that many defensive recruits may flip to other schools including Florida because they don’t know if the Miami coaches that have been recruiting them all cycle will still be on staff in the near future. I am faced with the fact that Florida ended the season strong, while Miami ended on a 2 win 2 loss whimper. I am also faced with the fact that we still have a chance. Miami still may yet have a chance to decide how the final story of this season gets told. We still have a chance. So for now, I will cling to that.
Post Script: It appears the College Football Playoff Committee selected Alabama as the last team in and Miami as the first team out. S the chance is gone, our season is over. Sebastian, wept.
