Miami Hurricanes Wrap-up

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

The road back to respectability for the Miami Hurricanes has taken its share of twists and turns under Coach Mario Cristobal.

Going into their home game vs the Louisville Cardinals on November 18, the Hurricanes entered the contest at 6-4 and qualified for a bowl game. 

The Hurricanes were 6-0-1 all-time vs the Cardinals at home. A win for Louisville would give the Cardinals a spot in the ACC Championship Game. Moreover, this was a game where there would be a piece of hardware that would be given to the winner.

That piece of hardware was the Howard Schnellenberger Trophy as the legendary coach masterminded turnarounds for both programs. 

The game was played with a temperature of 70 degrees under cloudy skies with winds at 10 MPH and the relative humidity at 79%.

The Cardinals entered the game as the No. 10 team in the country while Miami was unranked and ninth in the ACC.

During the first half, the Hurricanes didn’t look like an unranked opponent as they took a 21-20 lead at half at halftime. They also outscored Louisville 7-3 in the third quarter to take a 28-23 at the end of the stanza.

But the biggest Achilles heel for Miami all-season is not playing well for an entire 60 minutes which resulted in the Cardinals outscoring the Hurricanes 15-3 in the fourth quarter.

In what would turnout to be his last home game, QB Tyler Van Dyke had a strong outing with a 24-39, 327 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions. Van Dyke entered the transfer portal and will be the signal caller in 2024 for the Wisconsin Badgers.

Running back Mark Fletcher made his presence felt by with 17 carries for 126 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught one pass for 25 yards.

As he’s been all-season, Xavier Restrepo had a monster contest with eight receptions for 193 yards and a touchdown.

Finally, kicker Andres Borregales proved why he’s one of the best kickers in by kicking one field goal for 51-yards and converted all four of his extra point opportunities. Expect to see him in the NFL in the future.

The Hurricanes amassed 486 yards in total offense, but penalties plagued the team as Miami had five for 50-yards.

The end result was a 38-31 Cardinals triumph the loss law Miami drop to 6-5 heading into its final game on the road against Boston College. The Cardinals would face Florida State in the ACC Title Game.

Check out the videos inside to see what Coach Cristobal, Van Dyke along with other players had to say. 

How would the Hurricanes fare in New England on Friday, November 24?

Much better.

Miami rolled to a 45-20 win and led 28-7 at halftime.

In what would turn out to be his final game, Van Dyke was 23-36 for 290 yards and two touchdowns with a passer rating of 149.9.

The touchdowns came all over the place.

Running back Henry Parrish had 11 carries for 111 yards and two scores. Ajax Allen gained 68 yards and had a touchdown. Mark Fletcher’s number included 12 carries for 44 yards and a touchdown, Donald Chaney had three carries for 11 yards also added a touchdown. 

After this game, Chaney entered the transfer portal and like Van Dyke wouldn’t play in the Hurricanes Bowl Game.

On this day, Xavier Restrepo had six receptions for 117 yards, Jacolby George had six receptions for 89 yards along with a touchdown. Finally, Colbie Young amassed three carries for 34 yards and a touchdown.

Once again, the Hurricanes rolled to an easy win and outscored Boston College 10-6 in the final quarter.

Miami was invited to the Pinstripe Bowl (Yankee Stadium) and took its 7-5 record to face the 6-6 Rutgers Scarlet Knights of the Big Ten. This would be essentially a home game in New York City for Rutgers on December 28, 2023.

As I mentioned earlier, the break between the Boston College game and the Pinstripe Bowl saw Van Dyke and Chaney depart via the transfer portal. There were other injuries to Miami as well.

This left Miami with Jacurri Brown as the starting quarterback and he was playing his first contest of the year. 

He didn’t look bad as he was 20-31 for 181 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also factored into the ground game by rushing for 57 yards and two touchdowns.

There was talk all-game by the ESPN announcers that Brown is contemplating the transfer portal to find a team that will give him more playing time. We’ll see how this plays out in the coming weeks.

Prior to the game, Rutgers had never defeated Miami.

Despite Restrepo’s 11 receptions for 99-yards and a touchdown, this would be the extent of Miami’s offense. Fletcher left the game in the first quarter due to an injury and you could see the frustration in the Canes face.

Meanwhile, Scarlet Knights running back Kyle Monangai led the ground attack and impressed the scouts with 25 carries for 163 yards and a touchdown.

QB Gavin Wimsatt proved to be the ultimate game manager as he was 7-15 for 84 yards but also had nine carries for nine yards with two touchdowns on the ground.

The result turned out to be a 31-24 win and Rutgers earned its first win over Miami in the series. The Hurricanes final points occurred with under a minute to go in the fourth quarter.

Miami has only won one bowl game in the past 12 seasons and you can rest assure it’s going to be an arduous off-season in Cristobal’s third year with the program. 

One positive development in what would turnout to be a 7-6 season was the decision for Restrepo to return for the 2024 season. He was eligible for the 2024 draft.

The redshirt junior recorded 85 catches for 1,092 yards and six touchdowns. You can rest assure that he will return to the Hurricanes as the team’s top target. It remains to be seen as to see who Restrepo will be catching passes from.

To say that the 2023 season was a roller coaster ride is understating the obvious. 

There is no doubt that Miami had two quality wins versus Miami (Ohio) and Texas A&M had the season going in the right direction in September. A win over Clemson during the ACC also helped.

But this is a team that was marred by inconsistency and if they was to keep the fan base, alumni interested, there has to be marked improvement in 2024 or the catcalls will be out for the ouster of Cristobal.

It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out in over the next 12 months.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can find him on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth.

Also, to see his broadcasts, by Subscribing to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

Also, Scott wrote his first book “Lessons From The Microphone” which can be purchased on Amazon and Kindle.

Veterans Day In Florida State Capital

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

TALLAHASSEE, FL

I’ve covered some football games on Veterans Day in the NFL, but not in College Football until last weeks contest featuring the Miami Hurricanes at Florida State Seminoles on Saturday, November 11, 2023.

Prior to going to the game, I predicted on the External Bum Podcast on Friday that the 14 point underdogs, Miami Hurricanes would lose the game, but I was hoping the Canes would keep it close. Miami did just that as the Canes and Seminoles were tied at 10-10 at the end of the first half and lost 27-20.

Miami decided to start freshman QB Emory Williams to give the team a spark. The Canes figured his mobility could stretch the Seminoles defense. Williams did amass five carries for a negative seven yards but one of those carries was a sack. 

Williams was a factor in the passing game as he went 8-23-0 interceptions and had two touchdown passes for 175 yards and was sacked twice. One of those passes was an 85 yard strike to Jacolby George. His favorite target was George, who had five receptions for 153 yards and two touchdowns.

Leading the Miami rushing attack was Donald Chaney Jr. He had 12 carries for 85 yards with a long of 29 followed by Mark Fletcher Jr. He had 16 carries for 55 yards.

The numbers definitely told the story of this game. 

Miami definitely dominated on the ground 34 carries for 131 yards, while FSU had 31 carries for 57 yards, however, QB Jordan Travis was sacked for 30 yards. Trey Benson led FSU in rushing with 80 yards and a pair of touchdowns. One of his touchdowns was a 38-yard rush.

FSU more than made up for it in the passing yards as Travis was 19-31, 0 interceptions, 265 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked three times. Leading the receivers for FSU were Johnny Wilson, 5-82, Keon Coleman 4-24, one touchdown, JaKhi Douglas three for 69 yards and Jaheim Bell three for 41 yards.

Miami out gained FSU in total yards 335-322. FSU led in time of possession 30:40-29:20 and first downs 17-13. Miami was penalized seven times for 40 yards while FSU three times for 35 yards.

The Hurricanes had a chance to win the game late, but unfortunately Williams was injured and was carted off the field. The Canes turned to Tyler Van Dyke, but he wasn’t able to lead his troops to the end zone . Van Dyke was 2-7 for 29 yards and one interception.

Kicker Andy Borregales kicked two field goals, one of 27 yards and the other was 51 yards, plus converted his pair of extra points.

Florida State got more than it bargained for, not covering the 14 points and once again, escaped with a 27-20 win.

The talk after the game centered around Williams——————————injury and while Coach Mario Cristobal was pleased with the effort of his squad, a moral victory in the State Capital isn’t what he was looking for as you’re going to see and hear in the video enclosed.

He did say that he’s delighted as to what the Canes QB situation looks like in the future.

All of the videos are available from the Miami post-game press conference. 

This was my first trip to FSU and it was quite an experience. 

From the long walk starting with the Media Garage to picking up my credential, walking around the stadium taking a photo at the Bobby Bowden Statue to getting into the game and just observing the environment in the press box was worth the seven hour trip.

There was a long walk to the other side Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Walker Stadium going on the field and into the Miami Interview Room, engrossed into the sights and sounds of the sellout crowd of 79,560 fans.

If you like college football, this is a place you have to get to. It was that electric. 

Meanwhile, the loss dropped Miami to 6-4 while FSU improved to 10-0. They are ranked fourth in the College Football Playoff.

The Hurricanes, whom are bowl eligible wrap up their home schedule at Noon at Hard Rock Stadium face the Louisville Cardinals (9-1) for the newly created Howard Schnellenberger Trophy. The Canes will also honor for QB Gino Torretta, who won a Heisman Trophy while playing for “The U.”

Scott Morganroth can be reached at Southfloridatribune@Gmail.com and you can find him on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth. To see all of his broadcasts, there is no charge to Subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

Also, Scott has a new book called “Lessons From The Microphone” that can be purchased at Amazon or Kindle.

What’s Ahead For The Canes?

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

Regardless of the opponents record there is no way you can take your opponent lightly in the Atlantic Coast Conference. 

The Miami Hurricanes found that out on October 7, when they lost to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, who were 2-3 going into the matchup, and lost the game in the final seconds as by not using victory formation, the Canes lost a fumble that led to a 23-20 loss at Hard Rock Stadium. Head Coach Mario Cristobal owned up to his mistake a couple days later.

Would the Hurricanes (25) bounce back the following week in Chapel Hill facing the North Carolina Tar Heals (12)? That would not be the case as North Carolina Head Coach Mack Brown had his club up 35-17 by the end of the third quarter and cruised to the win. North Carolina won the contest 41-31.

To this point, the Hurricanes were 0-2 in ACC Competition and were looking to snap that streak against the Clemson Tigers, but they would have to do it without starting QB Tyler Van Dyke, who missed the game do to an injury.

Enter Freshman QB Emory Williams who was getting his first start. The youngster showed no fear and he completed 24/33 151 yards along with one touchdown pass, plus an interception.

He had some help from running back Ajay Allen, who had 16 carries for 54 yards and scored a touchdown.

Wide receiver Colbie Young caught six passes for 26 yards and a touchdown.

Clemson took a 17-7 at the end of the third quarter but Miami took over in the fourth quarter in the fourth quarter and overtimes out scoring Clemson 21-3 and pulled out a 28-20 triumph vs Dabo Swinney and his club.

Could the Hurricanes add another win against the Virginia Cavaliers (2-5), to close out October and reach Bowl Eligibility?

For the second straight win, the Hurricanes went to overtime and won 29-26 over the Cavaliers.

It was a tough night for Van Dyke who was 20/30 163 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT.

Ajay Allen was a factor in the ground game with 11 carries, for 67 yards and a touchdown. Miami’s leading receiver was Xavier Restrepo, who had three receptions for 48 yards.

But the man of the night was kicker Andres Borregales, who kicked three field goals and made his only two extra points.

This victory improved the Canes to 6-2 and the team reached Bowl Eligibility.

This set the stage for a road game on Saturday as Miami went to Raleigh, NC to face the North Carolina State Wolfpack.

Once again, it was a tough night on the gridiron for Van Dyke as he went 21/38 for 173 yards, 0 TD and three interceptions. 

Mark Fletcher had a solid game on the ground with 23 carries for 115 yards while Jacolby George had five receptions for 59 yards,

The big numbers that stood out was Miami was 4-15 in 3rd down efficiency, six penalties for 55 yards. The Hurricanes out gained NC State 292-231 yards and Miami led in time of possession 35:16-24:44. Miami also had a fumble loss. 

There is no doubt that this was one of the worst performances of the year against an opponent that no has the same record, 6-3. The Hurricanes lost the game 20-6.

Now the stage is set as Miami travels to Tallahassee to take on the Florida State Seminoles. Game time is 3:30 PM ET.

The Hurricanes open up as 14 point underdogs on the road at Florida State for Week 11.

There is No/Over/Under listed at open.

If the Hurricanes even have a chance to win this game, Van Dyke must play his best game ever.

Otherwise. If the struggles continue, No. 4 Florida State (9-0-0) could turn this game into a scrimmage.

There is no doubt there will be lots of bowl representatives and scouts in attendance at Doak Campbell Stadium.

Now the Canes have a chance to let the country know that the program is progressing under Mario Cristobal.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com 

You can find him on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth and to see all of his broadcasts, Just subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

 

The New Game In Town

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

Up until the past two weeks, I had never heard of the University of Fort Lauderdale (UFTL), but when an administrator brought it to my attention, then I became curious to see if this school had a football program.

After that, I went through the proper channels and proceeded to do some research on this school which is located in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Lauderhill, FL which is 30 minutes west off Sunrise Blvd.

The University of Fort Lauderdale has an enrollment of 450 students.

It competes in the South Region of Division I of the NCCAA and fields eight teams.

When I found out that this university is named the Eagles, it brought memories when I graduated high school from the Lakeland Eagles in 1981 back in Milford, MI.

The most intriguing part of doing this story is that I have a passion for covering new sports programs.

I started working with the Florida Atlantic Owls in 2007 and reunited with Head Coach Howard Schnellenberger, whom I worked with at the University of Miami in 1982. I’ve watched the progression of FAU as the Owls have grown into playing in the American Athletic Conference.

There is no better person to build this program than a local coach, who knows how to recruit South Florida.

Miami native Damon Cordell, 48, joined UFTL as head coach in 2022.

Prior to joining UFTL, Coach Cognell had many successful coaching jobs at the High School level and collegiate ranks such as West Virginia University (WVU) and the University of South Florida.

Cordell was a standout linebacker at West Virginia, lettering in 1997 and 1998. 

He posted 66 tackles as a senior and finished his career with 107. He earned his bachelors degree from WVU in 1999.

He went on to start at linebacker for the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League from 2000, 2001 and was part of the Lions 2000 Grey Cup Championship.

Cogdell’s best coaching stop occurred at Miramar High School from 2002-2013, serving as head coach and defensive coordinator since 2007, and defensive coordinator throughout his stint. He also served as the school’s athletic director.

Cogdell compiled an impressive 72-19 record as head coach and led Miramar to the 2009 Class A State Championship and a 2011 runner-up finish. 

He was selected the 2009 High School Coach of the Year by Nike, the Black Coaches Association of America, the Miami Herald and the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel.

Cogdell was the first runner-up for National High School Coach of the Year by the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in 2012. Miramar’s 2009 defense gave up just 122 yards per-game, while the 2011 team gave up just 143.

He coached more than 50 players that went on to play collegiate football, including West Virginia standouts Geno Smith, an All-Big 12 quarterback in the second round of the NFL Draft by the New York Jets, and wide receiver Stedman Bailey, a first team All-American selected in the third round of the NFL Draft by the St.Louis Rams.

There is no doubt that Cogdell is the best kept secret in the coaching circles.

In addition to his role as head coach, Cogdell is the Athletic Director for UFTL. He’s the one tasked into building this program in the manner he sees fit. I can relate to what he’s doing because I’ve enjoyed taking a bad situation and turning it around, or building a situation from scratch.

On Thursday, Coach Cogdell and I spent time together and talked about his vision for UFTL.

Check out the video in this story. I know that many of us can appreciate where he’s coming from and the challenges he faces.

Cognell knows that he has a chance to set a good example for African American Coaches that aspire to inspire others to pursue their dreams.

There is no better place to start and this is “The New Game In Town.”

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@Gmail.com and you can find him on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth.

To see his broadcasts, there is no cost to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

Canes Get Signature Win Vs Clemson

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

The month of October hasn’t been very kind for the Miami Hurricanes.

Miami dropped a heart breaking loss to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Saturday, October 7,  23-20 when Coach Mario Cristobal called a running play that led to a fumble loss instead of kneeling down with about 30 seconds left in the contest. He owned up to the costly mistake a few days later.

A week later, The Hurricanes hit the road and lost to the North Carolina Tar Heels on October 14, 41-31 as QB Tyler Van Dyke sustained a lower extremity injury and was limited during the week of practice.

These pair of losses knocked Miami out of the polls as the Hurricanes headed into Saturday’s showdown vs the Clemson Tigers.

Prior to the game, Cristobal decided to not play Van Dyke as Emory Williams took the majority of the snaps during practice.

When you have a new QB, coaches tend to look toward the running game to take the pressure off and that’s what occurred.

On the opening drive of the contest, Clemson was driving the ball down the field but the drive stalled as the Canes forced a fumble into the Tigers end zone enabling the Hurricanes to take the ball at their own 20-yard line. 

It took all of 14 seconds for Miami to turn that turnover into points as running back Brashard Smith ran 80-yards for a touchdown to give the Canes a 7-0 lead and this would be the margin at the end of the first quarter.

Clemson proceeded to score 17 unanswered points as the Tigers led 17-7 by the end of the third quarter thanks to the combination of QB Cade Klubnik who went 18/34 for 314 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Wide receiver Jake Briningstool was targeted 10 times, had five receptions for 126 yards and two touchdowns. Briningstool looked so impressive that he could be on a future NFL roster playing on Sundays.

On a 79 degree night with clear skies, the Hurricanes showed no quit as they outscored Clemson 10-0 in the fourth quarter.

With eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, Williams hit Colbie Young for an 11-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 17-14. The time of the drive was 15 plays, 75 yards and 9:01

The Hurricanes followed this drive up with another one that went went 10 plays, 43 yards and lasted 5:15 leading to a 38-yard FG by Andres Borregales as the score was tied 17-17.

Both teams exchanged field goals in the first overtime making the score 20-20.

In the second overtime, Ajay Allen, who had 16 carries for for 54 yards scored his lone touchdown, but the decisive one, a three-yarder to give Miami a 26-20 lead, and a successful two point conversion increased it to 28-20.

This set the stage for Clemson’s next drive which would come up short as the Tigers were unable to score on three straight short running plays. 

On the game’s final play, needing no more than a yard for the end zone, Klubnik faked a handoff and rolled left, only to have no chance of getting past Miami linebacker Corey Flagg, who made the tackle and the Hurricanes sprinted onto the field in celebration.

A year ago, lost on the road to Clemson 40-10 where the Tigers tacked a touchdown on with 16 seconds remaining.

The loss means that Swinney has to wait until today before becoming the school’s outright leader in wins. He remains tied with Frank Howard for the most in Tigers history with 165.

Going into this game, Clemson had been 16-3 in the Swinney era in regular season games following a bye week, 47-10 in night games since the start of the 2015 season. Clemson had also blown out Miami in each of the last four seasons between between the schools by a combined score of 178-30.

As for the Hurricanes, they were 0-5 in home ACC games since the start of last season. That matched the longest home losing streak in conference games, dating back to the Big East Days. The Hurricanes dropped five straight ACC games at home during a stretch spanning 2007 and 2008.

Miami dominated the rushing yards by out gaining Clemson 211-21. Meanwhile, the Tigers doubled up the Canes in passing yards 314-151. Miami led in total yards 362-335. Time of possession went Miami’s way as the Canes led 34:54-25:06.

The Hurricanes were hit with eight penalties for 90 yards while Clemson mustered up seven for 38 yards.

The Tigers had four fumbles, two lost and one interception while Miami had a pair of fumbles but none of those lost to go a long with one interception.

There was no question that this was a hard fought, physical football game as a crowd of 48,562 observed. Miami improved its record to 5-2 while Clemson dropped to 4-3.

There were also representatives from the Jacksonville Jaguars, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans, Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, in addition to the Senior and Hula Bowls.

After the game, Coach Cristobal and the players made available in the post-game press were unquestionably in a much better mood than they were after the Georgia Tech game. I asked Cristobal about the final play. Williams comments were unbelievable as he told every media member that what we were asking, “Good Question” and you’re going to see this in one of the videos.

The Miami Hurricanes face the Virginia Cavaliers today at Hard Rock Stadium at 3:30 PM with a chance to become bowl eligible.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can find him on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth.

Also you can see his broadcasts by subscribing to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

Catching Up With Marlins Jody Reed

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

The best part about covering baseball on all levels, especially the Minor Leagues, are the relationships that you build throughout the years.

I’ve been very fortunate to work with the New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds and Texas Rangers Minor league clubs in Fort Lauderdale, FL, Tampa, FL, and Gastonia, NC. I covered the Yankees for the Hallandale Digest, Reds for the Tampa Tribune and worked as an administrator for the Rangers.

I have interviewed a lot of players and many of them reached the major leagues. Some of the ones that standout include Brian Butterfield, Rex Hudler, Joe Oliver, Dean Palmer, Sammy Sosa, Jose Rijo and many others. When they made it to the major leagues, our paths would cross during Spring Training as well as during the regular season. 

Other names worth mentioning are Kevin Rand, Lenny Harris and Barry Foote.

When I was working for the Tampa Tribune, my editors wanted me to write a story on local product on second baseman Jody Reed. At the time, he was drafted by the Boston Red Sox and was playing for the Class A, Florida State League’s Winter Haven, FL.

I did exactly that and caught up with him at Al Lopez Field, the home of the Tarpons. Reed was a hot prospect. He would make his MLB Debut on August 22, 1997 and would play in the majors for 10 seasons.

His stops were with the Red Sox (1987-1992), Los Angeles Dodgers (1993), Milwaukee Brewers (1994) San Diego Padres (1995-1996), Detroit Tigers (1997).

During his career, Reed hit .270, with 27 homers, and 392 RBI.

When the Marlins decided to make a managerial change replacing Don Mattingly with Skip Schumaker, there was an addition to the new coaching staff that stood out.

That was Jody Reed.

During this enclosed video, I had the opportunity to reminisce with Reed during the summer. This was a classic trip down memory lane.

As I mentioned early in this story, when you have great relationships in baseball, they last forever, these individuals don’t forget about you and as a result, wind up as interviews, photos, etc…

What makes baseball even better than many of the other sports is you can run across these people on all levels, especially the minor leagues.

One of my plans for 2024 is I’m hoping to write a book on the Greatest American Pastime. So stay tuned.

In the current book that I’m on the verge of completing, “Lessons From The Microphone” Tuning Into The Enduring Wisdom Of Visionary Leaders, there are a lot of baseball mentions, including Jody Reed.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth.

Also, you can find his broadcasts on the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel. There is no cost to subscribe to the channel. 

Not The Homecoming I Expected

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

My first and last Homecoming I attended at Raymond James Stadium was when the USF Bulls defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats and I was covering this game for the Detroit Monitor.

The Head Coach for USF was Jim Leavitt, who was the first one in the history of the program. Leavitt piloted the program from its inception in 1997 until 2009, compiling a record of 95-57.

After the game, I approached Leavitt for a one-on-one interview by introducing myself to him. He was hesitant for the moment and I told him that I want to promote MY ALMA-MATER in MY HOMETOWN,  of Detroit, MI. You had two intense individuals and I had the most intense eye contact that you could have with anybody. Leavitt did agree to do the interview and we left as friends and exchanged hugs.

The best part of having an alma-mater is it’s a place that you choose and I’m proud of the fact that I got my undergraduate BA Degree in Communication in 1986.

USF will always have a special place in my heart and when I return to campus, I try to update some of my clothing and wear them when I can.

On Saturday, October 14, at Raymond James Stadium, it was neat approaching the stadium. 

There was a different feeling as I saw lots of people wearing the green and gold colors.

I really felt like I was back home and saw my former colleague, Joey Johnston, who does broadcasting for the Bulls as I entered the press box. We took a quick photo together. Next on the photo list was the Director of Communications Brian Siegriest. Brian put the South Florida Tribune on the Media Distribution list when we just started the publication. I really appreciated his faith in me that I was going to build something special and I wanted my alma-mater involved.

On this day, Jim Leavitt wasn’t in the building. He’s the defensive coordinator for SMU, but did have a one-year stint at FAU in 2020 in that same role.

The opponent for homecoming was, you guessed it, The Florida Atlantic Owls. With Central Florida leaving for the Big 12, FAU figures to be the new instate rival for USF and this is the Owls first year in the American Athletic Conference.

Going into the game, USF led the all-time series 3-1. The last time these two schools met was in 2013, and FAU defeated the Bulls 28-10 in Raymond James Stadium.

When I saw there would be no conflict with the Miami Hurricanes, there was no way I was going to miss this contest. 

While USF is my alma-mater, I also have a deep connection to FAU since I’ve been covering the Owls since 2007 when program founder and father figure Howard Schnellenberger was roaming the sidelines. My relationship with Schnellenberger was truly incredible going back to our days working together in 1982-83.

During the week, I was open on Social Media that there was no way I was going to lose this game.

This season, I’ve developed an excellent working relationship with FAU Football Coach Tom Herman. The ice breaker was he really liked my “Motor City Mad Mouth” Hat and I’m currently in the process of getting him one.

During the video enclosed in this story, you’re going to see how much fun we have when we talk and during the post-game Media Availability, we took a photo together.

As for the game itself, FAU led USF 21-14 at halftime. 

FAU QB Daniel Richardson had an outstanding afternoon by completing 31/38 passes for 382 yards, had three touchdowns and one interception. Richardson used his legs on one play by rushing for 22 yards.

Running back Larry McCammon had 18 carries for 75 yards and a touchdown while wide receiver Tony Johnson had eight receptions for 131 yards and a touchdown.

I’m not going to get into any major game details. Instead, we’ll enclose the final stats off of stat cast to list all of the details of what turned out to be a 56-14 rout of the Bulls, who dropped to 3-4.

Prior to the FAU game, USF traveled to UAB and the Blazers defeated the Bulls 56-35 in Alabama.

When I asked Herman off camera if the UAB game was a good way to scout the Bulls, he said a little, but pointed out that he’s more interested in gauging his teams’ progress all-season against every opponent.

The one thing that both homecoming games at USF had in common was the flamboyant exchanges with two coaches that were very enlightening and enjoyable.

When you compare the two football programs, FAU has an on campus stadium while USF will finally get one in 2026. I’m looking forward seeing this.

When I was attending classes at USF, our homecoming was at Men’s Basketball Games at the Sun Dome. How things have changed. 

But now that these two schools are in the same conference, I look forward to seeing them compete more often. I do remember a time when Kevin Cooney was the head coach of FAU’s Baseball team and I covered a game vs FAU, and we had a good time talking about my mixed allegiances.

The once common denominator is that when I do attend games featuring USF vs FAU, I wear neutral colors. That’s the way it has to be.

As for what’s ahead, USF travels to Connecticut and faces the Huskies at 3:30 PM ET looking to snap a two-game losing streak.

Meanwhile, FAU has a two-game winning streak and hosts the University of Texas San Antonio Road Runners (3-3) at 6 PM. FAU is 3-3 and the Owls are looking to increase their winning streak to three games.

But as the title of this story says, “Not The Homecoming I Expected” means I didn’t expect a rout of this magnitude but it was real special being back in on of my home town covering my alma-mater. This was a memorable day as I look at the entire experience, beyond the score.

I have to admit, that since I live in South Florida, I would have gone after my masters degree at FAU since the school has grown immensely if I was 10-15 years younger. 

But, my Niece Bria Morganroth is on the verge of getting her degree with the Owls.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can find him on Twitter @TribuneSouth. Also, if you want to see his broadcasts, then Subscribe to The South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel at no cost.