Miami Hurricanes

Bishop Carlos Malone, pastor of the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Richmond Heights, Fla., was preaching one Sunday about the role of the church in society today. Among the parishioners, listening intently, was a Miami Hurricanes basketball player. "We need to begin to do more," Bishop Malone told his audience, and he asked all the single mothers with children to come to the front of the church. "I think I was the first person up there," recalled Carmen Morris, a new parishioner at the time.

The combat fatigues are gone. So are the screeching sirens of police cars. The palm tree-lined campus is quiet. The University of Miami Hurricanes no longer are the party animals of college football. At least, that is what the school would have everyone believe. University officials have embarked on an aggressive public relations campaign to erase the headline-grabbing "Miami Vice" image the Hurricanes acquired last season, when their players' names appeared on police blotters as often as the sports pages during their unsuccessful bid for the national championship.

Top offensive line prospect Jonathan Colon was apparently so torn between the Florida Gators and Miami Hurricanes that he decided to sign with both schools. The 6-7, 300-pound youngster's indecision had both schools claiming Colon as theirs yesterday. Colon, a tackle from Miami Central, announced Wednesday that he had signed a national letter of intent with the Gators. But Colon also signed hours earlier with Miami, Hurricanes coach Butch Davis said. Because the Hurricanes were first, Davis said, the Gators are out of luck.

Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw yesterday confirmed speculation that, in recent months, there had been discussions about a potential football game against the Miami Hurricanes at a neutral site, possibly even Yankee Stadium. "We would always be interested in playing a game like that at a neutral site," Bradshaw said. A source familiar with the situation indicated that there had also been internal conversations about a game against Penn State at a neutral site, but that there had been no conversations in about 8 months.

Penn State 14, Miami 10. It was close all the way, as intense and hard-fought a football game as any played in a long time. In whatever way a team wins the national collegiate football championship, it's a glistening achievement. But the way Penn State upset Vinny Testaverde and the rest of the high-flying Miami Hurricanes in the Fiesta Bowl Friday night was something special - something to be long remembered and savored. After all the pre-game hijinks, the Miami players' jiving and boasts, the Lions more than squared accounts in a very determined way. Coach Joe Paterno's crafty defense did exactly what it was designed to do - give Testaverde, the nation's top-ranked college player, a lot of trouble and prevent him from completing long passes.

If the Miami Hurricanes are going to get back among college football's elite, they should consider adopting the attitude of their starting tailback, James Jackson. With just one college start under his belt heading into today's Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium, the junior speedster has proclaimed he is going for 2,000 rushing yards this season. Folks are used to seeing some swagger in the 'Canes. Jackson has got it. And he's willing to explain the reasoning behind it. "You have to set the bar," Jackson said.

For one night, everything worked for the Miami Hurricanes, who finally got that signature win the program has craved for a couple of years. Kyle Wright threw for 275 yards and two touchdowns, Graig Cooper scored twice and the host Hurricanes stymied No. 20 Texas A & M's high-powered offense in a 34-17 victory last night. The win was only Miami's second in its last nine games against a ranked opponent, dating to the end of the 2005 season. And it was never in doubt. The Hurricanes (3-1)

Imagine if the Eagles started the season with the NFC championship game. No preseason. No regular season. Just cut right to the chase. That's what we've got this season in college football. The Miami Hurricanes and Florida State Seminoles play the most anticipated game of this season immediately, in a Monday Night Football college special on Labor Day. "We've been telling our kids, Florida State is always the measuring stick for the University of Miami, always will be," said Art Kehoe, longtime Hurricanes offensive line coach.

The top-ranked Miami Hurricanes must have felt the presence of Doug Flutie when Boston College quarterback Glenn Foley dropped back to throw a desperation pass into the end zone on the final play of the Canes' 19-14 win Saturday night. On the seventh anniversary of the game in which Flutie stunned Miami and the college football world by hitting Gerard Phelan with a 48-yard, last- second Hail Mary pass to upset Miami, Flutie was sitting in the BC press box watching Foley try to duplicate his memorable feat.

It has been 13 years since the Cotton Bowl produced a national champion. The third-ranked Texas Longhorns and fourth-ranked Miami Hurricanes both say they have legitimate hopes to end that unlucky streak today (Channel 10, 1:30 p.m.). The Longhorns (10-1), champions of the Southwest Conference, announced 1990 as their "Shock the Nation Tour. " They opened the season with an upset of Penn State, then went on to prove that the days of 5-6 and 4-7 records were in the past. The Hurricanes (9-2)

Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw yesterday confirmed speculation that, in recent months, there had been discussions about a potential football game against the Miami Hurricanes at a neutral site, possibly even Yankee Stadium. "We would always be interested in playing a game like that at a neutral site," Bradshaw said. A source familiar with the situation indicated that there had also been internal conversations about a game against Penn State at a neutral site, but that there had been no conversations in about 8 months.

For one night, everything worked for the Miami Hurricanes, who finally got that signature win the program has craved for a couple of years. Kyle Wright threw for 275 yards and two touchdowns, Graig Cooper scored twice and the host Hurricanes stymied No. 20 Texas A & M's high-powered offense in a 34-17 victory last night. The win was only Miami's second in its last nine games against a ranked opponent, dating to the end of the 2005 season. And it was never in doubt. The Hurricanes (3-1)

The game was bad enough for the Miami Hurricanes. What happened immediately after was even worse. No. 9 Miami suffered its worst loss in more than 7 years last night, a 40-3 defeat to 10th-ranked LSU in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta - a game marred by a skirmish near one of the field exit tunnels shortly after the game. Miami coach Larry Coker said he was told the incident started when an LSU player tried to grab a game ball from a ballboy on the Hurricanes' sideline. That sparked a melee with more than a dozen players involved in some capacity, and which apparently led to two Miami players being knocked unconscious.

Imagine if the Eagles started the season with the NFC championship game. No preseason. No regular season. Just cut right to the chase. That's what we've got this season in college football. The Miami Hurricanes and Florida State Seminoles play the most anticipated game of this season immediately, in a Monday Night Football college special on Labor Day. "We've been telling our kids, Florida State is always the measuring stick for the University of Miami, always will be," said Art Kehoe, longtime Hurricanes offensive line coach.

Temple football coach Bobby Wallace said last week that top-ranked Miami would have to make some mistakes for the Owls to have a chance of winning when the teams met at Franklin Field. With 33,169 fans on hand yesterday to get a look at the defending national champions, Wallace got his wish. The Hurricanes helped the Owls to a pair of second-quarter touchdowns by turning the ball over on fumbles on consecutive possessions. But after giving Temple life, the Hurricanes were reborn.

When Temple football coach Bobby Wallace and athletic director Bill Bradshaw paid a get-to-know-you visit to Mayor Street yesterday morning, they presented him with a Temple hat and a T-shirt that had the word Coach stenciled on it. "I told him he could wear it and coach the team on Saturday," said Wallace, who was meeting the mayor, a Temple alumnus, for the first time. For the record, Street did not accept the offer. And who could blame him? Street's mandate to fix all the problems in the city is nothing when compared with the challenge that Wallace faces Saturday.

A computer program won't be required to sort out the national championship of college football this season after all. The undefeated Miami Hurricanes dispelled a month of controversy concerning the Bowl Championship Series by overwhelming a pretty good Nebraska team in the 88th Rose Bowl last night. Miami won its fifth national title with a 37-14 dismantling of the Cornhuskers that left very little to debate. The undisputed championship would have to be confirmed by the final Associated Press media poll, but that seemed a formality after Miami (12-0)

Top offensive line prospect Jonathan Colon was apparently so torn between the Florida Gators and Miami Hurricanes that he decided to sign with both schools. The 6-7, 300-pound youngster's indecision had both schools claiming Colon as theirs yesterday. Colon, a tackle from Miami Central, announced Wednesday that he had signed a national letter of intent with the Gators. But Colon also signed hours earlier with Miami, Hurricanes coach Butch Davis said. Because the Hurricanes were first, Davis said, the Gators are out of luck.

Even the plays that worked didn't exactly go according to plan. This was not the most classic of Kickoff Classics. When Kenny Kelly, the new quarterback for the Miami Hurricanes, let go of his last pass in yesterday's first half, he remembers thinking to himself: "Oh, man. I underthrew it. " He had no inkling that he had just thrown the pass that was going to break Ohio State's back and send Miami to a season-opening 23-12 victory at Giants...

If the Miami Hurricanes are going to get back among college football's elite, they should consider adopting the attitude of their starting tailback, James Jackson. With just one college start under his belt heading into today's Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium, the junior speedster has proclaimed he is going for 2,000 rushing yards this season. Folks are used to seeing some swagger in the 'Canes. Jackson has got it. And he's willing to explain the reasoning behind it. "You have to set the bar," Jackson said.