Perfection

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Jan. 4, 2002 | 11:25 a.m.

PASADENA, Calif. -- So much for that split national championship theory.

With much of the Rose Bowl pregame focus centered on the fact Oregon (11-1) would likely earn a share of the national championship if Nebraska could upset No. 1 Miami, someone forgot to tell the Hurricanes they needed to cooperate on Thursday night.

They didn't, handing the shell-shocked Cornhuskers (11-2) and Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch their second straight one-sided nationally televised whipping, 37-14, en route to the school's fifth national title before a crowd of 93,781.

"Twelve and 0, you can't ask for anything more perfect than that," free safety Edward Reed said. "We're not the Hurricanes of the '80s. We're the Hurricanes of the new era. This is what you come to the University of Miami for."

Forget the final score. The game really wasn't that close.

Miami led 34-0 at halftime, outgaining the Huskers 320-119 in total offense while averaging an astonishing 10.7 yards per play.

The Cornhuskers, the nation's No. 1 rushing team with a 314 yards per game average, managed a whole two yards and a lot of black and blue marks on their first nine carries of the contest. Nebraska finished with a season-low 239 yards in total offense.

"When we're hitting on all cylinders, we're a very dominant football team," first-year Miami head coach Larry Coker said.

"I'm not surprised we were leading 34-0 at halftime," sophomore middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. "No one on our team expected it to be a close game if we played Hurricane football. We knew we were faster than they were. We just played some hard-nosed, in-your-face football. We just kept pouring it on, and we didn't give up."

Junior quarterback Ken Dorsey, who finished third to Crouch in the Heisman balloting and will enter 2002 as a co-favorite for the award with Florida quarterback Rex Grossman, completed 22 of 35 passes for 362 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He was voted the co-player of the game along with Hurricane sophomore split end Andre Johnson, who caught seven passes for 199 yards and two TDs.

Dorsey and a wide-open Johnson hooked up for the first touchdown of the game, a 49-yard pass play with 6:51 to go in the first quarter that came after Cornhusker corner Keyuo Craver fell to the ground while attempting to bump the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Johnson at the line of scrimmage.

"I tried to get physical with their DB," Johnson said. "Unfortunately, he fell down. When I got out there, I was saying to myself, 'Please let me catch the ball, please let me catch the ball.' "

"That was pretty nice," Dorsey said with a smile. "At first, though, I thought I put a little too much on my throw. But Andre got a tremendous release off the line and ran it down."

The Hurricanes then blew the game open during one 10-minute stretch in the second quarter which saw Miami score 27 points and no doubt had Nebraska fans reliving the bad memories of their season-ending 62-36 loss at Colorado.

First, tailback Clinton Portis (20 carries, 104 yards) capped a five-play, 86-yard drive with a 39-yard touchdown run. Portis started the play running behind Outland Trophy-winning left tackle Bryant McKennie, then slipped while cutting back inside. He then outran Craver and cornerback DeJuan Groce to the right corner of the end zone to give Miami a 14-0 lead.

Four plays later, Crouch, who was battered all night by Miami's defense, uncorked a pass that went right through the hands of tight end Tracey Wistrom and right to Hurricanes strong safety James Lewis, who ran it back 47 yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 lead with 12:52 remaining in the second quarter.

"I thought that was a very decisive blow," Coker said. "Nebraska's strength is not playing from behind. When we got up 21-0, I felt that was a big advantage for us."

It was the 11th defensive touchdown of the season for the Miami defense, which also scored a safety this season for 76 points -- the most in the NCAA.

After stopping the Huskers with another three-and-out, Dorsey teamed up with Johnson for a 45-yard pass up the right sideline to the Nebraska 21. On the following play, tight end Jeremy Shockey found another crease in the beleaguered Cornhursker secondary for a 21-yard touchdown reception and 27-0 lead.

Johnson then capped a seven-play, 55-yard drive and the scoring onslaught with an eight-yard touchdown reception to make it 34-0 at intermission.

Nebraska, which was 11-0 heading into its debacle at Colorado, had been outscored, 96-36, over a six-quarter stretch.

"It was a very unpleasant feeling," Nebraska head coach Frank Solich said of walking off the field trailing, 34-0, at halftime. "It seemed like the game was slipping away. Miami was ready to play from the start. I didn't think we were."

The Cornhuskers outscored the 'Canes, 14-3, in the second half -- "I was proud our team kept playing hard until the end," Solich said --- but by then Nebraska had dug itself into far too deep of a hole.

Crouch finished with respectable numbers (114 yards on 22 carries, 5 of 15 for 62 yards) but couldn't get it going when it mattered early against a Miami defense which seemed to have linebackers and linemen as fast as the Heisman winner. In fact, twice in the first half it looked as though Crouch might break a long run around end for a touchdown only to get quickly collared from behind by the explosive Reed.

"This is the fastest football team I've ever been around," Coker said.

"That was one of the things we talked about in pregame. ... (that) we're quick and fast, and let's go out and play fast."

"We played a great football team today, no question about it," Solich said. "There's a reason why they went through the season undefeated. They're outstanding in all phases of the game."