CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) -Miami coach Randy Shannon insists he won’t use this week’s team meetings to remind his team of the lopsided beating last year’s Hurricanes endured against Virginia.
It was the Hurricanes’ final game at the Orange Bowl, the end of their seven-decade run in the fabled building.
Virginia 48, Miami 0.
Turn out the lights, the party was very much over. A building that saw Miami win an NCAA-record 58 straight home games, where the Hurricanes celebrated national championships and once held one of the greatest home-field advantages in football got a stunning send-off.
“It was rough,” tight end Dedrick Epps said.
“Embarrassing,” offered offensive lineman Jason Fox.
Miami (5-3, 2-2) visits Virginia (5-3, 3-1) on Saturday, a matchup of two of the hottest teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Virginia has won four straight, Miami three in a row, and those streaks have kept both firmly in the chase for a Bowl Championship Series berth.
But since it’s a game that could decide first place in the ACC’s Coastal Division, Shannon says he has bigger things on his mind than playing the revenge card. So there’s no “48-0” signs plastered all over the meeting rooms or photos of the scoreboard taped in everyone’s locker.
The way Shannon sees it, there’s no need.
“It’s a different year, different team,” Shannon said.
True, of the 22 starters Miami sent onto that Orange Bowl turf last Nov. 10, only seven have been regular contributors for the Hurricanes this season, and only four have been full-time starters. Virginia’s lineup has changed a bit as well, meaning even the Cavaliers have a different identity this year than they did that night.
Still, if you think the phrase “48-0” hasn’t been bandied about considerably by Miami players this week, think again.
“Maybe that doesn’t get brought up through coach Shannon, but the guys on the team remind each other of that,” said Fox, who started at left tackle in that game. “We know this is a big game for us, because it’s our next game and every game’s important, but it was almost to a point where it was embarrassing and disrespectful last year. That’s in the back of our minds.”
The buildup for the Orange Bowl finale couldn’t have been bigger.
ound system at halftime, even though Virginia was up 31-0 lead. When it was over, they streamed an 85-yard-long “Thanks for the Memories” banner down the field and shot white confetti into the sky.
Or was it little white flags?
“We didn’t quit,” Epps said. “We don’t quit. We’re Miami.”
On the home sideline, recruits who were there – many of whom are starters for Miami this season – remember watching in horror. The beating reportedly got one player to immediately decline the Hurricanes’ scholarship offer. And the stands were darn close to empty long before the end-of-game celebration, such as it was.
Either way, it was a night Shannon wants to forget, so he’s trying desperately to avoid the issue.
“I just don’t think about it,” Shannon said.
And on the Virginia side, the Cavaliers are trying to avoid letting the rout lull them into a false sense of security, so it’s a non-topic in Charlottesville this week, too.
“I can’t say that I’ve heard it one time from anybody,” Virginia coach Al Groh said.
Shannon’s contention is that the revenge ploy can work in football, but tends to be counterproductive. Instead of filling the Hurricanes’ heads with negativity – and really, what else is there but negativity when a team is talking about a 48-point loss? – he wants their minds focused on the positive, believing that’s the only way they’ll play their best on Saturday.
“It’s something in the back of your mind, definitely,” said quarterback Robert Marve, who was a redshirt last season. “Looking at our record last year, I ran across something that stated the score and how rough the game was for us. You want to get revenge back a little bit, but like coach says, that was last year’s team, I wasn’t a part of that too much, so I don’t think about it.”
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