PASADENA – It was halftime of the Florida State game and Miami’s Edward Reed had just been shot up to dull the pain of a smarting shoulder injury when a teammate asked the nation’s best free safety if he was hurt.
“Yeah I’m hurt, dawg,” screamed Reed. “Yeah I’m hurt, dawg. But I’m playin’. Cause we said we were going to dominate and we ain’t dominating.” The Hurricanes, leading 21-13, would go on to blow out the Seminoles, 49-27.
It was halftime of the Colorado game and Nebraska was trailing 42-23. No Cornhusker got up to speak. Nebraska would go on to a suffer a humiliating 62-36 loss, the most points ever allowed by Big Red.
“We really don’t have a lot of personalities,” said Nebraska cornerback Keyuo Craver.
Looking for the one intangible that could determine Thursday night’s Rose Bowl national championship game? The Hurricanes have a player who talks it, walks it and intercepts it. The Cornhuskers do not.
“Anybody can talk,” said Miami coach Larry Coker. “Let’s go out and get it done. I want results and Ed Reed brings results to the table.”
Does he ever. This year the 6-foot, 198-pounder from Louisiana who returned for his senior season rather than opting for the NFL Draft, became Miami’s career interception leader with 21.
He saved Miami’s 26-24 win over Virginia Tech with his second interception of the game and his ninth of the season. He stuck a dagger in Boston College’s heart when he took an interception out of defensive lineman Matt Walter’s hands and raced 80 yards for a touchdown.
When he isn’t making the big play, Reed is making the big speech. At halftime of the Troy State game, which the ‘Canes won 38-7, Reed was enraged to be leading just 17-7.
Just as Coker finished speaking (some say Reed got in his first word before Coker got in his last), Louisiana Lips went into fast forward. Then he went into fast forward on the field. On Troy State’s first possession of the third quarter, Reed returned an interception 27 yards for a touchdown.
“Troy State, he would not shut up in the huddle,” said Miami middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma. “Not until he made that interception that got us going.”
A Miami captain, Reed does not come up for the coin flip because prefers to run through the tunnel with his teammates and he wants be certain he’s always present in case something needs to be said. He thinks about what he wants to say before games but once he rises to speak in a voice that fluctuates from glass-breaking to baritone, he goes blank.
“Mostly everything I say, I’m like, ‘That’s pretty good right there,”‘ said Reed. Nebraska coach Frank Solich believes his squad has great senior leadership but he acknowledged there is no vocal team leader. “I don’t know if we need a yeller and a screamer,” said Solich.
The Huskers certainly could have used one in the Colorado game. One like Reed.
