Dorrell ready to move forward

UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell may have wanted to talk about his team’s game against Florida State on Dec. 27, but the hot topic of Thursday’s Emerald Bowl conference call was the Bruins’ upset victory over USC last week.

“We had a good hard-fought win and it was fun,” Dorrell said. “I haven’t experienced that in four years and it was great for the program.”

Then Dorrell added: “Obviously, our players are feeling good about what happened last weekend, but I don’t like to talk about that too much. I know that has been the topic across the country, but that game is over with. It’s a great win for our Bruin family and all that stuff, but we have to get ourselves back down and ready for our next opponent.”

UCLA has won three games in a row and takes a 7-5 record into the Emerald Bowl, where it will play the disappointing Seminoles, who are 6-6 overall and finished 3-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Dorrell says he understands that if the Bruins lose to a .500 team in a lower-tier game bowl, the happy feelings surrounding UCLA’s program would quickly dissipate.

“I don’t think it was the biggest deal for me,” Dorrell said about his first win as coach over the Trojans. “Just because I’ve been in that game and won that game as a player ... but what is more significant is that our current players and our seniors, who have been in the program and had never tasted victory in that game now they can leave the program and know what it takes and know what it feels like to win that game.”

Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden, who has been involved in more than his share of rivalry games, says he’s impressed with what Dorrell has done with the Bruins.

“I don’t know much about him, but I’ve watched him coach on the sideline,” Bowden said. “I like what I see.... He looks like he knows what he’s doing. His team is well-prepared, well-coached. Looks like he is recruiting good players. I was hoping that I wouldn’t see that but all I saw was plenty of good players that he recruited.”

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UCLA defensive ends Justin Hickman and Bruce Davis, instrumental in the upset of USC, both were selected first-team All-Americans.

Hickman made the Walter Camp All-American team and Davis was selected for the SI.com All-American team.

Hickman and Davis tied for the Pacific 10 Conference lead with 12.5 sacks apiece, ranking second in the nation.

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USC receiver Dwayne Jarrett was selected to the Walter Camp and SI.com All-American teams, becoming the first Trojans receiver to win first-team recognition two years in a row.

Jarrett, a junior, caught 58 passes for 773 yards and 10 touchdowns in 11 games.

Senior flanker Steve Smith and junior offensive tackle Sam Baker were selected to the CBS SportsLine.com All-American team.

Smith caught 64 passes for 975 yards and eight touchdowns. Smith’s recognition marks the first time USC had two first-team All-American receivers in the same season.

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Longtime Miami defensive coordinator Randy Shannon will replace the fired Larry Coker as coach of the Hurricanes, the Miami Herald reported on its website.... West Virginia Coach Rich Rodriguez was offered more than $2 million a year with incentives to become coach at Alabama, the Birmingham News reported on its website. Rodriguez and Alabama officials were still talking late Thursday, a source said.... Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn won the Maxwell Award as the player of the year, beating out Heisman Trophy favorite Troy Smith of Ohio State at the College Football Awards show. Earlier, Smith was honored as player of the year by the Walter Camp Foundation. Darren McFadden, a sophomore at Arkansas, won the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best running back. Rutgers Coach Greg Schiano was chosen as the Home Depot Coach of the Year for turning around the Scarlet Knights (10-2). Penn State linebacker Paul Posluszny was the only repeat winner, taking the Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation’s best defensive player.

Times staff writer Gary Klein and wire reports contributed to this report.

lonnie.white@latimes.com