With a berth in the ACC title game unlikely, the Hurricanes hope to rebound Saturday against Virginia.
By MICHAEL SNYDER
Published November 25, 2005
CORAL GABLES - It's hard to remember a Miami regular-season loss as devastating as Saturday's against Georgia Tech.
The 14-10 defeat dropped the Hurricanes from No. 3 in the country to No. 10 and ended hopes of playing for a national title, which would have been possible if they kept winning and Southern Cal or Texas slipped up.
Instead, it was the Hurricanes (8-2, 5-2 ACC) who slipped - and slipped badly - and play their final regular-season game at 3:30 Saturday at the Orange Bowl against Virginia (6-4, 3-4) with much less at stake.
A Miami victory likely will be only enough for a berth in a second-tier bowl game, probably Jacksonville's Gator Bowl, unless North Carolina wins at Virginia Tech, an upset of similar proportions to what the Yellow Jackets did to Miami.
"We're big North Carolina fans this weekend," quarterback Kyle Wright said.
Only a win by the Tar Heels would propel Miami to what a week ago seemed almost a lock, a berth in the inaugural ACC title game against Florida State on Dec. 3 in Jacksonville.
"We're a hurting football team," coach Larry Coker said. "But the beauty of football is the next game. That's where we are right now - next game."
Coaches and players love to toss around the word "character" as if it were a football. But the reality is it's not always so easy for players to hunker down, go back to work and put such a draining defeat in the past when everything that has been worked for has trickled away.
"Being 8-2, I think, kind of says it all," Wright said. "That's not where we planned on being prior to the season. And I think up until the last game, we had consistently gotten better. That was the most frustrating thing. I think we have taken a step back. We're not where I want to be or where we want to be."
Miami appeared to be on a roll, especially after trouncing the Hokies in Blacksburg, Va., 27-7 on Nov. 5. But in college football, where the margin for error against elite teams is small, one loss can ruin a season and have a cascading effect.
In 2004, the Hurricanes followed a 31-28 loss to North Carolina with a 24-17 loss to Clemson. The previous season, they followed a 31-7 loss to Virginia Tech with a 10-6 loss to Tennessee.
Once a fluke. Twice a trend?
"I always go out there to play for "The U,' " tackle Eric Winston said. "And that's not going to change, no matter what our record is. That's something that's always special to me, and I think it is to everybody else. The motivation part for me, and I know for a lot of other people, won't be hard to find."
The Hurricanes won't know how much, or how little, is at stake against Virginia because North Carolina and Virginia Tech do not start until 7:45.
"Virginia's coming in off a loss (to Virginia Tech)," Coker said. "They have a very talented offensive team, a very big and physical offensive line. Defensively, they have a good group of linebackers. They've got one game left. We've got one game left. It's a huge game for both of us."
The fact that it's the final game for Miami's senior class, some of whom earned national championship rings as freshmen, would seem to add to the sense of urgency. The fact Miami can finish with 10 victories (including one in a bowl) could, too.
And even if all that works out, the Hurricanes could still sit back and watch the Hokies team they manhandled play Penn State in January's Orange Bowl.
"We don't work for a 10-2 season," said Wright, who was sacked seven times last week and hit on numerous other passes. "We don't bust our butt working countless amounts of sprints, running up hills, running in sand pits thinking, "Hey guys, let's go 10-2 this year. Let's fall short of an ACC championship and go to whatever bowl game.'
"We're thinking about conference championship, national championship, BCS bowl game."
