"October Sky in the ACC"
Miami gears up for Atlanta, Raleigh and Chapel Hill

by Chris Bello, allCanes.com
CanesTime Magazine - October 2004

One month down – and a few more crucial ones to go. Miami has endured the first few weeks of the 2004 season – with Florida State being the only conference test to this point. Louisiana Tech and Houston kept the month of September rolling, but now it is time to get to the meat and potatoes of the Atlantic Coast Conference with a healthy three game road stretch.

The month of October sends Miami to Georgia Tech, North Carolina State and North Carolina. Not the fiercest foes in conference, but three new venues for the Canes. Hostile crowds who will hate Miami simply for being Miami. Opponents who know that a win over ‘The U’ will upgrade their season in a nanosecond. The Canes are always a challenger’s National Championship game. The match up is circled on the calendar a year in advance. Take down UM and big things happen for programs. Recruits see it, pollsters see it, bowl representatives take notice and the college football world breathes a sigh of relief as one of the most hated – albeit, respected – programs in the game is knocked a step back.

In 2003, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets went a dismal 7-6. A season opening loss on the road at BYU was a setback – but it wasn’t a conference game and was followed by an upset of a preseason favorite - but quick to lose out the gate - No. 17 Auburn. Game three proved to be the turning point for Tech. Clinging to a 13-0 lead over No. 10 Florida State in Tallahassee, Georgia Tech was stunned 14-13 by a late score with less than three minutes left to play. No doubt this heartbreaking loss altered the rest of 2003 for Tech.

The Yellow Jackets finished the season with a 4-2 home record. Losses came at the hands of two pretty solid teams – Clemson and Georgia. Besides Auburn, wins were racked up against N.C. State, Maryland and North Carolina and an average crowd of 52,795 turned out for each home game – a few thousand shy of a capacity crowd each week.

In the 2004 season opener, Tech took on second rate Samford before two road games at Clemson and North Carolina. Essentially it is safe to call Miami at Georgia Tech the true season opener at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The crowd will be electric, while everyone in Atlanta knows a win will put Georgia Tech on the map – while setting the stage and providing a sense of confidence for Maryland the following week, as well as Virginia Tech, N.C. State, Virginia and Georgia down the road.

The Miami/Georgia Tech series has been tame over the years. A meeting in the 2000 Gator Bowl ended in a 28-13 Hurricanes victory. Tech’s Joe Hamilton was the highly touted quarterback that afternoon – instead it was Miami’s Ken Dorsey who had the solid performance and took another step in securing the starting role the next season and amassing a career record of 46-2 in just over a three year span.

Prior to 2000, the Hurricanes and Yellow Jackets met eight times between 1955 and 1978 with Tech holding a 6-2 advantage over the pre-five time National Champions Miami program.

Should the Canes blow out of Atlanta with a win on October 2nd, a twelve day break follows before meeting Conference USA’s best – the Louisville Cardinals – in a Thursday ESPN night match up underneath the Orange Bowl lights. The Cardinals showcased their skills on a rain soaked Thursday night in 2002, upsetting #4 Florida State, 26-20 in overtime. Still, knocking off a pretty decent Seminoles team at home as opposed to a favored Hurricanes bunch in the Orange Bowl is night and day. In Miami’s second Thursday night ESPN televised contest of 2004 (@Houston, 09/23), the Canes will be ready for the Cardinals and then a nine day rest before a road trek to the Carolinas.

Much like the Georgia Tech pre-ACC rivalry, Miami faced N.C. State in a recent post season match up – the 1998 Micron PC Bowl. Edgerrin James, fresh off his 298 yard performance against No. 2 UCLA, bowled over the Wolkpack defense for 156 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries in just over two quarters. The first in a long line of recent superstar Miami backs, James wore down N.C. State and opened up the passing attack for Scott Covington, who went 17 of 24 for 320 yards and two touchdowns.

Prior to the recent bowl game meeting, the teams met nine times from 1939 to 1982 with Miami going 5-3-1 in the series.

N.C. State is fresh off an 8-5 campaign that much like Georgia Tech, was altered by a gut wrenching road loss against a highly ranked opponent. After a win over Western Carolina and loss to Wake Forest, the 1-1 Wolkpack rolled into Ohio Stadium looking to stun the #3 Buckeyes. Overcoming a 24-7 deficit in the fourth quarter, N.C. State tied the game 24-24 and forced three overtimes before eventually falling, 44-38.

The Wolfpack went 6-1 at Carter-Finley Stadium in 2003. Their lone loss – Maryland in the home finale, after blowing a 24-10 lead with 8:45 left in the contest. Attendance wise, N.C. State sold out five of their six home games last season. With highly ranked Ohio State, Miami and Florida State all visiting Carter-Finley in 2004, more sellouts and raucous crowds are to be expected.

Miami visits N.C. State seven games into the season after the Wolfpack cuts its teeth against Ohio State, Virginia Tech and Maryland. Depending on the teams’ records come October 30th – this ACC road match up could be one of the Hurricanes’ toughest this season, second only to Virginia (November 13th.) Carter-Finley Stadium was less than kind to the Canes in 1999 when Hurricane Floyd forced a change of venue for the Miami/East Carolina match up. It was a night when everyone in North Carolina united together and rooted against hated Miami. A 23-3 third quarter lead vanished over the game’s final twenty five minutes and the Canes were stunned, 27-23.

Should Miami get through the first three weeks of the month unscathed, an October 30th match up at North Carolina looms. Coming off a dismal 2-10 season in 2003, the Tar Heels will fare better this season – but still won’t be a conference force as they were picked second to last in the ACC preseason standings.

A 1-5 home record last season didn’t help attendance for the Heels. Nor does the fact that Tobacco Road is basketball country and football is an afterthought, unless the program is successful. With North Carolina visiting Florida State in Tallahassee in 2004 and the Duke game in Durham, hands down the biggest home game will be when the Miami drops by.

While it’s never wise to casually throw up a “W” before even playing the game, it’s a safe bet that Miami at North Carolina 2004 should go in the Canes’ favor. That said, the Tar Heels have proven they can dig deep and pull the monumental upset at home.

After starting 0-3 in 2001, North Carolina welcomed No. 6 Florida State to town. Though the record was misleading (losses came to No. 3 Oklahoma, future Orange Bowl participant Maryland and No. 4 Texas), few expected the Heels to do anything substantial against the Seminoles. Instead, they pulled a 41-9 upset and turned Florida State’s season on its ear.

Though the 2004 Tar Heels aren’t poised to pull an upset of that magnitude this season, Miami’s first visit to Chapel Hill since 1963 should still be a rowdy one (for a quarter, at least.) Tar Heel Football fans will look forward to no home game this season more than this.

Away environments in the Atlantic Coast Conference will be night and day from the Big East road trips Miami Football experienced the past thirteen seasons. The ACC truly is football country. Solid fan bases, first class venues and more competitive opponents. Where North Carolina and Duke are now the conference bottom feeders (in football) – they are a huge step above the likes or Rutgers and Temple. No more late season treks to the northeast to play on Astroturf in a mostly empty stadium. From here on out, all the opponents are real and all the venues give off an aura of everything right about college football.

Still, at day’s end it has nothing to do with the team across the field, the venues, the fans or the atmosphere. Miami just has to be Miami. Let the opponents roll out of that tunnel all jacked up because the Canes are in town. Invite the crowd to scream their voices hoarse with hatred. As always, bring it on. The Canes feed off it.

When Miami stormed into the Big East in 1991, they knew they had to make a statement. Only two conference games that inaugural season, but Miami whipped West Virginia, 27-3 and got past Boston College, 19-14 – though drained from the previous week which was the first Wide Right game over the No. 1 Seminoles, 17-16.

A season later, the Canes took on four Big East foes – Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Temple and No. 8 Syracuse. The Orangemen put up the best fight of the bunch, which resulted in a 16-10 Miami victory. The average margin of victory against the other three foes was just shy of 27 points per game.

It wasn’t until the road finale of the 1993 season before Miami experienced their first conference, 17-14 at No. 9 West Virginia. Twelve straight conference wins before that first bump in the road. When it was all said and done, a 72-11 conference record – with nine of those losses coming in the probation era of 1995-1999. Only twice was a Miami team at full strength beaten by a Big East foe over a thirteen year span.

The Canes made a statement in the Big East by intimidating while never being intimidated. That needs to be the case in the ACC – especially on the road. Strike first, strike hard and never let up.

At home, let the opposition know why the Orange Bowl has become a house of horrors for opponents the past twenty seasons. There is no better time to drive these points home than year one. Outside of Florida State and Virginia Tech, no other ACC foes truly know Miami or have a longstanding rivalry with the program. Occasional meetings over the years – either years back or post season bowl games – are all to show for these new rivalries.

With the 2004 season just over a month old, October is a crucial stretch for Miami. Sweeping the first three conference road games are a must as the final four games of the year determine everything. Clemson, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech are all headed to the horseshoe in Little Havana – but one crucial road test remains; Virginia on November 13th. There will be a chill in the air, a solid team on the other side of the ball and a rowdy crowd ready to ride the Canes all night. Should times get tough during that contest, Miami will have ACC October skies to reflect on and draw from.

Win at Georgia Tech, N.C. State and North Carolina. Make a statement. Show the ACC what Miami Football is all about and stroll into Charlottesville with some swagger come November. No better time than year one in a new conference to kick the Miami Road Show into high gear.

Born and raised in Miami, FL and a CanesTime.com columnist since 1996, Chris Bello now resides in San Diego, CA and handles online sales and provides all content for www.allCanes.com.