Canes Wrap Up Prep for Saturday's Spring Game

April 14, 2011

Golden on The Gino Torretta Show

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Hurricanes held their last practice Thursday afternoon, two days before the much-anticipated Spring Game scheduled for Saturday at noon at Ft. Lauderdale’s Lockhart Stadium.

Orange vs. Green
Towards the end of Thursday’s practice, players split up into their Orange and Green squads and ran several different situational drills in anticipation of Saturday. The players were certainly embracing their “new teams”, as there was constant cheering, friendly jarring and exaggerated celebrations after every big play.

Earlier in practice, the offense seemed to have the upper hand, getting big plays out of guys like Travis Benjamin and Mike James. Jacory Harris also turned in a great session in the accuracy department, repeatedly hitting his receivers in stride throughout the afternoon.

On defense, the ends were constantly putting pressure on Harris, Stephen Morris, and Spencer Whipple in team drills, causing the quarterbacks to display their scrambling skills as they have done so often in camp.

2001 Canes Coming Together
The list of former Canes expected to be in attendance at the 2001 National Championship reunion at Saturday’s Spring Game continues to grow. Ken Dorsey, Phillip Buchanon, Antrel Rolle, Brett Romberg, Bryant McKinnie and Willis McGahee are among those expected to be in attendance.

The guys from the 2001 squad will have dinner with the current Canes Friday night before attending the game Saturday morning.

“I hope our guys are excited and don’t feel the pressure,” head coach Al Golden said. “Hopefully they are grateful.”

QB Greats Attend Practice
Three of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play at Miami were in attendance at Thursday’s practice. Gino Torretta, Bernie Kosar and Ken Dorsey were all on hand to watch UM’s last practice of the spring.

In their collegiate playing days, the three combined for 23,226 passing yards and 173 touchdowns. Dorsey and Torretta rank 1-and-2 in most career passing categories at UM, while Kosar holds the single season record for passing yards having thrown for 3,642 yards in 1984.

Golden To Participate in 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge
Thirteen of the nation’s top NCAA head coaches including Al Golden, Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, Frank Beamer and Jimbo Fisher are scheduled to team up with former collegiate and professional athletes to compete for $415,000 in scholarship money at the annual Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge charity golf tournament May 1-3.

Brandon Washington before Thursday’s practice….