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SI Scouting Reports 1. Nebraska 2. Florida State 3. Alabama 4. Michigan 5. Wisconsin 6. Kansas State 7. Georgia 8. Clemson 9. Texas 10. Miami 11. Florida 12. Virginia Tech 13. Washington 14. Tennessee 15. TCU 16. Purdue 17. Mississippi 18. USC 19. Penn State 20. Southern Miss 21. Illinois 22. Ohio State 23. Oklahoma 24. Colorado State 25. Colorado ----------------- The Master List: 1-115 Lower Division Rankings

10. Miami

The forecast for South Florida: Hurricane Santana is going to inflict major damage

By B.J. Schecter

The Book An opposing team's coach sizes up the Hurricanes "The bulk of the D has been together for several years and has good chemistry. It's definitely their strength. They like to blitz and attack, which puts a lot of pressure on the corners.... At linebacker, losing Nate Webster hurts, but Dan Morgan is awfully good. He's their leader and their hit man.... [Safety] Al Blades is tough and covers a lot of ground.... They have a ton of experience at running back, and Moss is impossible to cover one-on-one."

Santana Moss is fast, and he can jump high and far, but the Hurricanes' senior receiver would like to set the record straight: He is not a track guy. He runs the 40 in 4.3 seconds, and he won the triple jump and long jump at this spring's Big East Track & Field Championships. But Moss has no interest in pursuing a career in track and field. "I only run track to stay in shape for football," says Moss, who caught 54 passes for 899 yards last season and proved to be one of the top receivers in the country. "Football is my
first love."

The job of getting the ball to Moss -- who needs 626 receiving yards to surpass Michael Irvin as Miami's alltime pass catcher -- will fall to Ken Dorsey. A classic drop-back passer, the 6'5" sophomore was primarily a backup in 1999 but won all three of his starts. He'll get plenty of support from James Jackson (782 yards and nine touchdowns despite missing three games with a right knee sprain) and a pair of big-play wideouts in senior Reggie Wayne and junior Daryl Jones. Wayne has caught at least 40 passes in each of the last three seasons; Jones, the 1999 Big East 100-meter outdoor champion, redshirted last year but averaged 12.2 yards per catch two years ago.

Moss runs a 4.3 40, but he'd rather use his speed on the gridiron than on the track.   Peter Read Miller

The Hurricanes are still trying to prove they're back in the big time. Last season Miami went to a New Year's Day bowl for the first time in five seasons under Davis. But to be considered a serious national title contender again, the Hurricanes must defeat Florida State and Virginia Tech; Miami hasn't beaten either since 1994.

"It's time to stop talking and start showing it on the field," says Moss. "Now is the time to show we're the Canes of old. There are no excuses."

Issue date: August 14, 2000

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