Eric Rodriguez

I really enjoyed watching the Florida Gators and the Miami Hurricanes play football this past Saturday night. It was great to see some old friends, and it was great to be able to talk some trash and have the favor returned. I was rooting for the Canes because they are an ACC team, because my dad is an alum, and because they are not the Gators. Both teams struggled to establish a running game, both teams made many mistakes, and both teams looked like they could be beaten this year by the Florida State Seminoles.

The scoring got started quickly with the Canes driving down the field and scoring a field goal. On their first possession, the Gators took a chance on a fake punt on a fourth down play, keeping their drive alive and helping them get into the end zone. Miami had to punt the next time they got the ball, and the Gators resorted to going for it on fourth down twice before fumbling the ball to Miami. This brought us the first appearance of the Hurricanes’ revamped turnover chain.

If you have been living under a rock somewhere, you might have missed Miami’s turnover chain. It is awarded when one of their defensive players makes a play that results in a turnover. It is gold, gaudy and prohibitively expensive. Not content to already have the most over-the-top reward in college football, the Canes have a new design for the chain this year. It is still made of gold but now instead of just a large, jewel-encrusted U, there is a smaller, jewel-encrusted U above a huge, diamond-encrusted 305. I can say without reservation, that there has never been a more expensive tribute to an area code.

The Gators continued to struggle on offense, and the Canes managed to get close enough to the end zone to score their second field goal of the night to bring the score to 7–6. The University of Florida had to punt to the Canes again late in the second quarter, and this time Miami scored a touchdown. This made the score 13–7 before the half, and introduced Miami’s newest reward for offensive players who score a touchdown.

I always thought it was a little unfair to the guys on the offensive side of the ball who had to watch their defensive teammates walk around the sidelines with jewelry on that cost more than a new sports car. To remedy this, the Hurricanes now award Touchdown Rings to players who score touchdowns. The rings are jewel-encrusted in orange and green stones and cover four fingers on each hand. I wonder if a defensive player who catches an interception and runs it back for a touchdown will be awarded the chain and the rings. Unfortunately, fans will have to wait until at least next week to see if that is the case because there were not any pick-6s for the Canes against the Gators.

The second half of the game was very entertaining with several lead changes, more jewelry being worn on the sidelines, a fake field goal and a missed field goal. The Canes missed the field goal, wide right of course, and missed an excellent opportunity to defeat the Gators. The higher ranked team did squeak out a victory. The final score was University of Florida 24, University of Miami 20. It was a great start to what is sure to be an exciting college football season.

Eric lives in Suwannee County and is a public school educator. He is an independent contractor. You can reach him at miamistyle8@gmail.com.