Welcome back to the Odyssey. As always, you can click here to read all parts of the journey covered so far. Last time, we took a look at the Oklahoma State upset over the defending National Champions Oklahoma. The Cowboys win clinched Texas’ spot in the Big 12 Championship. Today, we take a look at the first of a quartet of games played on December 1st, 2001. Today we take a the final hurdle for the Hurricanes before a potential National Championship.

Introduction: It’s All About The W

The losses to Nebraska and Oklahoma shook up the snow globe of the BCS rankings. Miami, as the lone undefeated power conference team (BYU is also undefeated) rose to number one. Florida, based on their strong wins over Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida State, stood at number two. Florida had two games to go to get to a National Championship; a win over Tennessee and a win over LSU in the SEC Championship. Texas, Nebraska, Oregon, and Tennessee rounded out the top six. Those six teams appear to be the final teams battling for a spot in the National Championship. Let’s see how the modern BCS formula made sense of the two upsets.

Rank Team APPts AP USAPts USA A&H Colley Billings Massey Sagarin Wolfe Sum Comp Total
1 Miami (FL) 1799 0.999 1499 0.999 25 25 25 25 25 25 100 1.000 1.000
2 Florida 1716 0.953 1432 0.955 22 21 22 23 24 23 90 0.900 0.936
3 Texas 1644 0.913 1358 0.905 20 19 21 22 23 24 86 0.860 0.893
4 Oregon 1540 0.856 1257 0.838 21 22 23 24 21 20 87 0.870 0.855
5 Tennessee 1511 0.839 1289 0.859 24 23 19 22 18 21 85 0.850 0.850
6 Nebraska 1318 0.732 1104 0.736 23 24 24 21 22 22 91 0.910 0.793
7 Colorado 1261 0.701 991 0.661 19 18 15 17 19 19 73 0.730 0.697
8 Illinois 1273 0.707 1065 0.710 17 20 18 16 15 15 66 0.660 0.692
9 BYU 1244 0.691 1080 0.720 15 14 16 12 14 11 55 0.550 0.654
10 Maryland 1295 0.719 1080 0.720 11 13 20 13 13 13 52 0.520 0.653
11 Oklahoma 1163 0.646 915 0.610 16 16 17 14 20 18 67 0.670 0.642
12 Stanford 1034 0.574 817 0.545 18 17 14 20 17 17 69 0.690 0.603
13 Washington St 846 0.470 699 0.466 14 15 13 18 16 16 61 0.610 0.515
14 Washington 492 0.273 397 0.265 13 12 12 15 3 14 51 0.510 0.349
15 Georgia 660 0.367 420 0.280 10 6 9 10 7 12 36 0.360 0.336

The modern BCS formula does a frankly better job putting the two major polls in better context, and dinging Nebraska for their blowout loss in Boulder. It also takes away the quality win indicator that put Nebraska over Oregon and Tennessee. It is worth noting that Illinois and Maryland, despite their one loss seasons, were clearly out of the picture due to their lack of respect in the polls and computers, seemingly due to their lack of a true “championship schedule.”

Whether you want to take a look at the BCS formula used in 2001, or the last years of the BCS used, the stakes were simple for Miami; win and they would going to Pasadena. A win would give Miami a chance at the National Championship for the first time since 1994, when they battled Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. After their disappointment in the BCS formula the previous year, the Hurricanes now held their own fate in their hands. Standing in their way was their recent rivals from Blacksburg.

Game Recap: Grant Me The Strength to Pass

Miami’s first drive did not set the tone to show how dominant the team was. They moved the ball down the field before the opportunistic Hokie defense got a fumble recovery. However, VT QB Grant Noel and the offense would struggle to move the ball. The results of the next possession was similar for the Canes. Miami moved the ball down into FG range, but the Hokies blocked the kick. Noel had his most successful offensive play of the day, hitting Jarrett Ferguson for 42 yards to get into field goal range. The offense stalled out. A Hokie FG put them up on the #1 team in the land 3-0.

The Hokie defense used this new momentum to force a three and out of the Miami offense. The Miami defense took the momentum right back the first play of the second quarter. Phillip Buchanon stepped in front of a Noel pass to give the ball back to Miami. The ensuing possession leaned heavily on Clinton Portis running the ball with Ken Dorsey hitting TE Jeremy Shockey. Shockey’s final catch and run on the drive led him into the endzone, giving Miami their first lead.

The two teams exchanged punts before Ed Reed (then called Edward) returned a punt to get the Hurriances over midfield. Dorsey marched his team down the field, finding his stride passing the ball. Frank Gore, Najeh Davenport, and Portis all found success on the ground once the passing game opened up. Portis took the ball into the endzone, scoring on a seven yard dive. Two plays later, Miami had the ball back. Noel threw another interception, picked off by Reed. Miami would score a field goal to extend their lead. The Hurricanes would add another FG at the end of the half, leading 20-3 at the break.

Virginia Tech got the ball back to the start the second half. Given the struggles of Noel, the Hokies leaned on Kevin Jones running the ball. It was successful as an option play got Virginia Tech down to the Miami red zone. However, Noel threw yet another interception on a 3rd down conversion attempt. However, the Hokie defense stepped up. The following play they stripped the ball out of Portis’ hands and the Hokie offense took over once again. This time the Hokie rushing offense was not to be denied. Ferguson punctuated the drive to cut the VT deficit to 10.

The Hokie defense used this turnover as momentum against the prolific Hurricane offense. The next couple of drives the Hokies did not get the Hurricanes more than 25 yards. The Hurricanes did get a field goal to extend their lead.  Jones continued to run and find holes in the Miami offense. However, just like the last time Jones burst into Miami territory, Noel gave Miami the ball on a fumble. The score remained 23-10 after three quarters; time running out for Virginia Tech to pull off the upset at home.

The Miami offense found some more success at the beginning of the fourth quarter, after forcing a Hokie punt. Once again, it was a balanced attack between Dorsey in the air and Gore and Portis on the ground. However, the Hokie defense held outside of their own redzone. Miami hit a FG to extend their lead to 16. With 11 minutes left, Virginia Tech needed to score twice with two point conversions to tie the #1 team on the country. One more turnover by the Miami defense would essentially seal a trip to Pasadena, a step closer to righting the wrongs of a season prior.

Turning Point: Beamer Ball

The special teams luck returned for the Hokies as Richard Jonson returned the ensuing kickoff to the Hokie 43. A pass interference call moved the Hokie offense into Miami territory. Noel had his second most successful play of the afternoon by hitting tight end Bob Slowikowski to get down inside the Miami 15. The running game took over, with Ferguson finishing the drive with a score. A rub route on the first two point try was successful, cutting the deficit to 8.

The ensuing drive saw Miami only move the chains through a pass interference penalty. Portis was bottled up and Dorsey couldn’t find an open receiver. On the ensuing punt, Eric Green rushed untouched and blocked the punt. Brandon Manning scooped the ball and ran into the end zone, cutting the Miami lead to 2. On the ensuing two point conversion, Noel threw a fade to the far sideline and the ball went through Terrell Parham’s hands. The pass fell incomplete and Miami was still up 2 with 6:30 left.

Miami continued to struggle to move the ball and was forced to punt the ball back to Virginia Tech with five minutes left in the game. Only needing a field goal and starting at midfield, Virginia Tech needed only a couple of first downs to potentially get the go ahead field goal. They would not get one. On a third down conversion, Noel once again hit Reed for an interception. Miami used their running game to milk clock with Virginia Tech having no timeouts. With thirty seconds left, Virginia Tech needed a jailbreak punt block. Unfortunately for the Hokies, the punt was clean. The punt was downed at the VT four yard line. Noel was sacked on the first play and time ran out, falling two points short of the top ranked team.

Player of the Game: Ed Reed, Safety Miami (FL)

Reed was a catalyst for the offense. His only punt return on the afternoon helped set up the Miami offense extend their lead. His interceptions helped set up key drives for the Hurricanes. The first helping extend the lead before the end of the half, and his second essentially locking up the game for Miami. Also, this award is a reward for the entire pass defense for the Hurricanes. Noel finished 4-16 passing for 81 yards and four interceptions. The performance by the pass rush and defenders in coverage helped set up the offense and team to avoid the upset.

Look Ahead: One Spot to Go

Miami now was 11-0, securing a spot in the Rose Bowl. A year after putting their fate into the BCS’ computers hands, the Hurricanes made their own fate by winning every game on their schedule. They were the only team in the country to do this during the regular season, with a BYU loss in Hawaii. Their spot in Pasadena also put the rest of the teams who want to play for the National Championship. You need to win and play well to beat the Hurricanes. Florida, Tennessee, Texas, and Oregon (all of whom were playing after this game) now had a platform to show how deserving they would be for that shot.

Next time, we are going to take a look at Oregon’s statement going into the penultimate BCS rankings. They had a matchup with their bitter rival in Corvallis. We are going to take a look at that game next week. Until then, sound off below on all things 2001 Hurricanes, this game, and Virginia Tech post Vick.