The Miami Hurricanes Choke Against Arch-Rival Florida State On Primetime

I can't ever recall watching a nationally-televised game where Miami was playing and it was cut short by the network to switch to another game.

And a Miami-Florida State prime time showdown at that.

One of the biggest and most compelling rivalries in all of college sports.

What could be more interesting on a Saturday night than watching the Canes and Noles collide at Sun Life Stadium before a sellout crowd?

Apparently, Saturday night, Oct. 9, 2010, the USC-Stanford game at Stanford Stadium in Cali. was, and with four minutes left in the fourth quarter ABC switched its broadcast on the east-coast and ended the misery of every Miami fan watching the Noles run through the Hurricanes.

But the truth is, the game had been a nightmare long before that. From the very beginning the offense sputtered and the defense got shoved around from sideline to sideline as the Noles dominated the Hurricanes for a 24-7 lead at halftime. Behind a furious running attack led by Jermaine Thomas, who scored a career-high three touchdowns (all in the first 21 minutes) and Chris Thompson, who finished the game with 158 yards on just 14 carries, it was the kind of drubbing every UM fan will want to forget.

With both teams coming into Saturday's game ranked in the top 25 for the first time since 2006 when FSU won 13-10 in the season-opener at the Orange Bowl, this was supposed to be the game that re-galvanized national attention back to this once-epic rivalry. The energy surrounding the game was that electric. The famous white smoke as the Canes run out onto the field was what made this one of the most anticipated battles of the night. But instead, when the smoke cleared only one team showed up. One team seized the moment and showed the country they still had something to prove. 

And it wasn't Miami. Instead, the Canes played the kind of terrible game that made ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, who announced the game, question their heart during the live telecast.

Where was the swagger and emotional edge of playing at home against an arch-rival?

On Saturday, it was nowhere to be found. Miami played like a team that didn't believe in themselves. They were, as they have been for years now, a predictable team that no longer scares opponents - not even at home. Jacory Harris, who began the season as a Heisman hopeful, completed just 19 of his 47 pass attempts and was never able to put together the consistent string of completions expected from a quarterback playing for what should-be a national title contender.

Instead, it was FSU quarterback Christian Ponder who showed the grit and fire demanded in a rivalry of this magnitude when he attempted to leap above and through three UM linebackers for a first down. It was the Florida State running-backs who came out and made things happen, and the Noles' offensive line that punched the Canes in their mouths in their own house. Not the other way around.

After the game, Head Coach Randy Shannon, told the Associated Press that he took full responsibility for the loss. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it," Shannon said. "We just got our butts kicked tonight. It's my fault as a coach at the University of Miami. I don't blame the kids. I didn't get them ready for the situation of playing in a game like this."

And you know what? He's right. It is his fault as much as it's the players' for not executing. But since he's the captain of the ship, when it sinks he's to blame. With each game that passes it becomes clear that excellence is what's expected out of Miami rather than being good, or ranked, and Shannon is feeling the pressure.

As he should. After all, he was brought in to win, so he knew what he was getting himself into. He was part of the old championship teams that created this Hurricane phenomenon that has the world eagerly waiting for UM to surge back atop College Football's elite.

But when Miami linebacker Sean Spence says, "They just flat outplayed us from the first quarter to the fourth," what he's really saying is that the players didn't come into the game prepared to play - and that's concerning at this juncture in Shannon's tenure, especially for the program's rivalry game.

How many times do Canes fans have to hear that kind of excuse?

It is not the talent after all that is absent from Miami's locker-room. There's plenty of it down in Dade County. What's missing from this roster is the swagger and leadership. The pride and glory Herbstreit was looking for is what Miami has to somehow find a way to display.

There's no doubt that Shannon has done a great job steering the anchors of a ship that five seasons ago was turned all the way in the other direction. But now, it's time for him and his staff to get this team to take that final step and row the boat forward without detours - or embarrassing performances like Saturday's 45-17 loss against Florida State.

At this point, anything less is unacceptable.