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Your first UM game..

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hotshot said:
Season opener in 1964 at the OB against FSU. They beat us 14-0 behind the Steve Tensi to Freddie Biletnikoff passing combination. Soph Bob Biletnikoff (Fred's bro) started his first game as a Cane at QB (Frosh weren't eligible back then).
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I watched Bob Biletnikoff start at QB for UM in Gainesville at the end of the '64 season. We lost.

I saw my HS OL and DL coaches watching from the Miami sideline although they had been players just a year or two before for FSU and UF, respectively. I had moved to Cocoa Beach and was on it's first team. Eddie Feely, who became a very successful coach, I think winning the state championship at Merritt Island, was our head coach at Cocoa Beach.

Feely was FSU's QB before Tensi. Eddie finished up at FSU around '62, I think. He spent a year as an assistant at Samford while also attending Cumberland Law School. He tried to convince me Cumberland would be a good place to go, but I never did. I went to a different law school many years later. Bobby Bowden was a Samford product, I think.

Getting back to the Biletnikoff brothers, Bob spent only a year at UM before leaving early after getting $50K as a bonus from the Yankees.

Fred Biletnikoff was the goods. One year he intercepted a pass and took it back for a TD to beat UM. That's when we started to have trouble beating FSU.

Interesting story. The great FSU WR Ron Sellers from the late '60's had a brother Ben who was a HS A-A QB in Jax. Rumor had it that Ron told Ben not to go to FSU because head coach Bill Peterson (Mr. Malaprop) was a jerk. So I think Ben went to UF. Just a few years earlier, great FSU WR Freddie Biletnikoff had a younger brother, Bob, who went to UM. Always wondered if it was the same story, Fred steering Bob away from FSU. Never heard a similar story to the Sellers story but I always wondered.

FSU had two of the greatest college receivers of the decade: Biletnikoff and Sellers.

I watched Bill Sellers play a lot and he was awesome.

UM's first Black player, Ray Bellamy, was similar in build and style to Sellers. Very tall and fluid. He only played one year because of a bad car accident.

That '64 UM team had Russ Smith and Pete Banaszak, whom many thought might turn out to be like the fabled Mr. Outside (Glenn Davis) and Mr. Inside (Doc Blanchard) that Coach Gus had coached as an assistant to Red Blaik at Army. Army was a major college power in the '40's and Coach Gustafson had been part of that as an offensive assistant at Army. Davis and Blanchard and Miami native Arnold Tucker at QB were among the greatest college football players of the first half of the 20th century. Tucker started at UM but later played at West Point. He is in the CFB HOF as I'm sure Davis and Blanchard are. There was a lot of moving around I the '40's due to the war and the draft.

(For those of you who are a product of modern education, we had a big war in the 1940's and the draft was not some cold air blowing through because somebody left a window open. No gender studies back then, no trigger warnings, no safe spaces, no loaner puppies to comfort during finals.)

Smith and Banaszak did not become the equivalent of Blanchard and Davis, unfortunately. Banaszak became very solid RB for the Raiders for a number of years.
That '64 team, I think was Charlie Tate's first year. He had been an OC at GATech, I think, and a successful Miami High coach before that.

That was during Miami High's glory years. A real powerhouse.
 
CandideCane said:
1988 OB vs OK. JJ vs Barry for all the marbles. Was on vacation from LA and went with Fam from the 305. What an Atmosphere! What a Defense (JB, BB, Stubbs, Moss...)! The OB that night was lit up for real. Have only seen a few games @ Rock nowhere close, but from TV maybe ND game?
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I don't think Jerome Brown was on that '87 NC team so he would not have played against Oklahoma in that '88 OB.

Greg Mark and the late Derwin Jones we're starters at DT.

I don't think Winston Moss was there either. Graduated after '86. Starting LBs in the '88 OB were Randy Shannon, Rod Carter and Tiger Clark. Tiger replaced George Mira, Jr. who was suspended for failing a drug test. Remember the controversy when JJ kicked George Jr. off the sideline during pre-game?

They moved George inside to DT because ******* Dan Sileo had run out of eligibility. He was going to play anyway that season and we would have forfeited the entire season.

EDIT: I was correct, Jerome Brown and Winston Moss we're gone by the '87 NC season ('88 OB game).

Starting DL: Bill Hawkins, Danny Stubbs (DE's); Derwin Jones, Greg Mark (DTs). Severely undersized vs. Oklahoma.

 
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SFbayCane said:
1978 against San Diego State.

My dad told me the Canes had the best running back in college football and no one in the NFL knows about him. My dad wanted to see him play because he was sure the Dolphins would get him in the draft.

The following spring I remember my dad listening to the NFL draft on WIOD (how it was done back then - lol). "With the 6th pick of the first round, the St. Louis Cardinals choose.....Ottis Anderson, running back from Miami of Florida."

My dad was ****ed.
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The pro scouts knew. I remember a feature story in the Washington Post after Ottis burst on the scene in '78. He exploded in his very first NFL game against, I think, the Cowboys. It might have been Bobby Beathard, head of player personnel for Redskins, who was quoted as saying he was best to come out since O.J. Simpson. One of the networks during their NFL broadcasts had picked him as sleeper college player of year.

The pro scouts knew, the rest of the world didn't. Except for college coaches who had to play him.

I wish I had seen him play in college but I lived up north and UM was never on network TV. No ESPN back then.

If NFL hadn't known it is likely he wouldn't have gone so high in draft.
 
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TheMatador said:
I don't think Jerome Brown was on that '87 NC team so he would not have played against Oklahoma in that '88 OB.

Greg Mark and the late Derwin Jones we're starters at DT.

I don't think Winston Moss was there either. Graduated after '86. Starting LBs in the '88 OB were Randy Shannon, Rod Carter and Tiger Clark. Tiger replaced George Mira, Jr. who was suspended for failing a drug test. Remember the controversy when JJ kicked George Jr. off the sideline during pre-game?

They moved George inside to DT because ******* Dan Sileo had run out of eligibility. He was going to play anyway that season and we would have forfeited the entire season.

EDIT: I was correct, Jerome Brown and Winston Moss we're gone by the '87 NC season ('88 OB game).

Starting DL: Bill Hawkins, Danny Stubbs (DE's); Derwin Jones, Greg Mark (DTs). Severely undersized vs. Oklahoma.

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Thanks for the refresh, I was 12 so will leave it to your memory. Just knew that the way they played defense and the way that OB shook is until this day the best atmosphere I've been part of. I know I was young and yes, my memory already proven cloudy but my bones still can feel the vibration of the whole place.
 
DC1986 said:
2018, AT&T Stadium, Miami vs LSU, 50 yard line View attachment 76146View attachment 76147View attachment 76149
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Miami vs LA Tech in 04 I think. I don’t remember much about it but I knew canes were gonna win. My second was this game and watching Jeff Thomas performance softened the blow, but made me feel utterly helpless watching the U. Life comes at you fast lol. Also **** near 50 yard line behind WAAAAY too many LSU fans for my liking smh
 
2003 vs WVU.
Was 15...had watched UM for years as my family were all Canes fans, but I grew up in Montana, so I never made it to a game. Then, I was in Miami after a long, risky hitchhiking adventure through Central America and Colombia. Kellen Winslow Jr. was God that game.
I remember watching the game against UF earlier that season in a bar in Bogota and people going wild over it. What a time to be alive.
 
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TheMatador said:
I

I watched Bob Biletnikoff start at QB for UM in Gainesville at the end of the '64 season. We lost.

Getting back to the Biletnikoff brothers, Bob spent only a year at UM before leaving early after getting $50K as a bonus from the Yankees.

Fred Biletnikoff was the goods. One year he intercepted a pass and took it back for a TD to beat UM. That's when we started to have trouble beating FSU.

FSU had two of the greatest college receivers of the decade: Biletnikoff and Sellers.

I watched Bill Sellers play a lot and he was awesome.

UM's first Black player, Ray Bellamy, was similar in build and style to Sellers. Very tall and fluid. He only played one year because of a bad car accident.

That '64 UM team had Russ Smith and Pete Banaszak, whom many thought might turn out to be like the fabled Mr. Outside (Glenn Davis) and Mr. Inside (Doc Blanchard) that Coach Gus had coached as an assistant to Red Blaik at Army.

Smith and Banaszak did not become the equivalent of Blanchard and Davis, unfortunately. Banaszak became very solid RB for the Raiders for a number of years.
That '64 team, I think was Charlie Tate's first year. He had been an OC at GATech, I think, and a successful Miami High coach before that.

That was during Miami High's glory years. A real powerhouse.
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Matador,

1. 1964 was indeed Tate's first UM team.
2. Freddie B was better than Sellars. Pro careers are added evidence of that.
3. Biletnikoff Bros were from Erie, Pa
4. Bob, a left handed thrower if I recall. Could be wrong. He ran Tate's "Sprint Option" offense. Basically a moving pocket where the QB could run himself (preferred), pitch to a trailing back (second choice), or Pass (last option). Bob was not particualarly accurate as a thrower. Few lefty's are. Apologies to Ken Stabler.
5. Russ Smith from FtL Stranahan was fast but always injured. Stll, he did play for the Chargers a bit.
6. Banaszak played, what, 10 years in the NFL for the Raiders? A Walt Kichefski (Wisconsin native) recruit from the north woods of Wisconsin. Tough as nails. Looked it too. Jerry Daanen, WR, was another Badger.
7. I was at Penn State in 1968 when Ray Bellamy put UM up 7-0 by hauling in an 80 yd strike from David Olivo. We ended up losing to a GREAT penn State team. Tony Cline going out allowed Paterno to double Ted Hendricks. Psu had Lydell Mitchell and Charlie Pittman. Two good backs plus an all-world DL and LBs.
8. Did you see the Miami High-Gables matchup of undefeated teams in the OB in 1965? Stings won. 48,000 in attendance (real number).
 
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My parents told me it was 1984 vs. Rice, but I don't really remember. The first one I remember was 1985 vs. Louisville.
 
linesniper said:
Now that we've spent that last few weeks cringing about what will be in the present, take a moment to reminisce about the past -- something we as Canes fans have grown quite fond of doing over the last decade and a half.

When and where was the first UM game you attended?

I'll kick it off....1983 in the Doak. Shnelly brought his #6 ranked Canes into Tallahassee vs an unranked FSU squad. Noles nearly pulled off the upset, but in the final 2 minutes. Kosar marched the offense straight down the field in my direction. Davis kicked the game winner in the final seconds and the ball nearly landed in my lap as time expired. Final score 17-16 good guys.

Our boys would go on to beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl that season for our first Natty. I was hooked.
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Well this ages me but 1957...Miami vs Baylor, my dad ushered at the OB and got me in through a gate where the floats for the OB would enter. Miami won 13-6. Miami had some ranked teams back then, in 1956 finished #6 in the country but was on probation, what's new? Been a Canes fan for a looooooong time, lol. before most of you were born. lol
 
hotshot said:
Matador,

1. 1964 was indeed Tate's first UM team.
2. Freddie B was better than Sellars. Pro careers are added evidence of that.
3. Biletnikoff Bros were from Erie, Pa
4. Bob, a left handed thrower if I recall. Could be wrong. He ran Tate's "Sprint Option" offense. Basically a moving pocket where the QB could run himself (preferred), pitch to a trailing back (second choice), or Pass (last option). Bob was not particualarly accurate as a thrower. Few lefty's are. Apologies to Ken Stabler.
5. Russ Smith from FtL Stranahan was fast but always injured. Stll, he did play for the Chargers a bit.
6. Banaszak played, what, 10 years in the NFL for the Raiders? A Walt Kichefski (Wisconsin native) recruit from the north woods of Wisconsin. Tough as nails. Looked it too. Jerry Daanen, WR, was another Badger.
7. Did you see the Miami High-Gables matchup of undefeated teams in the OB in 1965? Stings won. 48,000 in attendance (real number).
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I was there! OB was packed
 
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mdpcane said:
you lost your cherry in Trailerhassee ? ****.

mine was in the OB in 1983 when the Canes beat 13th ranked Notre Douche 20-0 .. the shutout was icing on the cake.
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That was my first game too. I was 3 and didn't understand what was going on, so only cheered when other cheered lol. First game I went to that i remember was the 2008 bowl game vs cal
 
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My first Canes game was a real classic, 1981 vs. the Gators in the Orange Bowl. I wish I remembered more about the game, like Kelly going down with an injury and Richt coming in and leading the comeback, but at this point all I truly remember is Danny Miller's 55 yard FG to win it.

I didn't go to all the games in 1981, so unfortunately I was not at the game against Penn St. later in the year. I started going to all the games in 1982.
 
linesniper said:
Now that we've spent that last few weeks cringing about what will be in the present, take a moment to reminisce about the past -- something we as Canes fans have grown quite fond of doing over the last decade and a half.

When and where was the first UM game you attended?

I'll kick it off....1983 in the Doak. Shnelly brought his #6 ranked Canes into Tallahassee vs an unranked FSU squad. Noles nearly pulled off the upset, but in the final 2 minutes. Kosar marched the offense straight down the field in my direction. Davis kicked the game winner in the final seconds and the ball nearly landed in my lap as time expired. Final score 17-16 good guys.

Our boys would go on to beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl that season for our first Natty. I was hooked.
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Miami vs. Kansas in Lawrence, KS. in 1978. My uncle was a scout for the Chiefs and he went over to look at Ottis Anderson and I was able to go with him. UM won and I was hooked as a Miami fan. Lester Williams was also on that team.
 
Fan as a kid but we lived too far away and my Dad was a Gator fan.

First game was '98 UCLA in the Orange Bowl, Second was '99 FSU at Doak, was at '00 FSU in the Orange Bowl, along with '01 Washington in the Orange Bowl and '02 UF in the Swamp. So many great memories.

Season ticket holder now.
 
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