No. 1 Miami Rolls Over Rutgers, 61-0
Sept 8, 2001
By MARK LONG
AP Sports Writer
MIAMI – Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey spent the fourth quarter pacingthe sidelines with a towel draped over his head. All Dorsey had left to do waswait for next week’s game against No. 15 Washington.
Dorsey threw for 315 yards and two touchdowns as the top-ranked Hurricanesovercame several early miscues in sloppy conditions and hammered Rutgers 61-0Saturday.
Miami (2-0, 1-0 Big East) was equally dominant last week, winning 33-7 atPenn State. Now the Hurricanes face a tough test with the Huskies, who beat No.11 Michigan 23-18 Saturday.
Washington handed Miami its only loss last season, preventing the Hurricanesfrom playing for a national championship.
“I’ve been looking forward to this game for a long time,” Dorsey said.”Everybody on this team is looking forward to this game.”
Dorsey was 14-of-25 passing against the Scarlet Knights (1-1, 0-1) with aninterception. He missed several open receivers but also led Miami to 34 pointsbefore joining the starters on the bench.
Playing as the No. 1 team for the first time in almost nine years, theHurricanes scored on offense, defense and special teams to improve to 22-5 asthe top-ranked team.
Miami also remained unbeaten in nine games against Rutgers, outscoring theScarlet Knights 180-6 over the last three years.
“It’s probably an understatement, but we had the best talent and the bestteam speed,” first-year coach Larry Coker said. “And the best team won thegame.”
Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, Miami’s defensive coordinator the last twoyears, didn’t have the players to stop the trend Saturday.
“It’s sort of like beating your brother – you want to rub in,” linebackerHoward Clark said.
Schiano’s team had eight fumbles and lost five of them in a steady rain.
“A couple of things happened and the game swayed,” Schiano said. “With ateam like that, when they get a little momentum, they got you.”
The Hurricanes racked up 542 yards of offense and held the Scarlet Knightsto 126.
“We haven’t clicked on all cylinders yet. We know that,” Dorsey said.”But at the same time, I think we did a lot of good things.”
Although Miami led 27-0 at halftime, several miscues kept it from opening upan even bigger lead.
Running back Clinton Portis fumbled on the first play of the game and lost10 yards, Dorsey threw a first-quarter interception – his second interceptionof the season – and the Hurricanes also had six first-half penalties.
Miami was flagged four times for personal fouls.
The driving rain caused problems, too. Backup running back Jarrett Payton,alone in the end zone, dropped a touchdown pass. The Hurricanes tried to settlefor a field goal, but Todd Sievers missed a 34-yarder on the wet grass.
But Miami did plenty to offset the early blunders.
Dorsey had 259 yards passing in the first half. He found Andre Johnson wideopen for a 40-yard score to make it 7-0, then hit Jeremy Shockey with a 3-yardpass to increase the lead to 21-0 in the second quarter.
Najeh Davenport also had a 3-yard touchdown run, and Sievers kicked twofield goals.
The scoring continued in the second half.
Portis scored from 3 yards out, and Phillip Buchanon returned a punt 56yards to make it 41-0. Buchanon fielded the line-drive punt, cut right and leftand then sprinted through the middle of the field for the score.
Less than a minute later, cornerback Markese Fitzgerald sacked Rutgersquarterback Ryan Cubit and caused a fumble. John Square picked it up and ran 5yards to make it 47-0.
Frank Gore and Payton added fourth-quarter touchdown runs. Gore, a freshman,led Miami with 78 yards on six carries.
“The game basically got out of hand,” Coker said. “It really wasn’tanything that we did or Greg did. We had players make plays. They played abetter football game than what was displayed on the scoreboard. I felt badabout that. But I liked the way our team played.”
