Hurricanes Sharp As They Begin Title Defense

Sept 1, 2002

By MARK LONG
AP Sports Writer

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) – Miami coach Larry Coker didn’t spend very muchtime Sunday reviewing his top-ranked Hurricanes’ lopsided victory over DivisionI-AA Florida A&M.

He saw everything he needed to see from the sideline Saturday night.

Miami’s starters were sharp, efficient and almost error-free in a 63-17 winover the Rattlers that extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 23games.

The offense scored touchdowns on six of its first eight possessions, thedefense held Florida A&M to one first down and 9 yards in the first half, andthe defending national champions didn’t commit a penalty until the thirdquarter.

“It was about what we thought it would be,” Coker said Sunday.

Now comes the real test: No. 6 Florida on Saturday at The Swamp.

Coker needed to catch only a few highlights from the Gators’ 51-3 win overAlabama-Birmingham to realize how difficult it will be to slow down an offensethat led the nation in passing last season and ranked second in scoring andtotal yards.

“It seems like you better tackle Earnest Graham, you better cover TaylorJacobs and you better put pressure on Rex Grossman,” he said. “We do knowthat.”

The Hurricanes (1-0) think they’re up to the challenge even though FloridaA&M didn’t provide much of a measuring stick. Nonetheless, Coker was impressedwith his team, including three main areas of concern:

– Offensive line: Tackles Carlos Joseph and Vernon Carey, who replacedAll-American Bryant McKinnie and four-year starter Joaquin Gonzalez, wereaggressive in the running game and didn’t allow a sack in pass protection.

“This offensive line is a better run-blocking line than the one we had lastyear,” Coker said, citing the new tandem’s more physical play. “Nocomparison.”

– Secondary: The Hurricanes played much of the game with five and sixdefensive backs, getting the young and injury-depleted group some much-neededexperience.

“Against a team like Florida, your secondary’s always going to be aquestion mark,” said Coker, who expects starting cornerback Kelly Jennings(hand) to return against the Gators. “If we had Ed Reed and all those guysback, it would still be a question mark. But from what I saw, our matchups weregood and they’re playing with excellent effort. If they continue to do that,we’ll be fine.”

– Running back: Willis McGahee averaged 10 yards a carry, and backup JasonGeathers ran 22 times for 199 yards and scored twice.

McGahee, who missed part of last season with a knee injury then was moved tofullback for the Rose Bowl, had a 19-yard touchdown run and a 31-yard run thathe might have taken the distance had he not stepped out of bounds.

“You saw some flashes of the things that he can do,” Coker said.

Geathers started his career as a running back in 2000, moved to receiverlast season and then rejoined the backfield after injuries to Frank Gore (knee)and Jarrett Payton (back).

“He’s giving us what we had hoped he would give us,” Coker said.

But will the Hurricanes get as much from these positions against the Gators?

“That was a pretty impressive win by Florida,” Coker said. “We can’t getin any comfort zone, saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got this thing figured out.’ We’ve gota lot of work we have to do. It’s a tremendous challenge.”