Colleges

'Canes won't complain about one-point victory

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published October 2, 2006

CORAL GABLES - The work will continue this week at Miami. The Hurricanes freely acknowledge they are still error-plagued, hurting themselves with penalties, missed kicks, dropped balls and blown coverages.

Still, a one-point win over a big underdog made them feel better.

No one in Miami would dare say that Saturday night's 14-13 win over Houston is a sign that the Hurricanes are rolling again, least of all coach Larry Coker. Yet he sees a victory by any margin as a clear step in the right direction.

"They know what the score was and they know we won," Coker said Sunday morning. "We didn't play as well as we can, but that's okay. That's why we're here as coaches, to help get those things right. And when you win, it sets a more positive environment to correct that."

Miami (2-2) remained out of the rankings after a run of 107 consecutive appearances in the poll ended following a loss at Louisville on Sept. 16.

Miami hadn't played since, until Saturday, when it rallied from a 13-7 third-quarter deficit and needed a fourth-and-inch conversion by quarterback Kyle Wright in the final minutes to secure the win.

On that fourth down, when Miami was on its own 38 and clinging to the lead, Coker's first inclination was to punt. But he changed his mind after listening to his offensive players plead to remain on the field.

"Most of the time, I don't do that. Because players, when it's fourth-and-82, they always say 'we can make it,' " Coker said.

Wright got the first down and Miami ran out the clock.

[Last modified October 2, 2006, 05:56:00]