Despite winning a nation best 31 games in a row and being the unanimous No. 1 team in the country in both the AP and Coaches’ polls, Miami is looking up at Ohio State, the new No. 1 team in the latest Bowl Championship Series standings. Both the Buckeyes and Hurricanes moved up a spot from last week’s BCS standings, due to Oklahoma’s (last week’s BCS leader) 30-26 loss at Texas A&M.
Miami (9-0), coming off a dominating victory over Tennessee last Saturday, is the No. 2 team in the BCS, with 4.10 points. The Buckeyes (11-0) are now in first place with 3.41 points. Ohio State barely edged out Miami due to its 25-7 victory over Washington State on Sept. 14. Points are subtracted for “quality wins” over a top 10 BCS team. Ohio State got a 0.8-point deduction for the win. The ‘Canes don’t have a bonus point deduction.
However, Miami finishes the season with a more difficult schedule than Ohio State. The ‘Canes play No. 18 Pittsburgh (8-2) on Nov. 21, and finish at Syracuse (4-6) and at home vs. No. 13 Virginia Tech (8-2). On the other hand, Ohio State plays at Illinois (4-6) tomorrow, and ends the season at home against No. 12 Michigan on Nov. 23.
Now, with the surplus of quality one-loss teams, if either Miami or Ohio State loses, then there will be a major controversy over who plays in the Fiesta Bowl. Washington State, Oklahoma, and Texas are still very much alive.
Dorsey and McGahee
named finalists
Both Ken Dorsey and Willis McGahee were named finalists for the Walter Camp Foundation 2002 Player of the Year Award. The award is the fourth-oldest individual college football award in the nation. The winner will be announced live on ESPN SportsCenter on Dec.12.
So far this season, Dorsey has thrown for 2,265 yards and 21 touchdowns while completing 54.5 percent of his passes. Dorsey already holds Big East and Miami records with 8,461 yards and 79 touchdowns.
McGahee has rushed for 1,188 yards and 17 touchdowns. McGahee needs 229 yards to surpass Edgerrin James’ 1998 record for rushing yards in a season and only needs one more rushing touchdown to break James’ single season rushing touchdowns record.
The other finalists include: Iowa’s Brad Banks, Colorado’s Chris Brown, Ohio State’s Maurice Clarett, Washington State’s Jason Gesser, Oklahoma’s Quentin Griffin, Marshall’s Byron Leftwich, USC’s Carson Palmer, and Oregon’s Onterrio Smith.
McDougle Honored
UM defensive end Jerome McDougle was named a finalist for the inaugural Ted Hendricks Defensive End of the Year Ward. The award will be presented at the conclusion of the season and is chosen by a committee of 45 coaches, national media, and sports information directors. The three other finalists are Penn State’s Michael Haynes, Texas’ Cory Redding and Arizona State’s Terrell Suggs.
You can reach Brian Poliakoff at b.poliakoff@umiami.edu.