Tuesday, October 16, 2001

‘Canes snap Seminole’s 54-game home winning streak
By Susan Miller Degnan
Knight Ridder

MIAMI — Two of the three major Florida college football powers are licking their wounds after an unpleasant weekend.

The third, the University of Miami, is soaring.

John Raoux/ORLANDO SENTINEL Florida’s Taylor Jacobs tries to gain yards against Auburn Saturday. Florida dropped five spots in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll.

The Hurricanes, who broke Florida State’s 54-game home unbeaten streak Saturday with a resounding 49-27 victory, vaulted past formerly top-ranked Florida in The Associated Press Top 25 media poll Sunday, locking the top spot in both major polls.

Florida lost to Auburn on Saturday night, 23-20.

“Now that we are No. 1, I think it’s important because we’ve got a chance to stay No. 1 by winning,” UM coach Larry Coker said Sunday. But “I think it’s much more important to be No. 1 later in the season.”

Miami (5-0) already was No. 1 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll, but only by four points. Sunday, the Hurricanes gained 23 first-place votes for 48 of 60 possible. UM went from 1,449 points to 1,481 — a 41-point advantage over Oklahoma (6-0), which garnered 11 first-place votes.

Florida dropped five spots in the coaches poll to No. 7, while FSU plummeted to No. 22.

“Oklahoma might be more deserving of No. 1 because of who they have played,”

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said Sunday. “But Miami will get my vote. They’ve had it all along. Last year they beat Florida in the Sugar Bowl, and I knew what Florida had.”

In the AP poll, the ‘Canes received 48 first-place votes and 1,772 points, a 33-point lead over No. 2 Oklahoma. The Sooners received 21 first-place votes. Last week, Miami dropped from No. 1 to No. 2 after the Gators crushed LSU. The Gators are ranked seventh in the AP poll; the Seminoles are 21st.

Nebraska (7-0) is third in both polls, followed by Virginia Tech (6-0), Oregon (6-0) and UCLA (5-0) in the coaches poll, and by UCLA, Oregon and Virginia Tech in the AP poll.

But despite being No. 1 in both polls, Miami will almost definitely not be No. 1 when the Bowl Championship Series releases its standings next Monday.

The BCS is a comprehensive point system that determines which teams will play in the national championship game. Miami is No. 6 this week in the unofficial BCS standings put out by college football analyst Jerry Palm, who uses the same formula as BCS officials. Oklahoma is No. 1, followed by UCLA, Nebraska, Oregon and Virginia Tech.

(Herald writer Manny Navarro contributed to this report.)