Monday Musings: Time for a happy Fiesta in the desert for the Canes

4 days ago 2

Happy College Football Playoff semifinal Monday week, y’all. The third best possible Monday that there is for the Miami Hurricanes. Hopefully we’ll get to experience the other two together shortly.

The Canes and Ole Miss Rebels face off on Thursday in Glendale, AZ in the Fiesta Bowl for the right to advance to the national championship game in Miami Gardens on January 19.

Plenty to talk about, so let’s get to it.

1) I haven’t buried my misery from the 2003 Fiesta Bowl. That little tattoo of emotional death will always be burned into my shoulder. But this was very, very, very nice.

The Canes flat out shoved the Buckeyes to the ground and wiped a booger on them as they laughed at them. Straight up schoolyard bully type of stuff. And to do it against supposedly the best defense in the nation who just happens to be the defending national champions? My God, that’s a Disney script.

Again, 2003 will always be a part of who we are as fans. Emotions scars don’t go away. But they do heal, and this helped heal me a tad.

2) Both of Miami’s coordinators were elite in Arlington. Absolute masterclasses by both Corey Hetherman and Shannon Dawson.

Miami’s defense needs no explanation for its performance. God-tier stuff. But Miami’s offense executed at a high level and had a couple of gotcha moments where they flat-out fooled Matt Patricia and the Buckeye defense. That came in two crucial spots on the pop pass TD to Mark Fletcher, Jr. and the third down conversion to CJ Daniels with 2 minutes left. Brilliant, brilliant stuff and executed to perfection.

3) The Fiesta Bowl has really sucked for the Canes.

I talked about it over the weekend. Check it out. Not going to rehash it here. Time for a much happier memory there, please, Miami.

4) I thought I knew who I wanted to win the Sugar Bowl, then I wasn’t sure. But by the end, Ole Miss winning was probably the best choice for Miami.

I woke up on New Year’s Day with the biggest smile on my face. A smile I hadn’t had in quite a while. A day of glorious CFP game watching lay ahead of me. The first two games sunk, but going into the night game, I was sure I wanted Ole Miss to knock off Georgia.

Then, the second half of the game arrived, and Trinidad Chambliss unleashed a number of NFL throws that made my jaw hit the floor. I started wondering if I really did want the Rebels to win.

But then, I remembered just how insanely, insanely good of a coach that Kirby Smart is, and how, if anyone can game plan to stop the Canes, it would be him. And I did not want a week of Carson Beck – Georgia storylines. And, as a Tennessee/Miami alum, I really, really could not stomach losing to Georgia again. If it’s Ole Miss, so be it. I can hope they win it all if Miami loses. The storyline with Pete Golding and his players is the ultimate underdog one that I’d be rooting for were I not a Miami fan. But there’s nothing to root for with Georgia.

5) And, while it’s not nearly as strong as what A&M and Ohio State said, one Mississippi player gave Rueben Bain, Jr. and his teammates a little bit of motivation to chew on.

(Hit up the 1-minute mark of the video.)

WR Harrison Wallace III as asked about whether Miami’s pressure can change their route tree/gameplan, and Wallace wasn’t too worried about it.

“Yes, it can, but at the same time, I wouldn’t really say it’ll really affect our whole route tree just because we do a lot of quick game, deep balls, and we’ve got a great o-line that’ll hold up and protect,” Wallace III said. “So it don’t really change a lot.”

To his credit, he did later give kudos to Miami’s defense, particularly on the back end, who he called aggressive and smart. But you know Bain. Put that one in the notebook.

Not posting a prediction at least not yet. Rode the fence last week, and it worked pretty well.

Go Canes!

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