Turnover Chain mojo? Hurricanes say motivational tool gives them a spark, opponents a 'letdown'

CORAL GABLES, Fla. _ A video surfaced not long before Miami and Notre Dame took the field Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium, and the language in it was anything but family-friendly.

During a pre-game pep talk at midfield this past Saturday night, Notre Dame defensive coordinator Mike Elko tried to fire up his players, saying he was sick and tired of hearing about the Hurricanes' famed Turnover Chain and how aggressively the Miami defense has played all season.

Things didn't quite go as Elko and the Irish had hoped.

Notre Dame didn't force a turnover in No. 3 Miami's eventual 41-8 win. Instead, four different Hurricanes got to wear the heavy, 10-karat gold chain that has come to symbolize Miami's defensive success this season.

First, Jaquan Johnson got a turn after an interception. Then Malek Young. After that came Trajan Bandy's 65-yard interception return just before halftime and finally, freshman Jonathan Garvin got to wear the chain after he sacked Notre Dame's Brandon Wimbush, forced a fumble and recovered the loose ball all on the same play.

In all, Miami's four turnovers led to 24 points for the Hurricanes. Now, the man who came up with the idea for Turnover Chain can't help but wonder whether his motivational tool has become something far more sinister for the opponents on Miami's schedule _ especially with the Hurricanes now forcing four turnovers in each of their past four games.

"It does have an effect. For whatever reason, when we get the first (turnover), it seems like the second one's not too far off," said Hurricanes defensive coordinator Manny Diaz. "And it feels almost like it has a similar effect, in a negative way, to the other team.

"All week, it's probably such a major point of emphasis for them to not the turn the ball over, they talk about how they're not going to turn it over against us, and then all of a sudden, when a turnover occurs, they're suffering a letdown as much as much as we're benefiting from a boost by getting our first turnover of the game. Because they've, obviously, been coming in bunches. ... It just feels like when a team turns the ball over the first time in a game, it gets better for us and worse for them from there."

And yes, in Charlottesville, the Cavaliers _ who will travel to Miami to face the Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium this weekend _ have discussed the Turnover Chain, with Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall saying he was generally a fan _ though he'd probably doesn't want to see it in person.

"I think it's really cool," Mendenhall said this week. "College football is _ there's an element of youthfulness and fun that sometimes is lost with the pressure and the polls and the salaries and scrutiny and the entertainment version of whether you've had a good game or a bad game. And so, to have kind of a thread of excitement and culture that I think the players like and certainly their fans have gotten behind, I think it's really cool."