FanHouse Bryan Pata

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The telephone conversation between brothers, as always, was friendly and upbeat.

The noise in the Miami bowling alley, however, made it difficult for Bryan Pata to hear, so he quickly squeezed his feet into a snug pair of bowling shoes and walked outside for better reception. Edwin Pierre Pata was 400 miles away in Florida's Panhandle, standing near his car, but their bond was not diminished by distance or time. Or school allegiance.

Bryan was a Hurricane; Edwin a Seminole.

After handing it to Maryland last week, BC couldn't get enough on the Miami defense to win. BC can no longer make it to the ACC title game. The winner of the Maryland Wake Forest game will. Maryland is back in control of their own destiny.

This was a trap game by all means for BC. They scored the big time win against Maryland last week, and they were going against a "poor" Miami team this week. However, Miami has a killer defense, they needed a win for a bowl birth and to help Coker's job security, and they needed that win for Bryan Pata. BC fell for the trap. Terp fans remember their game against Miami. They won with 14 points. That defense doesn't give up much. As you can see by the photo, Maryland is so grateful that Dre Moore is hugging Miami's Javarris James.

Now Maryland needs to gear up for Wake Forest at home, which is officially the biggest game of their year -- a title that I hand out every week. They got a gift from Miami, a gift better than gift certificates, PS3s, or cash. They got the chace for a shot at the ACC Title game. The Terps have something to play for going into this game. It sucks knowing that win or lose, your team won't be making the big game.

Terps, gear up. It's time to put it all on the line. You were given a reprieve; a second chance. Use it and play your ass off in front of the Byrd Stadium faithful. You've got a rematch with Georgia Tech on the line. You've got a chance to restore a program that looked like it was dying last year. Make this game count.

Miami, your Thank You Cards are in the mail.

Well, the last two weeks Maryland's combined margin of victory has been a mean two points. However, they have been two victories. In fact, the Terps rattled off five in a row to improve to 8-2 and 5-1 in conference. The last two games haven't been pretty, but the outcomes have been tough wins and the fact they were wins at all is all that counts.

The Miami game was a huge pitfall game. Being Miami, they always have the talent and ability to come out strong every single game. The fact they were playing for a teammate that had died earlier in the week would just add to that fact. It looked like the death of defensive end Bryan Pata was weighing heavily on the players and I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of them just didn't want to be there. None-the-less, they played on and played hard the entire game.

Maryland's defense, although they held Miami to only 13 points, did not look as sharp as they did against Clemson. They were giving up way to many yards and won with the help of Miami. Miami's go ahead touchdown was straight up dropped when Ryan Hill was wide open in the end zone and just dropped the pass. With the way Maryland's offense was lacking in the second, as it was against Clemson, that would have been the game. I thought many times that the Bend Don't Break defense was finally going to break today. Instead, it bent to maximum capacity. When it looked like Miami was going to do it, a Miami tipped pass was picked off by Trey Covington and after Maryland punted it away, Bruce Johnson fumbled after a nasty tackle.

After the tragic death of Miami defensive end, Bryan Pata, Miami will opt to play against Maryland. As Coach Larry Coker said, "[The team] felt like Bryan would want to play."

Maryland can no longer expect to meet the crappy Miami that's walked on the field all year. They should expect the Miami that had been ranked for years before. There's no doubt in my mind that Miami will come and play that game for Bryan Pata and play hard -- the hardest they've played all year. They will leave everything on the field, and Maryland needs to be ready for that.

I think Maryland is a tough position this week. The entire story is Miami and Maryland is the bad guy team they have to overcome to honor their lost friend. Besides Maryland fans, I think every will be behind Miami in this game. The Maryland players will have to realize that this is still an important game for them. It wouldn't benefit them at all if they came out not playing 100% because of the situation. I doubt Miami would want Maryland at anything besides 100%. Maryland's season is highly dependent on this game, and if they don't play their hardest, they'll regret it years down the line. If they lose to Miami while playing 100%, that's something that you can get over.

As for the news on the Hurricanes, you should probably be reading the Miami FanHouse.

No matter who wins or loses this game, it can be assured that this game will have a different feel. I bet you that even the Terps fans will sound a bit different. This is a tragedy, but the game will go on. Let's hope for both sides' sake, it's a good one.