Hurricanes Top Yellow Jackets In Gator Bowl, 28-13
Jan. 1, 2000
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Sports Writer
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Linebacker Nate Webster and the rest of No. 23Miami’s overlooked defense was fed up with hype over Joe Hamilton andhigh-scoring Georgia Tech. On Saturday, they did something about it.
The Hurricanes unleashed their frustrations with a defensive performancethat would have made past Miami championship teams proud, holding No. 17Georgia Tech to its lowest output of the year for a 28-13 victory in the GatorBowl.
“At all the functions this week, we kept hearing how Joe Hamilton was goingto do this, Joe Hamilton was going to do that, Georgia Tech was going to score40 points,” Webster said. “The whole time, it was building up inside of us.”
Webster had 14 tackles and became the first defensive player since 1989 tobe selected MVP of the Gator Bowl.
Defensive tackle Matt Sweeney also got into the act, catching a deflectionof Hamilton’s pass on the Yellow Jackets’ first possession for an interceptionthat set the tone for the game.
“No credit was given to our defense,” Sweeney said. “That put a spurunder our saddle.”
The Hurricanes (9-4) showed they can play offense, too.
Freshman tailback Clint Portis scored on a 73-yard run and finished with 117yards on 12 carries. James Jackson added 107 yards rushing, and Miami got atouchdown pass each from Kenny Kelly and Ken Dorsey.
“They came out and made plays when it really mattered,” said Hamilton, whohad promised one last trick up his sleeve in his last game but instead went outa loser. “I wish I could give an explanation, but I can’t. It’s hard to findanything positive to come out of this game.”
The Yellow Jackets (8-4) had a season-low 421 yards, and 13 points weretheir fewest since a 34-7 loss to Florida State last year. Hamilton was20-of-40 for 245 yards and two interceptions, and failed to throw a touchdownpass for the first time in 14 games.
“He was getting harassed all day and was never able to get his feet set,”Georgia Tech coach George O’Leary said. “I credit Miami for doing a good jobin their rush scheme and also their coverage scheme.”
It turns out Miami coach Butch Davis was bluffing. On Friday, Davis said hefeared a quadruple-overtime game with an NBA-type score. But what film he sawof Georgia Tech made him think otherwise, and he was proved correct.
“I really, truly believed that we would stuff them,” Davis said. “The oneequalizer against Georgia Tech was team speed, and I don’t know that they’veseen our speed.”
The Yellow Jackets had their chances. Seven times they drove inside theMiami 30, but Hamilton threw two interceptions and Luke Manget missed two fieldgoals. The result was Georgia Tech’s first loss in a bowl since the 1978 PeachBowl, a span of seven games.
Leading 21-7 at halftime, the Hurricanes three times came up with a big playto stall Georgia Tech drives and make the Yellow Jackets settle for two fieldgoals.
“Miami has great team speed. They were more focused and hungrier for thisgame,” Georgia Tech tailback Sean Murphy said.
Miami finally got some breathing room when Reggie Wayne made a leaping catchacross his body of a 17-yard touchdown pass from Dorsey for a 28-13 lead midwaythrough the fourth quarter.
The game was played before 43,416, the smallest Gator Bowl crowd since 1958.They all came to see a shootout that never materialized, although that surelooked to be the case when the game started.
Miami met little resistance on a 66-yard opening drive that ended withJackson going virtually untouched off left tackle for an 8-yard score.
Georgia Tech roared back, moving toward scoring position in just four playsuntil Sweeney stepped in. On second-and-6 from the 31, he rushed hard atHamilton, swatted down his pass and picked it out of the air.
Kelly threaded a sideline pass into Moss for 30 yards, and hit Andre Kingfor a 15-yard score on the first play of the second half.
Tech’s only touchdown came when Hamilton finally discovered Dez White, withwhom he shared Gator Bowl MVP honors last year. They connected three times on a77-yard drive, and Hamilton scored on a 17-yard scramble.
Two plays later, Portis bounced off two tackles and raced down the leftsideline for a 73-yard touchdown, the longest for Miami in a bowl game. Afterthat, Tech got no closer than eight points.
So effective was Miami’s defense that Dan Dyke, who punted only 30 times allyear, had a season-high six. One of them was blocked.
