2024 SOTU Awards: Game of the Year

I couldn’t think of a better way to start the season.

I started to write a diary-type article for my trip down to Gainesville for the first game of the 2024 college football season. It didn’t come out the way I wanted, so I scrapped it. But with this win being voted Game of the Year by the SOTU crew, I am happy to revisit my in-person experience for this awesome Miami Hurricanes victory.

Before I recap the incredible 41-17 triumph to open this season, I feel like this quick flashback is worth mentioning. I was fortunate to attend all three in-state college football matchups for the 2003 season. I was in the Orange Bowl for the huge Brock Berlin and Frank Gore-led comeback. I was in Doak Campbell for the rain game where Sean Taylor pretty much single-handedly beat FSU. God rest his soul. Come November, I made the trip to Gainesville to watch the Gators host the Seminoles. I wanted to complete the trilogy, and boy am I glad I did.

My good buddy James got me a student ticket right next to him (I also sat in the UF student section for the Miami game). We were in the upper level, but not too high, at around the 20-yard line. What struck me for this game was how few Seminole fans were in attendance. There were two sections next to each other in a corner: one for the band and one for students. There were a hundred and fifty or so to the right of me at the top of the end zone. That was pretty much it. This was home field advantage. I haven’t been to that many football games in my life, but this was by far the loudest one. Props to the early 2000s Gator fans, they can make some noise. Anyway, college football heads know what happened at the end of this game.

FSU quarterback Chris Rix threw a bomb to PK Sam over Gators safety Gus Scott’s head for a 52-yard touchdown pass with 55 seconds left. I have never heard a place go from being as loud as it was to near silence. It was eerie. The stadium was so quiet after the touchdown, my obnoxiously loud laughter was getting me yelled at from Gator fans from one and two sections over because of how clearly they could hear me. Even James gave me a couple angry shoves and he’s the nicest guy in the world. Again, it was crazy how quiet it was. That game ending was one of the most memorable sports experiences I’ve ever had in my life. The Miami game was my first trip back to The Swamp. I was very much looking forward to it.

Back to August 31st, 2024. Andy, my other good buddy, has season tickets for Florida Gators football. The seats are great: ten rows up on the 35-yard line. We met at our hotel a couple hours before kickoff and had some beers in the lobby while enjoying some of the noon games that day.

We had the Uber driver let us out about half a mile from the stadium. While walking towards The Swamp, I immediately noticed how many Miami fans were in town. It was incredible. I did not expect us to show up in those kinds of numbers.

The sun beat down on all of us sitting on the visitor’s side. It was brutally hot. What made the heat more tolerable was being surrounded by, you guessed it, more Miami fans! The seats immediately in front, behind, and on both sides of us were occupied by people rooting for the Canes. I was officially ready to kick off the 2024 college football season.

Miami’s offense, with the help of some dumb UF penalties, marched down the field and scored an opening-drive touchdown. A few of us Canes fans looked at each other with our eyebrows raised, as if to silently say, “This Cam Ward guy might be really, really good.”

When Florida running back Montrell Johnson Jr. turned the corner for a 71-yard touchdown run with 3:32 left in the second quarter, my confidence wavered some. Miami was playing too well to only be up 17-10 going into halftime. Then Cam got the ball.

The Canes capped off an efficient eight-play, two-minute and thirty-second drive with a 24-yard strike from Ward to Xavier Restrepo. Whatever energy gained by the home crowd after Johnson’s touchdown was removed by what finished as this season’s most prolific offense in all of college football. Miami was up 24-10 at halftime and looked like a powerhouse SEC-type team.

The third quarter was incredible. Miami crushed Florida’s souls. Cam led the Canes on a six-play touchdown drive to begin the second half. After a punt by the Gators, Killer Cam put Miami up 38-10 with one of the best throws of the entire college football season. To cap the lopsided period, safety Meesh Powell intercepted Florida QB Graham Mertz in the end zone, returning the pick 67 yards.

The break in between the third and fourth quarter was the highlight of the day for me. For those who don’t know, Tom Petty’s I Won’t Back Down is played over the loudspeakers after the third quarter at every Florida home game. I knew the song, but didn’t know it word for word. That didn’t matter. Every Miami fan in The Swamp was yelling the chorus and dancing like it was Hard Rock Stadium and Trick Daddy had just come on. It was so freaking cool looking around the crowd to see all Canes fans singing and all the Gator fans sighing.

Needless to say, Andy was ready to go. We left with about ten minutes left in the game. I was on cloud nine. Andy was shellshocked. We showered and got some wings and beer near our hotel. I started looking up tickets on my phone that night. Cam Ward was special. I needed to see him play again in person. And I did, two more times. While it was great watching Cam and the Canes shut up a bunch of overconfident USF fans, it didn’t compare to witnessing a season-opening beatdown of my least favorite college football team in the country.

GO CANES!