Canes Take Aim At BIG EAST Title

Oct. 13, 1999

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP)- The Miami Hurricanes haven’t brought home any hardware in three years, their longest span without winning a title since 1987, when they waited four years to garner their second national championship.

No rings.

Miami’s Dan Morgan still hopes to win his first Big East title.

Not even a conference crown.

But now, after losing three consecutive games for only the second time in 15 years, the 24th-ranked Hurricanes (2-3) are focusing the remainder of their season on winning the Big East.

They began the year with five non-conference games, including losses to No. 1 Florida State and No. 2 Penn State, and close out the season with seven conference games in as many weeks, beginning with Temple on Saturday.

“A Big East title would be huge,” junior linebacker Dan Morgan said. “A lot of us on this team haven’t won a conference championship yet, so it’s definitely important. It’s a stepping-stone to being a national championship team. All we have left is the Big East, and we can win it.”

“We’ve just got to forget about the past and move on. We still know we’re still a good football team.”

Winning the Big East was almost a given when Miami first joined the conference in 1991. The Hurricanes won five league titles in the first six years, racking up a 31-3 record. Only a 17-14 loss at West Virginia in 1993 prevented them from winning six straight conference championships.

But they faltered in 1997, finishing 3-4 in the Big East. They followed that with a 5-2 mark a year ago.

Miami is hoping to return to its old form beginning Saturday.

“That’s what’s left for our season — win the Big East,” wide receiver Reggie Wayne said. “I have no rings to show for anything. If we can get the Big East ring, we’ll have a great bowl to go to, and it means the team has accomplished some kind of goal.”

The Hurricanes, who won four national titles from 1983 to 1991, had much higher goals to start the season. But four-point losses to the Nittany Lions and East Carolina and last week’s 31-21 loss to Florida State have forced them to lower their expectations.

“We’ve got to bounce back emotionally from the first part of the season,” coach Butch Davis said. “But I think the kids are excited. They see it as a fresh start. We haven’t played any conference games. We’re 0-0, and what’s going to become this season is what we’re going to make out of it.”

As badly as the Hurricanes want a title, they’re even more desperate for a win, which they haven’t had since Sept. 4.

“I think we’re hungry to play well and get a win,” Davis said. “That’s where we’re at right now. We want to win a game. We can’t change the outcomes of any of the previous games. We’ve learned from it, and hopefully we’ll be a better football team these next seven games from some of things that we’ve learned in the first five.”