Marve To Get A Baptism By Fire ... In The Swamp.

Swamped.

There's no other way to describe the magnitude of this week's unusual challenges for Tampa's Robert Marve, the University of Miami's redshirt freshman quarterback. On Saturday night, he plays his first competitive game in 21 months - and that was his high school finale.

Best-case scenario would be a slow indoctrination into college football, getting his feet wet, finding a comfort level.

Not this time.

Marve's debut comes on national television, before more than 90,000 fans, as the Hurricanes travel to the University of Florida's legendary hostile din.

"I can't imagine what Marve is going through," Hurricanes sophomore wide receiver Leonard Hankerson said. "I think everybody might have a few jitters. We're going to have to calm down after that first series and get the job done."

And Marve will lead them.

He's the same guy who became Florida's Mr. Football (one season after UF's Tim Tebow earned that award), while leading 15-0 Plant High to a Class 4A state championship. He faced up to constant danger in the pocket, eluding like a magician. For his next trick, Marve will step into this seemingly impossible situation - and thrive, according to his coaches and most teammates.

"You have to understand Marve," Hurricanes senior linebacker Glenn Cook said. "He's stone-cold. As far as him not being able to handle that atmosphere, I'm not worried about that. This guy, I think, can handle anything."

Marve lost all of last year and worked on the scout team while recovering from a serious car accident. Then he lost his anticipated start last Thursday night, when Coach Randy Shannon announced a one-game suspension for Marve, stemming from his Halloween night arrest on charges of minor criminal mischief and resisting arrest (the charges were dropped).

Instead, freshman Jacory Harris led UM's 52-7 victory against Charleston Southern. Shannon has installed Marve as the season-long starter, but said Harris will play in every game.

"We're going to have a great plan for Robert to be successful, and he will execute it," Shannon said. "He's a calm quarterback who knows what we're trying to get done on offense. We've seen that all the time in practice."

But that's practice.

Saturday night is "The Swamp."

Since Steve Spurrier came to Gainesville in 1990, and Florida's stadium began assuming its Swamp-like qualities, only 11 opposing quarterbacks have won there (in 113 games). If Marve wants tips, he need only ask his offensive coordinator, Patrick Nix, who was Auburn's quarterback in 1994, when the Tigers stunned the No. 1-ranked Gators 36-33.

There are some things, though, that can only be experienced first-hand.

"Here I was a kid coming out of a Canada high school, and my very first start my true freshman year was at Auburn," said former Gators quarterback Jesse Palmer, now an ESPN analyst. "There was no way I could've prepared for what I was about to see on the field and around the field.

"It just comes down to the individual. You find out about players in those situations. The playbook might get shortened. You want to establish a nice tempo and get him comfortable. The player himself will demonstrate how they can handle the pressure."

That's where Marve's pedigree becomes relevant.

Robert Weiner, his high-school coach at Plant, calls Marve "the most competitive individual on Earth." UM teammates already have picked up on Marve's intangibles, saying he's someone who has obvious presence.

"When you're out there on the field with 11 guys - and some guys aren't listening or doing their job - you have to step up and be a leader, whether you're a freshman or a senior," Marve said before serving his suspension. "I'm going to be a leader."

Junior running back Javarris James, knowing that UM would be playing this season with a quarterback who never had taken a college snap, said he recently addressed the group.

"I know he Marve will have goose bumps, but that's natural," James said. "I told them all, 'Don't try to be the star.' Being the quarterback at the University of Miami has a lot of pressure and expectations.

"They can't be a Ken Dorsey or a guy like Gino Torretta. Just be yourself."

Marve will be Marve.

Saturday night, for the first time in 21 months, everyone will learn if that's enough.