(Editor's note: Miami wide receiver André King, a junior, will file a weekly diary with ESPN.com throughout the season. For more on Miami, visit the Hurricanes' official athletic site.)

Nov. 16, 1999

Where do we start?

I think the whole team was excited about the challenges at Virginia Tech. We knew they were a good football team and that we had to play precise and play well the entire game in order to come out with a victory. I think early in the game we were able to set the tone. We started fast. We came out fired up and with a lot of energy.

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We went in at halftime thinking we just needed to come out the in second half with that same fire in our stomachs in order to give them a fight. But it seemed like everything that could go wrong, went wrong. All of the unfortunate circumstances that happened put us in a hole that we had to dig out of, and that's hard to do on the road -- especially against Virginia Tech, the No. 2 team in the nation.

The loss was definitely disappointing to the entire team because we knew what the game meant to our program and our fans. It's not because of coaching or due to lack of preparation -- it's just one of those things that happens in the game of football.

With the three remaining regular-season games and the bowl game, we have just four more chances to show the country what the 'Canes are about. Every time you play a game, you get to rewrite the story and write the headlines. I think in the four opportunities we have left, we have to dig deep down inside of each other and pull out some pride. We still have the goal of getting to a bowl game. We need to get the young guys into a bowl game to give them that experience going into next year.

This upcoming week with Rutgers is homecoming. Our fans can enjoy the opportunity to see the king and queen, the parade and all of the pageantry surrounding the game -- plus they can come out and see us play. We definitely need our fans now. We need that 12th man on our side, so come out and support us.

Two-thirds of the year are almost finished now and there are still some bright spots here at the university. For instance, we are not digging out of snow. It's November and we can still walk around with tank tops and without jackets. As the season winds down, we are still looking forward to playing in the Orange Bowl, enjoying the Florida sunshine and getting finished with school.

This season has kind of put our fans on a roller coaster. There might be some people who will turn their backs on the Hurricanes, but we're still the same team that dominated -- we just have to put it all together and ask for your patience and support. We still have a winning record and we'll be in the top echelon of college football -- just come on out and keep rooting for us.

See you Saturday at the Orange Bowl.