Podcast: Miami returns to site of Orange Bowl with a chance to build some more momentum
After their final bye week of the season, the Miami Hurricanes are back, and so is the Eye on the U podcast to get you ready for Miami’s quick trip across town to a historic site for the program.
Quarterback Jarren Williams called it “sacred ground.” Cornerback Al Blades Jr. said it’s important to protect it like it’s a home field even though it will technically be an away game. The Hurricanes’ trip to Marlins Park — at the site of the old Miami Orange Bowl — adds a little bit of extra juice to anotherwise nondescript late-season nonconference showdown with the FIU Panthers.
David Wilson and Susan Miller Degnan, the Hurricanes beat writer for the Miami Herald, kick off the show by talking about why this might be important for a Hurricanes team which has a tendency to come out sluggish after bye weeks. Degnan, who covered her fair share of games at the Orange Bowl, also shares her (ugly) memory from the last time Miami played a game in Little Havana.
A lot of other stuff has gone down since the last time we recorded, though, so we try to run through it all throughout the course of the episode, starting with Brevin Jordan’s lingering injury. The star tight end missed the Hurricanes’ 52-27 win against the Louisville Cardinals on Nov. 9 and his status looks questionable for Saturday in Miami. If he can’t play, Williams will get another chance to prove his record-setting performance against Louisville at Hard Rock Stadium wasn’t just a total outlier.
We wrap up by hitting a couple of pressing big-picture topics which are defining the last few weeks of the season. The Hurricanes were officially eliminated from Coastal Division contention Saturday, but a trip to the Orange Bowl is still in play and so is an opportunity for a mostly successful first year for coach Manny Diaz.
To close things out, we recap what has turned into a busy couple weeks on the recruiting trail for the Hurricanes and tell you why you shouldn’t be concerned about a pair of decommitments from earlier this week.
