HURRICANES PREPARE FOR DUKE ON A RAINY WEDNESDAY

Sept. 26, 2007

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – – The Miami Hurricanes football team practiced in rainy weather conditions Wednesday afternoon as the team continued preparation for its Atlantic Coast Conference opener against Duke. Kickoff is set for noon Saturday in the Orange Bowl.

“Rain makes you concentrate more,” UM head coach Randy Shannon said, “because now you have to catch the football and you have to protect the football, which is good for us because we need to protect the football more at running back and at quarterback. The receivers did a better job of catching the ball today.”

Miami has six turnovers in the last two games, including four fumbles.

“We work on turnovers every week,” Shannon said. “Guys have to concentrate. We have a five-minute period where we put guys in situations where turnovers are going to happen.”

Defensively, Miami has forced 11 turnovers, with four fumble recoveries and seven interceptions. The Hurricanes lead the ACC in total defense, yielding only 287.2 yards per game. Since joining the ACC in 2004, Miami is 1-2 in ACC openers, winning its first-ever league game in 2004 against rival Florida State before losing the last two games to FSU. Duke is 0-1 in conference play with a 24-13 loss at Virginia. Quarterback Thaddeus Lewis is coming off a career-best performance of 428 yards and four touchdowns passing at Navy last weekend. Wide receiver Eron Riley is the reigning ACC Offensive Player of the Week after the junior caught six passes for 235 yards and four TDs against the Midshipmen.

Miami will hold its final practice of the week at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Greentree Practice Fields.