I'm from Miami and my parents were both alums. Mom was Summa *** Laude and dad got a doctorate.
They started taking me to Canes games when I was a young kid in the mid '60s. But my attention wandered and I wanted to walk around the Orange Bowl. Dad couldn't keep my attention on the game until he told me to watch
#89 on every play. I didn't understand that. I assumed all the players were the same.
Uh, not exactly. Very quickly I was wide eyed and looking at my dad in amazement.
#89 was a monster. He would stand up the ball carrier like he was toying with a younger kid, and wrestle the ball away. But so often the referees would intervene and say...nope we ruled forward progress stopped, not a fumble. Sorry Ted.
That example taught me to watch anything but the football for the rest of my life. You'll see the football anyway.
I have vague memories of games from '66 and '67 but the first season I remember in full was '68. Opening game thumping of Northwestern. David Olivo throwing a pass smack into the stomach of a VPI linebacker who raced down the right sideline before being chased down by our fleet halfback Bobby Best inside the 5 yard line. A goal line stand saved that game.
Friday night games were awesome. We loaded kids from the neighborhood into the van for those games. I anticipated them all day in school. Then afterwards we'd eat pizza at some joint like Blue Grotto.
The '70s were fun because we always had enough talent to spring an occasional huge upset or near upset of a top team. Great defensive tackles year after year along with skill position stars like Chuck Foreman and O.J. Anderson, who was an absolute freak. Don't make the mistake of defining the '70s via record only. We were getting close. Fortunately Schnellenberger recognized that and took the job.
When I went away to school at USC my friends frequently kidded me about wearing University of Miami stuff. The football team was mocked. That ceased and reversed when I was a senior.
Now neither fan base fully accepts me because I'll never be a cheerleader type and I'll never give away allegiance to either Miami or USC. Heck, the teams haven't played since 1968. Not exactly an annual conflict. I remember listening to that '68 game on the radio while walking around outside our home late at night. Reception was better out there. Game was not televised locally in Miami. USC won 28-3 while mostly running away from that
#89 .