College football ahead: Miami can reestablish itself as marquee program

Now that Miami has knocked a very large monkey off its back — defeating rival Florida State after years of disheartening losses — the Hurricanes can try for something even bigger.

Rising two spots to No. 11 in the Associated Press poll this week, they have a chance to reestablish themselves as a marquee program.

Remember the glory days of the 1980s and 90s? The New Year’s Day bowl games and national championships?

In his second season at the helm, coach Mark Richt has the team at 4-0 with hopes of reaching the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game, which would probably mean a showdown against second-ranked Clemson.

“We finally got over that hill,” defensive lineman Chad Thomas said of defeating Florida State for the first time since 2009. “Now we’ve got to keep it going.”

There won’t be any time to rest.

The Hurricanes host a dangerous Georgia Tech on Saturday, followed soon after by No. 15 Virginia Tech and Virginia, with No. 16 Notre Dame thrown into the mix. And they’ll be without leading rusher Mark Walton, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury.

Richt warned his players not to celebrate the Florida State victory for too long, not if they want to prove Miami has truly turned the corner.

“There’s a long way to go as far as that race,” he said.

Lucky Break

It’s never good to lose your quarterback to injury, but Clemson may have found the best-possible time for Kelly Bryant to sprain an ankle.

The starter had to leave Saturday’s game against Wake Forest in the third quarter with his team leading 21-0.

“We tried it along the sideline, running on it,” he said of his ankle. “And it just wasn’t good.”

The silver lining for the Tigers? They face 3-3 Syracuse on Friday after a short week, and then have a bye before playing a couple of tough ACC games.

If Bryant can’t make it back to the practice field in the next few days — he was noncommittal after the game — it will give backups Zerrick Cooper and Hunter Johnson some valuable playing time. And the schedule will give the starter time to recover.

Passing concerns

Not everyone has been so fortunate.

Florida State started the season at No. 3 but has struggled since losing Deondre Francois to a knee injury in the season opener against top-ranked Alabama. An inconsistent offense hurt in the loss to Miami.

“They made one more play,” coach Jimbo Fisher said. “We’ve got to find ways to do that.”

A similar learning curve faces Oregon’s Braxton Burmeister. The freshman took over for Justin Herbert, who broke a collarbone against California, and had two passes intercepted in a 33-10 loss to Washington State.

The news is just as bad for Michigan, where the Wolverines have slipped to No. 17 and ESPN is reporting that Wilton Speight could miss the remainder of the season because of three broken vertebrae in his back.

Though John O’Korn brings experience off the bench, his three interceptions against no touchdowns were costly in Saturday’s upset loss to Michigan State.

“Too many turnovers,” coach Jim Harbaugh said after Michigan also suffered two fumbles. “We got momentum going and we turned it over.”

david.wharton@latimes.com

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