State Of The U Q&A With Brent Musburger

This type of opportunity does not come along often, so when I got an email from Mike Humes at ESPN wondering if I wanted to do a Q&A with one of the guys calling this weekend's game against FSU, of course I jumped on it. I sent him a few questions, and Brent Musburger was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule of generally being one of the biggest bad asses in the college football world to answer our humble queries.

The questions are below, our questions are in normal type, and Brent's answers are in bold.

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1) What is your opinion on the current direction of the Miami football program and Coach Golden?

Brent: "I'm impressed with what he has accomplished, especially considering the backdrop of the impending sanctions. He has been able to keep the program going well despite that distraction."

2) You've called more college football than most will ever watch. Do you have a favorite memory from the Miami heydays in the 80's?

Brent: There are many, many memories. The positive one for the Hurricanes was the day they squared off against Oklahoma and Brian Bosworth in the Orange Bowl. It was a slugfest and Miami dominated the Sooners. The negative from a Hurricanes standpoint was Doug Flutie's Hail Mary pass to beat them. There are so many it is difficult to pick out and this includes from the Miami-FSU games I've worked. But those two standout.

3) Staying with the favorite moment theme, what about the Miami/FSU rivalry? Do you have any favorite moments or calls from past games?

Brent: It's an interesting story. There was a game in the 80s in Tallahassee. Leading up to it, Bobby Bowden had been lamenting that in a previous game he went for two instead of an extra point, was stopped and lost. So he had said if there was a chance to tie the game with an extra point, he would take it and not go for the win. The game was down to the wire when Florida State scored and they could've tied it with an extra point. I had said on-air Bobby Bowden was going to kick the extra point and when I looked down, I saw them lineup to go for two - the Canes stopped them. Here, the players talked him into going for the win. Bobby sent me a note apologizing for telling him he was going to kick the extra point and the players convinced him to go for two. That is the only time I have ever received a note from a coach apologizing for telling me something. I still have the note.

4) Do you think Miami would be better off support-wise with its own stadium rather than sharing one with another sports team?

Brent: From my standpoint, it's too bad that an on-campus football stadium wasn't built in the 80s. I always like to see the stadiums closer to the campuses. They were able to do that with the basketball arena and that has been a big success for them.

5) The BCS era is coming to an end of sorts. How do you feel about this, and what are your thoughts on the proposed playoff system?

Brent: I think it will be an improvement having more teams in the process. And it will be a positive if they restore the importance of New Year's Day for college football. I'm happy they have decided to expand.

6) Just how awesome is/was Howard Schnellenberger?

Brent: Howard was wonderful for those of us in the media to work with because he was always approachable and willing to tell you things about his team. In terms of Miami, I'm not sure the Canes would have reached the pinnacle in the 80s they did without Howard turning that program around.

7) How bad was the press box in the original Orange Bowl?

Brent: My clothes closet at home was bigger than the old announce booth in the Orange Bowl. But, and this is abig but, I have witnessed so many great games in the Orange Bowl that I have forgiven the size of the announcer booth.

8) Do you have someone you have worked with that has been your favorite out of everyone?

Brent: Nope. Liked them all.

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We would like to formally thank Brent for his time, and for all the work that he does for the game we love.

GO CANES!