Written by David George at Palm Beach Post.com
Fear the Tie,” a fashion statement gone long out of style, has been replaced at Miami by truer words.
Respect the Rep, as in Mark Richt’s reputation. Understand that he means to build upon it at Miami, calling the offensive plays himself for the first time in a decade, feeling the crackle of a fresh personal challenge for the first time in forever.
“I really, really like it here,” said Richt, a UM alum who was let go at Georgia in December after 15 solid years. “I like these players. I like this university. I like the vibe of the city. I’m very happy to be at the U.”
What’s not to like, at least so far?
Saturday’s 70-3 win over Florida A&M, a mismatch from the moment it was scheduled, was more than a successful debut for Richt as Hurricanes coach. It was a message to the rest of the ACC that Miami has a grownup in charge again, and coming to Hard Rock Stadium will be no soft assignment in 2016.
How do we know? Because Richt, a Boca Raton High School product with all kinds of cool, threw himself at this game as if the College Football Playoff committee was watching Miami instead of all those other monster games on opening weekend.
He railed at a referee from close range when a long Miami completion was challenged and eventually wiped out by instant replay.
He spoke into Brad Kaaya’s helmet microphone all kinds of variety, with a touchdown pass to a fullback to open the season and another scoring play for a tight end shortly thereafter.
And then, just before halftime, when Kaaya got whipped to the ground for his only sack of the game, Richt hustled a good 10 yards onto the field to mirror the same concern that Miami fans have for keeping their star quarterback healthy.
Healthy is a good word to describe the crowd, too. An announced crowd of 60,703 showed up to usher in the Mark Richt era. Last year’s home opener, a similar show against Bethune-Cookman, drew 43,467, and even that modest turnout was more out of a sense of duty than a spark of latent enthusiasm for Al Golden.
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