Miami Heads To Virginia For Crucial ACC Battle
Oct. 28, 2008
MIAMI HURRICANES AT VIRGINIA CAVALIERS
Date: Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008
Location: Scott Stadium – (Natural Grass), (61,500) in Charlottesville, Va.
Kickoff: Noon (ET)
TV: The game will be broadcast regionally on Raycom Sports with Steve Martin (play by play) and Rick “Doc” Walker (color analyst).
Tape Delay Telecast: On CSS, Tuesday Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m., with announcers Jason Solodkin (play-by-play) and K.C. Jones (color).
Local Radio: The Hurricanes Radio Network (WQAM 560 AM) will carry the game live with Joe Zagacki (play by play), Don Bailey Jr. (analysis) and Brian London (sideline reporter). Fans can also listen online at www.wqam.com.
Radio En Espanol: The game will broadcast in Spanish on 1450 ESPN Deportes (1450 AM) with Joe Pujala (play by play) and Joe Martinez (analysis).
Websites: Miami (www.hurricanesports.com) and Virginia (www.virginiasports.com)
THE GAME
Miami hits the road for its first of three road games in the month of November when the Hurricanes travel to Charlottesville, Va. to take on ACC Coastal Divisional leader Virginia. Kickoff is scheduled for noon at Scott Stadium. The game will be televised on Raycom Sports.
The Hurricanes are coming off a 16-10 win over Wake Forest to run their winning streak to three games. Redshirt freshman quarterback Robert Marve accounted for 209 of the 296 yards gained on offense in the win. He completed 11-of-20 passes for 153 yards and ran nine times for 56 yards with first career rushing touchdown. He was named ACC Rookie of the Week Monday.
Marve became the eighth different freshmen to score a touchdown for Miami this season and 17th different Hurricane overall.
Sophomore kicker Matt Bosher connected on three field goals against the Demon Deacons including a career-long 52-yarder. He has made eight field goals in a row and is 12-of-13 on the season. He is a perfect 28-of-28 in PATs.
Defensively, senior linebacker Glenn Cook leads the team with 50 total tackles which includes a team-best seven tackles for loss. Safety Anthony Reddick has 49 tackles while linebacker Darryl Sharpton has 45 tackles on the season.
In four ACC games, UM has been tough to stop offensively. The Hurricanes lead the ACC in scoring offense with 32.0 points per game. The Hurricanes are 38th nationally in scoring offense (30.5 points per game). The Hurricanes did not allow a score in the second half against the Demon Deacons and have allowed just 14 points in the second half of the last two games.
THE OPPONENT
Virginia (5-3, 3-1 ACC Coastal) won on the road at No. 17 Georgia Tech, 24-17, to extend its winning streak to four games. The Cavaliers have rattled off wins against Maryland, East Carolina, North Carolina and the Yellow Jackets after dropping its first and only Atlantic Coast Conference game to Duke on the road.
Junior quarterback Marc Verica threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns against Georgia Tech. Verica is completing 67 percent of his passes. He has thrown for 1,281 yards. RB Cedric Peerman has rushed for 541 yards and seven touchdowns on 95 attempts.
Linebacker Jon Copper leads the team with 67 tackles while Clint Sintim has 49 tackles and a team-high 9.5 sacks.
THE COACHES
Randy Shannon is 10-10 overall and is in his second season at Miami. Virginia’s Al Groh is 56-40 in his eighth season with the Cavaliers.
THE SERIES
This will be only the sixth game between the two schools, with Miami holding a 3-2 lead in the series. Virginia has won the last two meetings over the Hurricanes – a 17-7 win in Charlottesville in 2006 and a 48-0 win in Miami last season.
FRESHMEN FRENZY
Eight University of Miami freshmen have scored a touchdown this season, easily the highest total in the country. Idaho is second with five, while Florida State and Michigan rank in a tie for third nationally with four freshmen apiece, while 11 schools rank in a tie for fifth with three freshmen. Travis Benjamin, who is second on the team with four touchdowns this season, leads a pack of UM freshmen that includes Jacory Harris and Aldarius Johnson (2 touchdowns apiece) and five more that have reached paydirt once in Laron Byrd, Davon Johnson, Thearon Collier, Sean Spence and most recently, Robert Marve.
YOUTH IS SERVED
Miami’s top five performers in terms of all-purpose yards gained this season are either in their first or second year in the UM program. Freshman Travis Benjamin leads the team with 854 all-purpose yards, while sophomore Graig Cooper sits in second with 652 yards. Freshman Aldarius Johnson, who has a team-high 22 receptions, ranks third with 211 yards while freshman Thearon Collier sits in fourth with 192 yards. Senior Kayne Farquharson – a junior college transfer last year – is fifth on the squad with 182 yards.
Here are some other notes on the young players at UM:
– Freshman have accounted for 1,694 of UM’s 3,373 all-purpose yards this season (50.2%).
– Players in their first two years at UM have accounted for 2,693 of UM’s 3,373 all-purpose yards this season (80%).
– 22 of UM’s 30 touchdowns this season have been scored by either a sophomore or freshman, with Cooper (6) and Benjamin (4) accounting for one-third of the team’s TDs thus far.
– UM underclassmen have accounted for 100% of the team’s passing yardage (1,437 of 1,437), 80% of its rushing yardage (809 of 1,014), 81% of its points (198 of 244), 84% of its total return yardage (766 of 911) and 65% of its receptions (93 of 142).
RED ZONE RESULTS
The Hurricanes are a near-perfect 29-of-31 in the red zone on offense, converting 20 touchdowns and nine field goals this season. The `Canes rank first in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 93.5 percent conversion rate. Florida State and Boston College rank in a tie for second in the league with a 92.0 conversion rate, with both teams converting 26-of-28 opportunities.
REVOLVING RECEIVERS
-Three Miami players – Freshmen Laron Byrd and Aldarius Johnson and junior Dedrick Epps – have caught a pass in seven of UM’s eight contests thus far.
-Johnson leads the team with 22 receptions thus far, while running back Graig Cooper ranks second with 16 despite not recording a catch in the first three games of the season.
-Following Johnson and Cooper, Travis Bejamin ranks third with 15 receptions, while Epps and Thearon Collier each have 14 catches. Senior Kayne Farquharson (13 catches) and Byrd (12) give the Hurricanes seven players with at least 12 catches. Leonard Hankerson is a catch away from double-digits with nine, and he is followed by Sam Shields (7), Derron Thomas (4) and Chris Zellner (4). Johnson leads the team in receiving yards (211) while Benjamin has a team-high three receiving touchdowns.
-Among `Canes with at least five catches, Benjamin leads the group with a 16.4 yards per catch average.
-Johnson’s eight receptions against Duke was the most receptions in a game for a UM player since Greg Olsen had eight receptions against North Carolina on Oct. 7, 2006.
-Miami is ranked in a tie for third nationally with 17 different players who have caught a pass this season. Only Troy (21) and Tulane (18) have more players with a catch. The Hurricanes and Indiana lead all BCS teams nationally, while Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma and USF all have 16.
MULTIFACETED MATT
Sophomore punter/kicker Matt Bosher is one of just a handful of players nationally that handles all of his team’s field goals, punts and kickoffs. Despite the difficulty of taking on so many tasks, Bosher has been one of the best specialists in the ACC this season of the season. He ranks third in the league in overall scoring (8.0 points per game) in addition to ranking third in punting (40.7), second in field goals (1.50 per game) and second in field goal percentage (92.3). He leads the league with 28 extra points and against FSU, he showed even more versatility in converting a crucial fake punt with a nine-yard run on a 4th-and-4 to keep a UM drive alive late in the contest. Two weeks against Duke, he booted a career-long 76 yard punt in the second half, forcing Duke into begin a drive at their own eight-yard line after UM punted from its own 11 and Duke was penalized five yards on an illegal return. This past weekend, he kicked a career-long 52-yard field goal in UM’s win over Wake Forest.
