No. 23 Miami Travels To Atlanta To Face Georgia Tech
Nov. 18, 2008
NO. 23 UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI HURRICANES AT GEORGIA TECH YELLOW JACKETS
Date: Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008
Location: Bobby Dodd Stadium – (Natural Grass), (55,000) in Atlanta, Ga.
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. (ET)
TV: The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN with Chris Fowler (play by play), Craig James (color analyst), Jesse Palmer (color analyst) and Erin Andrews (sideline reporter).
Tape Delay Telecast: On CSS, Tuesday Nov. 25 at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
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.
National Radio: The ACC ISP Radio Network will have the national broadcast with Bill Rosinski (play-by-play) and Ricky Proehl (color analyst).
Español: 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 Georgia Tech (www.ramblinwreck.com).
THE GAME
No. 23 Miami hits the road for one of its last two regular season games when the Hurricanes take on Georgia Tech in a key ACC Coastal Division matchup. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta, Ga. and will be televised on ESPN.
The Hurricanes are coming off a 16-14 win over Virginia Tech in their home finale to run their winning streak to five games – the longest winning streak since 2005 when UM rattled off eight in a row. Miami is in sole possession of first place in the ACC Coastal Division. It will be Miami’s second straight Thursday night game. UM is 13-1 all-time in ESPN Thursday night games. Freshman defensive end Marcus Robinson, who was named ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week Monday, led a stingy Miami defense against the Hokies. Robinson tallied a career-best three sacks and four tackles for loss as UM picked up a season-high six sacks.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Robert Marve completed 7-of-16 passes for 121 yards and ran for another 44 yards to lead the Miami offense against the Hokies.
Lou Groza Award semifinalist Matt Bosher made three field goals in the win against the Hokies and earned ACC Specialist of the Week honors. Bosher has made 12 of his last 13 field goals and is 16-of-18 on the season. He is a perfect 32-of-32 in PATs.
Defensively, senior linebacker Glenn Cook leads the team with 60 total tackles and is tied for the team-lead with seven tackles for loss. Safety Anthony Reddick has 55 tackles while linebacker Sean Spence has 53 tackles on the season. The Hurricanes have allowed just one touchdown in the second half of their last three games against Virginia Tech, Virginia and Wake Forest. Miami ranks 10th nationally in total defense, 19th overall in rushing defense and 15th in pass defense.
In six ACC games, UM has been tough to stop offensively. The Hurricanes lead the ACC in scoring offense with 28.0 points per game in ACC games. The Hurricanes are 43rd nationally in overall scoring offense (28.4 points per game).
The Hurricanes cracked the AP poll for the first time this season and the first time since Sept. 10, 2006 this week. Miami received 139 votes and will take the field as a ranked team at Georgia Tech for the first time since Sept. 16, 2006 when UM played at Louisville. Miami received 74 votes in the USA Today Coaches’ Top 25 poll. The Hurricanes are 23rd in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) poll.
THE OPPONENT
Georgia Tech (7-3, 4-3 ACC Coastal) is coming off a bye week after falling to North Carolina, 28-7, on the road back on Nov. 8. Tech’s ground game has been the best in the ACC this season. The Yellow Jackets are averaging 250.7 yards per game on the ground led by leading rusher Jonathan Dwyer, who leads the ACC with 1,056 yards. He also has eight rushing touchdowns. Defensively, the Yellow Jackets are 14th in total defense and 10th in pass defense.
THE COACHES
Randy Shannon is 12-10 overall and is in his second season at Miami. Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson is 7-3 in his first season with the Yellow Jackets.
THE SERIES
This will be the 14th game between the two schools, with Georgia Tech holding a 9-4 lead in the series. Georgia Tech has won the last three meetings in the series. Miami’s last win in the series came in 2004 in Atlanta, 27-3.
COASTAL DIVISION UPDATE
Miami has yet again another crucial ACC Coastal Division battle on its hands this week when the Hurricanes travel to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech. The `Canes currently lead the division with a record of 4-2 while Georgia Tech sits just a half a game out at 4-3. If UM is able to beat the Yellow Jackets and win next week at NC State, the Hurricanes will head to Tampa for the ACC Championship game. North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Virginia – all 3-3 in the division – currently sit in a three-way tie for third.
RIGHT BETWEEN THE NUMBERS
– Miami is 13-1 all-time on ESPN Thursday night games. Georgia Tech is 9-11. The Hurricanes and Yellow Jackets have never met for an ESPN Thursday night game.
– Freshman WR/KR Travis Benjamin’s 936 all-purpose yards is the most at Miami through 10 games since Willis McGahee had 1,676 all-purpose yards heading into the 10th game of the 2002 season.
– Miami leads the nation in number of different players that have scored a touchdown this season (17) as well as the number of freshmen that have reached paydirt (8).
– UM is riding a five-game winning streak, its first winning streak of such kind since 2005 when the Hurricanes won eight straight games from Sept. 27 to Nov. 12.
– Only four Hurricanes (Glenn Cook, Steven Wesley, Bruce Johnson and Xavier Shannon) have started all 10 games so far this season
– The Hurricanes have converted on their last 22 red zone attempts and 36 of 38 overall attempts (94.7%) this season. UM has 23 touchdowns and 13 field goals in its 38 red zone appearances.
– Miami has kept its opponents under 20 points in four of its last five games. Over that span, the Hurricanes are out-scoring their opponents by an average of 25.0-to-17.2.
BOSHER, ROBINSON EARN WEEKLY HONORS
University of Miami football players Marcus Robinson and Matt Bosher have earned Atlantic Coast Conference weekly honors announced by the league office Monday. Robinson, a true freshman from Homestead, Fla., earned Defensive Lineman of the Week honors while Bosher, a native of Jupiter, Fla., was chosen ACC Specialist of the Week.
Robinson recorded a career-best three sacks in UM’s win over Virginia Tech in his second career start. He finished the game with a team-high seven tackles which included four tackles for loss. Bosher performed well in all facets of his game, averaging 42.0 yards on five punts in addition to converting on all three of his field goal attempts.-for-3 on field goals. The Lou Groza Award semifinalist is now 16-of-18 in field goal attempts on the year.
MIAMI AT NC STATE UPDATE
The Atlantic Coast Conference announced on Monday that ESPN/ABC declared a six-day option for the league’s games on Nov. 29. While game times and networks won’t be announced until Sunday, Nov. 23, it has been determined that the Miami-NC State game will either be a 12 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. kick-off on either ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, Raycom or ESPNU. Selections are expected no later than noon this upcoming Sunday.
