When Jamelle Eugene talks about Miami, he still uses “we.”
The first football game the redshirt sophomore running back ever attended was during his sophomore year in high school. Eugene said the Hurricanes were playing the Seminoles and “we actually set the record for attendance that day.”
Miami won the game against Florida State — and not surprisingly, on a missed field goal.
Eugene had a perfect view from the opposite side of the field. He watched from the closed-in side as the field goal missed on the open side. Even though he’d only been to “two or three games,” he watched it from the “best seats” he’d ever had.
Now, more than five years later, Eugene will get his shot to play in the Orange Bowl.
“That’s something I used to always think about, since I was a kid. I made the decision that I wanted to play football and Miami was the first place I looked — Miami, Florida, Florida State. The Orange Bowl was the closest place to me,” Eugene said.
“I’ve always looked forward to playing in the Orange Bowl and it has a little special meaning now that it’s the last season,” he said.
With the Hurricanes moving out of the Orange Bowl at the end of the season, Eugene said he was upset to hear the news — but he’s glad he gets a chance to play Miami before it moves to Dolphin Stadium.
“There’s just so much history there,” he said. “My whole family, you’re either a ‘Canes fan or a Florida State fan. There’s just a lot of tradition and history. Not only am I going to miss it, a lot of people in my family are.”
Coach Tom O’Brien, who was 0-8 against Miami as a head coach, said he doesn’t think he has won a game at the Orange Bowl as a coach, or even a player.
While the game is important for other reasons, O’Brien said Florida is a good territory to get noticed in — especially with the high school talent in the area.
“It’s obviously important. Florida, along with Texas and California, are probably the three most populous states in the country, with the most high school players,” O’Brien said. “So anytime you can go to Florida and get a win, it speaks well for your program.”
O’Brien said he hasn’t put much thought into playing at the Orange Bowl, but he is glad the Wolfpack isn’t playing in the “last game there.”
“It really doesn’t make any difference — I’ve played there as a player and coached there,” O’Brien said. “A football field’s a football field. You don’t think much about the stadium.”
But for Eugene, it’s more than another game. While he doesn’t know how many tickets he’ll have available to friends and family, he knows how many want to come watch him.
“How many do I expect to have? I don’t know, because it depends on how many tickets I get. But how many I could have? I could have easily 40 people there,” he said.