Saturday, October 29, 2005

Miami set to return to field against Carolina

By Tim Reynolds / Associated Press

Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

MIAMI -- A return to normalcy in South Florida may take several weeks following the destruction of Hurricane Wilma.

Sixth-ranked Miami doesn't have that kind of time.

The Hurricanes (5-1, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) seek to regain lost momentum Saturday against North Carolina (3-3, 2-1) at the Orange Bowl, where thousands of Miami-Dade residents have lined up to receive water and ice.

"A lot of us don't have power, a lot of our families don't have power," safety Kenny Phillips said. "But we've got to get it together and stay focused. Our city really needs a lift right now. A few lost their homes, a few lost their lives and we're going to bring everyone's spirits back up starting with a win over Carolina."

Before Wilma interrupted nearly all aspects of life in the storm-battered region, Miami was beginning to roll. The Hurricanes had won five straight games, each of the last four by at least 20 points, and was climbing in the national polls.

Last weekend's scheduled game with Georgia Tech was postponed to Nov. 19 because of Wilma's looming arrival. A must-win showdown against unbeaten Virginia Tech is only a week away, and Miami desperately wants to keep playing at a pre-Wilma level.

"You see so much on the news that is so depressing," Miami coach Larry Coker said. "All you see is everything down and the destruction and all that. Hopefully, for a few hours, we can kind of enjoy a little bit of Hurricane football."

Considering that Carolina ended Miami's hopes of an unbeaten season a year ago with a 31-28 win at Chapel Hill, the Hurricanes aren't lacking motivation.

"We see they're a good team," Miami quarterback Kyle Wright said. "They go out and shut down Virginia, who beat a good FSU team. So they're going to come out ready to play."

Coach John Bunting's team, like the Hurricanes, is coming into the weekend one loss behind Virginia Tech in the ACC's Coastal Division.

He discussed the upset with his team this week, but doesn't expect to make it part of the pre-game address on Saturday.

"I probably won't talk about it much anymore. We don't need to," Bunting said. "To me it's all about how you prepare and what kind of frame of mind you're in when you go out to play and then make the plays. We're going to have to step up our game a little bit."

The Tar Heels are 1-2 away from home this season, and their last road effort was one they'd certainly like to forget, a 69-14 rout at the hands of then-No. 23 Louisville. North Carolina gave up an all-time high in points and touchdowns (nine).

The Tar Heels recovered quickly, allowing Virginia only 199 yards in a 7-5 win.

"We come in with more confidence," said Carolina safety Trimane Goddard. "We have the blowout from Louisville out of our minds, so we do not want that happening again."

Miami's starters haven't played much over the last three weeks; most got at least three quarters off in the Hurricanes' 34-3 win at Temple on Oct. 15.

Still, the Hurricanes say they expect to be sharp.

"It would have been easy, especially last week, for it to really turn into a big mess-around session," left tackle Eric Winston said. "But it didn't. Last week we had good practices, this week we had good practices. That shows you the kind of guys we have on this team. We stayed the course."