What if the football had been caught? What if Jarmon Fortson had rescued that burrowing pass instead of squishing it into the end zone grass?

As it so often has, the football game between the University of Miami and Florida State came down to milliseconds, fractions of an inch, a handful of points and countless what-ifs. Monday night's thriller came down to the final play.

At the stroke of midnight, it was princess or pumpkin time.

If FSU quarterback Christian Ponder had completed his last-chance pass, just think how different each team's prospects would seem.

UM fans would be demanding Randy Shannon's head, citing awful kickoffs, poor clock management, ragged defense. UM would be 0-1 and surely headed to 0-4. Shame. Catastrophe. Pessimism.

Instead, undefeated UM goes from irrelevant to No. 20 in the nation. UM, the Atlantic Coast Conference afterthought, is thinking conference title game. Shannon is the It coach of the most talented team this side of Los Angeles.

Jacory Harris' dream of wearing a pink suit while giving his Heisman Trophy acceptance speech became more realistic. Javarris James' and Randy Phillips' hopes for a redemptive senior season became more plausible. Offensive coordinator Mark Whipple is Albert Einstein in headphones. A meaningful bowl game, bigger crowds at Land Shark Stadium -- the future is wide open after UM's 38-34 victory over archrival FSU.

What if? What if the good old days have finally returned to Coral Gables as the good new days?

Meanwhile, Bobby Bowden can only wonder why, after 34 years, UM still has a dadgum spell on him. He listed Monday's game among his top three most exciting losses, along with the 1987 loss to UM and the 1993 loss to Notre Dame.

``Afterward he said, `Well, another one of these games -- you can't get any better than this,' '' Shannon said of his midfield handshake with Bowden. ``All three of those games came down to the last play -- and it wasn't a field goal. One came down to a two-point play; I was in that one.''

This time, Bowden's Seminoles got marooned on the 2-yard line, forced to pass, pass, pass with no timeouts. He thought they would win. Instead, it is his team missing from the rankings and looking up from an ACC hole.

Of course, everything could change radically in the coming weeks. UM and FSU could have played another four hours, with FSU winning 75-71. The one thing for certain is that both teams showed a national audience that the Gators have not cornered the Florida market on star power. There's still an abundance of incredible players in the state. UM and FSU are on their way back up.

UM is on a high right now, but Shannon has a refrigerator around his heart, the better to stay cool on these hot September nights. It is only September, after all, as he points out. He has been here for the glory years -- and for the 48-0 loss to Virginia in the Orange Bowl finale.

Rankings?

``Doesn't really count until about the sixth game of the season,'' he said with a sliver of a grin. ``The only thing you can think about is the next opponent. If we keep dwelling on FSU -- let's don't let FSU make us lose the game against Georgia Tech [on Sept. 17].''

Shannon is not big on emotional ebb and flow. That's why he was dismissive of his players' problems with muscle cramps Monday night.

``The first game, it's always guys hyperventilating,'' he said.

He and Harris are a perfect fit. They don't panic. Put their backs against a wall and they use it for leverage. In Harris' debut as a starter, the 19-year-old with pencil legs threw for 386 yards. After being nailed in the elbow and watching his interception returned for a touchdown, he came back with two numb fingers and lofted a pinpoint 40-yarder to Travis Benjamin. Can't wait to see more from Harris, his offensive line, his receivers, a slimmer, shiftier James and all-purpose runner/returner/catcher Graig Cooper.

What if? What if Whipple unveils even more of his clever misdirection and mismatch plays? Whipple is a Brown graduate with a political science degree. He could be creating health care reforms in Washington. Instead, he's creating strategy for UM, perhaps not as intellectually stimulating but much more fun.

What if the defense improves? It must perform more like it did during that goal-line stand than in the rest of the game, and Shannon expects that it will.

``When they make mistakes they learn from them,'' Shannon said. ``Where we were three years ago and where we are now -- it's a totally different team.''

One game, one play, and all of a sudden unlimited possibilities.

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