College football

Revenge, retribution for Miami, Florida State?

Neither has played for national title since losing to ... well, lookie here

Wilfredo Lee / AP

If his offensive line gives him time to throw, quarterback Jacory Harris has the ability to lead No. 12 Miami over No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday. An upset would help Hurricanes fans erase some bitter memory from seven years ago when the Buckeyes won the Feista Bowl in double overtime to deny Miami back-to-back national titles.

OPINION

By Joey Johnston

NBCSports.com contributor

updated 12:20 a.m. ET Sept. 10, 2010

Joey Johnston

Everyone likes a good comeback story, right? Well, on one of the most dynamic college-football weekends we can remember, the biggest games have delicious subplots of revenge and retribution, along with big-name coaches who might be regaining their mojo.

The five major storylines of Week 2:

1. Hurricane Warning (Miami at Ohio State)
Yes, the past has passed. Some of the players from Miami and Ohio State were actually in middle school when the 2003 Fiesta Bowl was contested.

So what’s the sense of bringing it up?

Perhaps it’s the last, best reminder of what Miami football was all about before its dominating era got snuffed out in the desert. The Hurricanes carried a 34-game winning streak — and their customary swagger — into the national-championship game against Ohio State.

For a moment, it looked like Miami had won. In fact, for a few seconds, Hurricane players came off the sideline to celebrate. Fireworks erupted in the background. Then someone noticed a penalty flag in the end zone — defensive pass interference against Miami — and the game continued amid controversy.

It was one for the ages — Ohio State 31, Miami 24 in two overtimes — but in many ways, the Hurricanes have never recovered.

They have not played for a national title since. They have never won an ACC championship, never even qualifying for the league’s title game.

Now, after a few seasons of reloading and rebuilding under coach Randy Shannon, the Hurricanes are presented with this opportunity at Ohio State.

Just like vintage Miami, these Hurricanes are blindingly fast and deep on defense, presenting a problem for the Terrelle Pryor-led Buckeyes offense. Meanwhile, Hurricanes quarterback Jacory Harris is a calm and cool decision-maker under normal circumstances, but he does not react well to heavy pressure.

So there’s your ballgame. It’s on Ohio State’s defense to make life miserable for Harris. But if the Hurricanes can protect their quarterback, Miami is good enough to slug it out with Ohio State. And if that happens, the Hurricanes could have their clearest road to a national title since, well, the 2003 Fiesta Bowl.

Whether it’s admitted or not, that controversial finish still hangs over Miami’s program as a reminder of some unfinished business. Miami can get on with its new era by wiping away that bitter memory from seven years ago.

2. Onward, Christian Soldiers (Florida State at Oklahoma)
Speaking of that bitter after-taste, the Florida State Seminoles get their own reminder of a watershed moment.

Seeking back-to-back national titles at the 2001 Orange Bowl, the Seminoles went flat in a 13-2 loss against Oklahoma. The Seminoles haven’t played for a national title since. In the meantime, everything has changed.

Legendary Bobby Bowden, who had 14 straight seasons with a Top 5 finish (the last culminating with that loss against Oklahoma), is out after 34 seasons with the program he largely defined.

Jimbo Fisher, the former head-coach-in-waiting who’s out to make a name for himself, is in.

What’s to say it will be any different at Florida State?

It’s too early for national-title contention, but Fisher has clearly invigorated the program with upgraded recruiting, attention to detail and a return to urgency.

Two seasons ago as offensive coordinator, Fisher rolled the dice on unproven quarterback Christian Ponder, saying he liked the kid’s intangibles and upside. Fisher’s instincts were correct. Ponder has matured into one of college football’s top leaders. He beats opponents with his arm, his legs and his mind. With a good performance against Oklahoma, Ponder will join the short list discussion for the Heisman Trophy (the school already is heavily promoting Ponder for the award, something that hasn’t been done at Florida State in recent memory).

Oklahoma opened with a much-closer-than-expected 31-24 victory against Utah State. It extended the Sooners’ home winning streak, the nation’s longest, to 31 straight games (with an average score of 45-15).

Ponder’s contributions get front-and-center attention. But even during the most wide-open, offensively dynamic portions of Bowden’s career, the Seminoles were truly driven by a ferocious defense. Rebuilding that unit now falls to defensive coordinator Mark Stoops, the younger brother of Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops.

3. Hunting Bear (Penn State at Alabama)
Penn State coach Joe Paterno has 395 career victories, the most in major college-football history, but he is just 5-8 against Alabama. Four of those defeats came at the hands of Alabama coach Bear Bryant, including the Crimson Tide’s classic 14-7 goal-line-stand win in the 1978 Sugar Bowl, which took away a national title from Paterno’s unbeaten No. 1-ranked Nittany Lions.

They have long memories in Alabama, where a video of Bryant still works the crowd into a fervor during the pregame of each Crimson Tide home game.

In 2001, after all, it was Paterno who broke Bryant’s record for wins by a major-college coach.

Expect Alabama to gain its “revenge’’ over Paterno, who admittedly says his Nittany Lions are “outmanned’’ against the defending national champions.

Rob Bolden, an 18-year-old true freshman, is Penn State’s starting quarterback, while Alabama counters with Greg McElroy (who hasn’t lost a start since he was an eighth-grader in Texas).

Alabama will probably be without running back Mark Ingram, last season’s Heisman Trophy winner, who missed the opener due to a knee injury. But there’s a deep wave of talent throughout the Crimson Tide roster, enough to make a mismatch out of what sounds like a marquee matchup.

CONTINUED : Michigan-ND, Georgia-S.C. also worth a look

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