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 

Confirmed: UM Canes DT Luther Robinson will not travel to Kansas State -- not good for a position that was already in need of help

Way up in the sky en route to Manhattan, Kansas for Saturday's noon game at No. 21 Kansas State.

Ah, airplane Internet connection -- the marvels of modern technology.

The not so uplifting news: CaneSport.com reported this morning that defensive tackle Luther Robinson will not be traveling to Kansas State, and I just got it confirmed by a UM official who did not want to be identified. Suffice it to say that the UM official is well informed.

The UM official said Robinson "wasn't out there all week, so I don't believe he'll be traveling. He's currently on the team, but his status is unclear.''

I have a feeling Robinson's future with the team is shaky, but don't know what the resolution will be.

CaneSport reported that "apparently, his dad went off on the coaches this week because he thought Robinson should have played more in Boston. ...Apparently, Luther got caught up in it and actually refused to practice at least one day this week. Details beyond that are still sketchy.''

From what I've been told, this is pretty accuurate.

If you recall, coaches wanted Robinson to switch to the offensive line in the offseason, but he emphatically did not want to do that. Then he got into great shape, Coach Al Golden said, and became part of the rotation at D-tackle.

Robinson forced a fumble in UM's opener at Boston College.

On the newest depth chart released Monday morning (two days after Boston College game), Robinson, a 6-3, 288-pound redshirt junior, is listed as a co-backup (along with redshirt freshman Corey King) behind starter Olsen Pierre.

Golden told us Corey King would travel to Kansas State, but he didn't say anything about Robinson.

SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN