The Miami Hurricanes made a dang statement on Saturday night by beating the No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 41-8 in Hard Rock Stadium. With the victory, the Canes made a return to national relevance that we haven’t seen since the early 2000s.
Here are all the signs that prove Miami is officially back
The Canes had a statement 41-8 victory over Notre Dame.
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Now that it’s safe to declare Miami’s quality is officially back, here are all the signs that show The U’s returned swagger.
Miami’s home stadium isn’t the old Orange Bowl, but it rocks just as hard as that place once did.
During the dark Al Golden Era, empty seats were a staple of Hard Rock Stadium. But since Mark Richt’s arrival, the place has been lit with Miami swag:
Last season, Miami announced that the average paid attendance was 58,572. That was the program’s highest since 2004 (59,134) and fifth-best ever. During 2017’s game against Virginia Tech, the attendance was 63,932, just under max capacity.
“Miami is an event city,” Underwood said. “A Saturday night, primetime, national TV game is an event. It is no surprise that the crowd last week was awesome. I fully expect that to continue in the future. Miami is getting back to the kind of performance we all expect, and South Florida supports winners.”
Richt has Miami winning it again, but the team is playing by his rules.
This isn’t the U from glory days of the 1980s-2000s that was perpetuated by a bad boy image within the program. Richt has brought the swag back to Coral Gables with a much more quiet demeanor. Before a game last season, he told his players what he thinks the definition of what Miami swag really is:
“Everybody talks about Miami having ‘swag,’” Richt said before 2016’s Appalachian State game. “When I took this job, all they wanted to talk about [was], ‘Is Miami getting the swag back?’ I said, ‘You know what? Swag ain’t dancing to me. Swag ain’t saying, ‘I got a first down.’ Swag ain’t swaying before a kickoff and they run back to the 45-yard line.
“Swag is whooping the man on the other side of you! That’s what swag is. Swag is, when the game’s over, we win the game! That’s what swag is.
“I don’t care what the boys did in the past. The reason why it was swag is because they WON! Not because they had some kind of antic. You understand what I’m saying? I’m counting on every one of you guys to whoop the man across from you, EVERY. SINGLE. PLAY.”
And the Catholics vs. Convicts schtick that made up the Miami-ND rivalry in the past doesn’t really hold true either, thanks to the way Richt is running things:
As far as Miami’s concerned, these Canes are markedly different than their predecessors.
I’m not sure that even Miami fans really know what to do with them. This team has swagger, but it isn’t the same as it was in the 1980s or early 2000s.
They win, but they’re not doing it with rosters loaded on both sides with NFL talent. There is no Seventh Floor Crew, no boat parties with rogue boosters, and no Cocaine Cowboys-era excess.
No team is devoid of disciplinary issues. A walk-on QB was arrested for DUI and cocaine possession last September, and two were arrested for resisting arrest right before Mark Richt’s first spring practice. The QB is no longer on the roster, but the other two had their charges dropped and remain with the program.
At Georgia, Richt embraced one of the more strict drug policies in the country. The origin of the “Mark Richt has lost control” meme sprang from him constantly suspending and booting players for infractions that many other schools would’ve handled more quietly. So in fact, Richt tends to exercise more control that most coaches.
Also, this team is actually disciplined!
Saturday night’s game was bigger on TV in Miami than Dolphins’ games.
According to the Miami Herald, the game had a higher TV rating than a lot of Dolphins games:
The UM-Notre Dame game was seen in more than 32,000 more homes locally than the Miami Dolphins’ first Sunday night game this decade, just six nights earlier.
Per the newspaper, it also ranked higher than every 2017 Dolphins game, and higher than every Heat game since Game 7 of the Heat-Raptors Eastern Conference semifinals game in 2016.
Legendary Miami figures are having fun watching The U again.
Ed Reed got to see Miami’’s big win first-hand.
Before the game, former Miami linebacker Ray Lewis posted a pep talk:
Of course Uncle Luke loves it.
Even the Miami Heat like what the Canes are doing!
The turnover chain is next-level Miami swag.
These badass Cuban links adorn the neck of any Canes player who gets a takeaway:
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
They’re created by Miami’s own AJ the Jeweler, an idea spawned by former Cane Vince Wilfork. It is awesome, and probably the best of college football’s sideline props. And the links look familiar to anyone who’s seen a rapper from South Florida.
After the victory, Richt claimed victory by the turnover chain itself.
The Canes celebrate big wins by chanting “YEET” in the locker room, and it’s glorious.
Last week, the Canes surprised Richt with a locker room Gatorade bath beforehand.
Miami even got Jeb! Bush to brag about college football. Hilariously, his followers were not interested.
Some of the real gems here are in the 280-character responses.
One great account decided to remind Jeb! of when he turned his Presidential campaign in 2015 into a college football marketing tour.
Miami’s Twitter account has also been gloriously dunking on doubters all season.
To a since-deleted tweet from USA Today’s Dan Wolken that read “Miami is so fraudulent,” the account responded with this after last week’s 28-10 win over Virginia Tech:
After this week’s game, Wolken was trending throughout the city:
And finally, Vanilla Ice’s victory mustache?
You may not want to believe it, but Miami is definitely back, folks, All is right in the college football world.
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