Rise To The Occasion
By David Villavicencio
In every football game there is a defining moment or a standout player that made an impact on the ultimate outcome of the game.
It’s these players that rise to the occasion and create these impactful moments that end up helping their team to victory and live forever in the memories of a fan base.
With the Hurricanes hosting Pittsburgh on Saturday at 12:30 p.m., at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami fans are likely to remember wide receiver Stacy Coley’s breakout performance at Pitt in his freshman season.
“It was a great atmosphere in that game and they’ve always been a good defense,” Coley said of facing Pitt. “They play man a lot, so we used a lot of crossing routes against them and that worked for us.”
Coley torched the Panthers for three touchdowns and 171 all-purpose yards, leading the Hurricanes to a 41-31 victory at Heinz Field in 2013.
“My freshman year was a great success and I am trying to have another good game against them this week to help my team against Pitt,” Coley said.
Now a senior, Coley has tried to become more of a leader for the Hurricanes, like veterans Allen Hurns and Herb Waters were to him earlier in his career.
“I am trying to be a leader, especially among the receivers,” Coley said. “Hurns and Herb and all the guys that came before me passed that torch to me and I am trying to lead our group. I am working on my technique blocking and staying focused, especially when the ball is in the air and being aggressive to go get it.”
While Coley has risen to the occasion for Miami, Pitt also has several players that have stepped up in big moments like defensive lineman Ejuan Price and running back James Conner.
“They’re really good pass-rushers. Price, in particular, is a jet,” Miami head coach Mark Richt said. “He is very, very fast off the ball. Very strong. Kind of a low-to-the-ground guy, too, which is problematic. A lot of times you’ll get a relatively tall offensive linemen trying to work on a guy that can play low and play powerful, play strong…so just his get-off, when the ball is snapped and how quickly he gets off the line. If you have a tackle concerned about being beat on a speed rush, you tend to overset at times, and then he comes back underneath. If you have just one guy on him, it’s almost not fair, quite frankly. You have to try to get some help from tight ends, and backs, maybe a guard sliding towards the guy…but if you just say, ‘Hey tackle, you block him all day,’ and drop back to throw, I don’t know if anybody in America will hold up very well against that.”
As accomplished of a player as Price is, Conner may be one of the most impressive overall players in the country. The standout running back was an All-American before he was diagnosed with Hodkin’s lymphoma. After missing a year due to his cancer diagnosis and treatment, Conner is back and has returned to form.
“He’s a great running back,” Miami defensive lineman Chad Thomas said. “Coming back from cancer, we didn’t get to play against him last year. The last time I played him was my freshman year. He’s a nice running back, obviously a nice, strong person that fought cancer and he’s a heavy running back, he runs hard so you have go and tackle him.”
Fellow Miami defender Trent Harris says the Hurricanes are impressed with how Conner has returned to action and have been working to prepare for his bruising running style.
“It’s incredible what he’s done this year, he’s a tough dude,” Harris said. “We have a lot of respect for him and we know we’re going to have to get him on the ground, so we’ve been working hard this week on our tackling and we’ll be ready for him. ”
Miami offensive coordinator Thomas Brown believes the Pitt defense emulates the big and physical identity that Pitt’s running game is known for. Brown, who is in his first year at Miami, believes the Hurricanes will need to be ready for a battle on Saturday afternoon.
“They’re really good, probably one of the best we’ll face this year,” Brown said. “They are very physical, very downhill guys and told our guys on Sunday if you don’t prepare for a physical football game that they will get embarrassed this weekend. They play downhill, make no sense about it and they do a really good job at stopping the run. They’re going to play man to man on the outside and dare us to take some shots.”
While the Panthers have a stout defense, Coley believes Miami has the weapons on offense to be effective against Pitt. He hopes he and his teammates can rise to the occasion when their moment arises.
“It’s big to be able to go into a game with a lot of weapons,” Coley said. “It forces the defense to prepare for a lot of different guys and makes you tougher to defend. We have a lot of guys who can make plays for us and just need to make sure we step up and do our jobs when the opportunity comes our way.”
