1) just for kicks:
Miami Fla +2.0 -115 ( one unit)
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A critical early season tussle in Gainesville, pits the defending national champion and top-ranked Miami Hurricanes against the sixth-ranked Florida Gators. Not only are bragging rights in the state of Florida up for grabs, but so is early jostling for position for a Fiesta Bowl berth. The Hurricanes, who defeated an overmatched Florida A&M squad in their season- opener last week, extended the nation's longest current win streak to 23 games, with a 63-17 whipping of the Rattlers. Upstate, the Gators put on a display of their own in head coach Ron Zook's debut, as Florida rolled over UAB, 51-3. The series is knotted at 25 wins apiece, but there isn't a traditional homefield advantage in this matchup. Miami is 11-8 in games played in Gainesville, while Florida holds a 14-12 advantage in Miami. A highly contested rivalry, 24 of the previous 50 all-time meetings have been decided by a touchdown or less. Florida is a solid 7-3 against top-five teams at the Swamp since 1990. However, the team is just 2-5 all-time against the top- ranked team in the land. Miami has owned the series of late, winning three straight, four of the last five meetings and seven of the last 10 overall. These two rivals last met in the Sugar Bowl on January 2, 2001, a game won by Miami, 37-20.
Heisman hopeful Ken Dorsey threw three touchdown passes and became the winningest quarterback in school history in the process, as the 'Canes destroyed Florida A&M in their season opener. Dorsey improved to 27-1 as a starter and moved past Gino Torretta (26-2) on the school's career victory list. Miami put up 28 points in the first quarter, its best output in the opening quarter of a game since 1986 (against West Virginia). With six new starters on the offensive side of the football, there were certainly questions to be answered heading into the 2002 season. While a lot of those questions weren't necessarily answered against an overwhelmed Rattler program, things certainly look good heading into Gainesville. With the loss of Clinton Portis to the NFL and an injury to Jarrett Payton, running the ball wasn't supposed to be that easy. However, junior tailback Jason Geathers had a huge game on the ground, rushing for 199 yards on 22 carries, with a pair of rushing scores. In all, the team tallied 312 yards rushing and 204 through the air. Dorsey completed just 8-of-13 passes in limited action, but did have those three TD strikes to wideouts Andre Johnson and Ethenic Sands and tight end Kellen Winslow. With just nine more completions, Dorsey will tie Bernie Kosar for second place on the all-time completions list at 463.
Defensively, the Hurricanes had an opportunity to get a lot of players in the game against FAMU, considering the sizeable lead after just 15 minutes of action. The Rattlers were held to a meager 155 yards of total offense, as Miami shutdown both the run (61 yards) and the pass (94 yards). After posting 39 sacks in 2001, the Miami defense looks to eclipse that number in 2002. The Hurricanes are off to a good start after generating seven sacks against the Rattlers. Junior Matt Walters, in his first-career start at defensive end, had two of those sacks, tying for the team-high with monster tackle Vince Wilfork. Fellow stud tackle Williams Joseph got into the act as well with one sack, while Cornelius Green and D.J. Williams added one apiece to finish things off. Three defenders led the way with six tackles, in linebackers Jonathan Vilma and Howard Clark and the aforementioned Wilfork. The unit also recorded an eye-popping 18 TFLs, led by Wilfork's 3.5. Against a top-notch offense like Florida, the defensive stats won't pile up quite as quickly. Still, a solid first performance has the Hurricanes believing they can beat anyone.
It may have been Ron Zook's debut as head coach of the Gators and it may have been quarterback Rex Grossman's start at a Heisman campaign, but it was senior wideout Taylor Jacobs who stole the show, as he broke a 33-year-old Florida record for receiving yards in a game, amassing 246 yards, as the Gators hammered UAB 51-3 last week. Offensive balance was apparent under Zook, as Florida piled up 643 yards. The pitch and catch combo of Grossman and Jacobs was balanced by the running of tailback Earnest Graham. After finishing second in the Heisman Trophy race last season, Grossman began his 2002 campaign in fine fashion, completing 16-of-26 passes, for 337 yards and two TDs, with one interception. There was a question mark in the receiving corps in the offseason with the loss of NFL draft picks Jabar Gaffney and Reche Caldwell, but Jacobs eased the Gator faithful's concerns, averaging a whopping 30.8 yards on eight receptions, including two TDs. While Grossman and Jacobs lit up the Gainesville sky, Graham pounded out 182 yards, on just 13 carries. Graham averaged 14.0 yards per carry and added two TDs of his own on the ground. It was his career-best (182 yards) and his sixth 100-yard performance in his career. Since 1990, there have been only three season-opening games in which a Florida back has topped 150 yards rushing. Graham has now posted two of those games. Against the defending champions, the kind of balance that Florida exhibited against the Blazers will need to be duplicated, if Florida is to topple the 'Canes.
UAB posed little threat to Florida's defense, as the Gators allowed just three points and 240 yards of total offense to the Blazers. While UAB was able to move the ball on the ground against Florida (150 yards on 4.1 yards per carry), the passing game was completely shut down. Florida only allowed 90 yards through the air, and 2.9 yards per pass attempt. Senior linebacker Bam Hardmon had a solid game, leading the team in tackles (11), including one TFL. Fellow linebacker Mike Nattiel finished second with six tackles, while defensive backs Robert Cromartie and Guss Scott added five stops apiece in the victory. The defense as a whole totaled 10 TFLs and three sacks in the game, but must increase its productivity behind the line of scrimmage in this game, as getting Dorsey off his game is a must to secure a win in this one. Nose tackle Ian Scott (6-3, 305), an Outland Trophy candidate this season, is the likely candidate to blow things up in the middle of the line. Rush end Darrell Lee, who recorded one of the team's two sacks against UAB, could be a factor in passing downs as well.
There is a lot on the line for both teams despite it being just the first week in September. Zook's first game as head coach proved to be a laugher, but this team will definitely face some adversity against the Hurricanes. If it were later in the season, the Gators would probably have a better chance of stopping Miami. However, a seasoned front seven for the Hurricanes on defense will cause some problems for Grossman in the passing game and Graham on the ground. Homefield advantage is slight in this rivalry, but this should still go down to the wire.
prediction: Miami 31, Florida 29
