If you’re a college football fanatic you might be asking the question; what happened to the Canes' of Miami who had won so many championships and instilled fear into future opponents just by the mere mention of their name? Well, you shouldn’t have to wait long because in 2008 pundits expect to see "The U" back on the road to recovery thanks to some great recruiting by second year head coach Randy Shannon. Shannon is re-stocking the roster with good players of quality character and talent just as Butch Davis did a decade earlier. Regardless of the talent, the team has suffered many losses in numbers from 2007 and might not be ready to contend for any championships just yet but the bowl prospects will be much better.
Oddsmakers at online sportsbook Bodog (Bodoglife.com) expect Miami to be very competitive in 2008 having them installed at 5/2 odds to win the ACC Coastal Division second best to division favorite Virginia Tech at 11/10. If the Canes’ can get past the rival Hokies and make it to the ACC championship game, they are installed at 7/2 odds to win the conference. If Miami wins the conference championship they are installed at very respectable 35/1 odds to win the BCS National Championship.
In their first season under head coach Randy Shannon , the Hurricanes finished the 2007 season with a 5-7 overall record and a 2-6 mark in the ACC and a 5th-place finish in the Coastal Division.
Miami started strong with a 4-1 record, but a rash of injuries in the defensive line and at quarterback, derailed the ‘Canes down the stretch and halted their streak of 8 consecutive bowl games. Senior QB Kyle Wright completed his career with 5,805 passing yards, good enough for 7th on the Miami career pasing list. Freshman TB Graig Cooper finished 2nd among all ACC freshman rushers with 682 yards. WR Darnell Jenkins averaged 20 yards a catch on 31 receptions. LB Tavares Gooden finished 8th in the ACC in tackles with 100 stops. Miami finished ranked 16th nationally in tackles for loss and 28th nationally in QB sacks.
Gone are a total of 13 starters (7 offense, 5 defense and placekicker Francesco Zampogna) including both starting WR’s in Lance Leggett and Darnell Jenkins, both starting G’s in 2nd-team All-ACC Derrick Morse and Andrew Bain, as well as QB Kyle Wright and his backup Kirby Freeman. The Hurricanes will not have a QB on their roster who has taken a snap from center in a major college game. Defensively, Miami loses four of its top five tacklers from last year in LB Tavares Gooden, the ‘Canes top tackler in 2007, and S Willie Cooper , and with Honorable Mention All-ACC end Calais Campbell and 2nd-team All- America safety Kenny Phillips opting for the NFL draft a year early.
Shannon, who has recruited extremely well in each of his first 2 years, welcomes back 11 starters, from last year. Offensively, RB’s Javarris James and Graig Cooper, who combined for 1,264 yards and 8 TDs last year return as do both starting tackles, Jason Fox and Reggie Youngblood, and TE Chris Zellner. Wright’s replacement will be chosen from among redshirt freshman Robert Marve or true freshmen Jacory Harris and Connor Smith… Defensively, the Canes return 6 starters led by LBs Colin McCarthy and Darryl Sharpton and DE Eric Moncur… McCarthy, a candidate for national honors, is Miami’s leading returning tackler with 68 hits…Also returning are DT Joe Joseph and CB’s Bruce Johnson and DeMarcus Van Dyke… Punter Matt Bosher returns after averaging 40.2 yards a punt as a freshman.
Miami played no fewer than 11 true freshmen in 2007 which tied Clemson and North Carolina as teams playing the most number of true freshmen in the ACC.
Aug. 28 Charleston Southern (Thursday)
Sept. 6 at Florida
Sept. 20 at Texas A&M
Sept. 27 North Carolina
Oct. 4 Florida State
Oct. 11 UCF
Oct. 18 at Duke
Oct. 25 Wake Forest
Nov. 1 at Virginia
Nov. 13 Virginia Tech, Thursday, ESPN
Nov. 20 at Georgia Tech, Thursday ESPN
Nov. 29 at NC
