Joel Buchsbaum's bowl previews

Hurricanes get the edge over Cornhuskers for all the roses

By Joel Buchsbaum, Contributing editor
As published in print Dec. 24, 2001

Hurricanes QB Ken Dorsey

This has been the most exciting, competitive and upset-filled college football season I’ve ever seen because of parity and the changes in the college game brought on by more and more schools using passing offenses and high-risk defenses. Every school in the country, except Miami (Fla.) and Illinois, was upset at least once, and Nebraska would like nothing better than to add the Hurricanes to the list of upset victims.

On paper, Miami is the far superior team, with at least a dozen of its starters projected as high-round NFL picks, if they don’t come out of school prematurely. At least a half-dozen starters are projected to go in the first round.

However, all the pressure is on Miami as the prohibitive favorite, and the Huskers go in with nothing to lose. Nebraska is one of the few teams that still relies heavily on the option and the run, and Miami’s strength is playing the pass, although in almost every big game since mid-November, it seems that if something was supposed to happen, it did not happen.

Quarterbacks — Nebraska’s Eric Crouch won the Heisman, and Miami’s Ken Dorsey finished third in the voting. Crouch is a great athlete and runner who is a very average passer. But if you overplay the run, he can beat you with his arm. Dorsey is a very smart, disciplined and accurate passer who lacks foot speed and arm strength and could prove to be the weak link for Miami.

Running backs — Miami’s featured back, Clinton Portis, will never be confused with supertalents such as O.J. Anderson or Edgerrin James. But he’s a really good, solid, tough, north-south runner who got better as the year went along. His backup, freshman Frank Gore, has the talent to be an Anderson-James-type back if he continues to develop. The knock against Gore is that he will put the ball on the ground at times and will struggle with blitz pickup. At fullback, with Najeh Davenport out with a broken foot, converted tailback Willis McGahee will start. MaGahee has both size and speed and the run skills of a running back. His blocking could be the big question. He probably will be backed up by Walter Payton’s son, Jarrett Payton. Nebraska has a good, but not special, I-back in Dahrran Diedrick, who has excellent size, but he does have a tendency to fumble. His backup, Thunder Collins, is more of a light-duty back who can break the big run.

Receivers — Miami has a terrific pass-catching tight end in Jeremy Shockey, who is not a top blocker; a future superstar at wide receiver in Andre Johnson; a true burner in Daryl Jones; and two up-and-comers in Ethenic Sands and Kevin Beard. Nebraska has a solid pass-catching tight end in Tracey Wistrom and a big, talented target outside in Wilson Thomas. But wingback John Gibson is no Irving Fryar.

Offensive linemen — Miami has a great left tackle in huge Bryant "Mount" McKinnie, but the big guy had his knee scoped in December. The rest of the group is solid but not super. Look for ORT Joaquin Gonzalez to have his hands full with Nebraska DLE Chad Kelsay. In OLG Toniu Fonoti, Nebraska has its best guard since Dean Steinkuhler, as well as its most overpowering blocker since Bob "The Boomer" Brown, who was the Eagles’ top draft pick in 1964. But the rest of its blockers are self-made, blue-collar types with limitations, all of whom are very well-coached and developed.

Defensive linemen — Miami’s best defensive lineman, William Joseph, had his knee scoped after the regular season, when he played the best he has ever played down the stretch. Jerome McDougle is a pass rusher and disruptor, and Jamaal Green can run and get up the field. Matt Walters is the steady complement. Nebraska’s best player is Kelsay. This group was blown out by Colorado at the end of the year.

Linebackers — Against Colorado, Nebraska’s linebackers were missing in action. They are better than they showed in that game, but they are small. Miami has a very active group, but it has no Ray Lewises at the moment. Senior Chris Campbell came on strong at the end of the year, and Jon Vilma makes a lot of plays in the middle.

Defensive backs — Don’t get me wrong, Ed Reed is a terrific All-America safety with a real nose for the ball, but the best player and athlete on Miami’s defense is CB Phillip Buchanon. The other corner, Mike Rumph, can be beaten, but he is a big corner with solid NFL potential. For Nebraska, LCB Keyuo Craver is a great player, and RCB DeJuan Groce has really grown this year. Inexperience inside at safety has been a problem when freshman Philip Bland and sophomore Willie Amos start, and senior Dion Booker has had an up-and-down career. Booker is not the savvy old pro people might think he should be.

Special teams — Miami has a very reliable placekicker in Todd Sievers, a very athletic punter in Freddie Capshaw and a group of top return men led by Buchanon, who returns punts. Nebraska’s kickers had their ups and downs, but Craver and Groce are dangerous return men.

Prediction: Miami 31, Nebraska 14

Under head coach Mike Bellotti, Oregon has been this year’s Houdini team. How have they been able to do it? The answer is: "Like Houdini, with mirrors."

Since Bellotti took over the program from Rich Brooks, the Ducks have a 59-23 record — 20-3 over the past two years — and they have been the top overall team in the Pacific-10. However, the reason I call them the Houdini team is because almost every year their overall talent rates in the middle of the Pac-10. Also, in a sport where supposedly it is what’s up front that counts, the last top lineman Oregon seems to have had was Gary Zimmerman, who graduated in ’83.

The media tend to think Oregon is a lot more talented than it really is because it has had NFL-type quarterbacks and good players at most of the skill positions. However, how many Oregon linemen wind up in the NFL or are even considered for the draft?

This year Bellotti may have his strongest senior class, yet there are still no linemen slated to be drafted. QB Joey Harrington is a top pick, CB Rashad Bauman could be a first-day pick, TE Justin Peelle and RB Maurice Morris are probable draft picks and DB Steve Smith and OLB-SS Wesley Mallard are long shots. But Oregon does not have a lot of underclassmen who scouts are getting excited about, and teams that contend for national championships are supposed to have about a half-dozen blue-chippers and an equal number of red-chip athletes in all their classes.

Flip the coin, and Colorado has two of the top offensive linemen in the country in All-America OG Andre Gurode and OT Victor Rogers. The Buffaloes also have one of the very best tight ends, if the not the very best, in the collegiate ranks in Daniel Graham; at least four running backs who have the skills to eventually compete for jobs in the NFL; a top-of-the-line safety in Michael Lewis; and a solid, steady run stuffer in DT Justin Bannan to complement and cover for the young studs they have on the line.

Oregon’s one big edge in this game is at quarterback with Joey Harrington, who is a master at late-game comebacks and executes a very well-conceived offense. Harrington is complemented by RBs Morris, who closed a lot better than he started the year, and Onterrio Smith, who is more explosive than Morris.

Harrington also has a reliable tight end in Peelle and a small but gifted receiver in Keenan Howry.

Colorado will look to mash and maul Oregon’s small defensive team with its big, road-grader offensive line and collection of big-time backs. In the Buffaloes’ two most recent and biggest games, Chris Brown, a big redshirt sophomore from Northwestern, has looked like the best back in the country and has shown a great nose for the endzone as well as tremendous power.

Senior QB Bobby Pesavento is not pretty, but he has been effective down the stretch, and promising sophomore Craig Ochs, who was the starter until he got injured, is healthy enough to play at a high level. An X-factor for Oregon in recent years has been its ability to make big plays on special teams, but the Ducks do not have a standout kicker.

Prediction: Colorado 34, Oregon 24

Road to a No. 1 ranking

Note: The winner of the Rose Bowl is the automatic BCS No. 1 team, but the writers’ poll is still open to the following scenarios:

Miami (Fla.) —Win and they’re it.

Nebraska — Beat Miami, hope Oregon beats Colorado in a tight game and hope there is no backlash.

Colorado — Dominate Oregon, while Nebraska just edges Miami.

Oregon — Win decisively and hope Nebraska just edges Miami.

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