On Senior day when all the seniors on the team are celebrated, Miami struggled during the game but the Hurricanes beat Virginia 44-28 at Hard Rock Stadium. Senior day is a great day for all the seniors. It was also a great day for the Hurricanes as they remained unbeaten and on a path to the College playoffs.
On national tv, in front of a sold out Hard Rock Stadium, Miami mercilessly embarrassed Notre Dame. It was supposed to be the David vs Goliath battle in college football. Another chapter added to a hated and historic rivalry. Instead it was beat down reminiscent of Miami’s 58-7 bludgeoning on Notre Dame back in 1985.
With Miami Hurricanes coming off two come from behind victories against Florida State and Georgia Tech it seemed like the match up against Syracuse would provide the same drama. Just a week prior the Syracuse Orange knocked off the number 2 team in the country, Clemson. And truth be told, it wasn’t necessarily drama, but it did take the full game for the Miami Hurricanes to defeat Syracuse.
The Miami Hurricanes vs Georgia Tech game was filled with last minute drama as the Canes came back to win the game with a last minute field goal by kicker Michael Badgley. Of course how can one forget the torrential downpour in the 4th quarter that made the field and surrounding sidelines a gigantic kiddie pool. In theory it was just a typical day in the life of a Miami sports photographer.
The Miami Hurricanes vs. Toledo game came after a two week layoff for the Miami Hurricanes due to Hurricane Irma slamming into all of Florida. It was great to have some sort of return to normalcy with the game being played. For a few hours people didn’t have to worry about not having power or not having internet at home. For those few hours at Hard Rock Stadium, life seemed to be back to the way it was.
The first weekend of September can only mean one thing; the return of Miami Hurricanes football to Hard Rock Stadium. For the first game of their season the Miami Hurricanes beat Bethune-Cookman Wildcats 41-13. It wasn’t the prettiest of games, but a win is a win and that is all that matters at the end of the day.
One of the cool things about being a sports photographer is that occasionally you get to photograph one of your favorite teams. I had that opportunity when I was photographing the 2016 Russell Athletic Bowl at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, FL where the Miami Hurricanes took on the West Virginia Mountaineers. Lucky for me that the second college bowl game I was assigned to ended up being the Miami Hurricanes game.
After a heartbreaking loss to the Florida State Seminoles a week earlier, it was hard to predict how the game and the game photos from the Hurricanes and the Tar Heels would turn out. Turns out the Hurricanes played like the weather before the game, lousy. Back to back losses are never good for a Miami Hurricanes team and the fans let the team know about it.
There is only one game a season I look forward to, the Florida State game. The atmosphere is different. The crowds are bigger, louder and rowdier. It’s the perfect game to photograph and the only downside to this game was that the Miami Hurricanes lost a heartbreaker to the Florida State Seminoles.