The Canes Are Seeing Orange
by: Camron Ghorbi
In a highlight-filled 2017 season for the Miami Hurricanes football program, November 11 is date that won’t soon be forgotten.
From the morning’s festivities – a remarkable ESPN College GameDay crowd for the show’s first-ever trip to the picturesque Coral Gables campus (but certainly not the last) – all the way to almost midnight, as honking cars cleared out of the Hard Rock Stadium parking lots celebrating the Hurricanes’ pummeling of longtime rival Notre Dame – the day stands out in a thrill ride of a season.
Around the Hurricanes Football offices, though, there is a more singular moment on that magical day that perfectly encapsulates the momentum around these parts. A specific play, even. Yes, one play, in a 41-8 beatdown of a top-10 ranked Notre Dame team, that rises above the rest.
With 30 seconds remaining before the Hurricanes stampeded into the halftime locker room with a 20-point lead, freshman defensive back Trajan Bandy etched his name into the rivalry’s storied history, simultaneously providing a glimpse into a future as bright as the south Florida sun.
On a 3rd-and-6 play and with Notre Dame driving into Hurricanes territory, Bandy alertly reads the eyes of quarterback Ian Book, jumps in front of Irish receiver Kevin Stepherson and that’s that. Bandy ends whatever hopes the Irish had of a second-half comeback, prompting the stadium DJ to blare Trick Daddy’s “Take it To Da House” and sending the sold-out crowd into a frenzied anticipation of a Turnover Chain sighting on the sidelines.
But it’s not just the heads-up play from the young defensive back. Replay the tape and watch – who jumps in with Bandy, a product of Miami’s Christopher Columbus High School in the end zone, to celebrate with him and the fans? Number 97 – that’s Jonathan Garvin, from Lake Worth, also up in Palm Beach.
Who else joins the party? That’s Amari Carter, the hard-hitting freshman safety from Palm Beach Gardens High School. Senior defensive lineman Chad Thomas – a graduate of Booker T. Washington, one of top programs in Dade County – gets a hand in the air to affect Book’s throwing lane, while lineman RJ McIntosh, another Broward product from Cardinal Gibbons, throws a block at the line of scrimmage. Malek Young – from Coconut Creek in Broward – runs behind Bandy on the play, all the way to the end zone.
Oh, and that Turnover Chain that took over college football this season? No player wore it more often than Miami Killian’s Jaquan Johnson, who was named the recipient of the Jack Harding Team MVP honor at the Football Awards Show in mid-December.
Starting to see a trend?
Simply put: there’s no place like south Florida.And this special Hurricanes team – the first to win 10 games since 2003 and the first to ever win the ACC Coastal Division – will take part in the crown jewel of south Florida’s sports landscape, the Capital One Orange Bowl, on Dec. 30 at its home venue, Hard Rock Stadium, where Miami finished undefeated this season.
For Bandy, the opportunity to play with his longtime friends in the Orange Bowl will represent a longtime dream coming to fruition.
“We talked about it. We’ve been talking about this thing for a long time. Just for it to be here, and being able to play with each other, it’s truly a blessing from God,” Bandy said. “We’re just happy to be here and to compete for the Orange Bowl. This is very special – not just for us, but for the community and the University.”
Garvin, who had a big play of his own against the Irish – a strip-sack and fumble recovery of quarterback Brandon Wimbush – said he didn’t know where Miami would end up after the season, but is happy to be right back at home for the first “New Year’s Six” bowl appearance in program history.
“I love that we’re coming back to Hard Rock Stadium,” Garvin said. “I was excited to hear it. To be in the Orange Bowl, a real big bowl game, is great. It’s a great accomplishment. We worked hard and we deserve it.”
Freshman wide receiver Mike Harley, a product of local powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas up in Broward, doesn’t mince words when he talks about his feelings leading into the game.”Playing in a big bowl game with your boys from back home, the ones you grew up with – you dream about it,” Harley said.
Miami has never played for the Orange Bowl since joining the ACC. Its last appearance, during the 2003 season, ended in a 16-14 win over Florida State. The game against Wisconsin will mark Miami’s 10th all-time appearance in the Orange Bowl; the Hurricanes have enjoyed citrus success with a 6-3 all-time record.
For many of the youngsters on the team, the Orange Bowl represents their first taste of bowl season, and the hotel lodging, the charity events and other fun activities that come with it.
“It’s awesome. To spend Christmas, get to work, play in a bowl game and be home in only 20 or 30 minutes, no airplane, parents don’t have to pay for a plane ticket – it’s a good fit,” Harley said. “Everything is great about the Orange Bowl.”For others, like senior offensive lineman Kc McDermott, the game will mark the end of a rollercoaster four years that has ended with a memory-filled season and the most successful Canes campaign in quite some time.
“I’m very honored, and very excited about it,” McDermott said. “It’s a great way to finish these four years, to show this class – the success that we’ve had through the ups and downns, to be able to go through it all, go through the very hard times, go through things that people might have given up on and stick with it and keep going – and to be here, it’s just unbelievable.
“The University of Miami and the Orange Bowl – there’s no better way to say it: it’s a perfect fit.”
