Bowl Preview: Champs Sports Bowl

Champs Sports Bowl
Florida Citrus Bowl, Orlando
Wisconsin vs. Miami
Date: Dec. 29
Time: 8 p.m.
TV: ESFREAKINGPN
Line: Miami -3.5

About Wisconsin (9-3): After completely falling apart last year, Wisconsin recovered by beating such powers as Northern Illinois and Wofford in 2009. The Badgers started the season 5-0 and then quickly came back to earth. As it tradition at Wisky, they run the ball and run it and run it some more and really hope they don't have to pass. Because that's bad.

Intangibles:
Darrell Bevell; +2
That guy who played QB last year: -3
Ron Dayne NCAA career rushing leader on 15 million carries: -2

About Miami (9-3): Randy Shannon was feeling the hot seat before the 2009 season and saved his butt by hiring offensive coordinator Mark Whipple, who turned the 'Canes offense around. Lots of TV yappers like to ooh and aah over Jacory Harris, but it's Miami's ability to run the ball effectively that sets up the pass game. That and Patrick Nix no longer calling the plays.

Intangibles:
Da 'U: -2
Da U ESPN salute to 20 years of thuggishness and general stupidity: -3
Gloria Estefan: +7
Miami Sound Machine: -4

Impact Player: Wisconsin QB Scott Tolzien. Unfortunately for the Badgers, at some point they're going to have complete some passes to have a chance in this game. Tolzien should really attempt to not throw them to the other team. He hasn't been so good at that in the second half of the season.

Bowl slogan: "Remember those stupid jersey that said "05" on them? We totally sold that to you."

Little Known Fact: Both of these schools like to pretend they're important in the college football scene. (Hint: Important teams don't play in the Champs Sports Bowl.)

Watchability (1-5): 3.4

The Pick: Miami 24, Wisconsin 23

Randy Shannon ... this is reality... have we met?

Coaches, God love 'em, are bastions of positivity about the ability of their players right before the season starts. Miami coach Randy Shannon is proof. According to the Miami Herald, 'da U (shudder), wanted to extend Shannon's contract with a small raise, but Shannon has put talks on hold. Why would a coach who has a lifetime record of 12-13 and an ACC record of 6-10, NOT accept an extension?

Cause Randy Shannon thinks he's going to hit the coach lottery once 2009 is over:

He believes privately that Miami can go 9-3 or even 10-2, get into a major bowl and set up his young team for a realistic run at a national championship in 2010.

That means he believes UM can hold its own in the opening stretch of 19th-ranked Florida State, 15th-ranked Georgia Tech, No. 7 Virginia Tech and No. 3 Oklahoma -- the toughest first month in college football.

Randy, here's some advice, with a first four-game schedule like that, you might want to go ahead and sign that extension. That way, when you go 1-3 or 0-4 it won't seem like a COMPLETE disaster.

And yes, for typical Hurricanes yapping about their, uh, dominance in college football, you can read the link for details about Jacory Harris' pink suit he's wearing to the Heisman ceremony.

Canes getting back to recruiting roots

This is a smart move by Coach Randy Shannon.

On a South Florida Sun-Sentinel blog recently, Shannon has said he wants his coaches recruiting the best football players available ... not based on what a recruiting website says about players or how many stars associated with their name.

Instead Shannon wants his coaches evaluating the talent and getting those who perform best on the field and produce results. What he's saying is he wants athletes who know how to play football. That's getting back to Miami's roots.

If Miami officials are willing to stick with Shannon despite what should be another struggle this season, the former defensive coordinator may be close to getting the Hurricanes back on top of the ACC and in the nation.

Can Randy Shannon survive 2009?

With two consecutive outstanding recruiting classes in the books it would appear the Miami Hurricanes could be a national player again real soon.

But Miami is still relatively young (while experienced) and Coach Randy Shannon is turning over the offense to a tested Jacory Harris, who is a true sophomore. Defensively Miami should be solid with great team speed and unlimited potential. However, the Canes knack for playing undisciplined could be costly. Another concern is the the turnover on the coaching staff.

With all of that said, the biggest obstacle for UM in 2009 is a tougher-than-usual schedule. Eight of Miami's 12 opponents played in bowl games in 2008. Those teams are Florida State (Champs Sports Bowl), Georgia Tech (Chick-Fil-A Bowl), Virginia Tech (Orange Bowl), Oklahoma (BCS title game), Clemson (Gator Bowl), Wake Forest (Eagle Bank Bowl), North Carolina (Meineke Car Care Bowl) and South Florida (St. Petersburg Bowl).

The Canes also open the season in Tallahassee against an improved, but reeling Florida State following NCAA sanctions.

So if you give Miami wins against Florida A&M (Oct. 10), at Central Florida (Oct. 17), Virginia (Nov. 7) and Duke (Nov. 21)--and let's be realistic UM has struggled with the Cavaliers and Blue Devils--what kind of record could we expect from Miami?

At this point it would be hard to see the Canes defeating FSU, Georgia Tech (Sept. 17), at Virginia Tech (Sept. 26) or Oklahoma (Oct. 3). So we're at 4-4. I'll give them Clemson (Oct. 24) because of the Dabo Swinney effect (similar to Bill Stewart last year) and at South Florida (Nov. 28) since the Bulls seem to dive at the end of the season. Record now is 6-4.

What's left? Two tough ACC road games with Wake Forest (Oct. 31) and North Carolina (Nov. 14). Please, someone tell me how Miami is going to win either of these games? So at 6-6 does Randy Shannon survive another season?

I don't think so.

Late-Night bowl links

While watching Utah shock 'Bama, thought I'd do some random scanning of blogs around the nation. Here are some interesting posts that I have found this evening.

• Tom Kirkendall at Houston's Clear Thinkers hits on something that both Phil and I have been saying all season about Texas Tech's Mike Leach. Kirkendall says Leach is more PR genius than coaching savant.
• Is Houston Nutt a better coach than everyone has given him credit for? That's the question Matt Hinton at Dr. Saturday asks after watching Ole Miss take down Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl. He also has a very funny post about Pat Summerall broadcasting the Cotton Bowl.
• Larry Brown Sports stops just short of calling LSU's Les Miles a douchebag for running a fake punt in the fourth quarter of the Tigers blowout win over Georgia Tech in the Chick-fil-a Bowl. I've been looking for video of this since I saw it, but haven't had any luck.
• Tony Barnhart at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says Matt Stafford will probably leave for the NFL and Knowshon Moreno will return to Athens for another year with Georgia.
• Iowa could have easily fallen apart this year, but according to Mike Hlas over at The Hlog Coach Kirk Ferentz stuck to his "old-school" values and that's why Iowa rebounded after a 3-3 start. In case you missed it, the Hawkeyes totally schooled South Carolina and Steve Spurrier
• It appears Randy Shannon has a heart after all. According to the Miami Herald's Manny Navarro, the U has partially lifted the SEC ban on former quarterback Robert Marve.

Good night.

We hardly knew ye

Robert Marve, another all-everything quarterback coming out of high school, may be done at the University Miami. It's been rumored that Marve, from Tampa, was transferring to South Florida.

On Thursday, he told the Associated Press that he won't be playing in the Emerald Bowl on Dec. 27 when the Hurricanes (7-5) play California (8-4) because he violated "team academic rules." That's a nice way of saying he didn't go to class.

Marve's career was derailed when he was seriously hurt in a car accident before his first practice. After sitting out last season, Marve earned the starting job over true freshman Jacory Harris. However, Randy Shannon may not be that upset to see Marve fade away as Harris performed better this season and he may have favored him over Marve next fall.

While Marve started the final 11 games, Harris played in all 12 games. Marve completed nearly 55 percent of his passes for 1,293 yards and nine touchdowns. Harris, who threw about 50 fewer passes, completed 61 percent for 1,001 yards and 10 scores.

While I've been a big Marve fan, he didn't show signs of improving at all this season. Harris, on the other hand, got better each week and played like a champion. This is the best scenario for Miami.

It could also work out well for Marve if he truly goes to USF, where he could sit out next season as Matt Grothe plays his final season as the Bulls quarterback. Not the storybook career Marve was looking for, but there's still time for a few good chapters.

Miami-Georgia Tech

With a minute left in the second half, the Yellow Jackets are mauling the Canes, 24-3. Miami looks like they're ready to get back to South Beach.

Here's the thing about Ga. Tech, and I'm guessing since I never played football: This team seems like it is absolutely no fun to play against. they get a two TD lead and they are just going to thump you, play after play. It's not quite the same as playing against an I-formation team where you can load up at the point of attack. You have to continue playing your assignment no matter how bad it gets. If you have a physical advantage, this offense can figure out a way to negate it.

Count me as one who thinks Paul Johnson was a great hire at Georgia Tech. He's only got 70 guys on scholarship and this is about to be an eight-win team barring a second half collapse.

On the other side, I don't understand why Miami is rotating QBs. I don't understand why Miami's receivers have been poor for a number of years. I don't understand why Miami can only manage good RBs and not great ones.

No love for Urban Meyer

It's too bad Miami and Florida don't meet again on the football field until 2013, because it looks like Randy Shannon doesn't really admire Florida coach Urban Meyer.

Shannon basically called Meyer a punk after the Gators' 26-3 victory in the swamp on Saturday. Shannon wasn't upset over the loss or even the way his team played. Heck, the Canes were huge dogs and played pretty solid defense.

What has the Hurricanes coach ticked is Meyers decision to kick a when he decided to kick a field goal with 25 seconds remaining. This single kick has certainly added another controversial episode in this rivalry.

"Sometimes when you do things and people see what kind of person you really are, you turn a lot of people off," Shannon said Sunday in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "Take from that what you want. It helped us more than you will ever know."

Shannon is referring to the heated Florida recruiting battle that seems to be favoring Miami and Florida more than Florida State these days. Many of those outstanding recruits from a year ago were on display for Miami. Florida's experience was a little too much, but the future is bright in Coral Gables.

The 'Canes may be closer to returning to the top than many analysts thought just a few weeks ago. One thing is certain, the rest of the ACC took notice of that defense.