Hurricanes Capture Sugar Bowl Crown
Jan. 2, 2001
Archived In-Game StatisticsArchived Audio BroadcastSugar Bowl Winners
By EDDIE PELLS
AP Sports Writer
NEW ORLEANS – The Miami Hurricanes can call themselves Sugar Bowlchampions. National champions would be nice, too.
Playing for a possible share of the national title, the No. 2 Hurricanesdefeated No. 7 Florida 37-20 Tuesday night, with Ken Dorsey passing for 270yards and fullback Najeh Davenport scoring two touchdowns.
Miami (11-1), hoping for a performance that would give voters in theAssociated Press media poll reason to name them No. 1, struggled early beforefinally putting away the Gators (10-3).
The Hurricanes won the in-state battle that turned into a Bourbon Streetbrawl, and now must wait another day to see whether the victory will mean yetanother split championship in college football.
“I feel like we are champions regardless,” Miami receiver Santana Mosssaid. “We did what we had to do. I’m going to root for Florida State, becausethey’re in the state. If they don’t do their part, I won’t be mad.”
The issue of a split title is moot, of course, if No. 1 Oklahoma defeats No.3 Florida State in the Orange Bowl on Wednesday, in the Bowl ChampionshipSeries national title game.
But if 12-point favorite Florida State wins, the AP title is up for grabsand the voters will have to decide whether Miami is their champion.
“We beat the No. 1 team in the nation, the No. 2 team in the nation and sixteams with winning records,” Miami coach Butch Davis said, recalling a seasonthat included victories over Florida State and Virginia Tech. “I think ourkids deserve every opportunity to be called national champions.”
Miami held a considerable 53-point lead over Florida State in the last APpoll.
Were the Hurricanes impressive enough?
Not until Davenport scored with 4:21 left after Florida quarterback RexGrossman’s second interception of the night was this game secure. Hurricanes’mascot Sebastian the Ibis sensed it, running onto the field and drawing a15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
A few minutes later, the Hurricanes were jumping around at midfield. Thenthe wait began. Dorsey said he’ll be watching the Orange Bowl intently.
“If Florida State wins, we have a great shot at being co-nationalchampions,” Dorsey said. “If Oklahoma does it, we can’t do anything aboutthat. They’d have my vote for fighting through the tough season they had.”
Miami hopes to get credit for a small comeback of its own.
After a Dorsey interception, Florida went ahead 17-13 on Earnest Graham’s36-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter.
But the sophomore quarterback responded by moving Miami 80 yards in 12plays, capped by a 19-yard touchdown to D.J. Williams. A third-down,roughing-the-passer penalty by Gerard Warren kept that drive going.
After Florida stalled, Daryl Jones returned a punt 44 yards to put theHurricanes in striking range, then Davenport responded with the play of thegame.
Linebacker Marcus Oquendo-Johnson had perfect coverage on Davenport andlooked like the intended receiver, but the fullback reached over his helmet andsnatched the ball away for a 10-point lead.
Another impressive point for the Hurricanes: They won with their leadingrusher, James Jackson, injured most of the games and Moss playing with ahurting back.
“They’re a better team than us,” Florida coach Steve Spurrier said. “Theymade more plays when they had to. They played with more discipline and morepurpose. They’re just a lot better team than we are.”
Among the factors voters will consider when they decide on a champion:Florida State’s 30-7 victory over Florida in the final regular-season game and,of course, Miami’s 27-24 win over the Seminoles back in October.
They’ll also look at a 10-game winning streak, an offense that averaged 42points a game and a defense that made big plays when it had to all season.
Miami showed parts of all that against Florida – but also failed tocapitalize on abundant opportunities.
A lot of this may have had to do with Florida, an overlooked underdog thatcame into this game hoping to get a good start on next season.
Spurrier was at his devious best. On two occasions, he pulled out one of hisfavorite tricks, the Emory & Henry Formation, where only three offensivelinemen remain near the ball on the line of scrimmage. He uncharacteristicallylooked toward his running game to provide power, and it did.
When Graham scored on the play after Keiwan Ratliff’s interception early inthe third quarter, the Gators had the lead and the Hurricanes were simplyconcerned with winning the game, not the national title.
“Florida has too many great playmakers to shut them down,” Davis said.”They’re going to make some plays. You have to withstand the storm andminimize the damage.”
Experience helped the Hurricanes do just that, and they started to look likechampions toward the end.
Clinton Portis ran for 98 yards, most after Jackson went out, to keep theMiami offense moving. Moss had 89 yards in receptions even though he washurting.
Jeremy Shockey, who caught the winning touchdown in Florida State, caughtfour passes and one touchdown, which gave the Hurricanes a 10-7 lead early.
Miami won its 10th straight since its 34-29 loss to Washington put it inwhat coach Butch Davis called a “single-elimination” situation.
This was no playoff – that’s several years away – but the Hurricanes feltthey had done everything they could to add to the national titles they won in1983, ’87, ’89 and 91.
This was, however, a once-fierce rivalry that had been on hold for 13seasons.
