Hurricanes? More like a tropical depression, lately.

            Ah, Miami. The girls the glitz, the gays. Bikinis on South Beach, crack dealers in Liberty City. Crockett and Tubbs picking up moonlighting cash from the Golden Girls. Tony Montaña, 'Say hello to my little friend' while blasting away, out of control. Joe Montana, in total control, shredding the Miami Dolphins. Myer Lansky, Mariel boat lift, Don Shula, Dan Marino, Larry Czonka, Jim Kiick's cocaine rap. Pasty midwesterners vying for attention from with leathery transplanted retirees as they board cruise ships that make the Titanic look like a tramp steamer. 

            You say the word 'Miami' to a Husker fan and it brings back memories, some of which aren't so pleasant.

            Gotham Bowl in frozen Yankee Stadium; Ferragamo and the bomb, Schnellenberger and his cookie duster 'stache, Curly-headed Kosar, Jeff Smith on 4th and 8, Rozier 'injured', Fryar's 'drop', Calhoun tipping away the pass. Jimmy Johnson and the spray-on hair, with the thugs. DUI Erickson and Thugs: the continuation. Frank Costa, buried by Terry Conneally. Warren Sapp suckin' air after getting punched in the yarbles. Cory Schlessinger and the 'Trap'--twice. Tommie Frazier and Brook Berringer tag-teaming the Hurricanes into a squall.

            Things are not what they used to be. This won't be the car chase from 'Bullitt'. Instead of a Mustang GT going against a Charger R/T, it'll be more like an Escort and a Neon, I'm not sure which is which.

            Last year, things got ugly. The normally placid, respectful, boring Husker fans attacked a bus that they thought carried Miami fans. It didn't. Cops were called, one got hit by a glass bottle lobbed by a drunken tailgater and the Indian Center ended up losing a revenue stream. On the field, their players jawed, things got chippy, and personal foul penalties called. The Miami players and coaches taunted the fans, which, I guess, is what you do, when you're losing on the road. Ameer Abdullah stole the show and the Huskers earned an important early season win.

            This year, the Huskers have to go to Miami. The 'Canes have just as much attitude with even less to back it up. Nebraska has a different coach, whose approach to handling the brashness and attitude of the Miami players (and crowd) will be very different. I'm not sure if a Mr. Nice-guy approach is the way to handle it, but in football, it's the one who retaliates who usually draws the flag. A 'Chill' attitude just might work.

            The focal point for Miami is quarterback Brad Kaaya. He's a tall, skinny kid with a good arm and good decision making. He threw for 359 yards against Nebraska, last year, in a 41-31 loss. I know I kind of buck the trend, here, but I'll take a win and you can have the stats every time.

            Miami has a decent ground attack, and very good receivers, so they will match up well with Nebraska's secondary. Their weak spot also plays into Nebraska's strength. Miami's o-line is isn't very good, while Nebraska's front line, and even front 7 are more athletic and should have a significant advantage. It will be all about putting pressure on Kaaya, make him uncomfortable in the pocket, if he gets time to find an open receiver, he will.

            On the flip side, Nebraska should scare the crap out of Miami, they let Florida Atlantic run almost at will on them. The Owls took them into the fourth quarter before the magic ran out on their back-up quarterback. Tommy and Sweet-n-lo should be able to tear chunks out of the Miami defense, which is not as scary as the monsters of the past.

            I can see Riley using the pass to set up the run, in this situation. Miami has decent depth, and they're playing at home, so trying to wear them down with a pounding attack may not work very well. I see the game plan as being very patient, chip away, hit 'em where they ain't and control the ball. Most importantly in this kind of strategy is finishing drives. If you get inside the Red Zone, you have to get a touchdown, no settling for field goals.

            Miami's coaching staff is on the hot-seat. There is a lot of grumbling and there have been planes rented to tow banners around the stadium calling for the Head Coach's dismissal. Either that or they will read 'Surrender Dorothy'.

            That being said, the coaching staff need a win in order to keep the torpedoes from breaking a leg or two. No. Wait, that's what will happen to me if I don't make a certain payment to a certain someone. Totally unrelated.

            The line opened with the Huskers as five point dogs. There must be a lot of confidence in Nebraska because the bettors put their money where their money where their mouths are, and moved the line two points in the Huskers' direction. They now sit as three point dogs, which is basically just giving Miami home-field advantage. This one will be close, I don't want to see it come down to a field goal in the rain, at least it's not the green sand that used to be in the Orange Bowl, but I'm still not sure that Drew Brown has got the leg swing on auto-pilot, yet.

            Winning this one won't make the season, and it isn't quite a must win, but winning against Miami on the road will do a lot for the player's confidence, reassure Riley that taking the gig was a good idea, and might just send Al Golden's real estate agent on a listing trip.

            I'm not going to go all over-analytical, here. I'm going to go with my gut, which usually keeps me out of trouble, and has been known to stop deadly objects. The gut says 28-24 Nebraska.