Hurricanes 34, Duke 16 (Final); Taut game turns to rout; plus Gators edge FIU, 62-3

Collball Week 12 roundup:

[Note: Our latest Canesfan Satisfaction Meter poll will be up in a separate post here in the blog at precisely 4 p.m. Watch for it and vote!] 

Hurricanes 34, Duke 16 (Final):

Final: UM now 8-3 and still thinking New year's bowl after a tight game turned easy and Canes whipped visiting Duke, 34-16. Jacory Harris shook off an early pick to throw for 348 yards -- 143 of them to Leonard Hankerson.

4Q: UM returns interception for a TD and 34-16 lead. A sudden rout. Three-plus quarters of a win in doubt becomes an easy day for Miami ..... Jacory Harris to Leonard Hankerson for 44 yards and a 27-16 lead. First time all game a UM win has seemed certain ..... UM lucky when Duke misses short Fg ..... Damien Berry short TD run caps an impressive drive in which Berry rushed for more than 50 yards .....

3Q: UM seems poised to retake lead as quarter ends ..... Miami pulls within 16-13, settles for three after failing to fully cash in on 1st and goal situation ..... Duke grows lead to 16-10.

Half: Way too early to panic, but struggling at home against Duke is never a good sign. The Canes must not lose this game.

2Q: Canes give up TD pass to Miamian/Duke QB Thaddeus Lewis and trail again, 13-10 ..... Harris-to-Tervaris Johnson on short TD pass off deflection for 10-6 lead, after earlier Graig Cooper TD run negated by penalty. Harris 44-yard play to Leonard Hankerson set up the score ..... UM driving again, and again gives it up on a turnover, this time a fumble-after-catch. Sloppy ..... Blue Devils up 6-3 on another FG. Pretty tough when you struggle at home to beat Duke.

1Q: Canes settle for 33-yard FG to tie it 3-3 ..... Duke takes early 3-0 lead after Canes appeared headed for first score of game but Jacory Harris was intecepted again -- 17th of season after four last week.

Original post:

20th-ranked UM (7-3) plays its final home game of season and nex-to-last overall before the bowl. It's vs. a Blue Devils squad that is good enough (5-5) to not be terrible (as in years past) but bad enough to still be an 18 1/2-point underdog. You know Duke. It's where they don't give a crap about football unless Coach K tells them it's OK to. Looking for a nice bounceback win by the Canes here after last week's disappointing loss to Butch Davis in Chapel Hill. Also looking for zero picks by Jacory Harris, although that finger injury of his could be an issue. How about it, kid. Zero INTs. Too much to ask?

Commentary welcome here on Canes, FIU-in-Swamp and all of today's other pertinent collball action.

Other state-college FBS/Division 1 games today:

Florida State 29, Maryland 26: Bobby Bowden was an 18-point home favorite and barely won, but barely is good enough in a rough season now at 6-5. 

South Florida 34, Louisville 22: The Bulls -- who host Miami next week -- were favored at home and improved to 7-3.

No. 1 Florida 62, FIU 3: Top-ranked Gators (now 11-0) were a 45-point favorite -- and covered. Easily. Fiu now 3-8. College football should have a mercy rule, by which FIU (3-7) could have agreed ahead of time to lose by, say, 34, to save on travel expenses.

Central Florida 49, Tulane 0: UCF now 7-4. Dear Tulane: Why bother fielding a team?

Troy 47, FAU 21: Howard's fightin' bitin' hootin' Owls fall to 3-7 after getting beat up by some guy named Troy. Sad.

National game of the day: The only top-25 matchup is 25-Cal at 17-Stanford. Therefore I anoint 10-Ohio State at Michigan as the national game of the day, although it wasn't much of a game at 21-10, Buckeyes. Historic rivalries are what college football does better than the  NFL. And not by a little. Feelgood story: UConn beating Notre Dame.

COTE'S TOP 30-PLUS

Our own rankings! It's OK, though. Relax. Experimental formula. Let's judge it in a couple of week as the bowl games near.

Rank  School   Points (Last week)

1 FLORIDA 1,077 (1)

2 Texas 1,032 2)

3 Alabama 1,014 (3)

4 Boise State 845 (5)

5 Southern Cal 839 (4)

6 Louisiana State 808 (6)

7 TCU 751 (7)

8 Ohio State 725 (9)

9 Penn State 719 (8)

10   Cincinnati 699 (11)

11   Virginia Tech 667 (10)

12   Oklahoma State 605 (12)

13   Georgia Tech 560 (14)

14   MIAMI 535 (13)

15   Iowa 518 (16)

16   Oregon 490 (17)

17   Oklahoma 480 (15)

18   Brigham Young 431 (19)

19   Mississippi 399 (18)

20   Houston 363 (20)

21   California 336 (21)

22   Pittsburgh 311 (24)

23   Utah 307 (22)

24   Kansas 246 (23)

25   Nebraska 236 (25)

26   Georgia 197 (26)

27   Notre Dame 163 (27)

28   North Carolina 135 (28)

29   Wisconsin 127 (35)

30   SOUTH FLORIDA 116 (29)

39   FLORIDA STATE 77 (37)

Comments

[God]

I'm always first.

[Alex]

What a corny post ^^^

[Coach Fatso]

Hey, I'm over here...gettin ready to face the Evil one

[rbleigh]

Well Jacory that was pretty quick

[atlantacane1]

this offense looks bored to death!!

[billb]

Starting to question this cosching staff A LOT! Really bad 1st half. Why are we throwing on every down with Harris injured? Just astounding ineptitude by this staff.

[Tom]

mike1 what do you think of the latest soccer controversy regarding the French win over Ireland? France refuses to replay the game that was decided by an intentional handball by a French player. You'd think the French were schooled in New England in the art of fair play. Thus, in addition to be huge cowards the French are also legendary cheaters. Why am I not surprised.

[Tom]

Shannon should be thankful Duke laid an egg in the second half. Had Duke won this game (and they dominated the first half), Shannon would have been fired before the bowl game.

[mike1]

Tom, Shadow and I traded opinions in a previous blog. French educators condemned it saying it shows cheating is rewarding. After a big game in May 2006, Thierry Henry "Le Cheat", where his team lost because an opposing player dove and gained a penalty kick...he said he would never cheat like that. One month later, against Spain, he took a dive and France scored and eventually won. Now he says he is not a cheat; that is was just a moment of "instinct". I played soccer for year; as a player you know and are trained to avoid handling the ball. That was not instinct, it was deliberate.

Not only was the handball, but the play was offside to begin with and the ref missed it.

In the mid-70's, I discovered soccer and really got a fever in excitement over the sport..replacing all other sports. I could not stop thinking about soccer.

Over the years, I've become dissatisfied with the cheating, the missed calls (affecting some 50% of games), FIFA's bureacracy -- and lack of interest in changing rules to make the game more offensive -- to adapt to how defense has stengthened; refusal to consider video replay; not punishing players for cheating or fouls after the fact. And seemingly, favoring the big traditional countries..and I wouldn't doubt if they told refs to give them the advantage here and there.

But you know, there is a whole lot of crap in sports. NCAA Football is plagued with problems. See next entry.

[mike1]

How much more proof is there that the undefeateds (especialyl TCU) all deserve an equal chance for the title. TCU 45 Wyoming 10. Earlier this season, Texas 41-10. Looks pretty similar to me. Texas splayed no one outside of conference. Their teams are overrated; but out of tradition or BCS favoritism, they are considered strong. Completely subjective.

Last year, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State were considered strong, and contributed to Texas and Oklahoma's high ranking. TT and OSU both got beaten badly in the bowls. Texas barely beat 2 loss Ohio State 24-21 with 26 seconds left.

Yet, they could beat UF because UF isn't particularly impressive and won twice thanks to officiating.

[mike1]

and of course, I agree with you on the French. They handed their country over to Germany and provided a collaborating government. Poles neither gave up nor collaborated besides being massively outgunned, received the brunt of the blitzkrieg, invaded simo by the Soviets, and was the most brutalized. They held out at at Westerplatte..150 vs thousands of Germans with naval and air power. Brilliant work on the Royal Air Force and took Monte Cassino in Italy.

The French were not always cowards. However, Napolean was not exactly a brainiac selling us massive Lousiana territory to fund his arms and then with some 100,000 Poles..attack Moscow where almost everyone was eventually lost.

[Jimbo]

french food is over-rated too.

[the shadow knows]

Jimbo,

french food is a one inch by one inch piece of meat covered by a gallon of sauce.

[the shadow knows]

mike1,

my paqssion for soccer started in 1970, when the world cup in mexico (?) was televised by KMEX-TV in LA and i saw pele, socrates and the rest of them, still considered the greatest national side by many. then came a live game in amsterdam, ajax versus some german all-stars after cruff retired (1978), and i was hooked. then paolo rossi on wide world of sports in 82, diegito and burruchaga (?) in mexico in 86, a very good tournament. 90 in italy was bad, 94 romania was my team, beat the USA 1-0,(ancestral homeland) and bulgaria and lechkov's header sink the krauts. THE WORLD CUP: BEST EVENT IN SPORTS!!

[Jimbo]

shadow

Wife and I went to a nice (damn $$pricey too) restaurant in Chateau Thierry,, leg of lamb was ruined,,, seemed like they deep fried it. french fries too, come on, thought it was a joke, no boiled potatoes, steamed veg's all way over cooked and saturated in butter. Wine was good tho. Fresh bread in the bakeries were good, but not even up to the caliber of the German bakers. Did the escargo,, wife snapped a pic of me chomping down on snail, second pic was of me wincing while chewing it. Never had French food in the States tho.

[the shadow knows]

Jimbo,

not a fan of most anything french, except the singing of edith piaf. fans of jerry lewis? says it all about the frogs!!

[Jimbo]

shadow, many French woman have great features, turned my head a few times over there. When I was in the Navy during the 80's decade, we went to the French Riviera a few times, usually Toulon. Had nice aquaintences with some lovelys, getting over the body hair thing took a little to tolerate.

[the shadow knows]

Jimbo,

only shows that you a true 100% red, white and blue to the core american!!! that underarm thing on hippie chicks was interesting; on the high fashion french and other europeans not quite so.

[naplesjackpatsfan]

mike1- THE FRENCH ARE COWARDS!!!!!!! End of story.

[OC Dolphin]

Try my Frenchy steak:

1. cook 2 lb filet mignon on skillet w/ 1 tb butter, 1 tb olive oil. (over medium heat until juices begin to appear on top, then flip only once). Remove after desired doneness. Keep warm

2. add to skillet another 3 tb of butter, 1 tb olive oil, 6 tb chopped shallots. Cook stirring onions till softened, but not browned.

3. pour 1/2 cup dry red wine, stirring till reduced by half or so.

4. pour sauce over steaks, salt and pepper to taste.

[the shadow knows]

OC Dolphin,

butter and filet mignon are a no-no on my diet; filet is good without any help!!! but a few basic seasonings do embellish that cut. for me, a porterhouse does the trick- i like nibbling around the bone.

[OC Dolphin]

shadow,

I've been cooking for over 35 years. My repertoire strives toward making restaurant level dishes, quickly. I may make that particular beef dish three times a year, if that. Primarily I make fish, chicken and pasta dishes. Still, when I come across a good one or two, well, I generally get favorable compliments. Do try that one. It may be one of the best chunks of beef you've ever had.

BTY, my teen plays the sax, clarinet, and some piano. He is a sophomore at Capo High School and a second year marching band member. This past Saturday, their State Championships were held at San Gergonio. Over 30 bands who qualified competed, and in our Division III A, your alma mater was present. You should be pleased to learn that I thought of you when they entered. Their presentation was very good and earned them 5th place. Very respectable. Not one to disregard that such accomplished musicians as two members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers had roots there in Fairfax, well, you can see why I do not diminish this particular high school activity.

Not trying to brag, just report. Capo was awarded 2009 State Champions, and swept the sweepstakes. Very cool, and all those kids will forever remember that experience. Busting buttons in Mission Viejo.

[the shadow knows]

OC Dolphin,

herb alpert, phil spector, one of lieber and stoller (great wtiting team), warren entner of the grass roots, steve barri and p.f. sloan (writers of eve of destruction, secret agent man, you baby,...)and then the chili peppers. fairafx has always been a great school for music, and the highlight of the end of school was walking acros the street to aron's records to get the latest albums that were promos and traded in early by the people that had access to them- i had warner brothers "white label" copies of moondance, the dead'sdoublealbum that started with bertha, and many others before they were released; we knew our musical stuff at fairfax high. plus our principal was the infamous NFL referee jim tunney. it was a really great high school where we had a lot of fun and some very bright students. the last man on our quiz team was yours truly, and #4 out of five was a five time winner on the "new" jeopardy. the original jeopardy rejected me for knowing too much!!!!

[Jimbo]

OC,
Sounds like your Son is pretty talented, you gotta be proud.