Miami Hurricanes: Expectations Growing?

"The little that is completed vanishes from the sight of one who looks forward to what is still to do." The quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a famous German writer, relates entirely to the University of Miami Hurricanes college football team.

Expectations, from both Hurricane fans and media "experts", started to grow after their performance against the Florida Gators in Gainesville, FL two weeks ago.

These expectations continued after the Hurricanes easily dispatched Texas A&M on the road this past Saturday. At one point, the Canes were up 41-10 late in the 3rd quarter, the final score was 41-23.

The main difference thus far between this year's and last year's has been the quarterback play, mainly from Robert Marve. Marve had an excellent performance last Saturday against Texas A&M, going 16-22 for 212 yards and 2 TD's.

Marve has drawn rave reviews from many pundits, including ESPN's Bruce Feldman. In reference to Marve's first collegiate start against Florida, Feldman stated on his blog that Marve was "very impressive in his first college game, especially in such a hostile environment."

The Canes will only go as far as their quarterback will take them. But just how far is that? Some experts believe that the Hurricanes might have what it takes to battle for the Coastal Division in the ACC, after some predicted them to finish in the bottom half.

I believe that the Canes are a year away from competing for the division moreover, the conference title and here's why.

First, the Canes are still very young and will make plenty of mistakes the rest of the way, as young teams usually do. A good example of these youth mistakes was the way the Canes finished the game at Texas A&M. Regarding the mistakes, Head Coach Randy Shannon told the media after the game that "...(in the) middle to late 3rd quarter, 4th quarter we went into a lull, got satisfied. We have to fix that in practice".

If the Canes are to compete for the ACC, then the schemes of new Defensive Coordinator Bill Young will play a big part in it. Young's defense has been an improvement over Tim Walton's defense (now with the Memphis Tigers) from a year ago. Young's defensive style is very aggressive and he loves to blitz the opposition.

One thing is clear to myself and many Cane fans: Randy Shannon is the right man and has the team going in the right direction. He has already proven himself an excellent recruiter and more important, an excellent evaluator of talent. A trait that his predecessor, Larry Coker, seriously lacked.

Yes, expectations are growing for the Miami Hurricanes. This week's game vs. North Carolina will show if the Canes will be contenders this year or if they are still a major work in progress.