Dorsey drops back to pass. Has plenty of time. Sees Johnson in the end zone. Touchdown!

Sound familiar.

It was a recurring theme in a season that saw the Hurricanes’ offense put up a record 475 points – provide protection for the talent and let them overwhelm the competition.

Miami’s dominant offensive line allowed Ken Dorsey to be sacked four times all season. Four sacks – Miami’s defensive line is capable of that feat in one quarter.

I heard critics in the preseason say that Dorsey’s 200-pound frame was too fragile to handle the weekly bodily punishment of football. Maybe they’re right, but you sure couldn’t tell this season.

Dorsey could have drank a cup of coffee on the field and still not be touched behind this offensive line.

In what’s considered one of the most underrated positions in football, UM’s O-line made headline news each week.

Consider Bryant McKinnie, a 6-9, 335-pound junior college transfer, whose name I believe means “big mama jama”. When he stepped off the plane in Los Angeles, locals thought they were experiencing another shift in the fault lines. And this guy’s protecting Dorsey’s blindside.

McKinnie entered this season with the reputation of never giving up a sack in his collegiate career. So week after week, some ignorant young man would spout off about how the left tackle really wasn’t that good, and how he was going to make it onto ESPN’s Sports Center after he got by McKinnie.

I recall one such pass rusher – Syracuse’s sack machine Dwight Freeney – who was totally shut down that he didn’t even record a tackle against Miami.

That was after Freeney was named a finalist for the Lombardi Award (given to the nation’s best lineman), while McKinnie was not.

McKinnie ended up winning the Outland Trophy (given to the best interior lineman) and finished his collegiate career without giving up a single sack.

At the other tackle spot, there isn’t much of a drop off, except for about 30 or 40 pounds. Joaquin Gonzalez, a former walk-on who happens to be one of the most intelligent football players you’ll ever meet, passed on Harvard for an academic scholarship at UM.

Five years later he’s been the most durable player in Hurricane history, starting all 49 games he has played in.

A projected first or second round NFL pick, Gonzalez has given up only one sack in that span.

The man in the middle is Brett Romberg, calling most of the blocking signals on the line. Romberg has developed into a great center after previously playing guard and tackle during his UM career. Romberg was recognized as one of the best after being named as a finalist for the Rimington Award, given to the nation’s top center.

He is another lineman who has not given up a single sack in his collegiate career. Not bad for one of the few returning starters on UM’s offense.

Then there’s Martin Bibla – a guard that fits right into the underrated nature of an offensive line. Bibla has amazing offensive lineman skills, but wasn’t on any award list.

‘Canes O-line coach Art Kehoe considers him the best player on the line and Bibla figures to be the first guard taken in the NFL Draft. His run-blocking helped pave the way for Clinton Portis and his 1200 yards.

Bibla also has never given up a quarterback sack in his collegiate career.

So we’re down to the left guard position, one that was housed by Greg Laffere in 2000 and was a question mark entering this season.

Sherko Haji-Rasouli was the answer, picking up where Laffere left off, while starting the first seven games. An injury suffered in practice ended his season abruptly, and questions resurfaced about left guard.

Enter Ed Wilkins.

Wilkins started the final four games and the Rose Bowl, and the O-line did not miss a beat. Wilkins came back himself from an injury in 2000 that caused him to miss the majority of that year.

That’s the type of line Miami threw at opponents this year. Nothing could faze these guys – not even injuries, questions, all the hype and especially not opposing defensive linemen. Even McKinnie’s severely sprained knee couldn’t keep him from the Rose Bowl and protecting Dorsey.

The O-line plus Laffere held a streak of 12 games without allowing Dorsey to be sacked – 12 games – a streak that is as unfathomable as it is a testament to their talent and character.

And what transpired when they actually did give up the first sack? It was Nov. 3 against the lowly Temple Owls, and the ‘Canes were cruising along. Maybe it was a missed assignment, maybe it was one of the backs’ faults … maybe both.

Whatever the case, the sack was so monumental to Temple that you might’ve thought they had just won the national championship. Players danced and jumped up and down at the sight of Dorsey on the ground. Temple lost that game 38-0.

That’s how good this line was – it may go down as the best in college football history. Dorsey, Portis and the rest of Miami’s weapons flourished behind the massive unit on their way to the school’s first national crown in 10 years.

There were many reasons for Miami reaching college football’s pinnacle, and the offensive line was a big one.

Like Bryant McKinnie big.

At the beginning of the season Andre Johnson and the Miami receiving core were the Hurricanes’ biggest question mark. At the Rose Bowl they became the answer.

Johnson and Co. led the Hurricanes to 362 yards passing – a Miami bowl record. Johnson led the Hurricanes with seven receptions for 199 yards (also a Miami bowl record).

For Johnson, it was the culmination of a quiet, yet productive season. During the regular season, Johnson caught 37 passes for a team high 682 yards and 10 touchdowns yet did not receive much national attention due to the balance of the Hurricane offense.

After his Rose Bowl performance, Johnson is being considered among the nation’s finest receivers in the game.

“Andre Johnson is just a hell of a player,” Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey said after the Rose Bowl.

But if you ask any of the Hurricane players or coaching staff they already knew that.

Johnson was receiving praise before the season started from wide receiver coach Curtis Johnson.

“Andre has great speed and size,” Curtis Johnson said back in spring practice. “He reminds me a lot of Michael Irvin and Reggie Wayne.”

Curtis Johnson’s only concern, like many others, was the wide receiver’s inexperience. But right away, Andre Johnson erased many doubts with strong performances early in the season. Johnson had four receptions for 69 yards against Penn State and a 104-yard performance against Rutgers.

Despite the impressive numbers, Johnson still wasn’t known on a national level until his five-reception performance against Florida State, which led to 111 yards and two touchdowns.

After that game, Johnson’s numbers decreased, but that was only because the respect for Johnson rose. Teams were forced to double cover him due to his 6-3 size and blazing speed. Those qualities are so dangerous that a writer once dubbed him ‘the specimen’, claiming that it was what every recruiter dreamed of and what every defensive back feared.

While defenses were trying to figure out ways to shut down Johnson, much of the attention in the offensive scheme shifted to tight end Jeremy Shockey, who led the Canes with 40 receptions for 519 yards and seven touchdowns.

While Shockey received most of the recognition, Johnson quietly picked apart any defense that didn’t show respect for him (or have the athletes to stop him).

Against Syracuse, Johnson had arguably his best statistical performance with four receptions for 116 yards and two touchdowns. He followed it up a week later with four receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown against Washington.

Despite all of this, many still believed that the wide receivers were the ones to test in the Miami offense. A dropped pass here or there was still not out of the question due to their relative inexperience. Johnson, a red-shirt sophomore, was one of the most experienced wide receivers entering the season for Miami despite having caught just three passes for 57 yards in his collegiate career.

But Johnson led UM’s wide outs to a spectacular performance in the Rose Bowl – catching everything in sight while burning the Huskers’ defensive backs.

“Our wide receivers felt we were being overlooked, so I felt I had something to prove,” Johnson said.

Case and point taken.

Next year no one will question Johnson and the wide receiving core at Miami, who lose just one player (Daryl Jones) to graduation. But a new question has risen around the group – even with the respect, can anyone stop them?

At the Rose Bowl post game press conference, UM coach Larry Coker quipped that he was returning for the 2002 season amidst speculation of some early Hurricane entries into the NFL Draft.

Not everyone wanted to follow suit.

Cornerback Phillip Buchanon, Running back Clinton Portis and tight end Jeremy Shockey – all juniors – decided to forgo their senior year of eligibility, instead opting for the riches of the NFL.

Buchanon and Shockey both figure to be first round selections, while Portis may be chosen in the second or third round.

“What else can I do,” said Portis, who ran for 1200 yards and averaged 5.5 yards per carry in his first season as the Hurricanes’ featured back.

Buchanon did everything he could do this year – literally – ranking seventh nationally in punt returns average at 14.97 yards per return, while compiling 23 tackles (15 solos), two tackles for losses (22 yards), one quarterback sack (17 yards). He also broke up seven passes, while preventing any receiver from catching a touchdown pass.

Shockey led the Hurricanes in receptions this season with 40 catches for 519 yards and seven touchdowns. He was Dorsey’s main target this season, utilizing his speed and large hands to exploit opposing defenses.

The Hurricanes will have a hard time replacing the three juniors as well as nine senior starters, but Coker warned not to discount the abundance of talent at UM.

“It’s been my goal to compete at a national level,” Coker said. “Year in and year out, we should compete at a high level at the University of Miami.”

The ‘Canes will try to defend their title against the likes of Florida and Tennessee on the road and Florida State and Virginia Tech at home.

Quarterback Ken Dorsey will be back for his senior campaign to lead an offense that put up 475 points in 2001. Dorsey won’t have the luxury of 3/5 of arguably the best offensive line in the nation. Tackles Bryant McKinnie and Joaquin Gonzalez as well as guard Martin Bibla all figure to be taken in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft. The line allowed Dorsey to be sacked only four times this past season.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys who played a lot this year,” McKinnie said. “They should be fine.”

Carlos Joseph will likely replace McKinnie, while Vernon Carey is expected to fill in for Gonzalez. Brett Romberg will be back at center but might move over to right guard. Left guard Ed Wilkins, who started the final five games, could fill in at right guard, while Sherko Haji-Rasouli, who started the first seven games, is expected to make a full recovery from a season-ending knee injury.

The receiving corps looks pretty much intact with Daryl Jones the only departing senior. Andre Johnson, Kevin Beard, Ethenic Sands, and Jason Geathers are Dorsey’s returning targets.

The backfield loses its starters with Portis and Najeh Davenport, but should be fine with the emergence of Frank Gore and Willis McGahee. Red-shirt freshman Quadtrine Hill should see plenty of time as well.

On defense, the front seven will be identical to the package Hurricane fans saw in the Rose Bowl. Chris Campbell graduates, but Howard Clark looks primed to take his place. William Joseph returns for his senior campaign on a line that exudes experience. Returning starters Andrew Williams, Matt Walters, Joseph and Jerome McDougle as well as Jamaal Green and Cornelius Green will all be seniors.

The biggest question mark for the ‘Canes is its secondary, which will feature four new starters. Gone are Mike Rumph, Buchanon, James Lewis and Ed Reed – a group that helped Miami lead the nation in takeaways. Reed will be especially missed because of the leadership and emotions he displayed on the field as well as in the locker room.

Al Marshall, Antrel Rolle, Maurice Sikes and Sean Taylor are the new generation with Marshall, a junior-to-be, having the most experience. They all had the opportunity to play in fourth quarters this season, but Marshall played in nickel packages as well.

Despite losing almost half of the starting lineup, the Hurricanes are ready to defend the crown they worked so hard to earn. The 2002 ‘Canes may look young, but what they lack in experience they make up with in talent.

“With a program like Miami, we reload,” Rumph said. “You don’t lose too much talent too fast.”

PASADENA, Calif. – Nebraska players looked at the tape and couldn’t understand the hype.

Miami’s defense entered the Rose Bowl ranked 40th in the nation in stopping the run, and would appear to be vulnerable against the Huskers’ No. 1 rushing offense.

But in Miami’s 37-14 victory, the ‘Canes held the Huskers to 197 rushing yards, well below their season average of 314.7. Tailback Dahrran Diedrick, the Big 12’s leading rusher, had 47 yards on 15 carries, and Thunder Collins had only 10 yards on six carries.

The Miami defense did especially well against Nebraska quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch. Crouch could not muster anything in the air (5-of-15 for 62 yards), and was equally unable to run Nebraska’s option-oriented offense effectively.

Crouch did gain 114 yards on 22 carries, but most of that came on a few long runs. More importantly, he was held without a touchdown for the first time this season.

“[Defensive Coordinator Randy Shannon] established a game plan where we attacked Crouch early,” defensive tackle Matt Walters said. “We wanted to dictate the game early on and we did.”

Miami’s run defense had been somewhat maligned after allowing 167 yards on the ground in its 26-24 win at Virginia Tech. When the Hokies used the option formation in that game, they did so with success.

But against Nebraska, Miami was more than ready from the outset, picking up 10 of its 13 tackles for losses in the first half. Once the Huskers’ option was derailed, the Hurricanes – who led the nation with 45 takeaways during the regular season – picked up where they left off, forcing a fumble and an interception.

Both turnovers resulted in touchdowns, culminating in James Lewis’ 47-yard interception return – UM’s nation-best 11th non-offensive touchdown of the season.

“They tried to get us on the play action but we knew it was coming,” Lewis said. “The front seven allowed me to not focus on the run and stopping it myself.”

The Huskers appeared to be demoralized by the interception. They couldn’t sustain a long or successful drive, punting or turning the ball over on downs on their last three possessions before halftime. For the first time this season, Nebraska was held scoreless in the first half.

“It’s demoralizing to a team when you turn the ball over,” Walters said. “When on defense, you like to be on the sideline to get a break, but then your offense turns it over and you have to get back out there when you’re still tired.”

Said Miami coach Larry Coker: “That was a decisive blow in the game. Nebraska isn’t the type of team whose strength is to come back.”

The Huskers did try and come back from their 34-0 hole, scoring their first touchdown on the second drive after halftime.

But after that the Hurricanes stiffened – keeping the Huskers out of the end zone any time they remotely came close. Miami’s defense surrendered just seven points in the game, the other touchdown coming on a punt return.

“We got tired of hearing we couldn’t contain Crouch or stop the run,” defensive tackle William Joseph said. “We had something to prove on defense and we came out and did it.”

The 19-year-old sophomore approached reporters after one of the most stinging losses of his career.

His highly-touted Hurricanes traveled 3,000 miles only to lose in the second game of the season. It was demoralizing and embarrassing. National title hopes were falling by the waste side.

So what did the quarterback do? Did he make excuses like blaming the crowd noise? Did he start pointing fingers?

No. Ken Dorsey did none of that. He spoke well beyond his years after the 34-29 loss to Washington and admitted his errors. He accepted the criticism and told the nation he would learn from the experience – he would improve – and you kind of had a feeling this kid was going to be back in the spotlight again. Only next time, it would be on the winning end.

Dorsey is now a seasoned 20-year-old junior and his maturity is one of many attributes the Maxwell Award Winner possesses. There were doubters after the Washington game, after his amazing comeback against FSU … even after he led the Hurricanes to an undefeated regular season. But Dorsey continues to prove doubters wrong, further etching himself among the greats at the University of Miami.

He saved the best for last in 2001, throwing for a career-high 362 yards in the Rose Bowl – good enough to earn him co-MVP honors. But when it came down to taking credit, Dorsey wanted to share it with his teammates.

“The entire team deserves the MVP award,” Dorsey proclaimed.

But Dorsey’s never been about awards, you see. when ESPN The Magazine came out in the preseason, Dorsey was pretty happy he was on the cover – because, he said, his team was getting the attention.

There are many cliches in sports, but the one that comes to mind is, “There’s no I in team.” When critics scrutinized his every move during the Heisman Trophy race, he could care less. He wanted a different kind of trophy – the one Sears hands out.

The kid from Orinda, Calif. could be on the cover of every magazine, win the Heisman Trophy, be considered the best ever; but if his team didn’t succeed, it would mean nothing.

Eric Crouch won college football’s ultimate individual prize, but the Heisman Winner had only 176 total yards in the game that mattered most to his team.

Dorsey refused to let that happen to him. He knew how much the championship meant to guys like Ed Reed and Bryant McKinnie – seniors that turned down an early shot at the pros for glory in the college ranks.

He said early in the season that he would return to school next year and reaffirmed that after the Rose Bowl. With one more year, Dorsey may separate himself from some of the greats at “Quarterback U.”

Jim Kelly. Bernie Kosar. Vinny Testaverde. Steve Walsh … the list goes on and on. But Dorsey seems to have all of their qualities and then some.

He is the consummate leader – players in the huddle say you can just look into his eyes, and see his fire, his passion. They don’t want to let him down. Dorsey can do all of this without saying a word.

Of all his stats, his leadership is evident in one very important one – 26-1. That’s Dorsey’s record as a starter, the lone loss coming against those pesky Huskies.

And what did Dorsey do when he took on Washington again? He completed 2/3 of his passes and threw for three touchdowns.

Was it great to avenge his poor individual performance the previous year?

Only because it put the ‘Canes that much closer to the team goal.

At the beginning of the season some people wondered if Larry Coker was the right man to replace Butch Davis as the new Miami Hurricanes head football coach.

Coker’s resume seemed highly impressive – 22 seasons as a collegiate assistant coach, offensive coordinator of three different collegiate programs (Miami, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State), coach of such players as Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas, Eddie George, and Edgerrin James – but despite all of this something was missing: Coker had no collegiate head-coaching experience.

Sure Coker had been a head coach before, but that was 23 years ago at Claremore High, a small school in Oklahoma. But Clamore High is no University of Miami.

Now that the season is over, no one wants to admit they ever doubted that Coker was the right hire for the UM football program, as he accomplished things no other man in college football history has ever achieved.

Coker was the first man in history to go 12-0 in his first season as a collegiate head coach. He was just the second head coach to win a national title in his first year. Bennie Oosterbaan did it in 1948 with Michigan, but he accomplished the feat by going just 9-0 without participating in a bowl game.

Despite all of Coker’s above achievements, his biggest accomplishment may be in the way he returned the Hurricanes to their glory without returning them to their old antics.

The Hurricanes of the late 1980s and early 1990s were notorious for winning but also notorious for getting into loads of trouble. They over-celebrated on the field and received plenty of wrongful attention because of it.

This year’s squad was similar to those teams only in their dominance on the field. Coker kept the Hurricanes focused on winning and doing it in style.

“We don’t like to talk trash,” Hurricane wide receiver Andre Johnson said. “We do our talking on the field with the scores doing the talking for us.”

The Hurricanes shocked the nation, not only with their dominance, but also with their new “cleaner” attitude. The only time the Hurricanes disrespected their opponents is when they were down right dominating them on the field. The only time they got in trouble was…well it was almost never. Except for wide receiver Ethenic Sands’ unspecified run-in with the law earlier this year, the team was almost angel-like. Coker says the team’s character was hands down the most important aspect of their success.

“No doubt about it,” Coker said. “We talked about talent all along, but the thing that sets this team apart is their great character.”

The new character of these Hurricanes is a direct reflection of its head coach. Coker’s style of coaching is unlike any other seen in Coral Gables.

Coker’s laid-back personality has been exactly what the Hurricane program needed.

He’s joked about himself and his players constantly when he is off the field. His attitude has kept players relaxed, easing the stress of being a football player at one of the most scrutinized universities in college football.

On the practice field he walked around like a hawk, eyeing everything that goes on – yet he took a back seat to his coordinators and assistant coaches during these times. Coaching up his own staff just as much as the players, he was the general of a well-machined army and the main concern was keeping the players focused and happy.

Despite the seriousness during practice, once the whistle sounded Coker was back to his old playful self. He often enjoyed dunks into the large garbage cans filled with ice water, which in the past were only home to the bravest of players who had the guts to stand freezing temperatures.

Coker also hired the perfect staff this year. There were plenty of concerns about the youth of the two new coordinators. Offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski is 33 and defensive coordinator Randy Shannon is 35. But no one was too concerned about their age after the Hurricanes defeated opponents by an average score of 43-9 during the regular season.

Coker knew that their coaching style and skills were much more important than their age or experience.

No one is concerned anymore about Coker’s inexperience either. Hurricane supports have all of their confidence in Coker now. Coker is “the man” in Miami. But more importantly, Coker has a new addition to his resume – head coach of the 2001 National Champions.