News and Notes

Injured Hurricane freshman Robert Mavre and Jermaine McKenzie returned to practice Tuesday. Both were injured in a off season car accident, Mavre is recovering from a broken wrist and McKenzie is recovering from a broken vertebrae in is neck.

Sam Shields is moving quickly back up the 'Canes depth chart, initially he was listed as the number three receiver for Saturdays game, but Shields is making progress and may be number two by this weekends game.

If your a 'Canes fan you need to read this

Confident 'Canes

Say this about the "U", whatever confidence or swagger they may have lost last year with Larry Coker at the helm, is back under the leadership of Randy Shannon.

"Don't get me wrong were confident...were not cocky now, we are confident", my thoughts exactly, but it was Coach Shannon who said that last week and it rings true for this week.

An example of the confidence of the 'Canes, comes from O-lineman Derrick Morse who said "when we win at Oklahoma....I didn't come to Miami to lose." Randy Phillips echoed Morse's comments "These games are why I came to the U," One 'Cane who did not sound confident was QB Kirby Freeman, he seemed a little to focused on his mistakes last week and didn't have the same air of confidence he had before the season.


Coach Shannon said this team needs Freeman to manage the team and get the ball to it's play makers, my question is what play makers. Cooper and James are studs at running back but OU's run defense is a little better than Marshall's. The 'Canes wide reciever core dropped many balls last Saturday and when they weren't dropping passes, Freeman was overthrowing them.

Prediction: If the the 'Canes passing game struggled against Marshall's weak pass defense, then they are going to be disastrous against OU, I'm predicting two picks from Freeman. The running game is talented, but so is OU's defense, so the James, Cooper compo will gain 135 yards on Sat. The "D" is amazing and will continue to make plays but the 'Canes will lose to the Sooners 24-10.

Cooper and James carry 'Canes

‘Canes started the game sluggish but picked up steam with every yard their talented running back tandem gained. The pair of Javarris James and Greg Cooper combined for 215 yards and two rushing touchdowns in the ‘Canes 31 to 3 drubbing of the Heard.



Cooper and James seem to have a genuine friendship, unlike the faux one between QB’s, and their friendship drives a competition that will drive the “U” to a solid season. Best example of this competition, one play after James busted a 52 yard run that was called back for holding; Cooper took the same play 56 yards. After the game, James said he was happy for Cooper and upset he didn’t get a touchdown. The “U” has one of the best one-two punches at running back this year and Shannon was smart to ride them for 26 carries today.



Starting QB Kirby Freeman, on the other hand, looked average at best. He threw only one pick, but had another ball bounce off the hands of a Heard defender and threw a few other questionable passes. My prediction he will be the major reason why the ‘Canes won’t upset OU next week.

The defense was OK early, then as the game progressed they developed into the dominate force that everyone thought they would be. The defense combined for 5.5 sacks and four interceptions. Calais Campbell had an amazing one handed interception, that showed off his athletic ability and knowledge of the game, earlier Tevaris Gooden had a fingertip pick off the grass.

West Boca Stampedes to Victory

The West Boca Bulls stampeded all over the Spanish River Sharks 53-0 on Friday night. Quarterback Robert Powell was the star for the visiting Bulls, rushing for two touchdowns and throwing for three more.

The tone for the game was set on the third play of the Bulls opening drive. Powell saved what could have been a disastrous play, when he picked up a fumbled handoff and emerged untouched from a pile of Spanish River defenders and scampered into the corner of the end zone for a 15 yard touchdown run. On the next series, Powell showed his escape ability again, eluding multiple Sharks on his way to a 28 yard touchdown run along the near sideline. Although West Boca Coach Willie Dorado wasn’t thrilled with the scrambles, stating that “it was not good execution by our team.”

The offensive onslaught continued in the second quarter when, after a 35 yard run by Paris Pee, Joseph Trebitz powered his way three yards into the end zone. Next possession for the Bulls resulted in a 16 yard touchdown pass from Powell to Jeff Hutchinson. A 23 yard pass from Powell to Nathan Nord set up a Pee three yard touchdown run to end the half.

The second half ended the same way the first ended, with the Bulls scoring another touch down. Powell threw his second touchdown pass of the game, a 22 yard bullet to Nord. On the Bulls next drive a quick change of direction allowed Michael Bernard to run for 43 yards, setting up a five yard touchdown pass from Powell to Nord. With the clock running out, Marquis Jones made his last carry of the game count, running 32 yards for another Bulls touchdown.

A relentless effort from running back Brett Swider, who touched the ball 28 times in the game, typified the effort that Sharks Coach Perry Schneider is looking for. After the game Schneider said “we tried, a lot of these guys don’t know what it takes to get the job done.”