Hurricanes "Loosely" Stick To Formula Heading Into Georgia Tech Game

Nov. 17, 2005

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Plenty is at stake in Saturday night’s matchup at the Orange Bowl between the third-ranked Hurricanes (8-1) and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. There is an ACC Championship berth on the line and a chance at a BCS bowl game on the line for Miami, with the eyes of the college football nation watching at 7:45 p.m. on ESPN.

Yet head coach Larry Coker and his Hurricanes were loose Thursday afternoon at the Greentree Practice Fields. The explanation was pretty simple.

“We play better when we’re loose,” Coker said. “We had a lot at stake at Virginia Tech, when guys were loose. I think it’s confidence. It’s not over the edge. I think it’s loose, but guys are really confident in what they are doing. We need to be a loose team.”

Looseness aside, the Hurricanes are also realistic.

“We have a mature team,” Coker said. “Guys understand what is at stake. They understand that we haven’t done anything yet. We put ourselves in position to do some good things, but we’re a long way away from our goal. We have two good football teams to play. The first one is Georgia Tech.”

Miami will have one final walkthrough Friday afternoon before reporting to the team hotel.

Notes: Willie Williams was held out of practice with an aggravated hamstring, Coker said… DE Bryan Pata will be available to play, Coker said, but PR/CB Devin Hester will not play.