[17] The offense set the school scoring record, while the defense led the nation in scoring defense (fewest points allowed), pass defense, and turnover margin. Reed As did what happened in October, when Miami -- ranked No. Fundraiser : The UM Sports Hall of Fame Needs U! QB Ken Dorsey Payton was on campus for five season and waiting his turn to be the starter which came after McGahees departure for the 2003 season. It's Ed!". It was the Hurricanes' 76th season of football and 11th as a member of the Big East Conference. But there were a few things in the contract we were having a difficult time agreeing on. Privacy Policy 1.". [citation needed] NFL individual records [when?] * 21+ (19+ CA-ONT) (18+ NH/WY). It didn't matter who stood in the way, they didn't stand a chance against us. At halftime, Reed delivered his now famous, "I'm hurt, dog" speech and it was captured by a documentary film crew that was working on an all-access show for ESPN. Imagine that, a team with 38 future NFL picks feeling disrespected. 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. Given all the challenges associated with the 2020 season, the Crimson Tide could easily make their case. Payton ran for 985 yards and 7 touchdowns as a senior and averaged 5 yards per carry over his career. (0:44). Everything that we put into this, everything lined up when it needed to. Coach had taught me for four years to get my hands down, get on his helmet and push his head down on the ground so that he doesn't get to your legs. We were exhausted. / We knew what we had on paper, but to see how we were dominating, and the energy we produced in such a hostile environment, it was like, "OK, wow, we are who we think we are.". Gambling problem? "I just think our mental toughness was just as impressive as our physical and athletic ability. BC was certainly a good team, and it looked like we weren't supposed to win it, but somehow we did. In all, an extraordinary 17 players from the 2001 Miami football team were drafted in the first-round of the NFL Draft (5 in the 2002 NFL Draft: Buchanon, McKinnie, Reed, Rumph, and Shockey; 4 in 2003: Johnson, Joseph, McDougle, and McGahee; 6 in 2004: Carey, Taylor, Vilma, Wilfork, Williams, and Winslow; 1 in 2005: Rolle; and 1 in 2006: Kelly Jennings). . / 4 in the Bowl Championship Series standings. But I wasn't leaving these guys. In the NFL he only ran for 105 yards and 2 touchdowns over his one year career. It was a competitive culture and accountability was huge and he built a family environment. The ladies win their home finale, prep for their conference tournament matchup on Thursday. At that point, it was like, all right, the last game then we're going to ship. A lot of people don't know how close that was, but he was a huge leader for us, and he wasn't coming out of that game. I mean, he was pretty much automatic for them. We blocked a kick and a punt and blocked a field goal that day. 1 Hurricanes Roll Over Washington, 65-7", "Cane Whuppin': Unbeaten Miami Flogged Nebraska Early and Often to Win an Undisputed National Title", "A Handy List of College Football's Heisman Trophy Winners", "2002 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com", College football national champions (championship game era), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2001_Miami_Hurricanes_football_team&oldid=1122701728, Big East Conference football champion seasons, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox college sports team season with no sport parameter, Pages using CFB schedule with named parameters, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Sands 27 yard pass from Dorsey (Sievers kick), Davenport 28 yard pass from Dorsey (Sievers kick), Shockey 10 yard pass from Dorsey (Sievers kick), B. Johnson 44 yard pass from Mills (Kimball kick), Fitzgerald 5-yard blocked punt return (Sievers kick), Andre Johnson 27-yard pass from Ken Dorsey (Sievers kick), Jeremy Shockey 1-yard pass from Dorsey (Sievers kick), A. Johnson 18-yard pass from Dorsey (Sievers kick), Jonathan Vilma 36-yard fumble return (Sievers kick), Gardner 57-yard pass from Chris Rix (Beitia kick), Michael Boulware 73-yard fumble return (Beitia kick), Sean Ryan 9-yard pass from Brian St. Pierre (Kevin McMyler kick), Ed Reed 80-yard interception return (kick failed), Clinton Portis 4-yard run (Todd Sievers kick), Portis 5-yard pass from Ken Dorsey (Sievers kick), Andre Johnson 25-yard pass from Dorsey (Sievers kick), McDougle 18-yard interception return (Sievers kick), Najeh Davenport 1-yard run (Sievers kick), A. Johnson 3-yard pass from Dorsey (Sievers kick), Geathers 13-yard pass from Crudup (Sievers kick), Jeremy Shockey 14-yard pass from Ken Dorsey (Todd Sievers kick), Manning 22-yard blocked punt return (pass failed), Andre Johnson 50-yard pass from Ken Dorsey (Todd Sievers kick), Clinton Portis 39-yard run (Sievers kick), James Lewis 47-yard interception return (Sievers kick), Jeremy Shockey 21-yard pass from Dorsey (Kick failed), Andre Johnson 8-yard pass from Dorsey (Sievers kick), Judd Davies 16-yard run (Josh Brown kick), DeJuan Groce 71-yard punt return (Brown kick), $ BCS representative as conference champion, This page was last edited on 19 November 2022, at 03:33. "But it was crucial to never show how much pain we were in. The consensus among college football analysts is that the 2001 Hurricanes had the most talented roster in history. That's always what Miami had been about, and what set it apart in my mind. Dorsey passed for 362 yards and 3 touchdowns, while wide receiver Andre Johnson caught 7 passes for 199 yards and 2 touchdowns. 2001 Miami Hurricanes Record: 12-0, national champions Players: Bryant McKinnie, Jeremy Shockey, Ed Reed, Clinton Portis, Phillip Buchanon, Sean Taylor, Jonathan Vilma, D.J. . I say five minutes into the game, they knew in their hearts that they were going to be outclassed and outmatched. Chudzinski, Shannon and defensive backs coach Mark Stoops all went on to head-coaching jobs. Miami didn't have that edge. It was a bunch of these things that made us feel disrespected. The offense was terrible. We want somebody from in-house who knows us, and that's Coach Coker." We've got one goal in mind. He made things happen. And I'll never forget seeing the wave of red of Nebraska fans pulling up that seemed like it went for miles. I think the next year, we had the mindset that, no matter what happens, we have to take care of business. / But I remember a few days before the game we did a two-minute drill, our No. Reed In interviews with players and coaches, here . Sterling, sadly, had. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. College Football at Sports-Reference.com Blog and Articles. If you dominate your responsibility and enough guys do that, then we'll be OK. A lot of people don't understand the context. Employment Odds & lines subject to change. 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. 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. These guys were special people. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. I went to a JUCO in Scranton, Penn. Truly perfected that.". Before we even went to the game, we made "Ballin Boys." And if you're not on board with this, you got to go. 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. The motivation of being upset and disappointed, that played a huge role in going to the Sugar Bowl and what we did against Florida to make a statement that we probably should've been the champs. I'll never forget the speed and tempo and competitiveness. Portis ran for 9.923 career yards and 75 touchdowns for Washington and the Denver Broncos while making two Pro Bowl rosters. Women's Basketball. I remember just sitting there like, "Damn.". They signed players such as two-star safety Ed Reed, out of Louisiana, and Joaquin Gonzalez, an under-the-radar offensive lineman from Miami, and overlooked junior college transfers such as Jeremy Shockey and Bryant McKinnie. We all loved Dorsey, but we knew we had other skill sets and talent on that team. Fitzgerald That was it for Miami. Vince Wilfork, Frank Gore, Kellen Winslow, Sean Taylor -- they were all NFL first-rounders and they were all back-ups on that team. And as a coach, you almost never want that -- guys on the ground, just a couple days before the game. Chudzinski Record: 12-0 (1st of 117) (Schedule & Results), Bowl Game: Won Rose Bowl 37-14 versus Nebraska. Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer I helped cover that team, too. But I feel like if you look at the history, every team that's won a national title has had a game like that, where it comes down to the last minute and if you lose, your season's over. We saw a guy in the 55th row laying down with a camera, and we started pointing him out, and he gets up and runs to one of the exits. Twenty years later, the 2001 Miami Hurricanes are widely regarded as one of the greatest college football teams of all time. Miami also holds a number of NFL Draft records, including most first-round selections in a single draft and most consecutive drafts with at least one first-round selection. All rights reserved And then on the practice field, he had that voice. I'd agreed to a contract before Thanksgiving and my plan was to stay at the University of Miami for decades. 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. Can the Lions fix their defense? University of Miami 2023. We made a song like the Super Bowl Shuffle, letting them know, "We're going to whoop y'all." And to stand up at the podium with guys like Andre Johnson, who was my suite mate since my freshman year, and hold up that trophy -- that was special. So the following year was definitely a salt-in-the-wound, chip-on-the-shoulder type of season where we wanted to obviously take no prisoners and rectify what happened the year before. Because that whole season, our mind was set on one goal, and you really don't understand how exhausting something can be when you're in pursuit of it. 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. "Dominate" had started the year before, breaking down the team before going into the locker room right before we came out for the game. This endowed scholarship was created in 1992, in the memory of beloved Hurricanes' Hall of Fame player and coach Walter Kichefski. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. 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. Larry coming in, two new coordinators, there were a lot of questions. I told Mike they ought to bronze your knee and put it in the Hall of Fame, because if that didn't happen, we wouldn't have played for a national championship. When he spoke, the team listened. Miami may have cost themselves an ACC title with their first home loss of the season. 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. If Greg Schiano had not left and gone to Rutgers it would've been a potential for him to get the job, but I was glad for the staff and players that there wouldn't be a blow-up. The 2001 team featured six All-Americans, and Dorsey was a Heisman Trophy finalist. As cliche as it sounds, Miami wanted revenge. The one newspaper that I still love to this day is the New York Times because they picked us as national champions at the end of the season. / Williams It's something we're used to playing with is that lack of respect. Dorsey It was always like a family. We had a player [backup LB Marlin Barnes] murdered on campus. The dominance on the field and at the next level was unparalleled throughout the. Washington coach Rick Neuheisel Rumph Men's Sports . '", Added former Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni: "That team was so talented, so explosive, so good on defense. We didn't want to have to change and have to learn a new offense, defense, or anything. When he dropped the two-point conversion, I was like, I need some prayer right now. They were so dialed in on winning a national championship, so focused on leadership, accountability and -- as ridiculous as it sounds now -- proving themselves that it became impossible in the moment to assign this team a place in college football lore. Dorsey When the team takes ownership of its success, you know you have a championship culture. They've never seen an atmosphere like that. I was thinking in my mind, "There's not a lot of time left in this game. They pushed each other to the limit, and the one thing that separates that group, they were super, super competitive. ACC Network FAQs Coker ", Flashback: Ed Reed strips ball from teammate for Hurricanes pick-six (0:44), 'It's the most talented team to ever play': An oral history of the 2001 Miami Hurricanes, Breaking down the latest in 2024 football recruiting, from top commits to March visits, The Turnover Luck Index: Rating every 2022 team, from USC to Rutgers, ACC boss: Rule changes backed by FBS leaders, Top draft prospect Carter charged in fatal crash, Stoops: QB Leary (pec) 'close to full go' for UK, Hall of Fame coach Ault named to CFP committee, New NCAA president readies for NIL, legal issues, Ex-Vols staffers agree to show-cause penalties, UNC hires ex-Browns HC Kitchens as assistant, Kiper's updated NFL mock draft: Who's moving up for a QB? As I went to the NFL, we'd always find those Miami guys on the other team and you knew they were going to be the most competitive guys. In an article I wrote in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that October, quarterback Ken Dorsey said, "People around the country don't really respect our talent or our capabilities as a team. Washington had beaten Miami the year before, but in 2001, it looked as if the Huskies wanted to be anywhere but playing in prime time in the Orange Bowl as the Hurricanes gleefully kept their foot on the gas to prove a point. We were all each other's biggest fans, but we all knew that if you went into the week, and you slacked or you wanted to hang out late on a Tuesday night, and didn't bust your ass in practice, you ain't going to be getting the reps. CB Antrel Rolle When Vince Wilfork took their All-American guard Toniu Fonoti and threw him five yards in the backfield and made a tackle for a loss, their whole sideline s--- their pants, and then all of a sudden Vilma started decapitating tight ends, and it became a whole different animal, and they weren't aware, used to it, privy to, they literally thought they were going to come in there and mop the floor with us. See our list of forfeits and vacated games for more details. Truthfully, the players and coaches felt relief that they had reached the goal they set for themselves 12 months earlier. That off-season, the team resolved to take the matter entirely out of the discretion of the computers by going a perfect 120. "I said, 'Our difference is, we were gonna try to outhit you.' [14] Defeating Virginia Tech earned the top-ranked Hurricanes an invitation to the Rose Bowl to take on BCS #2 Nebraska for the national championship. McGahee single handedly beat the Florida Gators in 2002 rushing for over 200 yards in the contest. People were literally afraid to let the person next to them down. The eccentric Portis is said to have played mind games with his backups in order to hold them down and keep the football in his hands. Payton didnt enjoy the NFL success as the other running backs but did play for the Tennessee Titans in 2005. If we needed to win it on defense, let's go win it on defense. $400,000 was initially raised to endow the scholarship, the only undergraduate award presented by the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame. It is only now, with the perspective of history and time that those who suited up in 2001 understand -- and brag about -- what they accomplished in one magical season. "They were the hardest workouts we ever did," cornerback Mike Rumph said. They could have scored a touchdown or kicked a field goal and that season has an asterisk next to it. It was the perfect storm for us. Where . Schumann returning to Georgia, 'It's the most talented team to ever play': An oral history of the 2001 Miami Hurricanes, Miami's turnover chain set a celebratory standard across the college football landscape. 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. All I could think as I looked on from the press box was, "I can't believe they're about to blow this," knowing full well a trip to the national championship and the Rose Bowl was on the line. / And I've debated that, and it's like, 'Yeah, whatever, you can talk.' 1 Miami Flattens No. As one of the younger players on the team, that competition only made me better. It got a lot of attention. Williams Gore has added another 77 rushing touchdowns on his way into the NFL record books. "I mean, football, no question, I don't think anybody in college football could play with us. It was my first game ever to be a head coach and it was against Joe Paterno. They always had a good running back and good offensive line, and that is a hostile environment. In 2000, Miami was shut out of the Orange Bowl BCS National Championship Game by the BCS computers. "It was literally, you're doing the same thing that I'm doing. And that kind of stuck with me. It wasn't a surprise. The deck was loaded. 2001 Miami Hurricanes 1 of 20 Ronald Martinez/Getty Images One of the greatest college teams of all time also had one of the greatest draft pools of all time. Football. Mission Statement 15 Washington 3429 on the road, while the Seminoles' lone loss was on the road to the #7 team in the country by 3. 2 behind Florida -- the team they dismantled in the Sugar Bowl to close out the 2000 season. It has been estimated that the 2001 Hurricanes would cost nearly $120 million as an NFL team as early as 2009. Instead, they played their backups and won 37-14, a score that does not reflect the sheer dominance of that game. 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