No. 16 Miami to Host Virginia for Homecoming

Nov. 3, 2009

Game Notes | Coach Shannon Press Conference Quotes | Harris Press Conference Quotes

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – No. 16 Miami returns home for a key ACC Coastal Divisional matchup when the Hurricanes host Virginia Saturday at Land Shark Stadium. The game will be televised by Raycom, which will be the `Canes first appearance on the network this season.

Miami is coming off a fourth-quarter comeback at Wake Forest last Saturday which saw the Hurricanes rally with 14 points in the final frame to win 28-27. Sophomore quarterback Jacory Harris engineered a nine-play, 82-yard drive which resulted in a 13-yard TD pass to Travis Benjamin with 1:08 left in the game.

Harris threw three touchdown passes in the win at Wake Forest, making it the third time he has done that this season and fourth time in his career. Harris, who was named ACC Offensive Back of the Week for his efforts, completed 22-of-43 passes for 330 yards in the win. On the year, he has passed for 2,104 yards with 16 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and is completing 61.2 percent of his passes. Heading into Saturday’s game, he ranks 11th nationally and leads the ACC in passing efficiency (151.52).

Miami receivers Leonard Hankerson and Thearon Collier set career-highs in the win at Wake Forest. Hankerson caught five passes for a career-best 97 yards while Collier hauled in four catches for 78 yards – including a crucial 29-yard grab that kept the winning TD drive alive. Hankerson currently leads the team with 25 receptions for 477 yards and three touchdowns. Travis Benjamin has 412 receiving yards on 22 receptions and a team-high four TD catches.

Junior defensive lineman Allen Bailey is coming off another big game. Against the Demon Deacons, Bailey recorded five total tackles, which included three tackles for loss and two sacks. It was his second straight multi-sack game. He has 22 total tackles on the season with 9.5 tackles for loss and a team-best seven sacks.

Colin McCarthy leads the team with 60 tackles while fellow linebacker Darryl Sharpton ranks second with 53 tackles.

Cornerback Brandon Harris continues to play at a high level, tying for second nationally for both passes broken up (11) and total passes defended (12). He also ranks third on the team with 42 tackles.

Matt Bosher had one of his best games of the season in Winston-Salem, averaging 43 yards on nine punts. On the year, Bosher ranks second in the ACC in punting (42.3) and fourth in field goal percentage (81.8).

GAME 9 INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009
Location: Land Shark Stadium (Natural Grass), (74,916) in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Kickoff: Noon (ET)

TELEVISION – RAYCOM
Tim Brant (play-by-play)
Rick “Doc” Walker (color)
Mike Hogewood (sideline)

Webcast – ESPN360.com

Tape Delay Telecast – CSS
Mon., Nov. 9 at 7 p.m.; Thurs. Nov. 12 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.org

WEBSITES
Miami (www.hurricanesports.com)
Virginia (www.virginiasports.com)

THE MIAMI-VIRGINIA SERIES
– Miami leads the all-time series with Virginia, 4-2 – The Hurricanes won last year’s meeting in Charlottesville, coming away with a 24-17 overtime victory.
– Saturday’s game will be the first meeting between the `Canes and Cavaliers at Land Shark Stadium.

A `CANES WIN OVER THE CAVALIERS WOULD…
– Improve Miami’s ACC record to 4-2 this season.
– Improve Miami’s home record to 4-1.
– Give the Hurricanes their second straight win over the Cavaliers.

THE COACHES
Randy Shannon is in his third season as Miami’s head coach and owns an overall record of 18-15. Al Groh is in his ninth season at Virginia and has a overall record of 59-49.

NOVEMBER REIGN
The Hurricanes have been a dominant team this month the last quarter of a century. Since Jimmy Johnson’s tenure began at Miami in 1984, UM is 74-21 all-time in the month of November. In fact, from 1984 to 2002, the Hurricanes were an impressive 63-8 in the year’s second-to-last month. The Hurricanes closed out the month of October with a 4-1 record this season, with wins over Oklahoma (Oct. 3), Florida A&M (Oct. 10), UCF (Oct. 17) and Wake Forest (Oct. 31). Last year, Miami went 2-2 in November with wins over Virginia and Virginia Tech and losses to Georgia Tech and NC State.

HURRICANES OWN RARE DISTINCTION
This year’s University of Miami team might be one of the deepest team’s in the country at the running back and wide receiver positions. Miami is the only team from a BCS conference and one of just three teams at the FBS level that have three 300-yard rushers (Javarris James, Graig Cooper, Damien Berry) and four 200-yard receivers (Leonard Hankerson, Travis Benjamin, LaRon Byrd, Thearon Collier). TCU and Idaho are the only two other teams nationally that can match the `Canes depth statistically at the offensive skill positions.

Rushing Leaders
Javarris James -418
Graig Cooper – 326
Damien Berry – 303

Receiving Leaders
Leonard Hankerson – 477
Travis Benjamin – 412
LaRon Byrd – 286
Thearon Collier – 201

Note: Despite missing three games, wide receiver Aldarius Johnson is just two receiving yards shy of 200 heading into today’s contest.

Randy Shannon NAMED TO BRYANT WATCH LIST
Third-year head coach RANDY SHANNON is one of 20 head coaches in the FBS named to the watch list for the 2009 Paul “Bear” Bryant Award, given annually to the nation’s top head coach. The Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards committee of the American Heart Association consists of current and past event chairmen, Bryant family representatives, national sportscasters and sportswriters association representatives, college football sports analysts and former collegiate players and coaches.

Robb Akey, University of Idaho
Mack Brown, University of Texas
Pete Carroll, University of Southern California
Kirk Ferentz, University of Iowa
Al Golden, Temple University
Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State University
Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech
Brian Kelly, University of Cincinnati
Chip Kelly, University of Oregon
Bronco Mendenhall, Brigham Young University
Urban Meyer, University of Florida
Les Miles, Louisiana State University
Joe Paterno, Penn State University
Gary Patterson, Texas Christian University
Chris Petersen, Boise State University
Nick Saban, University of Alabama
Randy Shannon, University of Miami
Bill Stewart, West Virginia University
Kevin Sumlin, University of Houston
Dave Wannstedt, University of Pittsburgh

MIAMI IS 17TH IN BCS RANKINGS THIS WEEK
After opening the season with record of 6-2 – including three wins against ranked opposition – the University of Miami is ranked 17th in the this week’s Bowl Championship Series rankings. The `Canes currently have an average of .3707, right behind Houston (.4209) and Ohio State (.3784). Four of Miami’s 2009 opponents are currently ranked in the BCS Top 25, with Georgia Tech at No.10, Virginia Tech at No. 23, Oklahoma at No. 24 and USF at No. 25.

BIG BAILEY INSIDE
One of the most versatile defenders in the country, junior Allen Bailey is having the best season of his career and one of the best years for a defensive lineman in the ACC. At 6-4, 288, Bailey has played both defensive tackle and defensive end this season and has been a key up front for the `Canes this season. Bailey, who finished with 24 tackles and a team-best five sacks in 2008, already has 22 tackles this season while leading the team in tackles for a loss (9.5) and sacks (7.0). He is tied for second in the ACC with a 0.88 sacks per game average while also ranking in a tie for fourth in the league in tackles for loss (1.19 pg). He comes into Saturday’s game against Virginia having recorded back-to-back multi-sack games.

`CANES AT LAND SHARK
Miami is 10-3 all-time in Land Shark Stadium, going 3-0 in bowl games, 4-2 last season and 3-1 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 FSU before beating Charleston Southern, UCF, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech in the team’s inaugural season at its new stadium. UM opened Land Shark Stadium in 2009 with a 33-17 win over No. 14 Georgia Tech on Sept. 17 followed by victories over No. 8 Oklahoma (21-20 on Oct.3) and FAMU (48-16 on Oct. 10) and most recently an overtime loss to Clemson (37-40 on Oct. 24).