No. 9 Miami Visits No. 11 Virginia Tech in Blacksburg this Weekend
Sept. 22, 2009
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – After opening the season with back-to-back wins against ranked Atlantic Coast Conference opponents, the ninth-ranked Hurricanes will look to make it three in a row when they travel to Blacksburg, Va. to face No. 11 Virginia Tech Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.
Wins at No. 18 Florida State and vs. No. 14 Georgia Tech have propelled the Hurricanes into the AP Top 10 at No. 9. It is the first time the `Canes have been ranked in the Top 10 since the final regular season poll of the 2005 season. The `Canes opened the 2009 season unranked in both polls.
Jacory Harris is 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 third nationally in passing efficiency (184.07), has 656 passing yards in two games and has already accounted for six touchdowns (5 passing, 1 rushing).
Running back Graig Cooper and wide receiver Travis Benjamin have combined for 50.5% (632 of 1251) of Miami’s all-purpose yardage through the team’s first two games. Cooper, who has a team-high 418 yards, leads the team in rushing yards (124) and kick-return yards (238) while Benjamin has a team-best 157 receiving yards.
Brandon Harris has been the team’s top defender thus far, tallying a team-high 13 tackles (six solo, seven assisted) to go along with an ACC-high five passes defended.
GAME 3 INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009
Location: Lane Stadium (Natural Grass), (66,233) in Blacksburg, Va.
Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. (ET)
TELEVISION – ABC (mirror broadcast on ESPN)
Sean McDonough (play-by-play)
Matt Millen (color)
Holly Rowe (sideline reporter)
Tape Delay Telecast – CSS
Mon., Sept. 28 at 7 p.m.; Thurs. Oct. 1 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 Espanol
Joe Pujala (play-by-play)
Joe Martinez (color analyst)
NATIONAL RADIO – ESPN RADIO
Satellite: 219 (Sirius), 191 (XM)
Bill Rosinski (play-by-play)
Dennis Franchione (color analyst)
Joe Schad (sideline reporter)
WEBSITES
Miami (www.hurricanesports.com)
Virginia Tech (www.hokiesports.com)
THE MIAMI-VIRGINIA TECH SERIES
Miami leads the all-time series with Virginia Tech, 17-9.
The Hurricanes hold a slight 5-4 edge over the Hokies since the turn of the century.
Saturday’s game will mark the 18th straight season the two teams have faced one another.
Randy Shannon is 1-1 all-time against Frank Beamer, losing 44-14 in 2007 before winning 16-14 last season.
A `CANES WIN OVER THE HOKIES WOULD GIVE…
Miami its second 3-0 start in the ACC since joining the league in 2004.
Randy Shannon his first 3-0 start as a head coach.
The `Canes their third win over a ranked opponent to open the season.
Miami its first win in Blackburg since a 27-7 victory over the Hokies in 2005.
MIAMI VERSUS THE COMMONWEALTH STATE
Miami is 28-11 all-time versus the state of Virginia. After beating both Virginia Tech and Virginia in 2008, the Hurricanes now own a .725 winning percentage against the state.
In the series against ACC members Virginia and Virginia Tech, Miami seems to be at its best when it scores 20 or more points. UM is a combined 15-2 against Virginia Tech (11-2) and Virginia (4-0) when it scores 20 or more points in a game. The Hurricanes are 6-9 when it fails to score at least 20 points against the Cavaliers (0-2) and Hokies (6-7).
WHIPPLE BALL
Two games into his tenure as the University of Miami’s offensive coordinator, Mark Whipple has the `Canes offense off to a fast start as Miami ranks in the nation’s Top 20 in passing efficiency (2nd; 184.08), passing offense (8th; 328 ypg) and total offense (16th; 465 ypg).
Despite going up against two ranked teams to open the year, the Hurricanes’ offense has scored more than 30 points in each game, including a 38-point performance in Miami’s season-opening win over No. 18 FSU in Tallahassee.
Quarterback Jacory Harris has proven to be one of the nation’s top passers through the first few weeks of the 2009 season, ranking third nationally in passing efficiency (184.07) and eighth in the country in total offense (326.50).
COASTAL DIVISION UPDATE
After opening the season with conference wins over No. 18 Florida State and No. 14 Georgia Tech, the ninth-ranked Hurricanes currently lead the Coastal Division with a record of 2-0.
Georgia Tech is 1-1 in conference play, while North Carolina and Virginia Tech open their ACC seasons this weekend. Duke and Virginia will open conference play on Oct. 3.
Miami (2-0) and North Carolina (3-0) are the lone ACC teams undefeated heading into this weekend’s games.
If Miami is able to win Saturday against the Hokies, the `Canes will have opened ACC play 3-0 for the second time since joining the league (Miami beat FSU, Georgia Tech and NC State to open the team’s inaugural ACC season in 2004).
JACORY GETTING EARLY HEISMAN ATTENTION
After his 270-yard, three touchdown performance against Georgia Tech last week, Jacory Harris moved up to 4th in ESPN’s Heisman Watch List for the 2009 season, trailing only Tim Tebow of Florida, Jahvid Best of Cal and Colt McCoy of Texas.
In addition to ESPN’s Heisman Watch List, Jacory is currently ranked second by CBSSports.com’s Dennis Dodd, third by SI.com’s Gene Mendez and fourth by Sporting News’ Matt Hayes and Derek Samson.
RUNNING BACK U
Currently, three of the 15 top rushers in the National Football League hail from the University of Miami, as Frank Gore, Clinton Portis and Willis McGahee rank third, 13th and 15th respectively in rushing yards.
Gore has 237 yards on the ground through two weeks and trails only Adrian Peterson (272) and Chris Johnson (254) while Portis (141) and McGahee (123) are also off to strong starts.
Gore and McGahee also rank in a tie with Peterson for a league-high four touchdowns through the first two weeks.
OKLAHOMA GAME TIME OPTIONS
The University of Miami’s home game against Oklahoma on Saturday, Oct. 3 will either start at 3:30 p.m. or 8 p.m. and will be televised by ABC. The network declared a six-day option and has decided to wait until this weekend’s games are played before deciding what time the `Canes and Sooners will kick-off. The decision will come no later than 12 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 27.
