News@TheU will be sharing photos and video and nuggets of insights throughout the College Football Playoff run by the Miami Hurricanes. Second round: Miami defeated Ohio State 24-14 on New Year’s Eve at the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas. First round: Miami defeated Texas A&M 10 to 3 on Dec. 20 in College Station, Texas.
Blog posts capturing what is happening on the ground, what Hurricane fans are saying, and the overall atmosphere of the Fiesta Bowl will be found on this page.
Photos and videos from our multimedia team at the Fiesta Bowl will be found in this report.
Read the story about the Fiesta Bowl watch party at the Rathskeller.
Look back at our multimedia content from the Cotton Bowl in this report.
Look back at our multimedia content from College Station in this report.
Look back at our Dispatches from the Cotton Bowl.
Look back at our Dispatches from College Station.
Fiesta Bowl Coverage
Thursday, Jan. 8
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Thursday, Jan. 8
‘A win for the ages’
As he left State Farm Stadium following the Miami Hurricane’s nail-biting victory over the Ole Miss Rebels Thursday in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Freddie Vasquez, a.k.a. 'CaneFreak,' kept telling his friends, “This is for all the doubters.”
Vasquez was referring to the mid-season criticism the Hurricanes faced from some fans after two unexpected losses as well as the reluctance of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee to vote Miami into the expanded 12-team postseason tournament.
“This is vindication, a win for the ages. And we did it fashion-style,” he said of Miami quarterback Carson Beck’s game-winning touchdown run in the last few seconds.
Now, the Hurricanes are coming home. The title game against either Indiana or Oregon will be played at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami’s home turf.
It’ll be the Hurricanes’ chance at winning their first National Championship in more than 20 years.
“I feel like a kid in a candy store,” Vasquez said.
—Robert C. Jones, Jr.
Thursday, Jan. 8
Game time. Go Canes!
Thursday, Jan. 8
From 9 to 90, Miami fans young and old show their U pride
Aram Brazilian Jr. isn’t sure of the exact number, but over the course of his decadeslong love affair with the University of Miami, he estimates he must have attended more than 500 Hurricane football games.
“From the Orange Bowl to Hard Rock Stadium, they’ve all been worth seeing,” the 90-year-old said Thursday as he sat in the tailgate section outside State Farm Stadium just two hours before kickoff of the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.
A 1957 graduate of the University’s business school, Brazilian recalled Miami’s breakthrough victory over Nebraska in the 1984 Orange Bowl, “the win that put us on the map.”
His face grimacing as a light rain began to fall, he also recalled the painful losses, most notably the Hurricanes’ last trip to the Fiesta Bowl in 2003 when they lost to Ohio State in a matchup tainted by a controversial late pass interference call that extended the game.
“But no matter what happens today,” Brazilian said, “we’re back to being relevant.”
Other fans at Thursday’s tailgate—young and old—shared his enthusiasm for the now-resurgent Canes.
“Ever since the old Orange Bowl days, we’ve been ride or die,” said longtime Miami resident Thomas Nelson, who was attending the Fiesta Bowl with two of his closest friends, Elijah Williams and Steve Rolle. “We’re serving notice. We’re back.”
Rolle, whose daughter is a Miami graduate, said the Canes “are part and parcel” of the South Florida community. “When they win, we win,” he said.
Rudy Huber, wearing a white suit and a No. 1 Hurricanes jersey, orange gloves and an orange top hat with a picture of Sebastian the Ibis just above the brim, traveled all the way from Hawaii to attend the game. “I’m not a graduate of the school, just a big fan,” he said. “Long ago, maybe 20 years or so, I just fell in love with the U—the colors, the logo, the team’s confidence.”
In the University of Miami Official Fiesta Bowl Pregame Celebration section, Miami alumna Sheryl Paul said she admires Miami’s “grit and perseverance when many people doubted them."
Paul, who recently established a University of Miami scholarship to honor her late father’s memory, had been traveling in South America for two and a half weeks with her daughter Penelope, returning to Bloomington, Indiana—where she now lives—only a day before the Fiesta Bowl. “We could barely unpack and were back on a jet again, this time for Arizona,” she said. “There was no way we were going to miss this game.”
--Robert C. Jones Jr.
Thursday, Jan. 8
Grass on wheels
From a stadium where the noise levels often surpass 120 decibels to a coliseum with a retractable roof and a 4K video board that’s one of the largest in the world, the Miami Hurricanes football team has played in some of most iconic and state-of-the-art sports venues during its historic run in the College Football Playoff.
On Thursday, when the team faces Ole Miss in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, it will compete in yet another cutting-edge super structure that boasts a feature few if any other stadiums can.
Situated in Glendale, Arizona, the 63,400-seat State Farm Stadium has a roll-out natural grass playing field contained in a single 40 inch deep tray measuring 234 feet wide and 403 feet long. Rolling on 546 steel wheels, which rest on 13 railroad-like tracks, the field travels the 740 feet inside or out of the stadium in about 70 minutes at the push of a button.
It is home to the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals and can host a variety of events, from international soccer matches and motorsports to trade shows and corporate and social functions.
On Thursday, though, with thousands of spectators watching, it will accommodate the Miami Hurricanes and Ole Miss football teams as they vie for a spot in the national championship game.
--Robert C. Jones Jr.
Thursday, Jan. 8
The maestro for Canes watch parties in Los Angeles
For the past 10 years or more, when Canes alumni, friends, and fans in Los Angeles don their orange and green on game days and look to cheer for their Canes, Barney’s Beanery in West Hollywood has been the venue they flock to. And for most of those years, alumnus Blake “Boomer” Resinger has been the convener and spirited host for the fun-filled watch parties at this iconic brewpub.
With the Canes facing off against the Ole Miss Rebels Thursday in a College Football Playoff semifinal game in Glendale, Arizona, Resinger knows the LA-area Canes will turn out in full force and that Barney’s will be rockin’ big time.
Born and raised in Miami, Resinger attended the U from 2002-06. The Canes were fresh off an undefeated season and national championship in 2001, and football spirit reigned supreme on campus.
“In my early years at the U, we were very good at football, and I was really into it,” Resinger said. He joined the Band of the Hour for a year, not as a player but as a roadie, touting the red-and-black spirit flags, helping load tubas and horns—all to be able to be at the stadium for the games.
Resinger graduated with a double major in motion pictures and criminology and headed west with a few friends to Los Angeles with dreams of being a filmmaker. He worked for eight years with Panavision, an equipment rental agency, and did “pretty well for a while,” but then switched careers to work with an area brewery and has shifted to a position with Proximo Spirits, a distributor of Jose Cuervo.
While his dreams of filmmaking diminished, his love for Canes and football certainly did not.
“When I first came out here, the official game watch gatherings were in Santa Monica in a bar down in the basement—it was awful, and I only went there once,” he remembered.
The official watch parties soon after shifted to a bar in West Hollywood. Yet that watering spot had a downstairs room that was an official Ohio State bar. Resinger had attended the Canes 2002-03 double-overtime loss to the Buckeyes and was no fan.
He and two good friends, Scott Koche and Dorian Jackson, both alumni and die-hard football fans, by that time had begun gathering for games at Barney’s Beanery, a small chili café launched nearly 100 years ago that has grown to a full-service multi-unit restaurant bar.
“We were the ‘Three Musketeers,’ there for every game and pretty soon we started to get a following with other Canes fans,” he said. He befriended the manager and his distributorship resources to negotiate food and beverage discounts for fans.
More and more fans began to gather for games at Barney’s, and a few years ago it became the official site for Canes watch parties—at times congregating a few hundred fans. Canes star Michael Irvin turned out for one of the games when he was in town.
“I took over as the main host and have done the best I could—it’s been over 10 years now,” Resinger said. “It’s been a long and winding road with lots of ups and downs and early mornings. But it still makes me giggle when fans come in and see how packed it is.”
“And West Coast sports are truly the best with the timing. With games starting at 9 a.m. you can be sure to get a table, then you’re out and on with your day by noon, it’s great,” he said.
Two years ago, Resinger met his current fiancé and the couple moved to Santa Clarita, more than thirty miles from Los Angeles. They agreed that this will be Resinger’s last year as principal host.
“I’ll still attend the big games—FSU, Notre Dame—at Barney’s but this will be my last year officially hosting,” he said. “I’m hoping the football gods are with me, and that the Canes go on to win the championship—that would be such a nice way to go out.”
-- Michael R. Malone
Thursday, Jan. 8
Hurricanette Maya Bentley and her teammates here to support Canes football
It’s preseason on the University of Miami campus, and the team is set to begin a weekly schedule of three days of cardiovascular exercises and a day of intense strength training.
“We need it for the heat and humidity we feel at Hard Rock Stadium,” said the team’s captain.
The team in this case is not the Hurricanes football squad, but the Hurricanettes dance line, an auxiliary unit of the Frost Band of the Hour that performs at football and select basketball games.
“If you ever see the dancers with orange, shimmering pom-poms at the games, that’s us,” said team captain Maya Bentley, a marketing major from northern Virginia. “We like to say we bring the sparkle to the Frost Band of the Hour. We dance to their live music and add a litter shimmer to their sounds.”
This week, the 21 members of the Hurricanettes are in Arizona, finetuning their moves and gearing up to support the football team as they take on the Ole Miss Rebels in Thursday’s Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, with a spot in the national championship game on the line.
“One of the things I like most about being a Hurricanette is knowing the positive impact we can have on the football team,” said Bentley, a senior who is in her third year as captain of the dance squad. “Our roles may seem small, but after interacting with fans, we can feel the energy we impart on them that is then carried over to the players. And that makes me feel like I’m a part of something bigger than myself.”
Bentley shoulders a huge responsibility as Hurricanettes captain, helping to decide which uniforms team members will wear, calling out dance routines as the Frost Band performs, and above all, she said, “making sure the team dynamic is strong, positive, and inclusive.”
“It’s important that every team member feels she has a voice and a purpose for being on the squad,” Bentley said.
Tess Guidry, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, is coach and choreographer of the Hurricanettes. “She’s been an amazing inspiration for all of us,” Bentley said.
So much so that Bentley plans to continue her dancing even after she graduates from the U. She’s training for a future tryout with an NFL team.
But first, there’s unfinished business—supporting the team at the Fiesta Bowl.
-- Robert C. Jones Jr.
Thursday, Jan. 8
Music mixes with holiday lights
Amid a dazzling display of some four million holiday lights—many wrapped around tree trunks and foliage, others draped over armatures of giraffes, zebras, pelicans, and other animals—the University of Miami’s Frost Band of the Hour and the Ole Miss Pride of the South filled the night air over the Phoenix Zoo with music Wednesday evening, performing at the wildlife park’s ever-popular ZooLights.
The threat of rain and unusually cool temperatures Wednesday evening kept attendance below the more than 3,000 people who typically turn out for the hour-long performance, which features the marching bands from the two opposing schools that will square off in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on Thursday.
But for the roughly 1,000 visitors who did show up, Frost Band of the Hour musicians treated them to a medley of their top halftime musical performances of the season—from Bruno Mars to Lady Gaga.
Poms-poms in hand and moving to the rhythms of the Frost Band, the Hurricanettes dance team performed. After chants of “Let’s Go Canes,” Sebastian the Ibis led the crowd in the C-A-N-E-S spellout. The Frost Band of the Hour Color Guard and cheerleaders executed their moves in flawless fashion. And while many of the hundreds in attendance may not have been University alumni, they had no trouble getting the hang of throwing up the U.
“Great music mixed with colorful lights. There couldn’t be a better combination,” said Boynton Beach, Florida, resident Colleen Brennan, whose son Connor, a management major in the Herbert Business School, plays cymbals in the Frost Band.
Brennan will be at State Farm Stadium on Thursday to watch the Hurricanes football team take on the Ole Miss Rebels in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff. But attending the band’s musical performance at ZooLights was special for her because members of the Frost Band, she said, “demonstrated the importance of family” last September when they participated in a suicide awareness walk organized by her son.
“Connor’s father committed suicide when he was 3, and we now lead a nonprofit to help raise awareness about the problem. The Frost Band has really stepped up to the plate to support Connor,” Brennan said, noting that their nonprofit also helps feed the homeless and aids victims of natural disasters.
Phoenix resident Clinton Powell, an alumnus who played the trumpet and mellophone in the University’s marching band from 1981 to 1986, said watching the students perform at ZooLights brought back memories of his days of marching on the Orange Bowl field during halftime at Miami football games.
“We were standing behind the goalposts in the endzone at the Orange Bowl during the 1984 Orange Bowl game when the Miami defender batted away Nebraska’s two-point conversion pass to win the national championship,” he recalled. “It’s great to see Miami back as a college football power.”
As for the ZooLights display at the Phoenix Zoo, “we’re one of the most, if not the most, popular attractions in the area,” said Linda Hardwick, vice president of marketing, communications, and events at the 125-acre park.
More than 300,000 people visit the display, which features more than four million lights, during its two-month run from mid-November to mid-January, according to Hardwick.
“Having the Miami and Ole Miss bands perform here as we’re winding down the display was phenomenal,” she said.
-- Robert C. Jones Jr.
Wednesday, Jan. 7
A passion for the Canes
Ted Delcima graduated about five years ago from the University of Miami School of Law, but his pride for the Hurricanes has grown since then. As a student, he went to as many home football games as he could before the pandemic hit. Now, he goes to a few football games a year, and some basketball games, too.
“If there’s a sports event happening and I can get tickets, I go,” said Delcima, a litigation and arbitration attorney in Miami.
About a year ago, Delcima became president of the Miami Canes Community, the local alumni organization, and through the club he has gained even more awareness about the Canes’ success in sports. As soon as he watched the football team win the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Eve, Delcima knew he wanted to be at the Fiesta Bowl.
“I decided that if we advanced, I would go to the next game,” said Delcima.
Finding flights was not easy, and Delcima—like many others—will have a layover to get from South Florida to Phoenix on Thursday. Still, he is psyched for the adventure.
At the game, he will be sitting with his friend, Melissa Jordon, a fellow lawyer who leads the young alumni association. Like other alumni, Delcima is optimistic about the team’s chances to advance to the national championship game.
“It’s been over 20 years since we have had a rockstar team and they are going up against Ole Miss, so it just feels right,” he said. “Ohio State and Ole Miss have been here, but UM is that outlier team this year, and I think we are going to go out there and show out.”
Delcima said at least three of the 10 members of the Miami Canes executive board will be at the Fiesta Bowl, while the other seven will be hosting a watch party at Lost Boy Dry Goods bar in downtown, their typical game watch spot. The community currently has 55 members on its chat group, but he expects about double to attend the watch party. He plans to keep in touch tomorrow through their group chat.
“I love giving back and working with the amazing people on our board,” he said. “They make this volunteer position easy.”
-- Janette Neuwahl Tannen
Wednesday, Jan. 7
Passionate Hurricanes alumna hoping for a trip to title game in Miami
Deborah Moskowitz was sitting in her passenger seat aboard a Paris-bound jet still on the tarmac at Orlando International Airport when she received the text message.
“We’re in,” it read.
Her face beaming, Moskowitz immediately knew what the text meant. Her beloved Miami Hurricanes had made the 12-team field for the College Football Playoff.
Then, a flurry of other messages poured in from family and friends—25 to be exact, and all expressing joy and jubilation over the Hurricanes being playoff-bound. It was then that Moskowitz, an Orlando-based attorney who earned a Bachelor of Science in Communication degree from the University of Maimi in 1994, set her grand plan in motion, booking a flight to College Station for Miami’s first-round playoff game against Texas A&M—even before she took off for France.
“After I returned from Paris, I was in Orlando for less than 48 hours before I left to fly out for the A&M game,” she recalled. “Then, I flew out again the following week to go to Dallas for the Cotton Bowl.”
Deborah Moskowitz, second from left in front, with friends at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, for the Cotton Bowl.
Moskowitz, a Hurricanes football season ticket holder for more than 20 years, is now in Scottsdale, Arizona, for Miami’s seminal matchup against Ole Miss in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.
“I could not be prouder of these guys and the work they have put in,” she said of the 12-2 Hurricanes. “We have vanquished so many demons with this season, and to be in the hunt for the national championship is just a dream.”
She will attend the game with friends she considers family. “My husband is at another event, a tradeshow for our hot sauce company in Dallas,” Moskowitz said. “But before I left for Arizona, he said, ‘Go get that W, babe.’”
A past president of the University of Miami Alumni Association’s Orlando Canes, Moskowitz said the Fiesta Bowl will add to the many memories she has of attending Hurricane football games as both a student and now an alumna—from Miami’s 58 game home winning streak at the Orange Bowl, from October 1985 to September 1994, to the team’s perfect 12-0 season in 2001 that culminated with 37-14 victory over Nebraska in the 2002 Rose Bowl.
Through Fat Cat Gourmet Foods, the hot sauce company for which Moskowitz serves as a managing member, she and her team are working on a Name Image and Likeness deal with the official NIL collective for Hurricanes athletics to raise additional funds for the Hurricanes football program.
“We want to support them any way that we can,” she said.
-- Robert C. Jones Jr.
Wednesday, Jan. 7
Miami, Ole Miss chasing history
It promises to be a duel in the desert, a battle between Ole Miss’s high-octane offense and the Miami Hurricanes’ ferocious front.
Both teams punched their ticket to Thursday’s College Football Playoff semifinal in superlative fashion, with the Rebels having already broken their school record with 13 wins in a season and the Canes having navigated the most arduous postseason path to the semifinals, one that saw them defeat Texas A&M in College Station followed by a 24-14 upset victory over the No. 2-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in the Cotton Bowl.
It’s the SEC versus the ACC, a matchup of two programs led by stellar quarterbacks in Ole Miss signal caller Trinidad Chambliss and Miami field general Carson Beck, the Georgia transfer whose story is one of patience and perseverance.
It will be Miami battling to continue a magical march to its first national championship since 2001 and Ole Miss attempting to win its first undisputed title—the team was co-national champion with Minnesota in 1960, the only time the program has been recognized as national champion by the NCAA.
The Fiesta Bowl matchup will mark only the fourth all-time meeting between the two programs, with the last coming in 1951, a 20-7 Miami win.
-- Robert C. Jones Jr.
Wednesday, Jan. 7
Canes gear among items featured at Scottsdale-area sports memorabilia business
Replica football helmets signed by Ed Reed and Vince Wilfork. Photographs signed by Ray Lewis and Warren Sapp. A jersey bearing Michael Irvin’s autograph.
Such are some of the Miami Hurricanes football-themed items visitors will find at CBU Auctions, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based company that helps nonprofits and charities raise money through silent auctions of sports, celebrity, and historical memorabilia.
CBU, which stands for Charity Benefits Unlimited, is located inside a modest, unassuming building on the North Greenway Hayden Loop in Scottsdale, belying the extensive trove of memorabilia inside.
But once a sports lover enters the business, they might think they’ve died and gone to sports memorabilia heaven. From a Michael Jordan-autographed Chicago Bulls jersey to a basketball signed by NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal to a replica jersey signed by members of the ’72 Miami Dolphins’ Perfect Season team, professional- and college-themed collectibles inside the store run the gamut.
The company has raised more than $23 million and counting for local and national charities.
“We collect many of our signed items in person, and we use nationally known signature authenticators for those items obtained outside of our company,” said customer service manager Chris Devera. “If you’re talking items like a Michael Jordan jersey, they can easily sell for $8,000 to $15,000, depending on the type of jersey it is.”
With the Miami Hurricanes football team in town to take on the Ole Miss Rebels in the Fiesta Bowl, Devera said the company is proud of the University of Miami-themed memorabilia it features.
CBU event coordinator Taylor McGlinchey, who is originally from Boston and is a fan of the New England Patriots, Boston Celtics, and Boston Red Sox, recalled being “blown away” by CBU’s dizzying array of memorabilia when she walked inside the business more than a year ago for a job interview.
“On my way out, I asked if I could take pictures,” she said. “I thought, ‘Even if I don’t get the job, I can show my dad the Tom Brady jersey I saw.’ It’s been so cool working here.”
McGlinchey won’t be attending the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday, but “my eyes will be glued to the television set,” she said.
Her prediction for the game: “Miami, of course,” she said emphatically.
— Robert C. Jones Jr.
Tuesday, Jan. 6
Covering the Canes: UMTV’s Taryn Jacobs to report on the Fiesta Bowl
It’s the second quarter of the University of Miami football team’s away game against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, and Hurricanes running back Mark Fletcher hauls in a 3-yard pass from quarterback Carson Beck for a touchdown, increasing his squad’s lead to 11 points.
Roaming the sidelines is UMTV SportsDesk sideline reporter Taryn Jacobs, who describes the play for viewers in vivid detail, complete with the colorful lingo of the sport.
But don’t make the mistake of calling Jacobs the next Erin Andrews or Lesley Visser. The Marlboro, New Jersey, native, who is set to graduate from the University this spring, is making her own mark in the sports broadcasting world, incorporating multiple roles in her sideline reporting duties.
“This season and especially the Canes’ playoff run have given me opportunities to grow my broadcast skills in ways I never could have imagined,” said Jacobs, the assistant station manager, executive producer, and reporter for SportsDesk. “I’ve been able to practice game coverage in real time, recording ‘look live’ updates and reacting to the action as it unfolds. And I’ve also grown as a storyteller on social media by creating short-form videos and behind-the-scenes content, which has allowed me to expand my reporting across multiple platforms, not just television.”
“So, I really feel that I’ve developed into a more dynamic reporter while staying authentic in a fast-paced environment.”
She, along with other key members of UMTV’s SportsDesk, will be traveling to Arizona to cover the Hurricanes as their magical march in the College Football Playoff continues with a semifinal clash against the Ole Miss Rebels in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.
While covering the game at State Farm Stadium, Jacobs will assume her familiar role as a sideline reporter but will also augment that reporting with other elements.
“Leading up to the game, I have already attended University of Miami Zoom media availabilities,” she said. “Once on site in Arizona, I will continue attending media events and press conferences, gathering content to produce video packages and social media coverage. And on the day of the game, I will film ‘look live’ standups from the field, provide real-time coverage across social platforms, and help deliver comprehensive game-day coverage that will culminate in a full television package.”
She has been a diehard Miami football fan since her senior year of high school, but once she stepped onto the Coral Gables Campus as a freshman and immersed herself in the school’s historic football program as both a fan and a member of the media, “that passion evolved into a true lifelong fandom,” she said.
Jacobs’ enthusiasm for Hurricanes football, however, hasn’t clouded her objectivity as a reporter, she said. “Being both a fan and student while also serving as a journalist has taught me the importance of objectivity and professionalism,” she explained. “SportsDesk primarily covers the Canes, so many of our stories are closely tied to the players and their journeys. But when providing game recaps, analysis, and coverage, I’m able to step back from fandom and approach each story from a fair and accurate perspective. I understand that in this role, my responsibility is to inform the audience, which sometimes means asking difficult questions of coaches and players.”
She grew up watching sideline reporters like Erin Andrews and Melissa Stark, finding inspiration in the way they reported stories and brought viewers closer to the action. After graduation, Jacobs hopes to embark on a career as a multimedia journalist, with a long-term goal of becoming an NFL or college football sideline reporter.
There are still obstacles in the industry that female sports journalist must overcome, Jacobs feels. “The narrative of women in sports journalism is slowly fading, but it’s not gone,” she said. “From talking with many female reporters in the industry, I’ve learned that confidence is key, producing high-quality work, and proving that you deserve a spot alongside your male colleagues. The most important thing women can do is continue to show that they can excel and thrive in these high-pressure, competitive environments. Representation matters, and as more women enter the field, the narrative will continue to change until it eventually disappears altogether.”
— Robert C. Jones Jr.
Tuesday, Jan. 6
A taste of home in the desert
A welcoming committee of ambassadors and volunteers sporting bright, yellow blazers formed a makeshift aisle at the steps of the jumbo jet’s airstairs, throwing up the ubiquitous U and high-fiving arriving passengers from a Maimi inbound flight. The Miami Hurricanes fight song blared from loudspeakers. And the touring buses that would whisk the passengers to a nearby hotel were wrapped in vibrant orange and green.
The more than 200 University of Miami support staff and students who stepped off a wide-body Boeing passenger jet on the tarmac at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Monday may have been 2,300 miles from the Coral Gables Campus, but they felt right at home as they arrived in Arizona ahead of the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, where the Hurricanes football team takes on the Ole Miss Rebels Thursday in the first of two College Football Playoff semifinal games.
“We’re used to hosting big games,” said Judy Bernas, chair of the Fiesta Sports Foundation Board of Directors, which organizes the annual bowl game. “Days like today, when we welcome the teams, are super fun days for us because we’re excited that after all of our planning and preparations, the big game is finally happening.”
All the planning and preparations to which Bernas refers doesn’t happen overnight. “It’s literally a yearlong endeavor,” she said, noting that the process includes everything from arranging hotel accommodations to locating practice fields and organizing transportation and meals for the respective teams.
Foundation members also got a season-long first-hand look at the college football experience, attending games across the nation. For Bernas, it was the Miami-Notre Dame matchup on Aug. 31 at Hard Rock Stadium, a 27-24 Hurricanes victory.
“Obviously, with the Fiesta Bowl being part of the CFP rotation, serving as either a quarterfinal or semifinal host in the expanded 12-team format, we don’t get to invite any team to our game. It’s whoever earns a spot,” she explained. “But for us, attending games throughout the season is about building relationships with the teams, their coaches, and athletic directors.
“It was so awesome to start the season at the Miami-Notre Dame game,” Bernas continued. “I’ve been to a different college football stadium every weekend this season, and they all had a different feel. But the energy and excitement inside Hard Rock Stadium was unlike any other.”
Advance teams from the University of Miami and Ole Miss athletic departments visited Arizona even before their teams’ quarterfinal victories, scouting hotels, potential practice sites, and transportation options, Bernas noted. “And that went a long way in helping us learn their preferences and finalize preparations,” she said.
As for her favorite feature of the preparations? The orange-and-green-wrapped charter buses that transport Hurricanes players and support staff.
“They just look so cool, right?” Bernas said. “We always get the buses wrapped, but I thought they looked extra cool today. And they’ll be seen around town as they transport the team around for the next few days.”
— Robert C. Jones Jr.
