Miami Beats Florida as TV Blackout Saves QBs

By putting the University of Florida on probation for recruiting violations and banning it from national and local television, the NCAA might have cost a couple of college football teams some money Saturday, but at least it didn’t cost a couple of quarterbacks a chance at the Heisman Trophy.

In third-ranked Miami’s 23-15 win over 13th-ranked Florida, quarterbacks Vinny Testaverde of the winners and Kerwin Bell of the losers could consider themselves lucky that the only people who saw them play were the 74,875 customers and mostly-from-Florida media who saw the game in person.

Testaverde passed for only 161 yards, was intercepted three times, and his Miami offense committed seven turnovers.

Bell passed for only 137 yards, was sacked six times, and his Florida offense did not even amass 200 yards.

So many plays were losses or no-gains, they almost had to rename the town.

Even when the visiting Hurricanes finally said see you later to the Gators, Testaverde invited them back to the game. Deep in his own territory, with a 23-9 lead and a little more than eight minutes remaining, Testaverde tried a pass over the middle and threw a perfect spiral to the only man open, Florida linebacker Pat Moorer, who ran it back to the Miami 7.

The touchdown that followed gave the Gators a chance to keep their 21-game Florida Field winning streak going, but nothing more happened, so they got stuck with their first defeat at home since 1982.

Two players in particular kept Florida in the game, not counting Testaverde. One was kicker Jeff Dawson, who dedicated his three field goals to the mother he lost to cancer five days before the game.

The other was defensive back Jarvis Williams, who made two interceptions, one sack, one fumble recovery, and separated Miami back Melvin Bratton from a pass reception and from his senses with a hit so wicked, TV would have replayed it repeatedly had the game not been blacked out.

Bratton got even, though, by rushing for touchdowns of 24 and 20 yards. Those who had come to watch the Heisman-contending quarterbacks had to settle for good defense and two good runs by Bratton, who picked up only 21 yards outside of his two touchdown runs.

The Miami offense will have to do a lot better in two weeks, when it confronts Oklahoma’s defense at the Orange Bowl. But at least the Hurricanes realize that they are good enough to win in front of hostile crowds, as they already have twice this season, and that they can win when Testaverde is off-target, as they did Saturday.

“Vinny has a lot riding on his shoulders,” Bratton said. “There’s a lot of pressure on him. He can’t have a normal life. But we’re good enough to play good when he’s struggling--and don’t worry, he’ll be back.”

Things went so badly for Testaverde in this game that one-third of his passing yardage in the first half was to himself. A ball batted in the air at the line of scrimmage came down in his own arms, and he carried it 13 yards.

“It wasn’t my best day, but the team won, and that’s all that counts,” Testaverde said.

Had receivers not made a couple of catches while falling backwards or already sprawled on the ground, the passing totals of Testaverde and Bell might have been even worse than they were.

Testaverde’s only touchdown pass was a 15-yarder in the final quarter to Mike Irvin, who was flat on his back in the end zone at the time. Later, after the interception that put Florida back in the game, Testaverde risked another one from deep in his own territory and Brett Perriman snagged it, 50 yards downfield, toppling backwards.

Without those throws, Testaverde would have passed for less than 100 yards for the day.

While his Miami counterpart’s problem was accuracy, Florida’s Bell could find no time to aim and fire. If he wasn’t dodging the rhino-like charges of 285-pound defensive tackle Jerome Brown, he was being trampled by 6-4, 240-pound Daniel Stubbs, who had 2 1/2 sacks, or linebacker Winston Moss, who made 11 tackles.

Bell was not unimpressed. “They probably have the best defensive front I have gone against since I’ve been here, and the best we’ll probably face all year,” he said.

Brown, in his own way, was not unimpressed with Bell, either.

“He scared us a lot out there, because he kept getting up,” said Brown, a football star who wants an Outland Trophy, not a Heisman. “He got up slow, but he got up, I’ll say that for him.”

Brown believes the Miami defense deserves recognition just as the quarterback does. Good thing for the Hurricanes that Brown and two teammates have been cleared of wrong-doing in a recent controversy over driving cars leased from a man who also was a registered sports agent, an NCAA no-no.

Moss, too, made his presence felt Saturday, something he could not do the week before at South Carolina, when he was serving a one-game NCAA suspension for a similar auto-leasing infraction.

“Now that our offense is back together as a whole, we feel we can be tough on anybody there is,” Brown said.

They look tough and are tough. That fact was not even lost on Florida Gov. Bob Graham, who was glad-handing in the locker room after Saturday’s game, while campaigning for the U.S. Senate.

“Where is he? I know that man personally,” shouted Brown.

He sought out Graham and pumped his hand. “We looked pretty mean out there, didn’t we?” Brown asked.

“You sure did,” the governor said. “I definitely want you on my side when the fight breaks out, son.”

Brown’s sacking of Bell in the first quarter led to the game’s first points. He bagged him on third down at the Florida 23, and a short punt gave Miami good field position.

Testaverde’s pass to himself--his only completion of the quarter--kept the drive alive, and Bratton’s tackle-breaking, 24-yard run, complete with dive to the end-zone flag, put the Hurricanes in front, 7-0.

Florida’s first two scores were set up by interceptions by Jarvis Williams, who will be called “Jarvis” in all future references, because Florida starts five players named Williams.

One long drive appeared to end unsuccessfully when Dawson missed a field goal from 37 yards, but after a penalty gave him a second chance, Dawson hit from 32.

Jarvis struck again on the next series, and Florida drove to the Miami 11. But Stubbs sacked Bell, so Dawson was summoned again and kicked a 38-yarder, making the score 7-6.

“I think a few people were worrying about me coming back after my mother’s death and missing practice all week, but I’ve been practicing on my own and thinking of her at the same time,” Dawson said. “I can still feel her strength, every time I kick.”

Julia Dawson got to see her son on the field only once last season, and his last-minute field goal defeated Kentucky, 15-13. But she didn’t see it, leaving her seat and hiding behind a wall while he kicked, because she was too nervous to watch.

Jeff thought of that when he gave Florida the lead Saturday, 9-7, with a 41-yarder in the final seconds of the first half. He would have been happy if that advantage had held up.

But he never got another chance to kick. Repeated Florida scoring threats in the second half ended with interceptions and fumbles, and Miami found enough offense to pull away, 23-9. Bratton ran one in from 20 yards, Mark Seelig kicked a 35-yard field goal and Irvin hauled in a 15-yard touchdown pass from a scrambling Testaverde, even though the receiver had stumbled and was prostrate in the end zone.

Although the game lacked artistry and suspense, the winning coach, Jimmy Johnson, sounded as though he had just seen Miami’s 1984 battle with Doug Flutie and Boston College. “That was as hard a fought ball game as I’ve ever been around,” Johnson declared. “Florida fought their guts out and our guys fought their guts out.”