Miami sends Jamal Carter, Courtel Jenkins home before Sun Bowl

The Hurricanes have not won a bowl game since 2006.

In a bowl game that should’ve been dubbed the “Hyundai Snow Bowl”, the Miami Hurricanes fell victim to a Pac 12 school, Washington State, in the Hyundai Sun Bowl, 20-14. The streak includes a loss to Notre Dame in the 2010 Sun Bowl. The Hurricanes are under the direction of Mark Richt beginning immediately after this contest, Miami was able to scoop him up after Georgia fired him. In truth Rich has already begun his work for next season. And Richt has begun to hire assistant coaches, leaving questions about what will happen to members of the current staff after the bowl game. A light breeze is blowing across the field at 5-10 m.p.h. A shaky offensive line had its share of moments too, giving up four sacks and barely giving Kaaya time to operate. It was a fine day to run the ball, and outside of one spectacular dash through the snow, Miami couldn’t get moving. Kaaya and the Miami offense did their damage through the air. He rushed for 939 yards and six touchdowns. Scott overcame adversity and led all Miami receivers in yards with 75-yards. Joseph Yearby is the guy to stop on the ground. A Southern Miss official said Richard, one of two Golden Eagles with 1,000 yards rushing this season, was held because of an unspecified injury. “I just figured we’d win this one and go from there”. The Cougars won 12 games combined in his first three seasons before jumping up to nine this year after the bowl victory. WSU safety Shalom Luani jumped up for the easy pick, and after a pair of first down conversions the Cougars were celebrating their first bowl win since 2003.

And former walk-on Luke Falk excelled at quarterback.

Miami (FL) is 8-0 SU when leading at the start of the 4th quarter this season. Falk ranks No. 5 nationally in passing yards (4,266) and is tied for No. 4 in touchdown passes (36) to just eight interceptions. It was a play that worked in practice, but the University of Miami does not practice in a wintry climate. On Saturday, they gained 375. He’s got more credibility than I have at least, particularly when it comes to Washington State when I occasionally let my subjectivity get in the way of clear thinking.

“When we lost coach (Al) Golden, a lot of people doubted us”, defensive end Chad Thomas said. “He’s done a great job”. We’ve developed into a team that plays well together. We watched Leach’s team grow up, week after week, throughout the year.

On the day after Christmas Day (Dec. 26), in temperatures dipping into the 20’s and with a healthy mix of snow and rain, both teams looked hot early on, scoring on their opening drives. Washington State beat Purdue, 33-27, in 2001. A nice return set up the Hurricanes’ offense at the 28, down six points with 3:13 to play. Even in the last game of the season, Washington State checked off another box in its growth process by finishing a bowl game and not giving up the lead late. The Miami coaching changes, yet another soap opera season, that climaxed with the rout at the hands of Clemson, the worst loss (58-0) in the history of the Hurricanes program, makes this game more fun for interim coach Scott than that for Leach.

Falk, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, emerged to lead the top passing attack in the nation.