ESPN College Football

HOLLYWOOD, er TALLAHASSEE, Fla.-- It was perfect. Almost so perfect, it's hokey. The only flaw was that Jarrett Payton's breakout day happened on Oct. 11 -- not in the first week of January. Still, the Miami tailback wasn't about to quibble with how his storybook day unfolded as he stood beaming by his locker surrounding by dozens of tape recorders and TV cameras.

Inside that locker was a pair of flip-flops, a balled-up wad of tape and a bulky green equipment bag. Standard issue football stuff. The locker wasn't that different from any of the others in the Miami dressing room. Except in Payton's locker, there was the black No. 34 Chicago Bears jersey folded neatly on the shelf in the upper right corner and a pair of retro Roos turf shoes -- a tribute to his father, the legendary Walter Payton who was the spokesman for the sneaker company.

"He'd be proud of me," the son said of his late father . The younger Payton, aka the Son of Sweetness, ran for 97 yards and also caught a touchdown to spark Miami's 22-14 win against favored Florida State in a quagmire.

"I grew up a lot today," he explained.

And just at the right time. Doubts about the Miami running game sprung up 10 days ago after the 'Canes starting tailback Frank Gore tore his ACL against West Virginia. Payton, his understudy, struggled with the added workload, even fumbling late in the game, which UM barely rallied to win. You couldn't have blamed Payton if he had sunk after that moment. Especially considering he was the same back who got stuffed near the goal line last January when Miami couldn't score in overtime against Ohio State in the national title game after Willis McGahee shredded his knee.

But Payton never buckled. Didn't buckle after being involved in a horrific car wreck on I-95 a few years back either. Or when he gashed open his foot on some coral while scuba diving. Or when he lost his father right at the start of his college career.

He could've given up. Unlike most of the guys on the field Saturday, Payton doesn't need a football career to stabilize his family financially. Instead, he waited his turn, through Clinton Portis and Willis McGahee and through Frank Gore. "I'm so proud of Jarrett," says UM's offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski, the guy who recruited Payton out of Chicago. "That was big-time. That's what's been so great about this program over the years, when somebody gets hurt or guys graduated, other guys step up when they have their opportunity."

Last Friday, the day after Miami escaped with a win over West Virginia, Chudzinski told the offense something that has become the mantra of the Miami program: "We always play our best when our backs are against the wall." It is as much as anything, the legacy of the program. And yes, Chudzinski couldn't help but get caught up in the fact that it would be Payton's turn to be the one stepping up.

Last year when Miami lost the national title game, it was Payton who became the de facto team spokesman. He could've turned tail after getting stuffed near the goal line. Heck, it wasn't like the media was sticking microphones in front of his face when the 'Canes were rolling. Still, he answered every question. "I used that to grow up," he says. "Every week to me is growing up."

He teases his teammates that he is an old man, and he will let you in on the joke. Funny as that is, the 22-year-old telling a group of flabby media types that he is old. The ironic thing is, he always has been more than just Walter Payton's kid, the oldest child of the greatest running back ever play the game. He is polite, thoughtful and charismatic. He has a walk-on's humility and politician's presence. He is -- and has been ever since he set foot on the UM campus -- a class act.

The sad part is that some would say maybe he was too nice and didn't have the fire that you come to expect of the guys who run through the smoke. Most people had written him off this week. Maybe converted wideout Jason Geathers would save Miami. Maybe they would put the game in freshman Tyrone Moss' hands, or maybe, the experts said, the 'Canes would stick Brock Berlin in the shotgun and take their chances.

Of course when Payton woke up Saturday morning, he saw a downpour outside his hotel window. Then again, there's always rain and mud whenever Hollywood meets the gridiron.

Don Soldinger, Miami's grizzled old running back coach, said he knew Payton was ready for his moment on the drive to the game. "I saw he was wearing his dad's game jersey, and that's when I knew," he says.

Credit Soldinger for planting the seed. He's the one who is always going on about Superman and about wanting his guys to think like they have an "S" on their chests. Payton says he didn't own any Superman gear. Instead, he did the next best thing. He broke out old Bears No. 34. "My favorite super hero was my dad," he said

Miami leaned on its defense -- and on Payton, and in turn, the kid leaned on his old man. Payton would look up above the sky boxes at Doak Campbell Stadium and talk to his dad whenever things felt tight. "Just be calm," "don't rush things," "be patient," were the things his old man kept whispering into Jarrett's ear. "Keep me focused," the younger Payton kept asking his father. "Keep me calm."

He says he knew his teammates were going to think he's crazy, standing there talking to himself, but, hey, it was finally his time, so they would understand. He says he tried not too much pressure on himself, but still said he saw this game, this opportunity, as "life and death."

Payton had more than his share of help. The offensive line that didn't allow any sacks against FSU provided some holes and created room for Payton to dash into the end zone on his touchdown play.

"I think we muscled them around," said Miami center Joel Rodriguez of the vaunted 'Nole D-line. "I didn't think they were much better than anybody else we faced this season. To be honest, they were pretty average."

Miami outrushed FSU 131-61 and were able to keep the 'Noles off-balance enough to fuel their play-action game. Said UM coach Larry Coker: "I think Jarrett had almost 100 yards and I think their team had about 60. That pretty much says it all right there."

It does. And in this latest Game of the Century, Jarrett Payton did what he always wanted to do: he rose up.

Bruce Feldman covers college football for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at bruce.feldman@espnmag.com.