No. 17 Miami Hosts No. 8 Oklahoma in ABC Primetime

Sept. 29, 2009

Miami Game Notes | Press Conference Quotes

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – No. 17 Miami plays its first nonconference game of the season when the Hurricanes take on their fourth straight Top 20 team Saturday night as they welcome No. 8 Oklahoma to Land Shark Stadium. The Hurricanes suffered their first loss of the season at No. 11 Virginia Tech last Saturday.

Miami has wins at No. 18 Florida State and vs. No. 14 Georgia Tech, which propelled the Hurricanes into the AP Top 10 at No. 9 last week for the first time since the final regular season poll of the 2005 season. The `Canes opened the 2009 season unranked in both polls.

Jacory Harris continues to be off to one of the best starts for a quarterback in school history, winning Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week honors after each of Miami’s first two games. The sophomore from Miami ranks 24th nationally in passing efficiency (152.62), has 806 passing yards in three games and has already accounted for six touchdowns (5 passing, 1 rushing).

Running back Graig Cooper ranks eighth nationally as an all-purpose runner, averaging 182.7 all-purpose yards per game. Cooper and wide receiver Travis Benjamin have combined for 48.5% (752 of 1550) of Miami’s all-purpose yardage through the team’s first three games. Cooper, who has a team-high 548 yards, leads the team in rushing yards (179) and kick-return yards (312) while Benjamin has a team-best 157 receiving yards.

Linebacker Colin McCarthy is coming off a career-high 13 tackles at Virginia Tech and has a team-high 25 tackles (nine solo, 16 assisted). He is joined defensively by Brandon Harris (18 tackles, ACC-high five pass break-ups), Randy Phillips (18 tackles, one interception) and Sam Shields (14 tackles, two pass break-ups).

GAME 4 INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009
Location: Land Shark Stadium (Natural Grass), (74,916) in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Kickoff: 8:12 p.m. (ET)

Television – ABC
Brent Musberger (play-by-play)
Kirk Herbstreit (color)
Lisa Salters (sideline reporter)

Tape Delay Telecast – CSS
Mon., Oct. 5 at 7 p.m.; Thurs. Oct. 8 at Noon

Local Radio – 560 WQAM, 1450 ESPN Deportes
560 WQAM
Joe Zagacki (play-by-play)
Don Bailey Jr. (color analyst)
Fans can also listen online at www.wqam.com

1450 ESPN Deportes En Español
Joe Pujala (play-by-play)
Joe Martinez (color analyst)

National Radio – ESPN RADIO
Satellite: 191 (XM)
Bill Rosinski (play-by-play)
Dennis Franchione (color analyst)
Joe Schad (sideline reporter)

Websites
Miami (www.hurricanesports.com)
Oklahoma (www.soonersports.com)

THE MIAMI-OKLAHOMA SERIES
The series is tied 3-3 with the Sooners winning the last meeting in 2007, 51-13. The Hurricanes are 2-1 against the Sooners in games played in Miami, which includes a 20-14 win in the 1988 Orange Bowl forMiami’s second national title. This will be the first meeting in Miami between the two schools since the 1988 Orange Bowl.

A `CANES WIN OVER THE SOONERS WOULD GIVE…
– Miami three wins in its first four games for the second time under Randy Shannon.- The `Canes their third win over a ranked opponent to open the season.- Miami its fourth win in the last five meetings over Oklahoma dating back to the 1985 season.

THE COACHES
Randy Shannon is in his third season as Miami’s head coach and owns an overall record of 14-14. Bob Stoops is in his 11th season and has a record of 111-25 entering Saturday night’s contest.

WEAR ORANGE SATURDAY NIGHT
Fans are encouraged to wear orange Saturday night when the `Canes host Oklahoma at Land Shark Stadium.

MIAMI VERSUS THE BIG 12 CONFERENCE
The Hurricanes have played 10 of the current members of the Big 12 conference and have compiled a 33-20 record against the league. Under Randy Shannon, the Hurricanes are 2-1 against the Big 12 with wins over Texas A&M in 2007 and 2008 and a loss to Oklahoma in 2007.

COASTAL DIVISION UPDATE
After opening the season with wins over No. 18 Florida State and No. 14 Georgia Tech, and a loss at No. 11 Virginia Tech, the 17th-ranked Hurricanes are currently tied for second in the Coastal Division with a record of 2-1. Georgia Tech is also 2-1 in conference play, while the Hokies sit atop the division standings at 1-0. Duke and Virginia will open conference play this weekend while North Carolina is 0-1 after falling to Georgia Tech in Atlanta this past weekend.

McCARTHY RETURNING TO FORM
Three games into the 2009 season, junior linebacker Colin McCarthy has emerged as the team’s top tackler after missing most of the 2008 season with an injury. He currently leads the Miami defense with 25 total tackles. He ranks in a tie for sixth in the ACC with an 8.0 tackle-per-game average despite having played against three ranked teams to open the season. As a sophomore in 2007, McCarthy ranked third on the team with 68 total tackles, including 12 for a loss.

BYRD BREAKS OUT
After being held without a catch in the season-opener at No. 18 Florida State, sophomore wideout LaRon Byrd responded with a big night in Miami’s home opener against Georgia Tech, catching five passes for 83 yards – including an early 40-yard touchdown reception from Jacory Harris. Last week against Virginia Tech, Byrd led the `Canes again with four receptions for 58 yards. On the season, he has a team-high nine catches for 141 yards.

`CANES AT LAND SHARK
Miami is 8-2 all-time in Land Shark Stadium, going 3-0 in bowl games, 4-2 last season and 1-0 this year. The `Canes won the 1996 Carquest Bowl over Virginia, the 1998 Micron PC Bowl over NC State and the 2003 Orange Bowl over Florida State before beating Charleston Southern, UCF, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech in the team’s inaugural season at its home stadium. Miami opened Land Shark in 2009 with a 33-17 win over No. 14 Georgia Tech on Sept. 17.

SCOUTING THE SOONERS
Oklahoma enters the game with an overall record of 2-1. After dropping its season-opener to then-No. 20 BYU in Dallas, 14-13, the Sooners have responded with back-to-back shut out wins over Idaho State (64-0) and Tulsa (45-0) in Norman. Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Sam Bradford suffered an injury in the Sooners’ season-opener against BYU. Back-up Landry Jones has filled in for Bradford, tossing for 673 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions in three games.Running backs DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown have split the bulk of the carries for the Sooners this season. Murray leads the team in rushing yards (219) and rushing touchdowns (2) while Brown has a team-high 41 attempts on the ground. Ryan Broyles has been Jones’ go-to receiver in the early going as Broyles already has 309 yards receiving yards and a team-high seven touchdowns. Brandon Caleb (175 yards, 2 TDs) is OU’s other threat through the air. Defensively for Oklahoma, linebacker Travis Lewis has a team-best 29 tackles (17 solo, 12 assists). Four different Sooners have an interception thus far, including linebacker Ryan Reynolds who also has 26 tackles and is tied for a team-high with three sacks.

RIGHT BETWEEN THE NUMBERS
– Sophomore quarterback Jacory Harris ranks 24th in the nation in passing efficiency (152.62).
– Junior running back Graig Cooper ranks eighth nationally in all-purpose yards per game (182.67). He also ranks third in the ACC in all-purpose yardage behind Maryland’s Torrey Smith (245.0) and Clemson’s C.J. Spiller (214.2).
– Miami is currently ranked No. 15 in the latest Sagarin Ratings.
– As a team, Miami currently ranks 26th nationally in pass efficiency (152.60), 24th in passing offense (268.67) and 23rd in kickoff returns (26.60).
– With 14 carries at Virginia Tech, Javarris James moved into sole possession of sixth place on the program’s all-time rushing attempts list with 441, passing Clinton Portis (440 attempts from 1999-01).
– Miami is 4-3 in the month of October under Randy Shannon and 26-5 in October this decade.