Hurricanes Are a Deserving Champion

Bad bowl system. Four lousy games.

One great team.

There’s one indisputable fact after the BCS dragged to its conclusion at the Rose Bowl on Thursday night: the Miami Hurricanes deserve to be national champions.

As they did during the season, they looked dominant at times, showed flashes of sheer brilliance, made some mistakes, but came through whenever they had to.

They beat Nebraska, 37-14. For the record, that gave the victors in the four non-tournament, ill-conceived BCS games an aggregate 178-90 score against the losers. Nice system.

But just as it wasn’t Nebraska’s fault that the bugs in the BCS computers delivered them to Pasadena, it wasn’t the Hurricanes’ fault that they had an unworthy opponent.

Let the Oregon Ducks quack all they want that they were cheated out of a chance to play the Hurricanes. Their beef is legitimate. But so is Miami.

All Oregon would have had was the right to be the runner-up.

“Oregon could say they ought to be here,” Miami linebacker D.J. Williams said. “But to say they’d be champions ... they’ve got to beat us first.”

Twelve other teams got their shot, and none could do it.

“I don’t know if there’s anybody as balanced as Miami is,” Nebraska Coach Frank Solich said. “I think anybody would have struggled with them if they’re on top of their game they way they were tonight.”

Everything worked for the Canes. The offensive line gave quarterback Ken Dorsey all the time he needed to make his decisions. It was as hassle-free as online shopping. In turn, Dorsey made life easy for his receivers, dropping the ball right in their hands.

The only thing Dorsey could have used was some diversity training. He kept going to the same two guys, Andre Johnson and Jeremy Shockey, in the first half. But Johnson was constantly open and Shockey’s a big target, so you can’t blame Dorsey.

Running back Clinton Portis showed everyone why he’s one of the most valuable players in football. Do 104 rushing yards, a touchdown and 26 receiving yards work for you? He had almost 100 more yards of offense and another touchdown wiped out by penalties.

Here’s how devastating Miami can be when it gets rolling: The Hurricanes scored 27 points while using only 12 offensive plays in the second quarter. (The defense chipped in with a 47-yard interception return for a TD.)

Some things need to be experienced live to get the full effect.

The size of the Grand Canyon.

The roar of Niagara Falls.

And the speed of the Miami Hurricanes.

They zoomed into the end zone, and on defense they ran down quarterback Eric Crouch like he stole something.

“This is the fastest football team I’ve been around,” Coach Larry Coker said.

Nebraska averaged 314.7 yards per game. Even in the 62-36 Colorado debacle, the Cornhuskers gained 354 yards on the ground.

The Cornhuskers had 259 total yards Thursday, and many of those came long after the outcome was decided.

The Cornhuskers thought they could do their option thing against Miami, because the Hurricanes hadn’t faced a team that ran the option as often and as well as Nebraska.

Well, Nebraska didn’t face a defense like Miami’s. The Hurricanes are so fast, you simply can’t run outside on them. No. Not having it.

And when Crouch managed to burst through to the secondary, they ended his show early.

Crouch had one run that probably goes for a 65-yard touchdown in the Big 12. Against Miami, it netted only 15 yards before all-world safety Ed Reed ran him down.

The final score didn’t give the true indication of the extent of the blowout. The Hurricanes lost some focus after taking a 34-0 halftime lead, and two penalties created the second chances that led to both Nebraska touchdowns. (They were penalized 12 times for 85 yards overall.)

The tell-tale sign of how Miami controlled things came with 1:39 left on the clock. The Miami equipment crew folded up the kicking nets along the sideline and opened boxes of national championship caps and T-shirts.

At the other end of the Hurricanes bench, Andre Johnson, who had seven catches for a crazy 199 yards and two touchdowns, was holding an impromptu news conference.

It was pretty much the only talking the Hurricanes did during the game.

“I’m not a guy that talks trash,” Johnson said. “If somebody says something to me, I might talk back. But they weren’t saying nothing.”

“For them, and for us, it was mostly business,” offensive lineman Ed Wilkins said.

“Everybody was focusing on the task at hand. We really didn’t have a lot to say to each other.”

If this Hurricane team plays like the Miami program that wreaked havoc on college football in the 80s and early 90s, it sure doesn’t act like them. Much more quiet. And no criminal activity, unless it counted as trespassing when they rushed the set of “ESPN’s College Gameday.” They had no personal fouls among their penalties, as opposed to 11 years ago when they had nine personal fouls at the Cotton Bowl.

Coker said he’s happiest for this group of players “Because of what they’re all about. That’s going to carry over a lot more in life than maybe just winning a championship.”

There’s nothing controversial about this team. Don’t let the bad system detract from their championship. At least there’s no split title. Miami is the only undefeated team.

“No controversy,” cornerback Phillip Buchanan cornerback. “If we would have played anybody, we would have won the game.”

It wasn’t quite picture perfect on the Rose Bowl floor, with the scenic backdrop enshrouded by darkness some 31/2 hours after sunset.

“I can’t see the mountains right now,” Buchanan said. “I was pretty sure they’d be a little better. But we won the game. I’m satisfied.”

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J.A. Adande can be reached at: j.a.adande@latimes.com