Miami: Disgracing The U

A mere twenty-four hours ago I was opining about the immense talent of the Miami Hurricanes and how they possessed too much speed for a Big Ten team. Furthermore their opponent was a Wisconsin team that lacked explosiveness, so naturally I assumed that Miami could dictate the tempo of the game and play with a lead. After an impressive kickoff return, the wheels completely fell off the Miami wagon. More disturbing than the Canes putrid play on both sides of the ball, was their lack of intensity. The whole team looked like they had absolutely no interest in playing tonight. The ESPN announcers made excuses for their heartless effort by repeatedly mentioning how cold it was, a bone chilling forty-six degrees. After losing to California last year in the Emerald Bowl, was it too much to expect a spirited effort from this group tonight?

As someone who grew up watching the Hurricanes routinely show up for big games, especially bowl games (with the exception of the 1994 Fiesta Bowl), this was a disturbing performance on many fronts. For starters this is a mentally fragile team. Their collective lack of toughness was on display in Blacksburg earlier in the season when they got manhandled by Virginia Tech. While Jacory Harris is capable of making spectacular plays, he throws far too many interceptions for this team to take the next step and compete for a National Championship. As for coach Shannon, he appears to be a stand up guy but lacks the necessary motivational skills and fails to make any halftime adjustments. The constant look of bewilderment does not help when you are coaching a talented team that is getting dominated. What good is all that team speed when you are have no mental toughness or swagger?  While I will refrain from writing the obituary, tonight's abysmal performance was a major step in the wrong direction for the Miami Hurricanes. There was a time when players felt the pressure to succeed and keep up the winning tradition. Apparently no one received that memo.