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Friedlander: Is this really a different Miami team? Or is history doomed to repeat itself?
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“The swagger is back at The U.”
“This is a different Miami team.”
Even I’m guilty of drinking the orange and green Kool-Aid by buying in on the Hurricanes this time.
Why not?
Mario Cristobal’s team is 6-0, ranked No. 6 in the nation. It has survived the kind of close calls other top teams have not in recent weeks. Twice. And it has the best odds among ACC teams to make the College Football Playoff, according to FanDuel sportsbook.
But is this really a different Miami team?
Is Cam Ward the proverbial Heimlich maneuver to the championship obstruction blocking the Hurricanes’ airwaves since joining the ACC 2 decades ago? Or is it simply a case of repeating something so often that we begin to believe it’s true?
Even though deep down, you know it probably isn’t.
With half the regular season left to play, starting with Saturday’s challenging test at Louisville, there’s still plenty of opportunity for history to repeat itself.
It doesn’t take a deep dive into the record books to find a parallel to the Hurricanes’ current trajectory. And a valid reason for slamming on the brakes of this latest dose of Miami hype.
In 2017, Mark Richt’s Hurricanes got off to a similarly hot start that helped it climb steadily in the polls. Like this year’s team, they needed a little luck to stay undefeated.
OK, a lot of luck.
It took a game-winning touchdown with 6 seconds remaining to pull out a victory at Florida State in Week 4, then a 4th-down completion on a tipped pass and a field goal with 4 seconds left a week later to produce another miracle against Georgia Tech.
Miami stayed alive with this crazy #SCtop10 catch.
Then the Canes kept going and beat Georgia Tech on a last-second field goal. Wow. pic.twitter.com/4CF0T6CnSh
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 14, 2017
Right on cue, the bandwagon began filling up.
Certainly, the great escapes were a sign that the swagger was finally back at The U. And that this was a different Miami team.
Until it wasn’t.
After starting 10-0 and rising to No. 2 in the nation, the Hurricanes’ charmed life reached its expiration date. They lost their regular-season finale on a cold afternoon in Pittsburgh to a Panthers team that finished 5-7, then got blown out 38-3 by Clemson in the ACC Championship game and fell to Wisconsin in the Orange Bowl.
This is not to suggest that history is doomed to repeat itself. As those late-night infomercials always warn: Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Especially since, as mentioned, this Miami team has the kind of X-factor its program has lacked at least since its most recent national championship in 2001.
Ward isn’t just the best quarterback in the country. He has a flair for the dramatic and a cockiness that would have fit right in on any of Jimmy Johnson’s wild championship-caliber teams of the 1980s.
It’s a confidence that sometimes gets the best of him, as it did during the opening 2 1/2 quarters against Cal 2 weeks ago. But he has the talent to put his team on his shoulders and climb out of almost any hole he digs for it. As he did in leading the Hurricanes back from a 25-point deficit during the final 18 minutes of that 1-point win.
Even with Ward’s heroics, it took some help from the ACC and its review officials for Miami to stay unbeaten.
While it’s sometimes better to be lucky than good, doing so too many times isn’t a sound championship strategy. Especially given Cristobal’s history in close games.
This team has all the elements necessary to hoist a trophy in Charlotte on Dec. 7 and make its long-awaited return to the national stage. It just needs to utilize them better than it has over its past 2 games.
In that respect, last week’s open date came at an opportune time.
The midseason break provided the Hurricanes with a chance to refocus while also giving them a chance to work on improving their tackling on defense and blocking on offense. Areas that have been a particular recent concern. It also allowed star edge rusher Rueben Bain and others nursing injuries extra time to regain their health and strength for the stretch run to come.
If this really is a different Miami team, this is the chance to prove it.
The back half of the schedule sets up well if the Hurricanes can get past Louisville this week. Rival Florida State is a mess. Duke, Georgia Tech and Syracuse are improved and dangerous, but beatable. And Wake Forest is, well, Wake Forest.
All things considered, the most difficult opponent Miami may have to face from here on out is the one team that’s caused it the most headaches over the past 2 decades since joining the ACC.
Itself.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
