GREG COTE'S RANDOM EVIDENCE BLOG: MIAMI. SPORTS. AND BEYOND.
1) It is SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25. Hope y'all had a fantastic and happy Thanksgiving! 2) Holiday season! Give the Dolfan on your list the gift of my book on the club's first half-century. Click Fins At 50. 3) In The Previous Blogpost (ITPB): Happy Thanksgiving wishes with holiday video, NFL Bird Day picks & more. 4) Join us on Twitter @gregcote. Also Facebook, Instagram, Periscope and Snapchat.
Our Canes-Pitt column: Perspective, please!: Miami losing at Pitt 24-14 Friday was a bad loss, terribly timed. No whitewashing that. But 10-1 is 10-1, and a win over Clemson in the ACC title game next will give UM a fighting chance to get back up into the College Football Playoff. Click on One Bad Loss Doesn't Spoil All The Good for my column.
CANESFAN SATISFACTION METER: G11: 54.9%: Results are certified in the latest edition of the Canesfan Satisfaction Meter postgame polls, and they show 54.9 percent overall approval -- the combination of "very" and "somewhat" satisfied votes -- in the wake of Saturday's 24-14 loss by No. 2-ranked Miami at the Pitt Panthers putting UM's final regular-season record at 10-1 overall and 7-1 in the ACC. That is a drop to a season low. The CSM polls are your invitation after every Canes game to share your overall degree of satisfaction with the team. Criteria for voting is your own, but we suggest you consider the latest performance and caliber of opponent, the season as a whole, the direction of the program and your overall sense of optimism -- all in the context of reasonable expectations. Poll results are certified official the morning after one full day of voting. In this case that was around 9:30 a.m. today/Sunday.
2017 CSM results
G1: 69.5% following 41-13 victory vs. Bethune-Cookman
G2: 83.9% following 52-30 victory vs. Toledo
G3: 96.5% following 31-6 victory at Duke
G4: 97.6% following 24-20 victory at Florida State
G5: 96.0% following 25-24 victory vs. Georgia Tech
G6: 93.0% following 27-19 victory vs. Syracuse
G7: 64.3% following 24-19 victory at North Carolina
G8: 98.0% following 28-10 victory vs. Virginia Tech
G9: 98.6% following 41-8 victory vs. Notre Dame
G10: 95.4% following 44-28 victory vs. Virginia
G11: 54.9% following 24-14 loss at Pitt
Next poll: Dec. 2 following ACC Championship Game vs. Clemson
G11: PITT 24, HURRICANES 14: UM'S PERFECT SEASON ENDS IN REGULAR-SEASON FINALE: Click
One Bad Loss Doesn't Spoil All The Good for my column on the game .....
MIA 14-24 (4Q/Final): Rosier-Berrios 39-yard pass .....
PIT 24-7 (4Q): Pickett 24-yard run .....
PIT 17-7 (3Q): Pickett-Ollison 5-yard pass .....
Halftime thoughts: Canes have run only 27 offensive plays to Pitt's 38, and have produced zero points off of two Turnover Chain gets. Miami also has been unable to mount a running game thus far. Too soon to worry, though, let alone panic. The Canes are unbeaten because of resilience, and will show it again today in the second half .....
PIT 10-7 (2Q): Pickett 6-yard run .....
MIA 7-3 (2Q): Rosier-Richards 23-yard pass .....
PIT 3-0 (1Q): Kessman 46-yard FG ..... We'll have live, as-they-happen score updates here throughout the game today, as well as halftime and postgame thoughts.
Original post: Yes, No. 3 Clemson is on deck for No. 2 Miami in the ACC
title game in Charlotte -- what looks as of now like a play-in game for the College Football Playoff. We all know it. But the Canes had better not know it -- at least not show it today at Pitt for a noon start in the regular-season finale. The 10-0 Canes look to complete their first unbeaten regular season since 2002 but they need to get undistracted past a 4-7 Pitt team on its Senior Day, with a make-our-season chance to ruin UM's dreams. This is no gimmie. Miami is a modest 12-point favorite, down from an opening 14. The Canes have a nation-leading 15-game win streak dating to last season, but everything crumbles with a loss today. The U theoretically could lose here, beat Clemson for the ACC crown and climb back into the CFP top four, but that's very iffy. Temps in the 40s today should not make a weather a big factor. A solid game from Malik Rosier and more dominance on defense will carry the day. The Turnover Chain has changed hands 19 times in the past five games. If UM keeps it moving today, they win. My pick: Hurricanes, 34-20.
All state FBS Week 13 games (chronologically):
Pitt 24, No. 2 Miami 14: Column, game blog, preview and postgame poll directly above.
No. 15 UCF 49, South Florida 42: UCF stays unbeaten at 11-0 with 49-42 home win over a SoFla team that was 9-1 coming in. The "War on I-4" lived up to and exceeded its billing. Knights advance to the AAC title game and a chance at a major bowl game. If these were two bigger, more established programs people would be calling this one of the greatest games in college football history. Im serious, too.
FIU 41, Western Kentucky 17: WKU was 2.5-point road pick but (as I predicted) Butch Davis' guys bounced back with a nice home win to make it a 7-4 record.
Florida State 38, Florida 22: Seminoles now 5-6 and Gators 4-7 after a rivalry-renewal that usually has two good teams and big stakes but this year offered hardly anything but the ebbing of two disappointing seasons.
FAU 31, Charlotte 12: Hootin' Owls breezed at home to rise to 9-3 entering next week's C-USA title game. A hugely successful regular season for first-year coach Lane Kiffin.
National Collball Week 13 overview: Four national Top 25 matchups led by the one that has shaken up the College Football Playoff outlook: No. 6 Auburn beating No. 1 Alabama 26-14. The others: No. 3 Clemson beat No. 24 South Carolina 34-10; 21-Stanford upset 8-Notre Dame 38-20; and 18-Washington defeated 13-Washington State 41-14.
UPSET BIRD DAY IN AMERICA! NFL WEEK 12 PICKS: GIVING DOLPHINS A SHOT (OK, HALF A SHOT) AT NEW ENGLAND: I see the Dolphins beating the spread, if not quite the Patriots, on Sunday in New England. Click on Week 12 Gems for my full Dolphins-Patriots predix capsule, my Game of the Week (Saints-Rams), Upset of the Week (Titans-Colts: "Aawwk!") and all the rest. Our week got off to a humbling start yesterday with our Thanksgiving Day picks. We went 1-2 both straight-up and against the spread. Really liked the Lions at home, and the Cowboys let me down big-time. Better luck Sunday, I hope (and Monday).
Select other recent columns: Adam Gase Must Find A Way, on Dolphins' woes.
Truex Jr. Takes Trophy, But Dale Jr. Wins The Day, from NASCAR finale at Homestead.
Heart and Fight Keep Canes' Perfect Dream Alive, from UM comeback win over Virginia. Also:
A QB, a Crisis & a Father's Love.
CFP Does Canes A Favor. The Mark 'n Manny Show.
Championship In View For Soaring Canes. The Hurricanes Are Back; Deal With It, America.
Canes-Irish: Game For The Ages.
Dolphins Let Another Prime-Time Chance Slip.
Everything Is In Play Now.
Miami Wins Again.
How to Make a Bad Offense Worse.
Appreciate Perfection -- Period.
Along For the Ride On the Road to 'Back'.
The Godfather Speaks.
Latest Drama in Bizarre, Trying Season.
It Isn't Just Cutler.
Back On Track & Ready To Roar.
Jeter Betting On Jeter. Hope That Wasn't Goodbye. Wade Will End Where He Belongs. Larranaga Has Canes Flying High, Now This.
Regret, Tears & a Legacy's Dark Shadow. A Perspective On Sports As a Hurricane Hits. Specials:
Thank You, Mae Riback.
Thank You, Edwin Pope.
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