#6 OU @ #21 Miami

Any chance of a National Title this season for the Miami Hurricanes was washed away Saturday night by the Oklahoma offensive and defensive lines. Both teams entered the rain soaked field knowing that a loss would remove them from contention, but Oklahoma was too powerful beating the Canes 26-17 under the lights off the Orange Bowl.

Both teams moved the ball well in the first half as Miami took an early 2nd quarter lead at 10-7 on a 17 yard pass from Harris to 6'4" sophmore Byrd. Oklahoma's offense would answer scoring on a 9 yard pass from Heismann hopeful Sam Bradford to Demarco Murray. After holding on defense the OU offense moved the ball down the field using a big play from tight end Jermaine Grisham. Miami's defense held tough forcing a field goal to give OU a 13-10 lead at the half.

The Miami defense added some thunder to the rain in the second half as both teams started to ratchet up the hits. Miami's young line backers and veteran safties were all over the field making tackles as they tried to keep their team in it. The Sooner offensive line had other ideas though as the run game would pick away at Miami's defensive for 4 and 5 yard gains. Mix in some more Gresham and the Canes had few answers for the attack. The kid's were able to hold OU to field goals twice deep in their zone giving hope to the sellout crowd.

The Sooners defense would shutout the Canes in the final period though, as they pressured the quarterback and receivers of Miami giving OU a 26-17 win, jumping back into title talks. The Hurricanes will look to get their offense in games vs. Souther Miss and at UCF before facing Clemson in their next ACC game. The team has a lot to improve but showed some promise finishing their brutal early schedule 2-2.

KEY STATS

Turnovers OU-2 MIA-4

T.O.P. OU-17:21 MIA-10:39

Rushing OU-33-122 MIA-15-39

Players of the Game

OU Stevens 4/4fg, 2/2pat, long-51

MIA Sharpton 8tkl, 1tfl

Season Leaders

J Harris 44-85, 613yd, 5td, 7int

G Cooper 53att, 282yd, 5.3ypc, 4td

L Byrd 17cth, 238yd, 14.8ypc, 2td

Preseason Predictions

1. Jacory Harris and Mark Whipple will boost the Canes' offense into the top half of the national rankings. Harris has not only accepted his role as a leader, he's embraced it. And his close relationship with Whipple -- whom he has already described as a father figure -- will translate onto the field. With Whipple's football IQ and Harris' arm, they've got what it takes to give the offense a significant boost. Last year, Miami ranked No. 89 in the country in total offense, 77th in passing offense and 78th in rushing offense. Each of those categories will be ranked at least 50th or better this season.
2. Matt Bosher will win the Lou Groza Award. Why not? He was a semifinalist for it last year, and with Graham Gano and Sam Swank graduated it's his opportunity to shine in the ACC. He was the top point scorer for the Canes last year with 94 points, converting 18 of 20 field goal attempts and 40 of 40 PATs. And he's not afraid to get a little dirty. Bosher made eight tackles last year on special teams, and he even rushed once on a fake punt against Florida State for a 9-yard gain and the first down.
3. Graig Cooper will be the first 1,000-yard rusher since Willis McGahee in 2002. He was only 159 yards shy of this goal last year, and has his sights set on the 1,000-yard mark this season. He's one of the most versatile players on the roster and adds an extra threat with his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. Of course, this depends on Cooper staying healthy and how many carries Javarris James gets this season.

Player Spotlight

Allen Bailey, Miami, DT: On a wall inside the UM football offices are the team bests for each exercise by position. When you get to defensive linemen, almost all you see is one Bailey head shot after another. Some UM fans have taken to calling him "Freakzilla," thanks in part to his awesome athleticism but also to his Bunyanesque background that has created some legendary tales. Such as how he once killed an alligator with a shovel.
Bailey, who last season battled through a torn pectoral muscle while making the transition from linebacker to defensive line, had nine tackles for loss and five sacks. Now that he's healthy and more comfortable playing at defensive tackle, expectations around Coral Gables, Fla., are soaring. Some inside the program think the junior will restart Miami's streak of first-round draft picks. Lord knows he should test well at the NFL combine next year.
This spring, Bailey vertical jumped 39 inches despite weighing 288 pounds. He ran a 4.65 40 time. He power-cleaned 375. Longtime UM strength coach Andreu Swasey, who has trained the likes of Willis McGahee, Kellen Winslow II, Sean Taylor and others, gives Bailey perhaps the ultimate praise: "He is the freakiest of all the freaks since I've been here," Swasey says. "When he got here, he weighed 270, and I told the coaches, 'He's going to be 300, but it'll be a 300 like you've never seen before.'"

Miami-FSU Game Tops ACC Early Season TV Schedule
The Hurricanes will play in two nationally televised games in the first three weeks.

Coral Gables, Fla. - - Miami will play in two nationally televised conference games in the first three weeks of the 2009 college football season, as announced by the Atlantic Coast Conference Thursday.

The return of the Miami-Florida State rivalry to ESPN's Labor Day Monday Night Football helps kick off the 2009 college football season as the Hurricanes will travel to Tallahassee to take on the Seminoles at Doak Campbell Stadium on Sept. 7 at 8 p.m. Miami and FSU played on Labor Day in 2004, 2005 and 2006 with FSU holding a 2-1 advantage during that time.

The Hurricanes will then host Georgia Tech on Sept. 17 at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN in the home-opener at LandShark Stadium.

Miami's game with UCF on Oct. 17 has also been picked up by CBS College Sports, which is an affiliate of Conference USA. The Hurricanes will face the Knights at 7:30 p.m. at Bright House Networks Stadium.

After the first three weeks of the season (games through Sept. 19), game times and TV schedules will be announced weekly with ESPN/ABC and Raycom Sports making their choices with a 12-day advanced notice beginning on Monday, Sept. 14 (for games on Saturday, Sept. 26).
The ACC has 17 televised games in the first three weeks of the season, including five national exposures in a season-opening, seven-day span. The ACC begins 2009 with nationally televised contests on Thursday, Saturday and Monday of Labor Day weekend, led by the return of the Miami-Florida State rivalry to ESPN's Monday Night Football. NC State begins the weekend and the year by hosting South Carolina in a nationally-televised ESPN contest at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 3 at Carter-Finley Stadium.

Virginia Tech then meets Alabama on Saturday, Sept. 5, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta in the 2009 Chick-fil-A National Kickoff Game, which will be nationally televised on ABC at 8 p.m., followed by Maryland traveling to California for a 10 pm late-night national exposure on ESPN2. Miami and FSU wrap up the weekend with the Labor Day Monday night contest.