Miami Football: Loss Proves the Hurricanes Lack Real Advantages

A quiet optimism was building around the potential success of the Miami Hurricanes after their win against Ohio State. The winning formula for the Hurricanes moving forward would be their potent running attack led by Lamar Miller and a supposed stifling defense led by Sean Spence.

Saturday's loss to Kansas State proved that formula is nothing more than lab notes scribbled down in hurried fashion by a scientist desperately searching for a cure to a seemingly incurable disease.

It's a disease that the Hurricanes, their NFL-equivalent older brothers the Miami Dolphins, and their summertime seat warmers for entertainment the Florida Marlins, have been fighting for close to a decade.

It's the disease of mediocrity.

Al Golden alluded to the degenerative condition that plagues his team with his own words: "I thought we were competitive."

Is just being "competitive" the new mindset that defines the direction of this once-proud football program?

Randy Shannon gave some indication that Miami was falling out of relevance when he claimed the 150-yard walk to the stadium made Duke a tough place to play.

With such "confidence" brimming from the men who have and currently see this team from the very top, maybe the Hurricanes can come up with a new mantra. 

"Let's try not to embarrass ourselves at home."

Embarrassing is what you would call a performance where you lose to a team (at home of all places) you were favored to beat by two touchdowns.

The K-State Wildcats don't have a player blessed with the breakaway speed of Lamar Miller or a Travis Benjamin. They don't have defensive players with the same pedigree of a Sean Spence or Marcus Fortson.

Yes, they came into the Sun Life Stadium sporting the nation's best defense. But those numbers were compiled against the likes of Eastern Kentucky and Kent State—hardly an impressive resume compiled thus far. 

But there the Wildcats stood, in the win column, largely due to the quarterback play of Collin Klein who had two meager games of starting experience.

There were some positives to take in tonight's loss. 

Lamar Miller is a threat to score a touchdown anytime he is given the ball. Tommie Streeter, Allen Hurns and Travis Benjamin are rounding into a solid receiving corps. Sean Spence is a defensive force. And freshman Phillip Dorsett is showing that he can be a good contributor despite his lack of experience.

Miami still possesses talent on both sides of the ball that will more than likely be playing on Sunday.

But more importantly, Jacory Harris made up for his lackluster start by finishing with a solid performance: (21-for-31 for 272 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception).

Good enough, at least for now, to quiet the 43,786 clamoring for Stephen Morris to take over the starting position and showcase his strong arm.

Good enough, at least in this game, to not be the lone reason for this team's lack of success (tonight's was Miami's inability to stop K-State on third downs). 

It's funny that Juan Carlos Oviedo masqueraded as a major league pitcher under the name of Leo Nunez for 10 years. A major league story that affected a once-proud but beleaguered franchise like the Marlins barely caused a ripple in the news headlines surrounding baseball—a story that met with a collective yawn.

Compare that to the Hurricanes who have been masquerading as a top level college football program for the past 10 years—a program that struggles to just be "competitive" against lesser talented teams like tonight and the reaction is the same.

Silence.