Post-Game Notes From Miami's Win Over Temple
Oct. 18, 2003
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MIAMI HURRICANES FOOTBALLGAME NOTES – MIAMI VS. TEMPLESATURDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2003
OFFENSE CRANKS UP
The Miami offense has been maligned this season, but the unit came out firing against Temple as the Hurricanes scored on its first four possessions of the game, building a 24-7 lead. It is the first time this season that Miami’s offense opened the game with successive scoring drives. Miami had a chance to start with five straight scoring possessions, but Jon Peattie’s 39-yard field goal attempt was no good.
BALANCED OFFENSE
Miami’s offensive philosophy is based on producing a balanced attack and the Hurricanes were perfect, in that sense, in the first half against Temple. The Hurricanes produced 284 total yards in the opening half, evenly split between rushing (142 yards) and passing (142).
JARRETT’S DAY
Senior TB Jarrett Payton set a new career high for rushing yards today, garnering the first 100-yard rushing effort of his Miami career in the process. Payton finished the day with 115 yards on 16 carries (7.2 average) and two touchdowns. Payton rushed for 79 yards on nine carries in the first quarter, nearing his previous career-best of 97 yards set last week at Florida State. Payton left the game late in the opening period due to low blood sugar, but returned to action late in the second period. Payton’s 79 first-quarter yards outgained the entire Temple team (51 yards).
PAYTON SCORES
The Hurricanes’ first touchdown today came on an 8-yard run by TB Jarrett Payton with 6:21 remaining in the first period, his fourth this season and the seventh rushing TD of his Miami career. He added another rushing touchdown to give Miami a 14-7 lead with 1:49 left in the opening quarter. This was Payton’s first multi-touchdown game as a Hurricane.
BERLIN OFF TO FAST START
Miami QB Brock Berlin completed 16-of-26 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns without an interception in a little more than two quarters of action. Berlin completed his first five passes of the game for 59 yards. His first incompletion came in the second quarter when FB Kyle Cobia dropped a pass. Berlin’s only misconnection of the first period came on a drop by WR Sinorice Moss, but that play was nullified by a holding penalty on Miami and did not count in the statistics. Berlin ended the first half 12-of-20 passing for 142 yards and a touchdown without throwing an interception.
D.J. Williams GIVES MIAMI ANOTHER NON-OFFENSIVE TOUCHDOWN
Miami LB D.J. Williams took a short snap on a punt fake 61 yards for a touchdown, giving the Hurricanes a 31-14 lead early in the third period. The run by the special teams unit was Miami’s ninth non-offensive touchdown this season.
HURRICANES CRACK 300-YARD RUSHING BARRIER
The Miami offense exploded for a season high 342 yards on the ground. UM tailbacks Jarrett Payton (115 yards) and freshman Tyrone Moss (135 yards) both gained 100 yards rushing. The Hurricanes previous best rushing performance was 223 yards against East Carolina. UM also set a season high for total offense with 601 yards.
MOSS BREAKS OUT AS TWO UM BACKS GO FOR 100 YARDS
True freshman Tyrone Moss turned in a breakout performance with 135 yards on 15 carries. The true freshman from Pompano Beach’s Ely High School had 67 yards rushing on the season coming into the game on 19 carries. Jarrett Payton rushed for 115 yards on 16 carries to give UM two tailbacks over 100 yards for the first time since Nov. 17, 2001, against Syracuse. Clinton Portis went for 132 yards on 18 carries and Frank Gore rushed for 153 yards on 11 carries.
GEATHERS AT TAILBACK
Senior Jason Geathers saw his first extensive action at tailback this season. He took over for starter Jarrett Payton late in the first period and rushed for 17 yards, in addition to taking a pass 15 yards for a touchdown. Geathers rushed two yards for a score with 18 seconds left in the third period to give Miami a 45-14 lead. It was Geathers’ first touchdown rush since an 11-yard run against Florida State on Oct. 12, 2002.
CRUDUP SEES ACTION WITH STARTING UNIT
Junior QB Derrick Crudup saw his first extensive game action with the starting unit today, taking over late in the third quarter and leading the Hurricanes on a 47-yard scoring march to give Miami a 45-14 lead with 18 seconds remaining in the period. He passed for 72 yards on 6-of-7 passing.
VILMA SETS UP SCORE
Middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma set up a Miami field goal for a 17-7 UM lead with a fumble recovery at the Temple 23-yard line late in the first period. Vilma blitzed from his middle linebacker spot and recovered Temple QB Walter Washington, who couldn’t handle the snap from center. The fumble recovery was the first this season for Vilma, a Butkus Award semi-finalist (along with fellow UM LB D.J. Williams).
MONROE HAS CAREER-LONG PUNT
Freshman Brian Monroe nailed a 56-yard punt late in the second period, his longest as a Hurricane. His previous longest punt was a 47-yard effort against West Virginia.
FOR STARTERS
The Hurricanes began the game in a nickel package on defense. The starting defensive backs were: FS Mo Sikes, SS Greg Threat, CB Kelly Jennings, CB Alfonso Marshall and CB Antrel Rolle. It marked the fourth time this season that Miami has begun the game in a nickel or dime package.
A LONG RUN BY TEMPLE
Temple scored on a 69-yard run by Jamil Porter to pull within 24-14 in the second quarter. That run is the longest allowed by Miami this year, exceeding a 65-yard run by Florida’s DeShaun Wynn on Sept. 6 and the longest allowed by Miami since Cedric Houston of Tennessee broke off a 74-yard run to set up a Volunteers field goal on Nov. 9, 2002.
MISC. NOTES
Game captains for Miami were MLB Jonathan Vilma, WR Kevin Beard, DB Mo Sikes and OL Vernon Carey…Miami won the opening coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. Temple chose to receive the opening kickoff…Antrel Rolle started as the punt return man in place of injured Roscoe Parrish…Brian Monroe resumed his starting spot as the kickoff man, but Mark Gent took over after Miami took a 24-7 lead…Freshman TB Tyrone Moss had his longest run as a Hurricane, a 36-yarder in the second period to the Temple 35…OG Joe McGrath saw his first action of the season on Miami’s second possession of the second period after missing the season’s first six games with an injury…freshman WR Devin Hester saw his action with the starting unit for the first time, catching a 32-yard pass in the third period…TE Kevin Everett caught a three-yard touchdown pass from Brock Berlin in the third period, Everett’s first TD catch as a Hurricane.
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