Hurricane Rose

Miami storms to undisputed national championship

Ken Dorsey was named co-MVP along with Miami receiver Andre Johnson. AP

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- They danced their way to the stands, waving white towels at the Miami fans who filled one corner of the Rose Bowl.

Joaquin Gonzalez jumped into a sea of Hurricanes green and orange, and Martin Bibla handed his camera to a security guard, saying, "Take my picture." Maurice Sikes yelled, "Take that, Oregon!"

Miami madness is back. The Hurricanes are national champions again.

"It feels better than I thought it would," running back Clinton Portis said.

The happy Hurricanes left nothing to chance, winning every game and capping a perfect season by embarrassing Nebraska 37-14 in the Bowl Championship Series title game Thursday night.

"If you have any more questions, we're 12-0," Miami's All-American safety Ed Reed said. "There's a lot of people saying they should be here. If they were, they would have gotten the same treatment."

With Ken Dorsey throwing three touchdown passes -- two to wide receiver Andre Johnson -- Miami rolled to a 34-0 lead in the opening 30 minutes, and the Huskers were history.

Click the image to see more multimedia Miami’s Clinton Portis discusses the long quest for a title and Nebraska's failure to put up a fight. Start Miami makes BCS moot One-on-One: Bryant McKinnie CNNSI.com's TREV ALBERTS I've never seen such a well-balanced team, and obviously the general of that team is Ken Dorsey. We talk about all the pieces they have on their offense, but it still all comes down to Dorsey. I think that Dorsey doesn't get the credit he deserved. So many times you look at this team and say, 'Any quarterback can do that.' It was clear to me tonight, watching with my own eyes, that Dorsey truly is a great player. Sure he has talent, but he makes that team go. MORE ALBERTS CLOSER LOOK Miami wide receiver Andre Johnson set the tone early with a 49-yard TD to open the scoring, and repeatedly burned Nebraska's Keyuo Craver. FULL STORY College Football Beat CNNSI.com's Stewart Mandel says it would not have mattered who the BCS matched up with Miami, because the Hurricanes were just that dominant. FULL STORY HEROES & GOATS HERO GOAT Andre Johnson The sophomore wideout racked up 199 yards and two touchdowns on seven receptions to win co-MVP honors with QB Ken Dorsey. BCS Were the Cornhuskers deserving of the Rose Bowl? Seven turnovers and 99 points allowed in the last two games indicate otherwise. MORE STORIES College Recap Grid 'Canes clamp down on option Nebraska fans suffer again Oregon ponders what-ifs

The Associated Press poll of sports writers and broadcasters voted Miami a unanimous No. 1 early Friday, giving the Hurricanes their fifth national title, all since 1983. Their last championship was in 1991.

Top-ranked Miami didn't have to wait to pick up the trophy awarded by the coaches' poll, which automatically goes to the winner of the BCS championship game.

Oregon, a 38-16 winner over Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl on Monday, was hoping for a Nebraska win to claim a share of the title, but the Ducks will probably end up second in the final polls.

"The only thing I'd be disappointed in is that we didn't get a shot," Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington said after watching the game in Phoenix. "You can speculate all you want, but I know we have a very good football team."

Before the season started, Miami players vowed they wouldn't allow the computer-driven BCS standings to determine their bowl fate. In 2000, Florida State was chosen over Miami to play Oklahoma in the BCS title game at the Orange Bowl even though the Hurricanes had beaten the Seminoles.

"This should have been two in a row," Bibla said. "We should have played for the title last year. What can you do. That's the way it worked. This one will make us forget about last year."

Dorsey completed 22 of 35 passes for a career-high 362 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Johnson caught seven passes for 199 yards.

"The entire team deserves to be MVP tonight," said Dorsey after he and Johnson were selected co-MVPs. "Our defense stepped up to the challenge and did a great job. Our offensive line, receivers, everybody did a great job against a great team."

Johnson added: "I felt like I had something to prove so I brought my 'A' game."

Portis ran for 104 yards on 20 carries as the Hurricanes rolled up 472 yards.

The stunned Huskers, beaten 62-36 by Colorado in their previous game, had no answer for Miami's speed and ferocious defense. The lopsided score raised even more questions about whether Nebraska belonged in the BCS title game.

"We didn't play well enough to make it a competitive game in the end or in the first half," Huskers coach Frank Solich said. "From that end of it, it certainly wasn't the matchup everybody dreamed of. I think anyone would have struggled with them the way they played tonight."

Nebraska (11-2) and its Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Eric Crouch, had promised there would not be a repeat of the pitiful performance against Colorado. They were wrong, unable to do much against the Miami defense until the game was already out of reach.

"We talk about talent all along, but the thing that set this team apart is character," Miami coach Larry Coker said. "They refused to give in, refused to flinch, and they got the job done week in and week out."

Dorsey, now 26-1 as a starter, opened the scoring with a 49-yard TD pass to Johnson, then found him for an 8-yard TD with about 3 1/2 minutes left in the half. Between those TD passes, Portis ran 39 yards for a touchdown, safety James Lewis returned an interception 47 yards for a score and Dorsey connected with tight end Jeremy Shockey on a 21-yard TD pass -- all in 3:53.

And just like that, Miami stretched its winning streak to 22 in a row and made the 53-year-old Coker just the second coach to win a national title in his rookie season. Michigan's Bennie Oosterbaan did it in 1948.

Nebraska and Miami came into this Rose Bowl having played three previous games with national titles on the line, all in the Orange Bowl. Miami won in '83 and '91; Nebraska in '94.

Nebraska, losing two games in a row for the first time since 1990, just couldn't compete in the Rose Bowl. It managed only 259 total yards -- nearly 200 under its average.

Crouch ran 22 times for 114 yards and completed 5 of 15 passes for 62 yards.

The Huskers finally scored on Judd Davies' 16-yard run with 2:39 left in the third quarter, and DeJuan Groce added a 71-yard punt return for a TD early in the fourth period.

Todd Sievers kicked a 37-yard field goal with 10:04 left for Miami's only points of the second half.

Though Husker fans made up most of the crowd of 93,781, it was the 20,000 or so orange-clad Miami fans who did most of the cheering.

Crouch picked a bad time for one of the worst games of his record-setting career. Miami's defense swarmed the option and rarely gave him room to run.

"We turned the ball over and that's what killed us," Crouch said. "We knew Miami was that type of defense, they live off turnovers. We got down too far."

On Crouch's third carry of the game, linebacker D.J. Williams stripped the ball away and William Joseph recovered. On the next play, Dorsey hooked up with a wide-open Johnson -- safety Keyuo Craver fell on the coverage -- for the 49-yard TD pass with 6:51 left in the first period.

Nebraska's Josh Davis fumbled the ensuing kickoff on a crunching hit by Markese Fitzgerald, and Sievers recovered at the Huskers 34. Nebraska survived the turnover, but Miami was far from finished.

Portis took a handoff from Dorsey, slipped at the line of scrimmage but kept his balance, then avoided two tacklers and outran the secondary to the end zone.

Four plays later, Crouch's pass went through the hands of Tracey Wistrom and Lewis grabbed the ball just before it hit the ground and ran 47 yards untouched to make it 21-0.

On Miami's next possession, Dorsey hit Johnson for 45 yards and then connected with Shockey for the 21-yard score with 10:40 left in the half. Sievers missed the extra point, but it didn't matter. The Huskers were all but finished.

"We got up early, and we knew that's what we had to do," Portis said. "Up like that, you ain't going to beat us with the option."

Miami had close calls along the way to its perfect season -- an 18-7 win at Boston College, and a 26-24 season-ending victory at Virginia Tech. But in the end, Miami made good on its promise.

The celebration has begun.

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