College football spotlight: The U might stand for unacceptable

The saying at Miami, for years, was “it’s all about the U.”

These days, though, it’s all about the boos.

Clemson’s 58-0 victory over Miami in South Florida on Saturday was more than an embarrassment. The worst defeat in program history could signal the beginning of the end for Coach Al Golden.

Miami Nation, as you might expect, is not taking this well.

This is a franchise built on hip-hop, army fatigues, gold chains, audacious behavior and in-your-face intimidation. The Hurricanes won five national titles from 1983 to 2001 with a bravado that warranted not one, but two ESPN “30 for 30” documentaries.

ESPN aired episode one in 2009 and had so much spillover it had to follow up, in 2014, with “The U, Part 2.”

Sports Illustrated, in a 1980s cover piece, suggested that Miami should eliminate football.

This is the place where the late, great, Jerome Brown once refused to sit down at a Fiesta Bowl-week dinner with Penn State.

He said: “Did the Japanese to sit down with Pearl Harbor before they bombed ‘em?”

Miami used to give out scores of 58-0, not take them.

Former players took to social media in droves.

Former offensive lineman Bryant McKinnie tweeted, “Time to head in a new direction as a program, enough is enough.”

Former defensive Warren Sapp ended one disparaging tweet with hashtag #Algottago.

Golden took the blame for Saturday’s defeat.

“It’s completely my responsibility for not getting them ready to play,” he said.

Golden’s mea culpa, though, might not be enough. Athletic Director Blake James said no decision would be made on Golden until the end of the season.

Hey, Miami is still 4-3 and two wins from being bowl eligible.

Sorry, that doesn’t cut it. Certain losses, at certain programs, are intolerable. The pressure builds to a point where a move must be made to appease all the check-signers.

Saturday’s Miami defeat feels a bit like USC’s wipeout loss to Arizona State in 2013, after which Athletic Director Pat Haden fired Lane Kiffin after the team plane landed in Los Angeles.

Hooked on a feeling

Remember when Texas fell to 1-4 after a 50-7 loss at Texas Christian and people wondered whether Charlie Strong deserved to finish his second season?

That was the game where a Texas player — during halftime — retweeted a suggestion he should transfer to Texas A&M.

Well, look at “Hook ‘em” now. Texas won its second straight Saturday, 23-9 over Kansas State in Austin. That followed the Longhorns’ shocking win over archrival Oklahoma in Dallas.

Texas needs three wins to become bowl eligible. The Longhorns have winnable upcoming games against Iowa State and Kansas, with remaining games against West Virginia, Texas Tech and Baylor.

Strong overhauled the roster last year to get his system in place. Has he finally turned the corner? Texas had only 35 penalty yards Saturday and allowed Kansas State no play longer than 20 yards.

Texas rushed for 274 yards, led by Johnathan Gray’s 103 yards in 16 carries.

Strong improved his record to 9-11, with all his wins coming when Texas scored first.

The Longhorns held a moment of silence Saturday for Bevo XIV, the school’s live steer mascot, who died Oct. 17 of bovine leukemia.

Not those Seahawks

If you need to feel good, in a football sense, schedule a game against Wagner.

Earlier this year, in New York, Columbia ended its 24-game winning streak with a 26-3 victory against the Seahawks.

Saturday, Brigham Young invited Wagner to Provo for a game that was over before it started. BYU scored seven first-half touchdowns en route to a 76-6 win.

BYU outgained Wagner in yards, 457-37, in the first two quarters.

Wagner, which plays in the Northeast Conference, fell to 0-7 for the season. The Seahawks also lost their season opener at Rice, 56-16. Wagner seeks its first win next Saturday at Duquesne.

Missed it by that much (again)

Nebraska lost another close game. Of course it did.

The Cornhuskers are nothing if not consistent.

The latest heartbreak was a 30-28 home loss to Northwestern.

First-year Coach Mike Riley’s team has had fourth-quarter leads in four games this year — and lost them all.

Nebraska has five losses by 13 total points, which has to be some sort of a record.

The Cornhuskers closed the lead Saturday to 30-28 on a late touchdown run by quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr., but failed on the two-point conversion attempt.

Of course they did.

Follow Chris Dufresne on Twitter @DufresneLATimes