Magical Day At The Rock: Miami Hurricanes Blast Pitt Panthers

All eyes were on Miami in the early window of college football on Saturday, as the Canes, newly anointed the #1 team in the country for the first time since 2001, took the field against a 5-2 Pittsburgh Panthers team.

While the Panthers players and coaching staff ran their mouths all week about the match up, the Canes did their talking on the field, dismantling the Panthers across the board, and cruising to a 52-23 win.

In many cases this season, it has been hard to figure out who the top team in the country could be. Last week, after several Top Ten teams were upset, the debate was between Miami and BYU.

Coming out of Saturday, I would not be surprised if the Canes were a near-unanimous #1 when the rankings come out today. The Canes offense once again did pretty much anything it wanted. And while there is still a lot to clean up offensively, the result against the Panthers was another week of dropping over 50 points, while amassing 506 total yards.

Malachi Toney re-asserted himself as a co-leader, with Jeremiah Smith, for the Heisman. Toney finished the day with 16 catches for 194 yards and three touchdowns. The 16 catches breaks Toney’s own record for receptions in a game.

Darian Mensah also needs to be mentioned in that Heisman race, after another surgical performance, going 31-37, for 387 yards, and four touchdowns to no interceptions. Mensah now has 2151 yards, 22 touchdowns and one interception on the season.

It is rare that a well-oiled machine like the Canes get overshadowed while putting up video game numbers, but Saturday also represented something else for the Canes fans in attendance. The 2001 team, widely considered the best team of all-time, was honored at halftime of the game.

But this was no ordinary honor ceremony. This was a celebration of all things Canes, throughout the game. There was Ed Reed, Michael Irvin, Warren Sapp, Andre Johnson, Edgerrin James, Clinton Portis, Jeremy Shockey, and a laundry list of other Canes greats, all in attendance.

One of the many things Mario Cristobal has done since taking over as the Canes head coach, is invite alumni back. And this game was a perfect example of the effect of that decision. Because when UM alumni come back, they don’t do so just to make an appearance. They do so to make an impact.

So these Canes legends spent the afternoon walking the sidelines, mingling with current and more importantly, potential future Canes. That is what this day was about. Connecting the past to the present, and future, while once again establishing dominance on the field.

When the Canes win, they don’t do so quietly. It is loud. It is brash. It is in your face, line up, pound you into submission, then tell you about it when the experience is over.

That was exemplified after the game when Cristobal, who no doubt keeps notes on what is said all week by opponents and analysts, threw a little, ‘get out of our stadium’ shrug at Pitt Coach Pat Narduzzi, who had spent the week talking into any microphone that was hot.

So coming out of a day where the Canes moved to 7-0, here is my take.

Miami is no longer chasing respect. They are back to chasing championships. They are back to a place where the only team on the field that can beat them, is themselves.

Each remaining team on the schedule needs to be respected, but there is not anything any of them can do if the Canes play their game.

It was a magical day at The Rock, one that is becoming more and more regular with each passing week.

Go Canes!