Anything can happen...

I keep reading a lot of crap on Hurricanes message boards lately regarding Miami's upcoming road trip to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech. Two weeks out and many are predicting the Canes are gonna get whooped.

Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. Too early to tell. FIU and Duke are up next and that mean eight more quarters of football for this current Miami team to tighten up their game before getting to the meat and potatoes of their schedule.

If Miami and Georgia Tech went toe to toe this coming weekend, the logical pick would be a Yellow Jackets' victory as they are playing better football than the Canes right now. That said, they're not playing this weekend. The Canes have their two cupcakes while the Jackets are off this week and then have their confidence tested in a night game at Clemson next weekend.

Both Miami and Georgia Tech can be in completely different places (mentally) come October 28th.

All of this chit-chat about the Canes' demise and fans writing off the season - it got me thinking. Has the first half of this season been a disappointment? Yes. Am I still sick that Miami lost to Florida State and Louisville, coming out the gates 1-2? More than you know. But have I written off this season yet? Hell no.

Why? Let me explain.

Part of me can never write off a season until after the bowl game, no matter how bad the start. We as college football enthusiasts wait too damn long for this time of year. Writing it off in early October seems criminal. Especially when Miami will head into Atlanta at 5-2 in a year when the ACC is a schitzophrenic conference. We're seeing that anything can happen any given week.

Conventional wisdom tells you that little good is in store for a Hurricanes team so dependent on freshmen offensive talent. Still, some of these young kids are proving they have that 'it' factor. As bitter as some fans are at Larry Coker, they have to be equally as excited when they watch Javarris James and Sam Shields making plays. Same can be said about guys like Greg Olsen, who started out sluggish but seem to be picking up momentum as the season goes on.

Right now the only logical thing to do is take the season one game at a time, as cliche as that sounds. Miami has improved each of the past three weeks and hopefully we'll see more of the same the next two weeks leading up to Georgia Tech.

Wyclef Jean's "Anything Can Happen" was playing in my head as I gathered my notes for this article. Anyone who's watched college football religiously this season, they're seeing teams red hot one week and ice cold the next. Miami elitist, you're not the only ones eating your hearts out right now. Let's rewind and check out some other storylines in college football this season:

Auburn - The Tigers enter the season ranked #4. The roll Washington State, 40-14 in the opener and head coach Tommy Tuberville pulls out some trickery en route to the rout. A few weeks later, a defensive battle against #6 LSU, resulting in a hard-fought, 7-3 Auburn victory. A few nights later the 4-0 Tigers grind out a Thursday night road win at South Carolina, 24-17. Two weeks later, Florida will come calling but before that, 3-1 Arkansas will drop by.

The result, a 27-10 Razorbacks victory. Down 17-10 at the half and outscored 10-0 in the final two quarter, the Tigers were embarrassed by a two-touchdown underdog. Coach Tuberville also looked rather mortal, quieting the chants Hurricanes conspiracy theorists who praised the former Miami assistant and have begged for his return to Coral Gables.

This week the Gators head to town. We'll see if Auburn can ruin Florida's undefeated run or if the wheels fall off and they lose back-to-back games.

Cal - The Golden Bears enter the season ranked #9 and optimistic, heading to #23 Tennessee for the season opener. Optimistic until they were rolled by the underdog Volunteers, 35-18. Tennessee had a 35-0 lead late in the third quarter before putting on the brakes. Cal has since beaten Minnesota, Portland State, Arizona State, Oregon State and Oregon but even that can't get the taste of the Tennessee tussle out of their heads.

Head coach Jeff Tedford hardly looked like an offensive genius down 35 points in Knoxville.

Clemson - The Tigers sure look like the team to beat in the ACC. Balance on both sides of the ball, as well as special teams. Not to mention that 27-20 upset of Florida State in Tallahassee. The only blemish? A 34-33 overtime win at Boston College, to an Eagles team who's hardly a juggernaut, beating three other nobodies and then losing to a then 1-2 NC State team. A missed kick is the difference between 6-0 and 5-1 for the Tigers. Still, a loss is a loss. Their defense gave up 24 in regulation to Boston College and they choked.

Florida State - Oh how times have changed. The Noles start out 2-0 and then go 1-2 in their next three games. Clemson upsets Florida State at home and less than two weeks later, NC State upends them, 24-20. The Noles were supposedly in the "driver's seat" and were "controlling their own destiny" after beating Miami. No mas.

Georgia - The Bulldogs enter the season a top ten team and survive a 14-13 scare against winless Colorado. They host visiting Tennessee - the same vulnerable Vols who lost to the Gators a few weeks back. By night's end, Georgia is on the wrong end of a 51-33 ass kicking. Another coach Hurricane conspiracy theorists were lobbying for (Mark Richt) goes out like a chump. Florida, Auburn and Georgia Tech still look. The Dawgs better figure out their QB controversy right quick.

N.C. State - Lose to lowly Akron, beat Boston College and then upset Florida State with a freshman QB (Daniel Evans) who received the last scholarship offer of 2006 when another potential recruit dropped out? Welcome to the schitzophrenic ACC. Let's see what Chuck Amato and crew have up their sleeves for Georgia Tech and Clemson later in November.

Notre Dame - Ahh, the media darlings. Patron Saint Charlie Weis could do no wrong in 2006 according to early predictions. Many had the Fighting Irish penciled in to this year's National Championship game. Notre Dame survived Georgia Tech, 14-10 and waxed and overrated Penn State team, 41-17. A week later, the Irish were the one's getting waxed when Michigan came to South Bend and spanked them. 47-21. A week later it was almost more of the same at Michigan State. Down 37-21 entering the fourth quarter, the Irish outscored the Spartans 19-0 for a 40-37 victory.

With one loss or two, Notre Dame still doesn't look like the juggernaut many expected them to be. They're giving up too many points and they're merely good, not great. Brady Quinn will get his invite to the Downtown Athletic Club, but he doesn't deserve this year's Heisman... unless he does something special to erase a 3 interception performance (against Michigan) from the voters' minds. Rolling USC late in the year and hoping Ohio State's Troy Smith chokes down the stretch - that sounds like the perfect remedy.

Oklahoma - Survive UAB in the opener, 24-17. Turn it up against Washington, 37-20. Lose at Oregon on a bogus call, 34-33. Whoop Middle Tennessee State, 59-0. Look one-dimensional and like garbage against Texas, 28-10. Bob Stoops used to own Texas. Now he's 0-for-his-last-2. The Sooners can beat the lesser teams on their schedule, but Missouri, another Texas school or Oklahoma State can rise up and knock this team off. Stoops v. 2006 is hardly the highly sought after coach he was in 2000. Still good, but downgraded from his once god-like status.

Oregon - Stomp Stanford, eek past Fresno State, rob Oklahoma and throttle Arizona State en route to a 4-0 start and #11 ranking. A week later, get smashed by Cal, 45-25. Yes, the same Cal team who lose to Tennessee, 35-18. Typical Ducks football. Win a few big ones and get hammered a few weeks later. The Mike Bellotti who game planned against Oklahoma a few weeks back didn't look like the same guy who drew up the X's and O's against Cal last week.

Texas - Rolls North Texas, 56-7 and heads into match up with #1 Ohio State, optimistic and ranked #2. Buckeyes storm into Austin and hook the Horns to the tune of, 24-7. Texas beats Iowa State and Sam Houston State the next two weeks, before rolling Oklahoma, 28-10 in the Red River Rivalry. Unfortunately, the Horns' bid for a National Championship most likely went out the window after the 24-7 loss to Ohio State.

There are other 'case studies' here, but I'm sure you get the point. "On any given Saturday" has taken on a new meaning in 2006. Good teams lose to average teams. Bad teams lose to good teams. Average teams are falling to bad teams. Supposedly 'great' coaches are looking no better or worse than Miami's supposedly 'awful' staff and there have been few 'sure things' in college football this season.

The real downer for Miami is the opening loss to Florida State, being it was a conference game and the Canes for the taking. 31-7 at Louisville was embarrassing, but could be absorbed as they're in the Big East. We all prefer the sound of 4-1, but we have to live with 3-2 for now.

The way this season is playing out, the Canes might actually work some magic. That doesn't mean that Miami will roll through the rest of their schedule unscathed. But it does mean you can't write any of these games off until the clock hits 0:00.

Attempt to enjoy the ride. Ignore the haters who have written the season off. Support these kids. Watch them get better each week and hopefully we'll all be pleasantly surprised.

Remember, anything can happen.


.:Canes305:.