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Miami’s win does little to cool down Al Golden’s seat

Miami Coach Al Golden calls out to his players Saturday during an overtime victory over Nebraska.

Miami Coach Al Golden calls out to his players Saturday during an overtime victory over Nebraska.

(Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press)
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It wasn’t so long ago that he was one of college football’s golden boys.

Al Golden is most definitely no longer that.

Miami’s head coach is on the hot seat, and a 36-33 overtime win over Nebraska won’t do much to quell calls to replace him.

Miami blew a 23-point lead in the fourth quarter, and won when what should have been a chip-shot, 28-yard field goal barely made it inside the right upright.

Different versions of “Fire Al Golden” signs have shown up at each of Miami’s games this season, with a website of that name asking for — and receiving — contributions to pay for banners calling for the coach’s ouster.

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The latest, trailing a plane flying over Sun Life Stadium on Saturday, took to pleading. “C’MON, #FIREALGOLDEN THESE BANNERS ARE EXPENSIVE,” it read.

Imagine how brutal it would get if Miami’s record wasn’t 3-0.

Friends and foes

Miami quarterback Brad Kaaya and Nebraska running back Terrell Newby Jr. go back a ways. A long way.

They starred in the same backfield at West Hills Chaminade High, but were buddies and teammates way before that — starting in preschool.

It was Newby’s father, Terrell Sr., who suggested to Kaaya’s parents that the tall, rangy youngster might try playing quarterback.

So Nebraska, blame it on the parent of one of your own: Kaaya, a sophomore, completed 25 of 42 passes for 379 yards and two touchdowns in Miami’s win.

Newby, a junior, produced as well, leading the Cornhuskers in rushing with 82 yards in 14 carries and also catching four passes for 16 yards.

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Their high school coach, Ed Croson, whose team was 12-2 in 2012 with both in the backfield, watched the game on television and hoped for a lot of scoring.

“I’m rooting for both of them and lots of points to be scored and give Newby the ball more,” he said.

“Brad is a very bright guy and makes decisions quick and gets rid of the ball,” Croson added of Kaaya, who has thrown a touchdown pass in each of his 16 college games. “The natural progression, if he stays healthy and continues to improve, is the NFL. He has the body, he has the brains.”

Fashion statement

Each Miami and Nebraska player wore custom, hand-painted cleats — a first in college football.

Both schools wore Adidas, the Hurricanes going with “Soles By Sir” designs by Marcus Rivero, and the Cornhuskers “Mache Custom Kicks” by Dan Gamache.

The Nebraska cleats each featured 17 “Ns” and a palm tree in recognition of the Cornhuskers’ 17 trips to the Orange Bowl.

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Miami’s were personalized based on the player’s answers to two questions: What former Hurricane player made you say, “I really love the University of Miami. I really want to be a Hurricane; and, if you were painting your own shoe, what would you do?

Kaaya used the opportunity to honor Jake Heaps, who last season helped Kaaya, then a true freshman, quickly learn the playbook. Kaaya then beat out the veteran Heaps for the starting job.

Winning attitude

Jack Cantele has experienced the highs and lows of college football. Saturday was a high.

Cantele, a senior, kicked four field goals for Kansas State in a 39-33 triple-overtime win over Louisiana Tech — including a clutch 44-yarder in the second overtime to keep the Wildcats going.

But don’t worry about him getting a big head.

Last season, Cantele missed three field-goal attempts in a six-point loss to Auburn, was excoriated on social media, and lost his job.

Matthew McCrane took over as the kicker, converted 18 of 19 field-goal attempts to lead the nation in percentage, and Cantele looked as if he would close out his college career as a backup.

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But McCrane suffered a leg injury in the Wildcats’ second game this season, and Cantele came on in relief to make all three of his field-goal tries.

Asked last week about the ups and downs of his career, Cantele said he wouldn’t trade any of his experiences — even the bad ones.

“Having succeeded at this level and having failed at this level, it really builds character and maturity,” he said. “I am a totally different person than I was when I came out of high school, and even after my first two years here. It has helped me grow and humbled me.”

Survivors

Here’s hoping Stewart Golditch and Jordan Murphy got to meet after the Colorado State-Colorado game.

Golditch, a sophomore who starts at left tackle for Colorado State, and Murphy, a senior fullback for Colorado, survived the shooting spree by James Holmes at a suburban Denver movie theater on July 20, 2012.

Holmes murdered 12 people during a showing of “The Dark Knight Rises.”

Golditch, sitting in a neighboring theater, was struck in the neck by a bullet that went through a wall. Murphy was in the third row when Holmes started shooting, but managed to escape unharmed by crawling on the floor before running out an exit.

“It’s crazy that the two of us are playing in the same game after that,” Murphy said last week.

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Right direction

Bag on the quality of football played by many of the “directional schools” — the Northerns, Southerns, Easterns and Westerns — if you must, but be careful with Northern Illinois.

The Huskies’ tough loss to top-ranked Ohio State was the first in their last four games against teams from the Big Ten Conference.

Northern Illinois, which has won at least 11 games the last five consecutive seasons, had defeated Purdue, Iowa and Northwestern.

Fresh talent

UCLA’s Josh Rosen isn’t the only first-year freshman having a big impact for a nationally ranked team.

Christian Kirk is averaging 183.3 all-purpose yards per game for Texas A&M. He is the Aggies’ leading receiver with 16 catches for 169 yards and a touchdown. Plus, he has 132 yards in six kickoff returns and 149 yards and a touchdown in four punt returns.

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One-liners

Oklahoma and Tulsa combined for 863 yards in the first half, the most in a first half since 2013, when Fresno State and San Jose State combined for 1,002 yards. … Michigan Stadium held an announced crowd of 108,683 for the Michigan-Nevada Las Vegas game, the 260th consecutive Michigan home football game that reached six figures in attendance. … UNLV played before a total of about 143,000 fans last season in eight Mountain West Conference games.

mike.hiserman@latimes.com

Staff writer Eric Sondheimer and Times wire services contributed to this report.

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