No. 11 Miami Remains at Home to Face FAMU

Oct. 6, 2009

Click here to watch a replay of Tuesday’s press conference.

Weekly Press Conference Quotes

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – No. 11 Miami plays its second nonconference game of the season when the Hurricanes host MEAC favorite Florida A&M of the Football College Subdivision (formerly I-AA) Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Land Shark Stadium.

The Hurricanes are coming off their first win over a Top 10 opponent since 2005 – having defeated No. 8 Oklahoma, 21-20, last Saturday night in front of 61,790 fans at Land Shark. Miami has wins at No. 18 Florida State, vs. No. 14 Georgia Tech and vs. No. 8 Oklahoma.

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 25th nationally in passing efficiency (151.85), has 1,008 passing yards in four games and has already accounted for nine touchdowns (8 passing, 1 rushing).

Senior running back Javarris James is coming off one of his best performances as a Hurricane, gaining 150 yards on 15 carries against the nation’s No. 1 rushing defense in Oklahoma. It was the most rushing yards by a UM player in the series against Oklahoma. James now leads the team with 293 yards on 54 carries and three touchdowns.

Running back Graig Cooper ranks 15th nationally as an all-purpose runner, averaging 165.0 all-purpose yards per game. Cooper, James and wide receiver Travis Benjamin have combined for 62 percent (1,267 of 1,550) of Miami’s all-purpose yardage through the season’s first four games. Cooper, who has a team-high 660 yards, leads the team in kick-return yards (400) and has 200 rushing yards. James leads the team with 293 yards on the ground and adds another 51 through the air. Benjamin, who scored his second touchdown of the season against OU, has a team-best 218 receiving yards.

Linebacker Colin McCarthy has a team-high 32 tackles (13 solo, 19 assisted), which includes three tackles for loss. Linebacker Sean Spence matched a career-high with 10 tackles against Oklahoma and is tied for second in tackles (23) on the team with fellow linebacker Darryl Sharpton. Safety Vaughn Telemaque had a break-out game against the Sooners, tallying nine total tackles.

Cornerback Brandon Harris (22 tackles) has an ACC-high five passes defended while defensive lineman Allen Bailey and Marcus Robinson each have a forced fumble and a pair of sacks.

GAME 5 INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009
Location: Land Shark Stadium (Natural Grass), (74,916) in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Kickoff: 7 p.m. (ET)

Webcast – ESPN360.com
Dave Weekley (play-by-play)
Danny Kanell (color)

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)
90.5 FM WVUM
Fans can also listen online at www.wvum.com

Websites
Miami (www.hurricanesports.com)
Florida A&M (www.famurattlersports.com)

THE MIAMI-FAMU SERIES
– Miami leads the series with the Rattlers, 6-1. The Hurricanes won the last meeting, 51-10, in 2006.
– The Hurricanes have outscored Florida A&M, 317-33, in the last six meetings.
– This will be the eighth overall meeting and first meeting at Land Shark Stadium between the two schools. The previous six have been played at the Orange Bowl and the first meeting in 1979 was in Tallahassee.

A `CANES WIN OVER THE RATTLERS WOULD GIVE…
– Miami its second non-conference win of the season after defeating No. 8 Oklahoma last weekend.
– The `Canes their third home win and move their record to 10-2 all-time at Land Shark Stadium.
– Miami a 4-1 start for the second time under Randy Shannon.
– Miami its seventh consecutive win in the series against Florida A&M.

THE COACHES
Randy Shannon is in his third season as Miami’s head coach and owns an overall record of 15-14. Joe Taylor is in his second season at FAMU and has a overall record of 210-81-4 in 27 seasons as a head coach.

SPREADING THE WEALTH
Quarterback Jacory Harris completed a pass to 11 different receivers in Miami’s win over the eighth-ranked Sooners last weekend. Harris, who finished the night 19-for-28 for 202 yards, successfully found Aldarius Johnson (4 times), Travis Benjamin (3), Dedrick Epps (3), LaRon Byrd (2), Jimmy Graham (1), Tervaris Johnson (1), Mike James (1), Javarris James (1), Thearon Collier (1), Graig Cooper (1) and Leonard Hankerson (1) against OU. On the year, Harris has found 12 different receivers, with Patrick Hill also pulling in a reception.

RUNNING FOR RECORDS
With 54 rushing attempts this season, senior Javarris James has moved from eighth place on Miami’s all-time rushing attempts list to fourth through the season’s four games. With 15 carries last weekend in the Hurricanes’ win over No. 8 Oklahoma, James passed both Stephen McGuire (450 attempts) and Danyell Ferguson (454 attempts) to move into fourth place with 456 career attempts. He now trails only Ottis Anderson (691 attempts), James Jackson (541 attempts) and his cousin Edgerrin James (474 attempts).

James also moved into the school’s Top 10 in career rushing yards this past weekend, moving into eighth place with 1,963 yards. With 150 yards on the ground against the Sooners, James passed Alonzo Highsmith (1,914), Tyrone Moss (1,942) and McGuire (1,953) on the list. With 13 more yards rushing, he would pass Frank Gore (1,975) for seventh place and with 47 more yards he would become just the seventh player in school history to amass 2,000 career rushing yards.

Junior Graig Cooper (1,723) needs 219 rushing yards to enter the program’s all-time Top 10 all-time.

FOX EARNS ACC WEEKLY HONOR
Senior offensive tackle Jason Fox helped anchor an offensive front that paved the way for senior running back Javarris James’ 150 rushing yards against the nation’s top-ranked rushing defense in a 21-20 win against eighth-ranked Oklahoma. Aided by Fox’s performance at the tackle position, the 17th-ranked Hurricanes piled on 342 yards of total offense. Fox graded out at 99 percent for the game and added three pancake blocks, while not allowing a sack.

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 11th-ranked Hurricanes are currently tied for third in the Coastal Division with a league record of 2-1. Georgia Tech is also 2-1 in conference play, while Virginia Tech (2-0) and Virginia (1-0) rank first and second respectively. Duke (0-1) and North Carolina (0-2) have yet to win a game in conference play.

FAMU BAND TO PLAY POSTGAME
In addition to its halftime performance Saturday night, the Florida A&M Marching 100 band will perform a 15-minute concert on the field of Land Shark Stadium at the conclusion of tonight’s contest between the Hurricanes and Rattlers.

MIAMI ON THE BIG STAGE
The Hurricanes came right out of the gate in 2009 its first four games against a ranked opponent on national TV. Miami opened its season Labor Day night in Tallahassee with a 38-34 win over No. 18 Florida State, 10 days before beating No. 14 Georgia Tech, 33-17, on a ESPN Primetime Thursday contest. Two weeks ago, the `Canes suffered their only defeat of 2009, falling at No. 11 Virginia Tech on ABC before picking up their third win over a ranked opponent last weekend with a 21-20 win over No. 8 Oklahoma in primetime on ABC.

`CANES AT LAND SHARK
Miami is 9-2 all-time in Land Shark Stadium, going 3-0 in bowl games, 4-2 last season and 2-0 to start 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 in 2008. This season, Miami opened Land Shark with a 33-17 win over No. 14 Georgia Tech on Sept. 17 before knocking off No. 8 Oklahoma here last weekend, 21-20.