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By MICHAEL SNYDER
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 8, 2001
CORAL GABLES -- The only thing standing between Miami and a 2-0 record is a familiar face.
Fresh off an exhilarating 33-7 win over Penn State in Larry Coker's coaching debut, catapulting the Hurricanes to No. 1 for the first time since 1992, Miami faces Rutgers at 4 p.m. in its home -- and Big East Conference -- opener.
Ho-hum, right?
Well, not exactly.
The game has something of a subplot because Rutgers is led by Greg Schiano, who was UM's defensive coordinator the past two seasons. He was well-liked by his players, but the chance to rebuild a woeful program in his home state was a strong lure.
Miami is 8-0 against the Scarlet Knights. Last year's 64-6 win in New Jersey was typical, and UM is favored by 44 points today.
With No. 15 Washington, the only team to beat the 'Canes in 2000, at the Orange Bowl next week, it might be easy to envision many Miami players going through the motions today hoping to stay healthy while looking ahead. But the players say not so fast.
"I think we'll have plenty of motivation with Coach Schiano coming in here," quarterback Ken Dorsey said. "And we know what kind of defense he'll bring."
"I talked to him after he made his decision and it was the best move for him and for his family," senior safety Ed Reed said. "It'll say a lot for Coach Schiano if he came out here and beat us."
Rutgers won in Schiano's debut, 31-15 over Buffalo, keyed by a 177-yard rushing performance from senior Dennis Thomas. The Scarlet Knights looked impressive, but no one is comparing the 'Canes with Buffalo.
That's not say the Scarlet Knights don't have a small advantage. After all, Schiano knows the UM personnel, its weaknesses and schemes intimately.
"He's going to do some stuff different, I'm sure," Dorsey said. "The easiest part of this is he's not out there playing. We still have to play the guys that are on the field. We'll make our adjustments and go on from there."
Schiano, a native of Wyckoff, N.J., was an assistant under Joe Paterno at Penn State from 1990-96 before he joined Dave Wannstedt's Chicago Bears staff from 1996-98. The UM defense improved to the best in the Big East under Schiano, and the 'Canes had one of the top scoring units in the nation.
"Coach Schiano really took my game to another level," Reed said. "He taught me to take care of the little things. He's always been a good person toward me and all the rest of the guys. It's not a big deal that we're playing against him, but we want to win."
The No. 1 ranking, while it looks nice in headlines and news releases, doesn't really mean much until all the games have been played.
"I don't know that it's significant," Coker said. "We did play well at Penn State, and I think that was recognized by the media, but it's probably not that significant. It's a long season, and we have a lot of football left to play. Toward the end of the year, if you're up to No. 1 and you're playing well and winning, then the significance gets to be greater."
One thing is certain, UM won't get the chance to be No. 1 when it counts if it doesn't take care of business against the weak teams on its schedule. And that starts today against Schiano and Rutgers.
"We're at a dangerous point right now of being too confident and overlooking teams," Dorsey said. "We can't afford to do that. We know that Rutgers is going to be ready to play. If they keep it close, they will gain even more confidence. No one thought they would beat Syracuse two years ago, and they did.
"I'd like to beat (Schiano) just because we could go 2-0. I'm not trying to make headlines, that's for sure."