It's almost like Florida is trying to talk itself into a rivalry with Miami.
When the teams haven't met in almost four years and one of the participants is a diminished national power, what's left? Louis Murphy, and that's about it. The Florida receiver started flapping his gums last week after the Gators beat Hawaii.
"If I'm right, the 'U' stands for the University of Miami," Murphy told the Palm Beach Post. "Well, we're the University of Florida. We're the 'U.' I don't refer to them as the 'U.' I refer to them as Miami. If the 'U' is for university and winning and championships, we're the 'U.' They are Miami, and that's what I call them."
For that Murphy the Mouth was gagged by coach Urban Meyer and kept from interviews for the remainder of the week. Too bad. Those kinds of fireworks used to be called Monday of UF-UM game week. Now the rivalry is like a dud bottle rocket. No explosion.
No. 5 Florida is competing for championships and winning Heismans. Miami is beating Charleston Southern and trying to get its self-esteem back.
"I don't think it's a rivalry right now," Miami coach Randy Shannon said.
That confirms the buzz kill. Miami has won six in a row in the spread-out series. Florida's last win, though, came before Murphy was born; 1985. The teams did play four times within a five-year span ending in 2004. Florida has faced Miami more than any non-conference opponent. There have been those 53 meetings and some legendary games including a memorable comeback led by, gulp, Brock Berlin in 2003.
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| Brock Berlin led Miami in a 23-point comeback victory back in 2003. (Getty Images) |
Now, it's what have you won for us lately? For Miami, it's not much.
When the Canes were good, Miami-Florida was appointment television. Now? Not so much. It was laughable to read Murphy's (false) bravado this week. Florida's Speed Gators are going to be running 4x400 relays for most of the game. Receiver Percy Harvin and linebacker Brandon Spikes are returning from injuries. Meanwhile, Miami quarterback Robert Marve is making his career debut in The Swamp after missing the opener because of a suspension.
The Swamp. At night. Rookie quarterback. That should go well.
When Tim Tebow spoke about a Miami recruiting visit, it was more truth than trash talk.
"I am huge into the college environment and excitement," Tebow told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, "and you look around and there were 30,000 empty seats. Then you come to Florida and you see this environment. Wow, what a difference."
There's no momentum to make this a regular meeting. The teams play next in 2013. Florida already plays Florida State each year. Adding Miami to a schedule that includes the grueling SEC is stupidity.
"It would be a great start for us and the program," Shannon said speaking of the unthinkable, a Miami win.
Somewhere Murphy is giggling through his gag.
Scouting the Nation
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| Whew! Ty's seat sure is hot. (Getty Images) |
The Huskies kicked off their season by getting kicked at Oregon. Now the Ty Willingham farewell tour moves to Seattle for U-Dub's home opener against BYU. More than a few boo birds will be waiting for the embattled coach. President Mark Emmert wants to see a winning season. Ty would settle for some spark. The Huskies were the West Coast version of Clemson last week against the Ducks.
"The hot seat that I've been hearing about?" Willingham said. "I've always said it's very difficult in the modern era to keep things away from your football team. It's impossible to try shield them."
Thought about ear plugs, Ty?
Penn(itentiary) State: Cut and paste the Penn State program down in Norman or Gainesville right now and they'd be calling for it to be shut down. How many more legal scrapes do there have to be before Joe Paterno loses his leverage? Three players have been suspended for the Oregon State game.
All is not Wells: So what do we know about the tailbacks behind Beanie Wells? Now that Ohio State's Heisman-candidate tailback is officially out for Ohio University (at least), WWL takes this look at the depth chart as a public service.
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| We'll see what the other Wells can do at OSU. (Getty Images) |
• Redshirt freshman Dan Herron is from the same high school as Maurice Clarett, Warren (Ohio) Harding. He debuted with 17 yards in five carries against Youngstown State.
• Sophomore Brandon Saine was the 2006 Mr. Football in Ohio and is expected to be a future star. The speedster has 287 career yards.
• Maurice Wells (no relation) is a journeyman senior who has averaged less than four yards per carry in his career. Wells might be leaned on heavily if called upon against USC considering his experience (759 career yards).
• Might as well throw Terrelle Pryor in the mix. The freshman quarterback is potentially a running game unto himself. The dual-threat quarterback had an impressive debut against Youngstown State (52 yards rushing, one touchdown).
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| Mack Brown has dominated the state since coming to Texas. (Getty Images) |
Thing is, Price hasn't done much since going to El Intercepted Paso. The Miners are 25-24 since Price hit town. Now they're calling Saturday the biggest game in Texas-El Paso history. It's certainly the biggest game in the UTEP-Texas series. The schools have met twice, both in the 1930s, or back when the city was still a little fuzzy about which country it was in.
When the game was announced, fans made it one of the quickest sellouts ever at the Sun Bowl (Aug. 25). Some Texas fans went ahead and bought a $99 UTEP season ticket just to make sure they could into the 52,000-seat stadium.
The Sun Bowl provides one of the prettiest game day spectacles in the game. How many stadiums have a view of Mexico? Texas' Mack Brown has taken care of business within Texas borders, though. He is 40-5 against in-state competition and the Miners haven't exactly been lighting it up lately. They lost their opener 42-17 to Buffalo and have a 14-game losing streak to Big 12 teams (3-43 all-time against the AP Top 25).
Greenville blows up: Maybe that's not the most tactful way to refer to West Virginia-East Carolina. With Hanna threatening to enter the game without a ticket, it's uncertain how this one is going to go.
East Carolina should be looking forward to a couple of late roster additions. Rain and wind could do something the Pirates can't -- slow down Patrick White and the Mountaineers offense.
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| Year 2 of the Jimmy Clausen era begins. (Getty Images) |
In fact, ND's first seven opponents have a combined record of 2-4. One win by North Carolina, 35-27 over I-AA McNeese State.
Farewell Joe Tiller: Before Joe, the only basketball played at Purdue was in a gym. Then Tiller basically coined the term "basketball on grass," as the coach brought the spread option offense to the Big Ten.
His offense produced 10 bowls, two NFL quarterbacks (Drew Brees, Kyle Orton) and the program's second Rose Bowl. Tiller's 12th and final season begins Saturday against Northern Colorado.
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| Weatherford will start the year on the bench. (Getty Images) |
That doesn't say much about Weatherford, a guy who is close to becoming FSU's all-time passing leader. This isn't a done deal. There wasn't clear separation during camp between Weatherford, Ponder and redshirt sophomore D'Vontrey Richardson during fall camp.
If anyone happens to find FSU's quarterback tradition please return it to Doak Campbell Stadium.
Planting a poll seed: The Associated Press voters started it this week with their fashion show pick, USC, moving up to No. 1.
As long as you're into early manipulation dear voters, consider this when you go to the polls on Sunday: No. 3 Ohio State needs to make up seven points on No. 2 Georgia to set up the 41st 1 vs. 2 game in AP history. No. 1 USC is off so if Ohio State slips past Georgia then another historic matchup is on.
The Buckeyes go into the Ohio game with 1,497 points. Georgia (playing Central Michigan) has 1,506 points. Amazingly, Ohio State has played in the last four AP 1 vs. 2 games going back to 2006.
