CORAL GABLES, Fla. — On Tuesday morning at the University of Miami, it was quiet.
Classes were pushed back to the afternoon as fans shook off a long night following the Hurricanes’ national championship loss to the Indiana Hoosiers.
But for one freshman Local 10 caught up with, there’s already hope for what’s next.
“I still have a lot of hope for next year,” he said.
It wasn’t the ending Canes fans dreamed of. But it was a night South Florida won’t forget.
“I think people are excited that we made it so far, but we wanted to come together and finish it off at the end,” sophomore Mackenzie Eason said.
It was an underdog season that reached the championship stage, with South Florida ties on both sides of the field.
“Obviously Indiana’s quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, is amazing and with a quarterback like him, you can’t really make those kind of mistakes on the field, with the underthrown interception and the punt, we really couldn’t afford those mistakes and they did it to us,” UM freshman Daniella Vega said.
Sure, the final score didn’t go Miami’s way. But maybe something good came out of Monday night’s game: Newfound friends, shared memories and fans who are already itching for next season.
“We said it doesn’t matter the cost, we’re going to see our team in the Natty,” UM alum Lisle Fitzgerald said. “We’ve been cheering them on for so many years; they played great, they fought hard, it was right until the very end and we’re so proud of them.”
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