CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Miami defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr. doesn’t say much. He just plays.<\/p>\n
That’s part of the reason why Bain giving a short, impromptu and unexpected halftime speech<\/a> to teammates during of Miami’s win over Ohio State in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Cotton Bowl<\/a> last week was a moment that went viral.<\/p>\n \u201cThey don\u2019t got the energy we got, bro,\u201d Bain said. \u201cThey don\u2019t want it how we want it.\u201d<\/p>\n And with that, Bain got his \u201cJoaquin said dominate\u201d moment that surely will go into Hurricane lore. Miami (12-2, CFP No. 10 seed) had more than enough of the energy that Bain was speaking of, beat Ohio State 24-14 and moved into Thursday’s CFP semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl against Mississippi (13-1, CFP No. 6 seed).<\/p>\n It was at a game in 2001 \u2014 Miami’s last national championship season \u2014 when eventual Pro Football Hall of Fame safety Ed Reed gave a now-famous speech<\/a> to teammates at halftime in Tallahassee, a game the Hurricanes were leading rival Florida State 21-13. Reed’s shoulder was banged up, and the Seminoles seemed to have the momentum.<\/p>\n Reed turned and faced his teammates before they returned to the field, quoting offensive lineman Joaquin Gonzalez for emphasis.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m hurt, dawg. Don\u2019t ask me if I\u2019m all right. Hell, no,\u201d Reed shouted. \u201cJoaquin said dominate and we\u2019re not doing it.\u201d He said a little more, turned and ran out of the tunnel. What happened over the next few minutes showed how much Reed’s words mattered to teammates.<\/p>\n Miami scored four touchdowns in the third quarter, blowing out Florida State and eventually finishing the season as 12-0 national champions. Reed didn’t seek the spotlight in those days, much in the same way Bain doesn’t seek it now.<\/p>\n \u201cTo come out and speak in front of the entire team, when that\u2019s not necessarily something that he does all the time, you know he means it,” Miami quarterback Carson Beck said. \u201cI think there\u2019s weight behind that. That’s something that\u2019s coming from the heart, something that you know he needs to say to the team. Shoot, it had me juiced. I was ready to roll out there and go die for those boys. Obviously, I think it\u2019s an iconic moment that we\u2019ll always remember as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n It’s a balancing act for Miami coach Mario Cristobal, who played on two national title teams when he was a Hurricanes offensive lineman. He welcomes back the alumni, while simultaneously making sure the current team keeps looking forward.<\/p>\n \u201cI think just the entirety of the Miami Hurricanes family from years past, showing up and supporting our team and getting back involved with the university, is absolutely awesome,\u201d Cristobal said. \u201cIt also gives our players a chance to experience that brotherhood that we have always spoken about so strongly of.\u201d<\/p>\n At Miami, the names from the past \u2014 like Reed \u2014 still inspire.<\/p>\n Michael Irvin<\/a> \u2014 another Hall of Famer \u2014 has been a regular on the Miami sideline for the past couple of seasons, and Cristobal has welcomed the sort of energy he brings. When running back Mark Fletcher Jr. fumbled the ball away early in the Ohio State game, it was Edgerrin James \u2014 another Hall of Famer \u2014 who got into his ear and calmed him down. And when Beck was warming up for the game, he was starstruck when he saw Ray Lewis \u2014 another Hall of Famer \u2014 just a few feet away.<\/p>\n \u201cI literally just looked at him and just shook his hand and he introduced himself,” Beck said. \u201cAnd then he\u2019s like, \u2018Yo, go win us the ball game.\u2019 And I was like: \u2018Well, now I have to. We literally have to go score. Like, I can\u2019t let this dude down.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Sometimes, the impact of those past Miami stars comes even when they’re not physically there.<\/p>\n Keionte Scott, the standout from Miami’s secondary who had a game-changing interception return for a touchdown against Ohio State, slept inside the indoor practice facility during fall camp and found himself gazing at the roof over the field at the banners showing the names of all the Hurricanes’ past All-Americans.<\/p>\n He was looking up at those same banners Sunday when he explained the story.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s a different feeling,\u201d Scott said. \u201cIt’s a testimony to how much The U means to them. It just shows me how much The U was able to do for them. They could be doing anything in the world and they’re supporting their team and they’re supporting their college. It’s just something that makes you want to go harder.\u201d<\/p>\n Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here<\/a> and here<\/a> (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ap-top-25-college-football-poll<\/a> and https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/college-football<\/a><\/p>\n Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Miami defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr. doesn’t say much. He just plays. That’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151,9870],"class_list":{"0":"post-110604","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arlington","8":"tag-arlington","9":"tag-arlington-headlines","10":"tag-arlington-news","11":"tag-national_news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}