Defense Dominant In Saturday Morning Scrimmage
Scrimmage Statistics
March 31, 2001
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (www.hurricanesports.com) – The Miami Hurricanes conducted a 64-play scrimmage Saturday morning at the Greentree Practice Fields with the defense producing a dominant effort. While the defense was consistently stifling, the offense did manage to produce several highlights during the full-speed scrimmage.
Junior linebacker Ken Dangerfield’s seven tackles led the defensive unit that had five quarterback sacks over the course of the scrimmage. Junior end Andrew Williams had two sacks for 14 yards in losses while junior end Cornelius Green, redshirt freshman end John Square and sophomore end Larry Anderson garnered one sack each. Senior safety James Lewis, redshirt freshman tackle Marquis Johnson, walk-on safety Tim Kelly, end Cornelius Green, sophomore linebacker D.J. Williams and sophomore cornerback Maurice Sikes each had four tackles. Williams had the scrimmage’s lone tackle for a loss, a five-yard reversal.
Junior tight end Jeremy Shockey was the offensive star of the day with four catches for 40 yards, including a 21-yard catch-and-run play in which he broke two tackles, bowling over one would-be tackler. Redshirt freshman fullback Kyle Cobia produced a 31-yard catch-and-run play from second-team quarterback Derrick Crudup for the offense’s longest play of the day. UM quarterbacks produced 131 yards through the air, completing 10-of-23 attempts with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
Sophomore starter Ken Dorsey completed 6-of-14 passes for 85 yards, including a 26-yard completion to senior running back Najeh Davenport. Dorsey also connected with Kevin Beard for a 19-yard play. Crudup completed 2-of-5 passes for 31 yards, all of the yardage coming on the hookup to Cobia. Junior Troy Prasek was 2-of-4 for 15 yards while working with the third team.
Redshirt freshman Willis McGahee led all rushers with 51 yards on seven carries, including a 21-yard burst that led the second-team offense on a 61-yard drive that ended in a missed field goal by freshman placekicker Mark Gent. Clinton Portis rushed for 24 yards on eight carries highlighted by a 13-yard run with the first team. The offense was limited to 84 yards on 35 rushing attempts, averaging 2.4 yards per attempt.
“Well, you’re used to the defense being ahead of the offense and that was easily apparent today,” Coker said. “Our defense really stuffed the offense today. While that’s encouraging from a defensive standpoint, it does make it apparent that our offense needs improvement, and we’ll get there.”
Miami begins the final week of spring practice Monday afternoon with a workout that is slated to begin at 3 p.m. All practices are closed to the public.
Spring practices climax with UM’s FOX Sports Net Canes Fest on Saturday, April 7 at the Orange Bowl. That event kicks off at 9:30 a.m. with a scrimmage highlighting the day starting at 10:30 a.m. That day will be a fun-filled one for Miami fans as spectators can huddle up with head coach Larry Coker for a question-and-answer session before the scrimmage at 10 a.m. Ticket buyers can take part in UM’s Select-A-Seat program, where fans pick their season ticket locations for the 2001 season, and kids can enjoy Touchdown Alley. Players will sign autographs after the scrimmage, beginning at approximately 12:30 p.m. Fans also can get a tour of the Miami locker room and photos with the Heisman Trophy and National Championship trophies from the past.
For ticket information concerning Hurricanes football, contact the UM Ticket Office at (305) 284-2263 or 1-800-GO-CANES. Ticket information also may also be obtained online at www.hurricanesports.com.
