PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - Miami figured this out long before the season started: Win every game and leave nothing to chance.
It sure did work.
The Hurricanes embarrassed Nebraska 37-14 in the Rose Bowl on Thursday night, completing a perfect season and ending any debate about who is national champion.
With Ken Dorsey throwing three touchdown passes in the first half - two to wide receiver Andre Johnson - Miami rolled to a 34-0 lead in the opening 30 minutes, and the Huskers were history.
``We should have played for the title last year,'' Hurricanes guard Martin Bibla said. ``What can you do? That's the way it worked. This one will make us forget about last year.''
The Associated Press poll of sports writers and broadcasters was to be released early Friday, with the Hurricanes a lock to win their fifth national title, all since 1983. Their last championship was in 1991.
Top-ranked Miami (12-0) didn't have to wait to pick up the trophy awarded by the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, which automatically goes to the winner of the BCS championship game.
Oregon, a 38-16 winner over Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl on Monday, was hoping for a Nebraska win to claim a share of the title, but the Ducks will probably end up second in the final polls.
``The only thing I'd be disappointed in is that we didn't get a shot,'' Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington said after watching the game in Phoenix. ``You can speculate all you want, but I know we have a very good football team.''
Before the season started, Miami players vowed they wouldn't allow the computer-driven BCS standings to determine their bowl fate. In 2000, Florida State was chosen over Miami to play Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl even though the Hurricanes had beaten the Seminoles.
So Miami went out and finished 12-0 - the nation's only major unbeaten team. It takes a 22-game winning streak into next season.
Dorsey completed 22 of 35 passes for a career-high 362 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception. Johnson caught seven passes for 199 yards.
``The entire team deserves to be MVP tonight,'' Dorsey said after he and Johnson were selected co-MVPs. ``Our defense stepped up to the challenge and did a great job. Our offensive line, receivers, everybody did a great job against a great team.''
Johnson added: ``I felt like I had something to prove so I brought my `A' game.''
Clinton Portis ran for 104 yards on 20 carries as the Hurricanes rolled up 472 yards.
The stunned Huskers, beaten 62-36 by Colorado in their previous game, had no answer for Miami's speed and ferocious defense. The lopsided score raised even more questions about whether Nebraska belonged in the BCS' title game.
``We didn't play well enough to make it a competitive game in the end or in the first half,'' Huskers coach Frank Solich said. ``From that end of it, it certainly wasn't the matchup everybody dreamed of. I think anyone would have struggled with them the way they played tonight.''
Nebraska (11-2) and its Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Eric Crouch, had promised there would not be a repeat of the pitiful performance against Colorado. They were wrong, unable to do much against the Miami defense until the game was already out of reach.
``We talk about talent all along, but the thing that set this team apart is character,'' Miami coach Larry Coker said. ``They refused to give in, refused to flinch, and they got the job done week in and week out.''
Dorsey, now 26-1 as a starter, opened the scoring with a 49-yard TD pass to Johnson, then found him for an 8-yard TD with about 3 1/2 minutes left in the half. Between those TD passes, Portis ran 39 yards for a touchdown, safety James Lewis returned an interception 47 yards for a score and Dorsey connected with tight end Jeremy Shockey on a 21-yard TD pass - all in 3:53.
And just like that, Miami made the 53-year-old Coker only the second coach to win a national title in his rookie season. Michigan's Bennie Oosterbaan did it in 1948.
Nebraska and Miami came into this Rose Bowl having played three previous games with national titles on the line, all in the Orange Bowl. Miami won twice, in '83 and '91; Nebraska once, in '94.
Nebraska, losing two games in a row for the first time since 1990, just couldn't compete this time. It managed only 259 total yards - nearly 200 under its average.
Crouch ran 22 times for 114 yards and completed 5 of 15 passes for 62 yards.
The Huskers finally scored on Judd Davies' 16-yard run with 2:39 left in the third quarter, and DeJuan Groce added a 71-yard punt return for a TD early in the fourth period.
Todd Sievers kicked a 37-yard field goal with 10:04 left for Miami's only points of the second half.
Although Husker fans made up most of the crowd of 93,781, it was the 20,000 or so orange-clad Miami fans who did most of the cheering.
Crouch picked a bad time for one of the worst games of his record-setting career. Miami's defense swarmed the option and rarely gave him room to run.
``We turned the ball over and that's what killed us,'' Crouch said. ``We knew Miami was that type of defense, they live off turnovers. We got down too far.''
On Crouch's third carry of the game, linebacker D.J. Williams stripped the ball away and William Joseph recovered. On the next play, Dorsey hooked up with a wide-open Johnson - safety Keyou Craver fell on the coverage - for the 49-yard TD pass with 6:51 left in the first period.
Nebraska's Josh Davis fumbled the ensuing kickoff on a crunching hit by Markese Fitzgerald, and Sievers recovered at the Huskers 34. Nebraska survived the turnover, but Miami was far from finished.
Portis took a handoff from Dorsey, slipped at the line of scrimmage but kept his balance, then avoided two tacklers and outran the secondary to the end zone.
Four plays later, Crouch's pass went through the hands of Tracey Wistrom and Lewis grabbed the ball just before it hit the ground and ran 47 yards untouched to make it 21-0.
On Miami's next possession, Dorsey hit Johnson for 45 yards and then connected with Shockey for the 21-yard score with 10:40 left in the half. Sievers missed the extra point, but it didn't matter. The Huskers were all but finished.
Wednesday
February 5th, 2025
5:59AM
