Miami's Rumph, Reed Looking for Redemption
Aug 29, 2001
By MARK LONG
AP Sports Writer
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) – Sitting alone in the Miami Hurricanes video room,cornerback Mike Rumph kept pushing rewind and play.
He watched the same play about a dozen times, wincing through each painfulstep as Penn State receiver Chafie Fields eluded him for a 79-yard touchdownwith less than two minutes to play. The late score gave the Nittany Lions a27-23 victory over Miami on Sept. 18, 1999, and left Rumph dejected.
“That one play affected me a lot,” he said. “I was down on myself, thefans were down on me. It really broke my heart. But I learned to put it behindme. A lot of good corners get beat. You’ve just got to come back and play.”
A few days after the loss, Rumph analyzed and memorized the play frame byframe. He hasn’t seen it since. Neither has safety Ed Reed, who should havebeen helping on the play.
Both defenders are looking for redemption Saturday night when thesecond-ranked Hurricanes play at Penn State.
“I saw the picture in a magazine, and there I was diving at his feet,”Reed said. “I felt the pain all over again. But you learn from your mistakes.We know that it will never happen again.”
Rumph and Reed were condemned for the play and took what happenedpersonally, but the Miami coaching staff was equally responsible for everythingthat went wrong in the closing minutes at the Orange Bowl.
The Hurricanes had a chance to put the game away at the end of the fourthquarter. On third-and-1 from the Penn State 21, tailback James Jackson slippedon the wet grass and lost a yard. On fourth-and-2, Jackson came up just shortof a first down.
“The big failure in the game was the four-minute offense,” said formeroffensive coordinator and first-year head coach Larry Coker. “It wasn’t MikeRumph, it wasn’t the pass play. We have third-down-and-a-yard, we had itblocked perfectly and our running back falls down in the hole untouched. Now wehave fourth-down-and-a-foot, and I’ve gone over that call many times. Do youattempt a field goal? What would we do differently coaching-wise?
“The game was under our control. If we make the first down, they have notimeouts left and the game’s over.”
Penn State got the ball with 1:52 remaining, and the Hurricanes gave themthe perfect opportunity to throw deep. Then-defensive coordinator and currentRutgers head coach Greg Schiano had Rumph in a pressing one-on-one coverage.
“I was young. I’m more aware than I was then,” Rumph said. “I didn’t knowthey didn’t have any timeouts. I didn’t know I could have backed up off him alittle bit and give him some space. It just all happened so fast.
“It was pretty much a bad call on the coordinator’s part. That happenssometimes. He makes mistakes, too.”
With linebacker Dan Morgan baring down on him, Penn State quarterback KevinThompson released a deep pass down the sideline and into Fields’ hands. Fieldsran away from Rumph and then eluded Reed for the score.
Rumph and Reed were devastated. So were the rest of the Hurricanes. Theylost the next two games and needed a fourth-quarter comeback against BostonCollege to avoid a four-game losing streak.
“Whenever you lose a big game like that – and you’re ranked real high andeveryone has a lot of expectations for you – it takes a lot out of you,” Rumphsaid. “You feel like you don’t have anything to play for.”
Rumph and Reed have plenty to play for now. The seniors enter the season asThorpe Award candidates and are veteran leaders on one of the best secondariesin the country.
They also want to put that play behind them for good.
“I haven’t forgotten about it,” Rumph said. “I learned to build off itand play a lot better after that.”
