The University of Miami dominated the ground attack against Florida A&M, scoring seven touchdowns and vanquishing the Rattlers 51-10 at the Orange Bowl Saturday night.
The Hurricanes found their running game and covered 339 yards on the ground, securing five rushing touchdowns.
Running backs Charlie Jones, Javarris James and Derron Thomas all made valuable contributions out of the backfield.
The big story of the game was running back Tyrone Moss who pleasantly surprised fans by entering the game with 8:06 left in the second quarter. Moss proceeded to catch a seven-yard pass from quarterback Kyle Wright. He also made eight carries for 65 yards.
Moss had not played since he tore his ACL during the Virginia Tech game last season.
“I was pumped up tonight,” Moss said. “It felt great to get back out there and have a pretty good game. It was hard watching the FSU game last week, but I think that made me even more excited to get in there and play.”
James, cousin of former Hurricane Edgerrin James, made a name for himself out of the backfield with his first receiving and rushing touchdowns of the season. James carried the ball eight times for 75 yards and caught one ball for 21 yards. He demonstrated the ability to make defenders miss and to earn extra yardage.
“That’s something my cousin taught me,” James said. “He’s always told me to do whatever it takes to get into the end zone.”
The final headline coming out of the game was Eric Moncur who started at left end for Miami. Senior Baraka Atkins has started at left end the past four years, but was replaced this week despite having started 16 more games than any other player on the team. Coker said that starting jobs are open week to week.
Florida A&M Head Coach Rubin Carter was a former All-American nose guard in 1974 at Miami. Carter was proud to be returning home to the Orange Bowl. However, he was unable to bring any magic with him. FAMU starting quarterback Albert Chester did not play in the game.
“We knew we were behind the eight ball because we didn’t have our starter in there, but we used the next man available, Leon Camel,” Carter said.
Camel provided the sole highlight for FAMU with 201 total yards.
Wright played solidly early on in the game, completing 13 of 18 pass attempts for 166 yards.
Backup quarterbacks Kirby Freeman and Matt Perrelli saw action late in the first half and throughout the second half. Freeman was good on six of nine passes for 55 yards and one touchdown. Perralli completed the one pass he threw for three yards.
Wide out Darnell Jenkins led all receivers with six catches for 62 yards. Fullback Jerrell Mabry and James caught the two receiving touchdowns.
“I think [the offense] developed some confidence tonight,” Coker said. “I am proud of the receivers, they stepped up tonight.”
Denis Brown may be contacted at dbrown@umsis.miami.edu