Saturday was Senior Day for the University of Miami, but it was the team’s underclassmen who held center stage in the Hurricanes’ 40-9 victory against USF at Sun Life Stadium.
Junior quarterback Stephen Morris threw for 413 yards and 3 touchdowns. Sophomore receiver Phillip Dorsett tied a UM single-game record with 12 receptions. Freshman safety Rayshawn Jenkins intercepted a pass and registered a team-high seven tackles while fellow freshman Herb Waters caught four passes for 130 yards and a touchdown.
Youth has been an issue all season for the Hurricanes (6-5, 4-3 ACC) but on Saturday the problem belonged to the overmatched Bulls (3-7, 1-4 Big East).
The defeat assures that USF will remain home for the postseason. Miami may do the same despite attaining bowl eligibility by registering its sixth victory.
UM could announce as early as today that it will self-impose a bowl ban with an eye toward softening potential NCAA sanctions connected to the Nevin Shapiro scandal involving allegations of impermissible benefits provided to dozens of UM athletes.
Coach Al Golden and his players said they are leaving that decision to university administrators and have their sights set solely on the regular-season finale on Saturday against Duke in Durham, N.C., with a Coastal Division championship on the line.
If Miami beats the Blue Devils, it would face Florida State in the ACC championship game in Charlotte, N.C. on Dec. 1 as long as UM’s adminstration doesn’t opt out. Under ACC rules, UM can’t play for a conference championship if it bans itself from a bowl.
“It’s something we’ve never done,” said Dorsett of winning the Coastal Division. “It’s there for us to grab and we’re going to take it.”
That attitude worked for UM on Saturday against the Bulls, who lost for the seventh time in eight games.
The Hurricanes’ offense rang up 548 yards of total offense thanks to Morris, who joined Gino Torretta as the second quarterback in Miami history to compile three 400-yard passing games in a career.
That seemed unlikely before the game considering that UM was without four receivers, including starters Rashawn Scott and Davon Johnson. Allen Hurns, another starting receiver, barely played Saturday because of a fractured bone in his left hand.
Those absences were barely noticeable as three UM receivers — Dorsett, Waters and tight end Clive Walford — each went over the 100-yard mark. It’s the first time Miami has had three 100-yard receivers in the same game since at least 1981.
“We got that ‘next man in’ mentality,” Dorsett said. “When you get an opportunity, you need to produce. No excuses.”
It wasn’t only the Hurricanes’ offense that was clicking on Saturday. UM’s much-maligned defense enjoyed its best outing of the season, holding an opponent without a touchdown for the first time this year. The defense was coming off a disastrous performance last week in a 41-40 loss to Virginia.
“We got back on track tonight,” Golden said. “You can’t erase what happened last week. … I thought the guys responded today.”
The 31-point margin of victory was UM’s biggest this season against an FBS opponent.
“It’s nice to win regardless whether it was a big margin or small margin,” freshman tailback Duke Johnson said.
Little was expected of UM this season. The Hurricanes were a pre-season pick to finish fifth in the Coastal Division, but are now one victory away from winning the division for the first time since joining the ACC in 2004.
“We danced, we laughed and sang a little bit,” Morris said of the post-game celebration in UM’s locker room. “Then we said that this is something that’s never been done at the University of Miami. Everyone is ready for it. We know what’s at stake.”
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