CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) -In the first home game of his Miami basketball career, Jimmy Graham fouled out.
No chance of that happening this time around.
Graham’s first and last football home-opener for the 20th-ranked Hurricanes comes Thursday night, when Miami (1-0, 1-0 ACC) hosts No. 14 Georgia Tech (2-0, 1-0) in what already shapes up to be a critical game in the Coastal Division. The winner will at least keep pace atop the division, and the loser will already be relgated to needing help in the title chase.
“I’m going to have a lot of people there,” Graham said, “hoping to see me catch my first catch and for us to win our second game.”
His transition from basketball forward to football tight end has been one of the more intriguing early story lines for the Hurricanes. The 6-foot-8 Graham got on the field for about 15 plays when Miami opened the year with a 38-34 win at archrival Florida State, not registering any catches and only having one ball thrown his way.
d just to be part of it all.
“It was a dream come true for me,” Graham said. “As a kid playing football and watching this team as a kid, it was kind of surreal not only to play in the game but to play in such an amazing game.”
Miami has lost four straight to Georgia Tech in football, last winning Oct. 2, 2004. No current Hurricanes played in that game.
So Graham is the runaway leader among Miami football players in one category: Wins over Georgia Tech.
With Graham in the hoops lineup, the Hurricanes were 4-1 against the Yellow Jackets. Graham scored 13 points – then matching a career-high – in a win over Georgia Tech on Jan. 12, 2008, and averaged 6.4 points in five meetings against the Jackets.
Those days seem long forgotten for Graham, who has exceeded every expectation the Hurricanes’ football staff had for him entering the season.
“Coaches always want more,” Miami coach Randy Shannon said. “But we’re pleased with the way his progress is going.”
Graham made an impact in his first football game since ninth grade.
Shannon credited him for helping Miami score its first touchdown against Florida State. With 12 minutes left in the opening quarter, Graham took his spot on the left side of the Hurricanes’ line. Instantly, two Florida State linebackers began pointing at him.
before that snap.
On that very play, Benjamin got free behind the Seminoles’ secondary and hauled in a 39-yard TD pass from Jacory Harris for Miami’s first points of the season – earning a celebratory head-butt from Graham in the end zone.
“Jimmy drew attention,” Shannon said, “and Travis came through.”
One of Miami’s most time-honored pregame traditions is how the Hurricanes enter their home field through thick plumes of white smoke. Rookies hear the horror stories every year; those farther back in the pack of players running out of that tunnel can have their visibility impaired by the smoke, which raises the odds of getting trampled by teammates.
Graham is already leery.
“I’m going to try to push my way to the front,” Graham said. “I’m going to try to be one of the first guys out. If you’re in the middle, that’s when you get tripped up and fall to the ground and get stomped on.”
It’s what he does after emerging from that tunnel that matters to the Hurricanes.
Miami has seen some mild success using tight ends against Georgia Tech during its four-game losing streak to the Yellow Jackets, completing 16 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns. Of course, schemes and personnel change every year, but the Hurricanes have a package for Graham installed.
And Shannon says it’ll continue to evolve as the year goes along.
“The more he can pick up, the more he gets better, the more we’ll play him,” Shannon said.
Add A Comment