As Robert Marve calmly prepared for his first career snap as the University of Miami quarterback, he said he felt "comfortable"
and "honored"
and "blessed."
Then came the adrenaline surge.
"The coolest thing for me was when I first lined up and really wasn't paying attention to the crowd, I lifted my leg for the snap, and I couldn't even hear myself think,'' Marve said of Florida's record crowd of 90,833. 'And I was like, `This is pretty awesome! This is really cool!' "
It could get cooler. Marve will go into Texas A&M on Sept. 20 ready to tackle another well-known opponent -- and eager to face a defense that is coordinated by his father's former NFL linebackers coach, the man who recruited Robert for Alabama.
"I really want to get after them now since their defensive coordinator was my dad's linebacker coach with the [Tampa Bay Buccaneers],"
Marve said. "We have some ties there, so I want to take care of them."
That coach, Joe Kines, coached Eugene Marve in Tampa Bay from 1988 through '90. Kines also served as defensive coordinator at UF in the early '80s and at Georgia in the mid-'90s, among other coaching stops.
He went to Alabama in 2003 as the assistant head coach to Mike Shula, and he also served as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. When Shula was fired (before Nick Saban was hired), Kines flew to the home of Marve's mother to meet the family and assure Robert that Alabama still wanted him to be its quarterback.
"Joe assured Robert that everything Alabama promised him was still there,"
said Eugene Marve, who played in the NFL for 11 years. "But I still remember him joking that, `I may be cutting the grass when you get there, but everything promised you is still there. "
Indeed, that was Kines' last season at Alabama.
"It's crazy, isn't it? After the 2006 season, he was sitting in the kid's living room, and now he's game-planning against him,"
Eugene said.
"I tell you what, I was the captain of the Tampa Bay defense, and Joe Kines is a very capable coordinator."
Robert Marve changed his commitment to UM in early 2007 after being less than enthused about Saban.
"I know Coach Kines pretty well,"
he said. "He was one of the main reasons I was going to Alabama. I don't talk to him on a regular basis, but, whenever we run into each other, there are fun conversations."
Those conversations will be nonexistent until at least the game clock ticks to 00:00 in College Station, Texas.
Marve, a redshirt freshman, is intent on leading the Hurricanes' offense to a lot more than the 140 total yards it garnered against the Gators.
Marve's numbers: 10 of 18 for 69 yards. He was sacked three times.
"My guess is 140 yards means we have a lot to improve on,"
said Marve, who seemed poised and comfortable rolling out of the pocket and likes to throw on the run. "I really think it's little things."
"I was very excited how we did move the ball, but it always seems we got stuck on third downs."
IN NIX MARVE TRUSTS
Marve said he trusts offensive coordinator Patrick Nix, and he isn't buying into the criticism of Nix for not opening up the passing game. UM coach Randy Shannon blamed the lack of aerial yards on "guys not getting open. That's all it was,"
Shannon said. "But the guys are responding, and they know what they have to get done."
Marve will not second-guess Nix.
"I don't want to get into who is saying what, because everyone has opinions about everything. We played two games so far. We scored 52 points the first game, and no one said anything."
"Then we played a top-five team in their place. So let everyone say whatever, but I have Coach Nix's back 100 percent. He's my coach. He's my guy."
But, still, would Marve like to throw more?
He smiled and said: "A quarterback always wants to throw. . . . But it's up to the coaches. If Graig Cooper grabbed the ball and went for 50, we wouldn't talk about throwing, would we?"
When asked about the flurry of dropped balls by receivers, Marve refused to point fingers: "We're a young team, and we played in a hard atmosphere,"
he said. "Line us back out there and give me another shot, and we'll go out there and do it."
`I JUST WANT TO WIN'
Marve said he wasn't frustrated by freshman quarterback Jacory Harris coming into the game after UM's scoring drive. "It didn't take me out of my rhythm,"
he said. "It helped me see what I needed to do."
"I don't care if I'm in. I just want to win."
Harris also defended Nix.
"Coach Nix is a great coordinator,"
he said. "Running is the strength of our team, and, with the great backs we have, we're trying to establish the run first."
With tailback Javarris James out (high ankle sprain) for the Texas A&M game, most expect UM to be more aggressive in the air.
Either way, Marve does not want his defense, ranked 21st nationally, to have another dominant showing and still come away empty.
"The most frustrating thing was to see how well the defense played and to not come away with points,"
Marve said. "When we looked at it on film, it was like, `We're so close to blowing it up on offense.'"
'The defense played lights-out. They played hard, they played fast, and they kept talking to me -- `Let's get some points!' We'll get it done for those guys.
"I promised them."
