Miami has outscored its last five opponents 225-17, its last two 124-7 and has a solid grip on the No. 1 spot in the Bowl Championship Series standings and the Rose Bowl berth that goes with it.

The Hurricanes have won 20 in a row overall, 16 in Big East play, and are on the verge of setting school records for most points scored and for fewest points allowed.

They have so many players in contention for postseason awards, including QB Ken Dorsey (Heisman) and OT Bryant McKinnie (Outland), it's going to keep the sports information department busy for a month keeping track of them all.

Yet it all means nothing if the Hurricanes can't win Saturday at Virginia Tech to clinch a Jan. 3 trip to Pasadena.

"Roses also come with thorns," coach Larry Coker said.

If the Hurricanes lose, their 10-1 record will get them a BCS bowl, but not the Rose. It would be a bitter end to what so far has been a dream season for Coker in his first year as a head coach on the collegiate level.

Coker called the trip to Blacksburg the biggest challenge his team will face this season. He noted that his team and the Hokies rank 1-2 in such key Big East statistical categories as scoring offense (Miami 44.9 points per game, Virginia Tech 33.5), scoring defense (Miami 7.9, Virginia Tech 12.1), total defense (Virginia Tech 223.3 yards per game, Miami 273.2), and turnover margin (Miami plus-2.3 per game, Virginia Tech plus 1.3).

"One thing that they do is time of possession. They lead the league in time of possession," Coker said, pointing to the Hokies' average of 33 minutes, 8 seconds a game. Miami's average is 28:12.

Of course, that didn't make much of a difference last week. Washington had the ball more than 10 minutes longer than the Hurricanes but still lost 65-7.

The difference: Washington turned the ball over seven times. Virginia Tech has turned it over only 19 times for the season, less than twice a game.

This game was supposed to be the showcase game for the league, moved to the end of the season for television purposes and scheduled for the same day of playoff games in the Southeastern Conference (since pushed back to Dec. 8) and Big 12.

It didn't turn out that way because Virginia Tech lost first at home to Syracuse, then dropped a second conference game the next week at Pittsburgh. Tech is 8-2 overall and bound for the Gator Bowl. At 4-2 in the conference, the best it can finish is alone in third place behind Syracuse (5-1 Big East). A loss leaves the Hokies at 4-3 and tied for third with Boston College and Pittsburgh.

By winning, the Hokies would join Colorado (which beat Nebraska last week) and Oklahoma State (upset winner over Oklahoma) as BCS spoilers. Don't think those upsets escaped Miami's attention.

"We didn't really point it out, but our players knew," Coker said. "We took Nebraska's wakeup call a little serious. We got our wakeup from them."

Strategy and personnel

GAMES OF THE WEEK
Miami at Virginia Tech, Saturday -- Miami has had a tough time in Blacksburg, losing its last three to the Hokies at Lane Stadium. Nevertheless, the Hurricanes will be heavy favorites to end that skid. They haven't given up more than one touchdown in a game since Florida State scored 27 points in a 49-27 loss back on Oct. 13. The Hokies have gotten big days out of freshman RB Kevin Jones (336 yards rushing) the last two games but will need a big effort from QB Grant Noel (142-of-238 passing, 1,745 yards, seven interceptions and 16 touchdowns) to have a shot. The Hurricanes eat up one-dimensional attacks.

UAB at Pittsburgh, Saturday -- It couldn't get much plainer for the Panthers. Win and they are bowl-eligible with a trip to Orlando, Fla., and the Tangerine Bowl. Lose and they are 5-6, a victory short of being eligible for the postseason. At 6-4, UAB has the required number of victories but not the name recognition bids usually require. The Blazers, who number Army, Tulane, Memphis, TCU and Houston among their victims, have won four in a row, same as the Panthers. They lead the nation in run defense, giving up only 47.8 yards per game on the ground. Among their losses: 29-7 at Florida State and 3-0 at Southern Mississippi.

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Miami QB Ken Dorsey -- Ranks first in the Big East in both passing yardage per game (242.3) and quarterback ratings (153.6 to the 138.4 of Pittsburgh's David Priestley).

Miami RB Clinton Portis -- Has had four consecutive games over the 100-yard mark, averaging 128.5 yards per game over that stretch.

Virginia Tech RB Kevin Jones -- Is coming off a 181-yard rushing performance against Virginia two weeks ago in his second career start.

Virginia Tech WR Andre Davis -- A virtual cinch for all-Big East, will have to have a big game to take the pressure off the Hokies' running game.

Virginia Tech LB Ben Taylor -- Has a team-high 109 tackles, including 4.5 sacks.

Pittsburgh WR Antonio Bryant -- Is back on his game with 21 catches for 386 yards and six touchdowns his last three outings, all Panthers victories. He had 11 catches for 186 yards in the win at rival West Virginia last week.

Pittsburgh QB David Priestley -- Has 15 touchdown passes, 10 in the last four games.

INJURY IMPACT
Miami got WR Daryl Jones (ankle) and backup RB Willis McGahee (ankle) back last week, but OG Sherko Haji-Rasouli (knee) isn't likely to play at Virginia Tech. ... The week off gave the Hokies time to rest and recover from the usual bumps and bruises that usually mark the 10th game of the season. ... Pittsburgh appears to be in good shape physically for its season finale.

Notes, quotes, anecdotes

BOSTON COLLEGE
The Eagles (7-4, 4-3 Big East) will spend the holidays in Nashville in the Music City Bowl. It will be the third consecutive postseason trip under coach Tom O'Brien and the first time since the early 1980s the Eagles have made three consecutive bowl trips. The Eagles played in the 1982 season Tangerine Bowl (now the Citrus, not to be confused with this season's new Tangerine Bowl), the 1983 season Liberty Bowl and the 1984 season Cotton Bowl. The Eagles also played in the 1986 season Hall of Fame Bowl, giving them four appearances in five seasons. The current streak began with the Insight.com Bowl in 1999 and was followed by the 2000 Aloha Bowl. The Eagles are 1-1 in the postseason under O'Brien. The Music City Bowl is scheduled for Dec. 28.

MIAMI
The Hurricanes live up to their nickname when it comes to scoring. They're like a whirlwind on offense. They have taken less than 2:30 off the clock on 31 of their 47 drives for touchdowns. "Drives" against Washington took 12 seconds, 43 seconds, 1:11, 21 seconds, 4:32 (a marathon by Miami standards), 35 seconds, 35 seconds, 2:03 and 4:56 (the last two by the second unit). QB Ken Dorsey credits the defense. "It seems like we get the ball inside the 50-yard line every time," Dorsey said. "The defense gives us great field position."

PITTSBURGH
Panthers coach Walt Harris sees several similarities between his team and Saturday's opponent, UAB. "They had a tough early season, had some injuries. We did, too," he said. "Tough early season, fought our way back. We won four in a row, they won four in a row. Now it's all come down to this final game." Both teams have postseason hopes on the line. The game originally was to be played Sept. 15 but was postponed because of the terrorist attacks. "I think we are in a better frame of mind to play this game than we were then," Harris said.

RUTGERS

Final record -- 2-9, 0-7 Big East

Game of the year -- The Knights rallied from a 17-5 deficit against Syracuse to tie the Orangemen 17-17, missing both extra points after scoring two touchdowns in a span of 1:14 in the fourth quarter. But Syracuse took over at its 38-yard-line with 4:38 remaining and drove for 62 yards to post a 24-17 victory. The 17 points were the most the Knights would score against a Big East opponent all season and marked their fourth-highest-scoring game of the season. It was a particularly strong effort coming off a crushing 20-19 loss to Connecticut the week before.

Player of the year -- Junior LB Gary Brackett tied for the team lead in tackles with 83, including a team-high 56 solos. Of those, 14 were for 37 yards in losses (three sacks). He also had a pass interception and recovered a fumble.

Rapid review -- Greg Schiano injected enthusiasm into the moribund program (11 wins in the five previous seasons, four in the Big East) after taking the job Dec. 1, 2000, but it didn't carry over into success for the season. After beating Buffalo 31-15 in the season opener, the Knights were outscored by a combined 111-0 by Miami and Virginia Tech their next two outings. A week after their 23-17 win over Navy, their second win of the season, the Knights fell back of West Virginia 59-0 at halftime on their way to an 80-7 loss. Schiano thought the Knights could have won three more games -- Connecticut, Syracuse and California -- but they simply didn't know how to win. Eliminating the negative attitude that permeates the program is one of the things he has to accomplish for the Knights to become competitive.

Fast forward -- The news was much better in the preseason than it turned out for the season. The Knights landed several commitments from top recruits throughout the state during the summer. They included LB Berkley Hutchinson of Long Branch, TE Clarence Harris of Ocean County and QB Anthony Cali of Northern Burlington. The key will be keeping those commitments in the wake of the deflating season the Knights suffered. The Knights have some young players coming back, most notably QB Ryan Cubit, who took a pounding as a true freshman. But they still need help pretty much everywhere, more so in the offensive line, which takes more time to build than some other positions. Schiano has pounded on the theme that his rebuilding program isn't going to be completed overnight. It's probably the most accurate thing any coach has ever said.

SYRACUSE
Spurned by the Gator Bowl, the Orangemen will settle for the Insight.com bowl in Phoenix. Publicly, school officials said they understood the Gator Bowl's decision to pick Virginia Tech because of the number of fans the Hokies will draw.

But, privately, they had to be upset.

The Orangemen not only finished with a better league record (6-1 to the 4-2 of Virginia Tech, which still must play Miami), but also beat Virginia Tech head-to-head and at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, no less. They ended Tech's 16-game home winning streak. "We earned the right to play New Year's Day," coach Paul Pasqualoni said. That's when the Gator Bowl will be played. The Insight.com Bowl will be Dec. 29. Under the Big East's agreement with the bowls, the Gator has the first choice after the league's BCS representative is determined, followed by the Insight.com, Music City and Tangerine.

TEMPLE

Final record -- 4-7, 2-5 Big East

Game of the year -- The Owls defeated West Virginia 17-14 in the next-to-last game of the season, giving them two Big East wins and sixth place in the league ahead of the Mountaineers and Rutgers. The win also kept alive the Owls' hopes of matching the 4-7 record of the year before, which they did with a 56-7 rout of Connecticut in the season finale. Cap Poklemba kicked three field goals for the Owls, who snapped a 10-game Big East losing streak against the Mountaineers.

Player of the year -- Chonn Lacey was the busiest of Owls throughout the season, playing both offense and defense and on special teams. As a receiver, Lacey, a senior, caught 13 passes for 191 yards and two touchdowns. He was fourth on the team in both number of receptions and receiving yardage, and his 60-yard reception was the Owls' biggest pass play of the season. On defense and kick-coverage teams, Lacey led the Owls in tackles with 84, 68 solo. He had three tackles for losses, intercepted four passes and broke up six others, recovered one fumble and forced two others.

Rapid review -- A season that began with hopes of -- gasp! -- a bowl bid didn't take long to deteriorate. The Owls opened with a 45-26 victory over Navy but lost their next three (Toledo, Bowling Green and Boston College) when injuries began to take their toll, first in the offensive line, then among wide receivers. RB Tanardo Sharps (groin) also was hurt early and didn't get his act together until rushing for 375 yards the last two games. The Owls beat Rutgers to escape the league cellar, then lost four in a row. The Owls recovered from consecutive shutouts to Miami (38-0) and Virginia Tech (35-0) to win their final two, the first time since 1990 they had closed a season with back-to-back victories.

Fast forward -- The Owls labored all year with the stigma of being the team the Big East didn't want. Conference presidents voted last spring to give the Owls the boot after this season, then relented and allowed them to compete through the 2004 season before being replaced by Connecticut. Coach Bobby Wallace noted that of his team's seven losses, six were to teams that will finish with at least eight wins. This could have been an opportunity lost. The Owls lost only two seniors and were one of the country's most experienced teams in the country coming into the 2001 season. But they lose 26 seniors after this season, and until they can find a place to land in 2005, Wallace and his staff will have a tough time recruiting.

VIRGINIA TECH
The Hokies can thank their fans for their second consecutive trip to the Gator Bowl, this time against Florida State. With a shot at no better than a 6-2 league mark -- and that is a long shot considering Miami is the opponent Saturday -- the Hokies will finish behind second-place Syracuse in the Big East standings. But bowl officials noted that the Hokies sold 18,000 tickets to last season's Jan. 1 game in Jacksonville and probably drew more fans than that. More important, unlike Florida State fans, who probably will drive to the stadium on game day, Tech fans will use hotel rooms in the area. Gator Bowl officials are taking a gamble that the Hokies aren't crushed like Miami's last two opponents -- Syracuse (59-0) and Washington (65-7).

WEST VIRGINIA

Final record -- 3-8, 1-6 Big East

Game of the year -- The Mountaineers scored early and often in rolling over Rutgers 80-7, setting stadium records for points scored and touchdowns (11). It was 59-0 at the half -- the Mountaineers scored on nine consecutive possessions after punting the opening series. West Virginia threw only 15 passes but rushed for 446 yards. The Mountaineers forced eight Rutgers turnovers and had four sacks. Alas for the Mountaineers, it would be their last hurrah of the season. They lost their next three to close out the season.

Player of the year -- RB Avon Cobourne was the most consistent performer for the Mountaineers, finishing with 1,298 yards rushing, second in the league to Boston College's William Green (1,559). It was the third-best rushing season in school history. A junior, Cobourne has topped the 1,000-yard mark rushing in each of his first three seasons and with 3,455 yards figures to challenge Amos Zereoue's career mark of 4,086 by midseason in 2002.

Rapid review -- First-year coach Rich Rodriguez brought his no-huddle, spread offense to Morgantown with the promise of livening things up. But the Mountaineers never could quite get the hang of it, and they sputtered throughout the season. Part of the problem was that senior QB Brad Lewis never got a firm grasp on the system. It was not his fault -- Rodriguez said it takes a spring, a fall and another spring to really take it all in -- and promising freshman QB Rasheed Marshall lost most of the season because of a broken wrist. Of their 235 points, 80 came in the win over Rutgers. They averaged only 15.5 for the other 10 games. Their record was the worst at West Virginia since the 1978 team went 2-9 in Don Nehlen's first season. The 1-6 conference mark was a school low.

Fast forward -- There is grumbling in the Mountaineers' camp, even in Rodriguez's first year. That's not good for any program, but particularly so for one that needs all the positive vibes it can get. Newspaper reports note that the new staff seems to be separating itself from the old regime, and, despite his faults, Nehlen was a popular figure in Morgantown. How that translates to the field and recruiting could be interesting. Cobourne will be a big plus returning to the Mountaineers' backfield, but Marshall might not be the man needed at quarterback in the spread offense. Many believe he is more suited for an option game. It could make for an interesting spring. The departure of LB Kyle Kayden, DT Antwan Lake and DBs Shawn Hackett and Rick Sherrod leaves gaping holes on a defense that had trouble against the run (last in the Big East and 104th in the NCAA, giving up 213.2 yards per game).

QUOTE TO NOTE
"If we can't play if it's a little cold for three hours and 15 minutes, then we don't deserve to go to Pasadena." -- Miami coach Larry Coker, when asked about the effect of the weather in Blacksburg Saturday, where his team needs to win to go to the Rose Bowl.

ODDS AND ENDS
Pittsburgh WR Antonio Bryant (11 catches, 186 yards vs. West Virginia) and Syracuse QB R.J. Anderson (247 yards passing, 58 rushing vs. Boston College) were selected offensive players of the week in the conference. Defensive honors went to Pitt LB Gerald Hayes (10 tackles, 1.5 sacks) and Miami DT William Joseph (two sacks, two forced fumbles vs. Washington. Pitt PK Nick Lotz (three field goals) won special teams recognition. ... If Pittsburgh wins to earn a Tangerine Bowl berth, it will give the Big East five teams in bowls for the second consecutive season. Last season, Miami was in the Sugar Bowl, Virginia Tech in the Gator, Boston College in the Aloha, West Virginia in the Music City and Pittsburgh in the Insight.com. Pittsburgh was the only one to lose. Syracuse, at 6-5 overall, was eligible but did not receive a bid.

-- Paul Borden/The Sports Xchange
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