"We needed this. It was well timed. Dolphins fans needed this, but we did as a larger community, too.

The Dolphins won an exhibition game here Friday night, and quarterback Chad Henne looked very good – he really did – and so did new running back Reggie Bush in his Miami debut.

The game didn't matter.

But maybe it did, just a little bit.

South Florida needed to feel good about at least one of its two major football teams, and got the chance.

The Dolphins played their first home game since last December and dominated the Carolina Panthers, 20-10, in a preseason contest, but that wasn't the story.

This was:

Dolfans cheered Henne, who looked like a real NFL starting quarterback.

Dolfans chanted "Reg-gie, Reg-gie!" for Bush, who looked like the exciting addition the club hoped he might be.

And being a football fan in Miami felt good again, if only for a night.

The scandal enveloping the University of Miami just to the south cannot be ignored, even in the context of the Dolphins. There is a great cross-pollenization of fans down here. Most Hurricanes fans care for the Dolphins. Most Dolphins fans feel for what UM is going through."