Hurricanes Near Championship Clash

Dec. 31, 2002

Scenes From Arizona: 12/31
Scenes From Arizona: 12/27-12/30

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – – With its championship tilt in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State three days away, the University of Miami football team completed its final day of “long” practices Tuesday, going approximately 10 minutes over its usual two-hour schedule.

“This was our last long day, our last hard day,” Miami coach Larry Coker said. “We were two hours and maybe 10 minutes and that’s long enough or maybe too long.

The coach noted that his team is probably as physically ready as it will be for Friday’s game and is bristling for the opportunity to finally take to the Fiesta Bowl field.

“I think we’ve kind of hit the wall for practice and our players are anxious to play and I think it’s time to make that happen,” he said. “We were a little bit of a tired football team today and I think that we need to make sure that, from our standpoint, that we get rested and hydrated and get ourselves physically ready to play. We’re not going to run a lot faster or jump a lot higher in three days than we are now. The main thing is that we have to be mentally sharp and physically I think we’ll be fine.”

UM will return to the practice field on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. with the workout scheduled to finish at 4 p.m.

The practice will be closed to the public as well as the media, but players will be available on a limited basis afterwards.

Those seeking more information regarding Hurricane athletics should call 1-800-GO-CANES or visit Hurricanesports.com.