GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND.
1) It is MONDAY, OCTOBER 3. UM-FSU next Saturday here has been set for an 8 p.m. kickoff. 2) Thank you for veering away from us, Hurricane Matthew. That's a good Matt. 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Dolphins clobbered in Cincy with DSM poll, our trilogy of Jose Fernandez columns, Loria eulogizes Jose, NFL Week 4 picks, The List (Fins on TNF) & more. 4) Join us on Twitter @gregcote. Also Facebook, Instagram, Vine, Periscope and Snapchat.
Dolphin-less Sunday: Admit it, Dolfans, you enjoyed a stress-free Sunday without the prospect of another discouraging Dolphins performance. Or more ghastly Creamsicle uniforms. Click on Week 4 Gems for our latest NFL picks.
Jose Fernandez: Reflecting on the good we saw in a brutal week: Sunday we offered our latest and last of four columns this week on the tragic death of Marlins ace Jose Fernandez, reflecting on a brutal week, but one in which something so awful brought out something so wonderful in our community. The column: With massive gentle force, Miami did itself proud this week with the love it showed Jose.
CANESFAN SATISFACTION METER: G4: 97.9%: Results are certified in the latest Canesfan Satisfaction Meter postgame poll, and they show 97.9 percent approval -- the combination of "very" and "somewhat" satisfied votes -- in the wake of Saturday's 35-21 victory at Georgia Tech putting UM's season record at 4-0 and 1-0 in the ACC. This the eighth season of our blog's CSM postgame polls, which are your invitation after every Hurricanes football game to vote on your overall satisfaction with the team and season in a continuing weekly gauge of how UM fans are feeling. Criteria for voting is your own, but I suggest you consider the most recent game's performance and caliber of opponent, the season as a whole, the program's direction and your overall degree of optimism -- all in the context of reasonable expectations. Results are certified official the morning after one full day of voting. In this case that was around 8:45 a.m. today/Monday.
2016 Canesfan Satisfaction Meter
G1: 97.2% following 70-3 victory vs. Florida A&M
G2: 91.9% following 38-10 victory vs. Florida Atlantic
G3: 98.2% following 45-10 victory at Appalachian State
G4: 97.9% following 35-21 victory at Georgia Tech
Next poll: Oct. 8 following game vs. Florida State
HOT BUTTON TOP 10 (OCTOBER 2): WHAT SOUTH FLORIDA SPORTS FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT: Our blog-exclusive every-Sunday feature is part week-in-review, part look-ahead. Hot Button means what's on our minds, locally and nationally, but from a Miami perspective, as the sports week just past pivots to the week ahead. This week's HB10:
1. JOSE FERNANDEZ: Mourning the tragic death of Marlins' ace: A broken team ends its baseball season 79-82 with a loss Sunday in Washington, but for the Marlins, their fans, Cuban Miami and all of South Florida, it all ended one week earlier with death of their most beloved player in a boating accident. R.I.P., Jose.
2. HURRICANES: UM spanks Georgia Tech, awaits Florida State: Now 10th-ranked Miami hosts the Seminoles (down to No. 23 coming off a stunning Saturday loss) in five days in the year's most anticipated game. It was OK for you and I to look ahead to FSU. Mark Richt's Hurricanes sure didn't Saturday in winning 35-21 at Georgia Tech.
3. DOLPHINS: Reeling Fins fall to 1-3 in Cincinnati: The Dolphins looked as bad as they looked Thursday night in a 22-7 loss. Those hideous orange uniforms clowned Fins players and made them look like animated Creamsicles, and the sartorial abomination was matched by the team's performance.
4. HEAT: Ready or not, the (fake) games are about to begin: Training camp in the Bahamas ended Saturday, now the new-look Heat open their NBA preseason schedule on Tuesday at Washington. No more D-Wade, no more Bosh, no more Big 3. Only big questions are left.
5. BASEBALL: It's O's-Jays, Giants-Mets in wild cards: It'll be Baltimore at Toronto in the AL wild-card game Tuesday and San Francisco at the NY. Mets in the NL WC on Wednesday, as the six division winners wait. Cubs fans, start your anxiety!
6. GOLF: Americans surge to huge Ryder Cup triumph: Americans surged past Team Europe 17-11 in Minnesota to earn the first U.S. Ryder Cup win since 2008 and only the third in past two decades. Meantime, U.S. fans were tough on the Europeans, especially on Rory McIlroy. Make America Boorish Again!
7. ARNOLD PALMER: Golf icon dies at 87: Younger generations know the name for his eponymous iced tea-lemonade drink, but for millions of older folks, Arnie was golf's first big star and the magnet that grew the sport. R.I.P.
8. PANTHERS: NHL season nears as exhibitions continue: Florida plays its fifth of seven exhibition games Tuesday in Dallas as the Oct. 13 opener looms. Panthers think they could be Stanley Cup-good this season. Go, Cats, go. A hurting South Florida could use the lift.
9. CHRIS BOSH: Heat says he's damaged good, but players vows to continue: Bosh defiantly says he will pursue a resumption of his career with another team. Meanwhile he says he learned of his failed Miami physical through the media. You're welcome!
10. SHULA BOWL: FIU wins! FIU wins!: It was Shula Bowl XV Saturday in a series FAU has dominated, but this one went to previously winless underdog host FIU, 33-31. Interim coach Ron Cooper is now 1-0. Quit while you're ahead, dude.
Missing the HB10 cut: A LeBron James signed rookie card sold at auction for $312,000. It's like that famous P.T. Barnum line: "There's a sucker with $312,000 to waste born every minute." ..... NASCAR in Dover today cuts its finalists field from 16 drivers to 12. Homestead getting close. Vroom. ..... Team Canada beat Team Europe to win the World Cup of Hockey. Now if Canada could only end that pesky 23-year Stanley Cup drought ..... UM Sports Hall of Fame announced nine more inductees. Not saying they let too many in, but was the sports-information intern who worked the summer of '98 really that special? ..... Joakim Noah declined to attend a team dinner at West Point because of his anti-war beliefs. That, or he wasn't hungry ..... Vin Scully has retired at age 88 after 67 years as Dodgers broadcaster. Slacker! No, seriously, farewell, sir. Miss your voice already.
G4: NO. 14 HURRICANES 35, @ GEORGIA TECH 21: TWO HUGE DEFENSIVE PLAYS POWER MIAMI IN ACC OPENER: Final thoughts: This was a pretty tight game busted wide open by those two UM defensive TDs by true freshmen Shaquille Quarterman and Joe Jackson. Ga Tech ran a lot more offensive plays (74--46) and offensive yards were about dead even. It was those two back-to-back plays on defense. Hey, whatever works. Whatever you need, right? An impressive win and a conference win by the Canes as Mark Richt's personal mastery over Georgia Tech continues. This could have been a losable game but there was no looking past Tech or ahead to next week's huge visit by Florida State. Miami took care of business in a game in which one team killed itself with turnovers and the other one did not. This was UM's first real test of the Richt era. They passed ..... 4Q: Canes interception on defense with 2:21 to play seals it ... This game is over. Tech does not have the passing game or quick-strike ability to make up two TDs in a short time ... Chris Herndon's 48-yard catch and run has Canes on the move ... Huge fourth-down stop by Canes D with broken-up pass in end zone. ... Tech driving. As expected, this is UM's biggest challenge of the season by a lot. ..... 3Q: Canes now up 35-21. That's more like it. Canes needed to get Kaaya going and did, as his 31-yard scoring pass to Stacy Coley ends a fast 75-yard drive. Tech had stoilen momentum; UM has it back ... Tech within 28-21 on short TD run ending 65-yard drive. ... Mid-third Q and Miami only 177 yards of total offense today. Defense is winning, but UM will need another offensive TD to close this out. ..... Halftime thoughts: Pretty even game but for those two huuuge defensive scores by a pair of Canes true freshman. Turnovers the whole difference as UM has played clean: no giveaways, no penalties. Tech has run 38 offensive plays to Miami's 21. Canes could use a long drive or two and a few quick defensive stops to bring that to better balance. Quick aside: Always interesting hearing TV analyst Butch Davis discuss the Canes, knowing he'd have killed to get the UM job Richt got ..... 2Q: Tech stops the bleeding, counters with scoring pass to pull within 28-14 with less than a minute left in half ... Wow. Seriously. Miami suddenly up 28-7 after second straight Tech fumble and defensive TD by a true freshman, this time Joe Jackson ... Canes now 21-7 on sack and fumble scooped up by freshman Shaquille Quarterman and returned for TD ... Miami back up 14-7 with impressive 90-yard drive finished by Mark Walton's 14-yard scoring run ... Sack = big defensive stop for Canes. ... UM defense needs some 3-and-outx to counter GT's ball control thus far. ... Tech ties it 7-7 on 7-yard TD run ..... 1Q: Tech threatening as quarter ends. Big ball possession so far for home team ... UM up 7-0 on Joe Yearby's 27-yard scoring run. A 25-yard pass to Stacy Coley was driver's other big play. ... OT Trevor Darling out injured for UM. ... Love the green UM jerseys we're seeing for only time this season. As opposed to Thursday's look by the Miami Creamsicles. ..... Game preview: Miami is 3-0 by a combined score of 153-23 against smaller, lesser competition -- including that comically overhyped, alleged threat-that-wasn't at Appalachian State. I'm not saying UM isn't really good. I'm saying they've been largely untested so far and haven't yet had to really prove how good they are. But now, at high noon Saturday, it begins. The proving. The season, really. This is Miami's ACC opener, and, although the Hurricanes are 7 1/2-point favorites over 3-1 Georgia Tech, it's still a conference game on the road. It's losable -- especially if the Canes are either overconfident or glancing ahead to next week's huge visit by chief rival and nemesis Florida State. I like Miami coming off a bye. Tech's run-heavy, triple-option offense can be a challenge, but Mark Richt makes this the best-coached UM team in a long time. UM fans should also feel good about this: While at Georgia, Richt's record vs. the Yellow Jackets was a nifty 13-2. Including his days as an FSU assistant, he's 21-2 vs. the Jackets, and is 12-0 in games played at Georgia Tech. Richt knows this opponent well, and how to defeat it. Brad Kaaya (368 yards, three TDs at App State) and Mark Walton (401 yards rushing, 8.1 per carry, in three games) will help put up too many points for the Jackets to outscore. Kaaya also must be careful, though; he has three interceptions in past two games. My pick: Hurricanes, 30-20.
ON RICHT'S BIBLE GIVEAWAY: UM coach Mark Richt, who is very religious, gave Bibles to all of his players this week. Not sure how I feel about that. He did say they weren't required reading. Still, I'm a bit uneasy with any coach -- Christian, Jew, Muslim, atheist or anything else -- being a lockerroom evangelist for his beliefs. Don't misconstrue. I am not anti-religion. Not anti-Bible. I just think there should be a separation there. I ran a Twitter poll asking if you were OK with Richt giving players Bibles. It was 57 percent yes, 35% no, 8% undecided.
CANES HONORS JOSE: Friday on their @CanesFootball Twitter account UM wrote, "This past Sunday, we lost a big piece of our community. Tomorrow, we honor his memory. #JDF16." They did so on Saturday by wearing small circular helmet decals that read 'JF 16' in the memory of fallen Marlins star Jose Fernandez. That was a nice gesture. The helmet decal is pictured.
Other state FBS Week 5 games (all Saturday, in chronology):
No. 23 Florida 13, Vanderbilt 6: Gators are now 4-1 but were 10-point faves and sort of escaped Vanderbilt more than won. They were trying to shake off the sting of blowing an 18-point halftime lead in last week's loss at Tennessee, and not sure they did. Austin Appleby again started at quarterback for UF but Luke Del Rio may be back for next game.
North Carolina 37, No. 12 Florida State 35: Oh. My. God. FSU falls to 3-2, beaten by a 54-yard field goal on game's last play. Miami hosts FSU next week and then North Carolina the week after, so Canes surely were watching this one. Noles were 10 1/2-point favorites. This is stunning. FSU will plummet in the polls now. There is little question the Canes will be favored next Saturday. The Florida State defense I saw today will not contain Brad Kaaya's Hurricanes.
FIU 33, FAU 31: It was Shula Bowl XV in this natural rivalry that hasn't really ever taken off because A) both teams are usually bad and B) neither team has a great fan
base. FAU led the series 10-4 including a 31-17 win last year, and Owls were 6-point road faves here. It was the Conference USA opener for both, and marked the debut of FIU interim head coach Ron Cooper, who replaces the fired Ron Turner. (The highest rise on the coaching food chain for Cooper, 54 (pictured), was three seasons spent as Louisville head coach in 1995-97; he was 13-20). Well, good for FIU, getting off the schneid in a result that left both local teams 1-4.
Also: UCF (now 3-2) won at East Carolina, 47-29; and South Florida (now 4-1) delivered a road-spanking to Cincinnati, 45-20.
National Collball Week 5 overview: There was a reasonable risk of change in current College Football Playoff top four because two teams currently in it both face ranked teams. No. 4 Michigan did its job against visiting 8-Wisconsin, 14-7. But No. 3 Louisville lost at 5-Clemson, 42-36.
OUR QUARTET OF COLUMNS ON THE DEATH OF MARLINS ACE AND MIAMI HERO JOSE FERNANDEZ: We had four columns this past week related to Jose's tragic death. I cannot apologize if that seems excessive. The quartet:
What Jose Meant Lives On -- The first, reacting to the tragic news that broke South Florida's heart last Sunday.
There is Crying In Baseball, And This Was the Night -- The second, from Monday's tribute night in team's first game back.
A Casket, a Hearse and a Miami Tragedy That Never Should Have Happened -- The third, in midst of Wednesday's public events and outpouring.
With massive gentle force, Miami did itself proud this week with the love it showed Jose: The fourth, latest and last, from Sunday, reflecting on a brutal week, but one in which something so awful brought out something so wonderful in our community.
Other recent columns, ICYMI or wanted another look: Week 4 Gems (our latest NFL picks). Instant Lifelong Rivals (our NFL column on QBs drafted 1-2). Time is Right For Bosh to Retire (and I guess the headline says it all). We Got Some Canes Over Here (UM impact in NFL). Demanding Racial Justice (on why those anthem protests keep going). Tebow's Dream (from his first Mets' instructional league workout). The Case for Zach Thomas and Canton (which about says it all).
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Twitter @gregcote
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