Postgame Notes

Nov. 29, 2003

Recap|Final Stats|Photo Gallery

MIAMI-PITTSBURGH SERIES

With tonight’s game, Miami and Pittsburgh have met 31 times since 1950 with the Hurricanes holding the 21-9-1 series lead, including a 10-1 mark in BIG EAST play since league round-robin play began in 1993.With tonight’s victory, Miami has won the last six meetings with Pittsburgh. Additionally, the Hurricanes have been in the win column against the Panthers in 13 of the last 14 meetings since 1984. The lone loss to Pittsburgh in this 20-year stretch was a 21-17 defeat at Pitt Stadium in 1997, the year UM went 5-6.The Miami/Pittsburgh series began in 1950 with a 28-0 Miami victory on Oct. 28 at Pitt Stadium. The first game played in Miami was the following season, a 21-7 Panther victory on Dec. 7, 1951. At that time, the Hurricanes were coached by legendary Hall of Famer Andy Gustafson, who starred as a player at Pittsburgh from 1923-25. Overall, the two schools have been common opponents in each decade since.Miami has forged an 11-5 lead in road games against Pittsburgh, while the Hurricanes own a 10-4-1 record all-time at the Orange Bowl against the Panthers. UM’s 43-21 victory at Pittsburgh in 2001 was the first at Heinz Field, a place Miami in which Miami is 2-0 in the series.The Hurricanes now have a three-game winning streak over Pittsburgh in road games dating back to the 1997 season. Miami has won seven of eight at Pittsburgh since the 1976 season.UM coordinators Randy Shannon (1985-88) and Rob Chudzinski (1988-90) and defensive line coach Greg Mark (1986-89) were a combined 5-0 against Pittsburgh as players for the Hurricanes. Assistant head coach/offensive line coach Art Kehoe (1979-80) did not play Pittsburgh during his collegiate career as a Hurricane.The Miami/Pittsburgh game was broadcast on a split-national basis by ABC Sports, marking the 12th network-televised contest between the two schools. Of the 12 televised Miami-Pittsburgh games, 10 have been nationally televised.

TEAM NOTES

DEFENSE STIFLES PANTHERS
Pittsburgh entered the game averaging 422.7 yards total offense per game, but the Miami defense held the Panthers to 72 yards on 24 offensive plays in the first half of tonight’s game, 142 yards through the first three quarters, and 232 total yards for the game (190 yards below Pitt’s season average entering the game).. Miami’s defense pressured Pittsburgh QB Rod Rutherford twice and limited his ability to pass to All-America wideout Larry Fitzgerald. The Hurricanes held Pitt to just 26 rushing yards (84 yards below their average) and 206 through the air (109 below their average).

DEFENSE CONTAINS FITZGERALD
The Miami defense held Pittsburgh All-America wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald without a catch through the first half of tonight’s game and allowed just 3 catches for 26 yards and 1 TD by Fitzgerald on the night. Constant pressure by the Miami defensive line hindered any attempts at getting the ball to Fitzgerald, who was thrown to just once in the first 30 minutes. That pass fell incomplete. Fitzgerald’s first catch of the game was a five-yard catch for a first down with 13:34 left in the third quarter.

RUSHING GAME OPENS UP MIAMI OFFENSE
The Miami offense controlled the game tonight by using a punishing ground attack to complement a ball control passing game. Miami rushed for 280 yards and three touchdowns, in addition to passing for 195 yards while getting 12 completions in 17 attempts from quarterback Brock Berlin with one interception.

TWO MIAMI BACKS RUSH FOR MORE THAN 100 YARDS
Two Miami tailbacks, senior Jarrett Payton and freshman Tyrone Moss, rushed for more than 100 yards tonight marking the second time this season that two Hurricanes have eclipsed the century mark on the ground. Payton (115) and Moss (135) did it against Temple on Oct. 18. Payton finished the night with a career-high 131 yards on 17 carries. Moss had 115 yards on 21 carries.

COLD WEATHER CANES
The temperature at kickoff was 30 degrees. This is the coldest it has been in a Miami victory since records begin on such a stat in 1960. The previous coldest win came in the 1966 Liberty Bowl when Miami knocked off Virginia Tech, 14-7, in 36-degree weather marked by snowfall. This is the coldest game a Miami team has played in since the 1961 Liberty Bowl vs. Syracuse (15-14 loss) on Dec. 16, 1961. This is the third-coldest Miami game since 1960 when UM historical records are available for such a statistical fact. The coldest game in Miami history took place on Dec. 15, 1962, in the Gotham Bowl vs. Nebraska (36-34 loss).

FINAL BIG EAST CONFERENCE GAME FOR MIAMI
Tonight’s game marked Miami’s last league contest as a member of the BIG EAST Conference. Since the Hurricanes joined the league for the 1991 football season, the Hurricanes have constructed the conference’s best record with a mark of 72-11 with tonight’s outcome. Over the 13 seasons of play in the BIG EAST Conference, Miami went 38-4 at home in the Orange Bowl and 34-7 in road contests in league play.

MIAMI IN THE MIDST OF ANOTHER GREAT 4-YEAR RUN
With tonight’s outcome, Miami has a 45-4 record since the start of the 2000 season. With a bowl game remaining this season, Miami has a chance to collect its most victories ever in a four-year span while also compiling the top winning percentage of any four-year span in its football history. The most successful four-year span in UM history came from 1986-89 when the Hurricanes went 45-3 (.9375) while winning two national titles (1987 & 1989).

MIAMI’S RECORD ACCORDING TO AP RANK
UM is 219-43-2 all-time in games while holding an AP national ranking. Since 1983, Miami is 152-23 as a top 10 team and 123-14 as a top five team. The Hurricanes are 42-6 as the nation’s No.1-ranked team. Miami has won 32 of its last 34 when ranked No. 1.

MIAMI VS. AP-RANKED TEAMS
Miami is 76-101-1 vs. AP-ranked teams since its first game against a ranked opponent against No. 18 Alabama in 1941, is 36-54 vs. AP top-10 teams since playing No. 6 Alabama in 1947, is 20-32 against AP top-5 teams since playing No. 3 Maryland in 1953, and is 9-7 against No. 1-ranked teams.

MIAMI VS. RANKED & UNRANKED OPPONENTS SINCE 1990
Since 1990, Miami has registered a 37-25 mark against Associated Press ranked teams and a 99-7 record against unranked opponents.

THE HURRICANES WHEN SCORING 30 OR 31 POINTS
Miami has won 116 consecutive games when scoring 30 or more points since a 31-30 loss at Notre Dame in 1988.o Miami has won 137 consecutive games when scoring 31 or more points since falling 39-37 to UCLA in the 1985 Fiesta Bowl.o Excluding bowl games, Miami has won 132 consecutive regular season games when scoring 31 or more since a 47-45 loss to Boston College in 1984.

4TH QUARTER DOMINANCE
Over the last 19 seasons, Miami has been almost unbeatable when leading after three quarters. Since 1985, Miami has won 169 of 171 regular season games in which it entered the fourth quarter with a lead. The two losses in this span occurred at East Carolina (1999) and West Virginia (1997). Prior to those two losses, UM’s last loss when leading after three quarters was in 1984 against Maryland (42-40), after leading 34-21 heading into the fourth quarter.

BALANCED OFFENSE KEY FOR HURRICANES’ SUCCESS
Miami eclipsed 2,000 rushing yards for the season tonight, marking the sixth consecutive season in which the Hurricanes have rushed for over 2,000 yards and passed for over 2,000 yards. Miami is the only school in the nation to surpass 2,000 yards both rushing and passing each season since 1998.

PLAYER NOTES

PAYTON HAS BEST GAME AND LONGEST RUN OF CAREER
Senior tailback Jarrett Payton rushed for a career-high 131 yards on 17 attempts tonight and scored one touchdown. He had the longest rush of his career with a 55-yard rush in the third period.

Tyrone Moss KEYS RUSHING ATTACK
Freshman tailback Tyrone Moss entered the game on Miami’s third series of the game and not only scored UM’s first touchdown on a 31-yard run, but provided all the yardage on UM’s 48-yard scoring march to tie the score at 7-7 late in the first period. Moss rushed 4 times for 48 yards on the drive. The 30-yard scoring run is the longest of Moss’s young collegiate career. He added another touchdown on a six-yard run in the second quarter. Moss finished the the game with 115 yards on 21 carries and two touchdowns.

GEATHERS HAS CAREER-LONG CATCH & RUN; LONGEST OFFENSIVE PLAY OF MIAMI’S SEASON
Senior tailback Jason Geathers took a screen pass from Brock Berlin and raced 78 yards to the Pittsburgh 1 to set up Miami’s third touchdown of the game and a 21-7 UM lead. Geathers gained more yards on that play alone than the entire Pittsburgh offense did in the entire first half (72 yards). The play is the longest catch or run of Geathers’ Miami career (previous: 62-yard run vs. Florida A&M in 2002) and the longest offensive play of the season by the Hurricanes (62-yard pass from Berlin to Kevin Beard vs. Florida on Sept. 6).

TAYLOR NOTCHES 2 INTERCEPTIONS
Junior safety Sean Taylor intercepted two passes tonight, one to end a Pittsburgh scoring threat early in the third quarter and another in the game’s final minute, his ninth of the season and the 13th of Taylor’s Miami career. The nine thefts this season ranks fourth best in a season by a Hurricane with Edward Reed (2000). His 13 career interceptions ranks tied for fifth in UM history (record: 21 by Edward Reed, 1998-2001). Taylor returned the interceptions for a total of 10 yards. He has 187 yards on interception returns this season, a total that ranks second in UM single-season history (record: 206 by Reed in 2001 on 9 INT). Taylor now has 309 interception return yards for his career, a total that ranks second in Miami history passing Bennie Blades (305 on 19 INT, 1984-87) and trailing Reed (389 on 21 INT, 1998-2001).

SIKES HAS 72-YARD INTERCEPTION RETURN; RANKS 4TH IN MIAMI HISTORY FOR INT RETURN YARDS
Senior safety Mo Sikes took a pass interception 72 yards in the fourth quarter. His second interception of the season upped his career interceptions total to six. He has returned those interceptions for 222 yards, the fourth-most in a career by a Miami player.

WINSLOW TIES MARK FOR CAREER CATCHES BY A TIGHT END
Junior tight end Kellen Winslow tied the Miami record for catches in a career by a tight end with his 114th reception at 12:45 of the second period, his only catch of the game. The play was a 9-yard catch for a first down. Winslow tied Willie Smith (1984-86) on the Miami list and ranks tied for fifth with Smith and Wesley Carroll (1989-90) on the overall Miami career receptions list.