There were a lot of expectations, and Larry took the pressure off of them. Miami beat opponents by an average of 32.9 points per game, the largest margin in the school's history, and set the NCAA record for largest margin of victory over consecutive ranked teams (1247). It never seemed like Davenport recovered all of his speed after the knee injury, but he did run for 5.3 yards per carry and 13 touchdowns in his Miami career. When Miami needed to pick up a 3rd and short the bigger bodied Cobia was on the field to run iso from Miamis 21 personnel base offense at the time. Renew Now , University of Miami 2023. Williams; and defensive backs Ed Reed, Mike Rumph, and Phillip Buchanon. '", Added former Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni: "That team was so talented, so explosive, so good on defense. With Coker in place as head coach and key players like Reed and McKinnie returning for their senior seasons, the Hurricanes knew what was in front of them. I will never forget standing on the goal line at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, when Deshaun Watson threw the winning 2-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow to beat Alabama 35-31 and finish 15-0. They had confidence. I think it was kind of a weight off everybody's shoulders at the end. Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer But these guys wanted to win that two-minute drill as bad as they wanted to win the Rose Bowl. The older guys took us under their wings and helped us. They beat us 47-0, and I remember walking off the field and everyone was celebrating and he said, "As long as I have something to do with it, I will never be embarrassed by Florida State again." In doing so, Portis ran for 1,200 and 10 touchdowns with a 5.5 yards per carry average for the Canes. So can 2016 Clemson, a team I covered throughout the season as an ACC reporter. In interviews with players and coaches, here . 1. That goes for everybody. / However, they had to do so under a new head coach, Larry Coker, who was named to the post after Butch Davis left to become head coach of the NFL's Cleveland Browns. Shannon Gambling problem? NFL draft questions for teams in the top 10: Will the Colts trade up? Not only that, they were honoring one of their past players who got paralyzed, he was able to walk again so they were going to have him run out. The Panthers had six first-round draft picks on its '01 roster while Miami's '01 team eventually We had 31 scholarships lost. These guys were special people. We're dead. It really gave the players and the coaching staff somebody to rally behind. Rumph They're driving to win, the whole stadium thought they were about to win. I don't know a single person that wasn't pissed headed into that game. The ability to handle situations and adversity. 14 Syracuse, 59-0", "No. Romberg It wasn't a surprise. We probably could have scored 80 points. A stacked running back room, which featured Frank Gore as the No. Romberg Matt! Miami needed one more win to clinch an undefeated regular season and a spot in the BCS national championship game: On the road, against Big East rival Virginia Tech. We knew that was going to be a tough game. McGahee played in the NFL from 2003-2013 including the year of rehab in 2003. I don't know how General Custer felt, but I felt like General Custer. Our team was beat up and tired and the kids wanted to go home for Thanksgiving, and now we're having to go to Miami, a team that I knew was gonna want revenge. Portis ran for 9.923 career yards and 75 touchdowns for Washington and the Denver Broncos while making two Pro Bowl rosters. 3 back. The environment was pretty spectacular. / Ed was definitely yelling my name, "Matt! There is history in nearly every corner of the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame and the Tom Kearns Sports Hall of Fame Building. A lot of us were going into our senior year, and we didn't want to have to risk playing a little slower, still trying to learn something. They hated to lose. The Canes became arguably the greatest team in CFB history 20 years ago, finishing 12-0, winning the national title and producing 38 NFL draft picks. Clinton Portis was one of the many future NFL stars who led the Hurricanes to the 2001 title -- and a place in football lore. Vilma played for the 2001 Hurricanes . We sucked on offense. It was always tough. Three trades in a chaotic top five, The new law changing service academy football, and the coaches pushing back, Realignment chatter: How the Pac-12 holds the key to it all. When Butch left, we were kinda stuck, and I remember we all went upstairs to talk to Mr. Dee, myself, Bryant McKinnie, Ed Reed, Ken Dorsey and a couple more guys. Barry Jackson. I'll never forget the speed and tempo and competitiveness. NFL draft questions for teams in the top 10: Will the Colts trade up? We win, and we're in that locker room, and when you work for something for so long, and you achieve it, there's a certain sadness. That's how much we've been around each other. We want somebody from in-house who knows us, and that's Coach Coker." But there were a few things in the contract we were having a difficult time agreeing on. We never got worried. For whatever reason, we always played them close in my four years there. Jan 7, 2009. The nearly hundred-year-old Hurricanes pennant once waved by a member of Miami's original freshman class. We just hope that this train just doesn't go off the track. We were pissed. If you look at the film, at the last second as he's falling to the ground, he looks up to see if it's Ed, and he lets the ball go. As of 2013, they had earned a combined total of 43 trips to the Pro Bowl: Ed Reed (9), Andre Johnson (7), Frank Gore (5), Vince Wilfork (5), Jeremy Shockey (4), Jonathan Vilma (3), Willis McGahee (2), Chris Myers (2), Clinton Portis (2), Antrel Rolle (2), Sean Taylor (2), Bryant McKinnie (1), and Kellen Winslow II (1). Vilma The Hokies, ranked No. Ed was somebody that would really talk to players. When the team takes ownership of its success, you know you have a championship culture. You're gonna to fight. They made sure their offseason workouts were the most intense of their lives. Chudzinski Purchase Tickets. And I am a firm believer in that team, too. I had a front-row seat as the Miami beat writer for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that season. Rumph You may win one, but we're gonna win 20 of them, and it's not gonna stop.'". Miami has two games remaining before the postseason begins and winning out has big implications for their place in the programs best all-time regular seasons. You're gonna communicate and you're gonna stay together, or you've got to go. The Canes Collapse Against The Noles, Lose 85-84. The way we were able to play, come out firing on all cylinders, was huge. McGahee single handedly beat the Florida Gators in 2002 rushing for over 200 yards in the contest. The 2001 Miami Hurricanes are considered the greatest college football team in college football history. Former Miami Dolphin and Pro Football Hall of Famer Jason Taylor and defensive ends coach Rod Wright talk on the field during practice at Greentree . Walters "We really had leaders on that team, and I don't think that can be matched," Reed said. In 2000, Miami was shut out of the Orange Bowl BCS National Championship Game by the BCS computers. Our freshman year, we redshirted, but we would go on road trips and have our jerseys on with sweatpants on the sideline. Walters I knew this. I'd feel good about our team against anybody. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Roster includes most starters and key reserves. Sometimes the practices in the bowl games get a little stale or tired. That 2001 Miami team, led by head coach Larry Coker in his first season, went undefeated and had just two games finish within 20 points. there was no mention of GOATs or legacies, just one line at the bottom that noted: "This UM team has joined elite company.". The individual's put on the back burner for your brothers. To me, it was special, and I knew it was going to be a tough game. You had Sean Taylor behind him. They were big boys, all positions, not just the offensive line. That 2001 season, it was like the season was already written. The deck was loaded. After an interception, Ed Reed strips the ball from his teammate and takes it for a touchdown to seal Miami's win vs. Boston College during the 2001 season. 1.". Odds & lines subject to change. 4 in the Bowl Championship Series standings. They had no chance of winning that game. While the 2001 squad only won a single national championship; they had NFL legends, All-Americans and Pro Bowlers in their film sessions. Kenny didn't have the strongest arm in football, but he was just a tremendous leader and just a playmaker. It was a bunch of these things that made us feel disrespected. The year before, Miami lost at Washington 34-29 -- and that loss ultimately kept the Hurricanes out of the national title game they felt they deserved. The 2001 roster was loaded from top to bottom all over the field with names like Bryant McKinnie, Andre Johnson, and Jeremy Shockey as just the tip of the ice berg. Nevertheless, Miami was left with a bitter sense of disappointment, believing they had been deprived of a shot at a potential national championship. We thought we had a great team, but you don't know until the bullets start flying. The dominance of the team during its 2001 campaign combined with the legacy those players left -- both in college and the pros -- makes a strong argument that this is the best college football team ever assembled. Though Miami dominated nearly every team it played, it had to survive a close one at Boston College in November. Fundraiser : The UM Sports Hall of Fame Needs U! Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Both teams were ranked in the top 15 at the time they played. If you weren't doing all the right things, if you weren't going to class, making your grades, if you weren't showing up to work out or something like that, you could easily be cast out. I played with Richie Incognito with the Rams, and he told me when they saw us get off the bus at Disney [during the week], they started laughing. He made things happen. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. That truly goes to show how much trust we had, for him to hear my voice and give me the ball. Williams After building up a 40 record, Miami won over Florida State in Doak Campbell Stadium, 4927,[8] ending the Seminoles' 47-game home unbeaten streak. They should have gone back to high school where they do the running clock. It gives us extra incentive to go out and perform well every week.". But I remain partial to 2001 Miami, and I will let former Miami linebacker Jon Vilma explain why. I had so many friends from high school who were there to support me, guys I grew up with and loved and had always been there for me. BC was certainly a good team, and it looked like we weren't supposed to win it, but somehow we did. Rumph / I went to the University of Florida, where as a freshman in 1995, the Nebraska Cornhuskers staked their claim to the greatest-of-all-time throne after dismantling the Gators in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl. When Miami offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski wanted a more versatile player he went with Davenport. You had Phillip Buchanon and Mike Rumph, and you had Antrel Rolle behind them. Years later in the NFL, I'm hearing people like, "Man, I listened to that song.". At the very end of January, [my family and I] ended up making the decision to leave. We look at each other, like how the hell did we do this? Open Menu. That drive starts with where this team started: in 1997, when Miami was at its lowest point as a football program, in the midst of NCAA sanctions that reduced its scholarship total to 15 in that signing class. We liked what we had already, and we really wanted to just keep what we had. That's always what Miami had been about, and what set it apart in my mind. It's almost like that life doesn't exist. It is unreal how deep their roster was in 2001. Buy Now. The 2022-23 Miami Hurricanes men's basketball team represents the University of Miami during the 2022-23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Randy Shannon is giving us every way to run this option, and I was frankly frustrated because it was hard to process it all. "We had that mentality of, 'You may get a run, but I promise you for the next 60 minutes, we're gonna kick your ass. They always had a good running back and good offensive line, and that is a hostile environment. It's not the individual talent. Yea I've been hurt. The 2001 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. Hurricanes basketball coach Jim Larraaga highlights a 10-member University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame class. I don't know if this ever got released to the media, but Kenny [Dorsey] got hit and took a hard shot to the ribs. [citation needed] NFL individual records [when?] ACC Network FAQs including 17 first-rounders and at least one Hall of Famer in Ed Reed. On the field in front of me, Alabama beat down Ohio State to close a 13-0 season with three Heisman Trophy finalists on offense -- including winner DeVonta Smith. McGahee didnt have the most prolific career, but the two years he suited up in his orange and green gear were exciting. / Williams, Antrel Rolle, Vince Wilfork, Frank Gore, Willis McGahee, Chris Myers, Andre Johnson No other team is even in the conversation. You can make the argument it's the most talented team to ever play. As a true freshman coming in, I'm all smiles. If you don't drive them, you're going to be in trouble. I have covered more national champions since 2001 Miami that could make their own claim, too. Twenty years later, the 2001 Miami Hurricanes are widely regarded as one of the greatest college football teams of all time. 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