Colleges

Orange Bowl swan song

By MICHAEL SNYDER, Times correspondent
Published August 31, 2007

This will be the Hurricanes' final season in the venerable Orange Bowl, where the team has played since 1937.

The stadium, which has crowned 12 NCAA national champions and played host to five Super Bowls, has been on the edge of obsolescence for more than 20 years since the NFL's Miami Dolphins left. Next year, the 'Canes will join them and the Florida Marlins at modern Dolphin Stadium.

Coach Randy Shannon, who won a championship on the Orange Bowl turf, said it's not difficult to imagine that the team will no longer play at the Orange Bowl.

"No, not at all," Shannon said. "It's a football field. ... You have to accept what it is and move on."

The horseshoe-shaped Orange Bowl, which has a signature open end with coconut palms swaying in the breeze, has a storied history that includes the only perfect season in NFL history, Joe Namath's "guaranteed' victory over the Baltimore Colts in the Super Bowl, Doug Flutie's Miracle in Miami win and an NCAA-record 58-game home winning streak for the 'Canes that began in 1985 and didn't end until 1994.

How the mighty have fallen

The Hurricanes' fall in stature as a program is readily apparent by the fact they aren't ranked in either major preseason poll.

While UM isn't ranked, former pushovers and growing programs such as Rutgers, TCU, Hawaii and Boise State are. Ouch.

But if the 'Canes are to return to the ranks of the ranked, they don't appear to have a very difficult road. UM will play only four teams in the AP Top 25: road games at No.8 Oklahoma, No.9 Virginia Tech and No.19 Florida State and a home contest against No.25 Texas A&M.

Just happy to be here, literally

Freshmen Robert Marve and Jermaine McKenzie probably won't be seeing any football action this fall, and they're just fine with that. They're just happy to be alive.

Marve, Florida's Mr. Football 2006 as a Plant High quarterback, and McKenzie, from Bradenton Academy, were involved in a serious car accident in July on Interstate 75 in the Naples area. Marve has a cast on a broken wrist that should come off in September. McKenzie has a neck brace that will likely remain another 2-3 months.

McKenzie, who was driving and fell asleep at the wheel, suffered hairline fractures in his neck. He still avoids being in cars. Linebacker Colin McCarthy was also a passenger, but didn't suffer serious injury.

"I felt the car going out of control - then I blacked (out)," said Marve, right. "I followed Colin out of the car, remember being bloody, and we were trying to get each other out of the car."

The two players are now dorm-mates in Coral Gables.

Michael Snyder, Times correspondent

[Last modified August 29, 2007, 10:03:01]