Eye on the U

Hot time in MIami: Gators at Canes in football: noon on Sept. 7 on ESPN.

University of Miami tailgaters might want to get to sleep early on Friday, Sept. 6th. That's because the highly anticipated Florida Gators at Miami Hurricanes football game was announced for a noon kickoff at Sun Life Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 7 on ESPN -- upsetting fans who would rather have a night game.

A night game would certainly be a great draw and the event to party around at Sun Life. UM would get heavy-duty exposure. And let's face it, night games are always more fun (unless you're on deadline or savor getting broiled outside).

Turns out that ABC has NASCAR from Richmond, Va., that night and ESPN is broadcasting the Notre Dame-Michigan football game in prime time. A game has not yet been announced for the prime-time ESPN2 slot.

"We requested and lobbied ESPN for an evening slot for the game vs #BeatUF.'' tweeted UM athletic director Blake James. "Unfortunately, they were unable to accomodate.'' 

 I just got off the phone with ESPN spokesman Mike Humes, whom I asked about the noon start.

"Essentially, we looked at all the options and this was the best available window for the game,'' Humes said. "We average probably around three million viewers for that time slot. So it wasn’t like, 'Let’s put the worst game on at noon.' The noon window does really well with fans.

"We view this as a great matchup. Scheduling games is like putting together differrent puzzles with different time zones and commitments, and this was the best window.''

 UM AD James also tweeted this: "espn/abc wanted to take game national 3:30 slot is regional coverage."

Humes said the 3:30 p.m. ABC game is Oregon at Virginia.

In other Canes football news, the Aug. 30 season opener at Sun Life Stadium against FAU will kick off at 8 p.m. Aug. 30 -- a Friday -- and will be aired by ESPNU.

SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN 

Second and final fall scrimmage cut short because of lightning -- stats not provided by UM

   Had fun at CanesFest. Here's UM's release about Saturday's scrimmage. Practice resumes Monday morning, when we'll talk to Coach Al Golden about what he saw in the short time his players scrimmaged.

Please note that UM did not release any statistics from the scrimmage.

SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN

Lightning Cuts Second #CanesCamp Scrimmage Short

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The second scrimmage of #CanesCamp was expected to be a barometer for the Hurricanes, now only two weeks away from their 2012 season opener at Boston College. Unfortunately for head coach Al Golden and his staff, the team’s intrasquad scrimmage was cut short in the middle of the second quarter due to lightning in the area.

Less than a week after their first scrimmage, Saturday’s orange versus white match-up was less situational and more action-packed. Artificial crowd noise was pumped through speakers during every drive, signature third down music was played to rattle the offense, and referees enforced penalties on both sides to ensure the scrimmage on the Greentree Practice Fields replicated the intensity of a real game.

 Though offensive playmakers impressed in the first scrimmage, standout defensive performances from both the first and second team were the story during Saturday’s abbreviated action. Touchdown runs from Mike James and Duke Johnson, along with a sack in the endzone by Kelvin Cain for a safety, gave the white team a 16-0 lead before the lightning alarm sounded.

 After clearing the field and waiting nearly an hour for the lightning detector signal, the scrimmage was cut short by the coaching staff. The Hurricanes return to the field Mon., Aug. 20, for Day 16 of #CanesCamp.