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Miami Hurricanes Hero Darrell Langham Stays Humble Amidst Newfound Fame

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CORAL GABLES (CBSMiami) - In two straight games, Miami Hurricanes wide receiver Darrell Langham has provided a highlight reel moment.

In Miami's win at Florida State, he caught the game-winning 23 yard touchdown pass with six seconds left on the clock.

In Miami's comeback against Georgia Tech, he caught a tipped, juggled pass for 28 yards on 4th and 10 with the game on the line in the Hurricanes' decisive final drive. Head coach Mark Richt described the play as a "minor miracle."

Langham, a redshirt junior, had zero catches for zero yards prior to the start of this season. Now, the Lantana, Florida native has provided enough miracles for sainthood in an eight-day span.

A streak like this would be enough to give a big head to many athletes, but not Langham.

"I'm just in the right spot at the right time," insisted Langham, when speaking with media on Tuesday.

When asked how he gets in position for big plays, he said, "Working in practice every day, we're doing fade routes, we're just going for the ball. Coach [Ron Dugans] always tells us to go for the ball, never wait for the ball to come to us."

Among Hurricanes fans, Langham has quickly become a folk hero. If not for his unique mixture of concentration, calmness, and magic, Miami might be 3-2 and unranked right now instead of 5-0 and number 8.

So, how does he deal with getting recognized on campus?

"I feel like it's the same," Langham said. "Class, everyone says, 'good job, thank you.' To me, it's really nothing but getting my job done."

We can add humility to the list of qualities that help Langham succeed on the field.

It's not just Hurricanes fans who have taken notice of his playmaking ability. After his 100 yard receivng performance against Georgia Tech, Langham was named ACC Co-Receiver of the Week.

Offensive coordinator Thomas Brown says he's been watching Langham's confidence grow since long before the season began.

"I saw it in January, said Brown. "Coming through mat drills through spring ball to summer conditioning, you could tell that he was a different guy with a different mindset."

Brown went into more depth on Langham's emergence to stardom.

"I'm so proud of that dude," Brown said, beaming. "He's obviously come a long way from last year. He was a guy that we had high hopes for. You can obviously see his size and catch radius and I'm not sure if it was confidence deal last year or what it was, but he just didn't play on a consistent basis like he is right now. I think he's playing at a high level right now. He's take coaching really well right now from Coach (Ron) Dugans and he continues to work every day."

Surely, Miami would prefer to win games more convincingly, but if additional miracles are needed, they can count on Langham to answer the call.

Miami will host the Syracuse Orange on Saturday, October 21st at Hard Rock Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:30 PM. You can listen to the game on 560 WQAM.

 

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