'Canes spank post-Spurrier Gators at Swamp

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Fifteen years of buildup during which Miami and Florida garnered five national championships and two Heismans, and the best arm in the joint belonged to a strong safety.

The best legs belonged to a former backup tailback.

Ken Dorsey (left) outduels fellow Heisman candidate Rex Grossman despite three interceptions.(AP)

Florida's best chance to overcome all that was to place a Bat-phone-like emergency call to the nation's capital. And that ain't happening. Not now. Not ever.

In case Gator Nation didn't get the memo, the Spurrier era is over. No. 1 Miami made it official with a 41-16 victory that laid waste to the record book and the immediate hopes of those wishing that somehow Ron Zook would make it all better again.

Yup, you could say No. 1 Miami drained The Swamp -- at least of all the emotion that had built up over Steve Spurrier's departure and the renewal of the series.

That giant sucking sound you heard was the reaction of the Swamp-record crowd of 85,777 having the life knocked out of it by Miami safety Maurice Sikes. Just when it was getting interesting in the third quarter, the junior stepped in front of Rex Grossman's pass near the goal line and took it 96 yards -- with a separated shoulder.

"I didn't consider coming out, not for one moment," said Sikes, who along with the three other secondary members was making his second career start. The first was last week against Florida A&M.

"This is the biggest game of the season so far. There wasn't no doubt in my mind I was going to come back and play in this game."

Sikes got his right shoulder knocked out of whack trying to tackle Florida's Earnest Graham on a first-half touchdown run. When it tightened up at halftime he told trainers, "Give me some Tylenol and put a shoulder harness on it."

Willis McGahee, the former backup, went for 204 yards at a position that was thought to be paper-thin for the defending national champions.

"I wouldn't mind being a Heisman candidate," said McGahee, who probably saw his candidacy begin Saturday night. "I don't know how they do that." They make you a candidate when the favorites -- Grossman (two) and Ken Dorsey (three) -- combine to throw five interceptions and do little to distinguish themselves.

"We had three interceptions and still won the football game," Miami center Brett Romberg said. "It's crazy. It shows the talent we have on offense and the talent we have on defense. For us this kind of gave us reassurance."

Reassurance that all is well in defending the national championship. The victory was No. 24 in a row for the 'Canes, 12 on the road. Twice last year, the 'Canes went on the road and gutted out victories at Boston College and Virginia Tech. This time they played one of their biggest rivals and blasted the Spurrier era back to the Stone Age.

The loss was the Gators' worst in Gainesville since 1979. The 41 points were the most they have given up at The Swamp since 1970. If Florida fans want to get ugly -- and they will -- they should consider this stat: Spurrier's five Swamp losses were by a combined 25 points in his 12-year stay in Gainesville.

Miami won by 25 on Saturday and it could have been worse. Dorsey threw an interception in the end zone at the end of the first half. Early in the third quarter, Bam Hardmon returned a Dorsey pick 26 yards for a touchdown.

"It's going to happen sooner or later," Florida coach Ron Zook said of his first loss. "Mine happened sooner. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise."

Florida might be more of a complete team under Zook but it isn't better. Not yet. Since 1990 when Spurrier arrived, Florida had been 71-1 when it ran for at least 150 yards. They got 163 yards Saturday and suffered defeat No. 2.

It had been 21-1 when blocking a punt under Spurrier. Safety Todd Johnson broke through to block Freddie Capshaw's kick midway through the second quarter. The Gators started at the Miami 11, were pushed back to the 17 and settled for a field goal to extend its lead to 10-6.

That's as close as it got to panic for Miami. They trailed a total of 9 minutes, 58 seconds last season. Miami scored the next 21 points, ending this season's trailing losing period at 5:26.

"We knew this was going to be a four-quarter game but we kind of shut the critics up at halftime," Romberg said of the 20-10 halftime lead. Only Dorsey's forced throw at the goal line to Kellen Winslow Jr. with four seconds left kept it from being more. Johnson's interception kept the Gators in the game.

"At the end of the first half we should have had another touchdown. I came in here and yelled and screamed, 'Man, we get an opponent down like that again we can't lose it because those guys will definitely come back on us.'"

It was almost surprising to find Dorsey with four touchdown passes at the end. When asked to assess his play, he responded tersely, "I think I played well enough to win. I'm kicking myself every time I throw an interception."

Florida was coming back when Grossman had driven the Gators 88 yards to the Miami five late in the third quarter. Then Sikes stepped in front of Carlos Perez, tipped Grossman's pass and outran everyone for Miami's third-longest interception return.

Had Florida scored it could have gone for two and cut the lead to 27-24. Instead, Miami led 34-16.

"You could feel it," Miami linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. "I'm not going to say 'give up' but you could feel they were demoralized."

Questions to be asked: Are you sure, Rex Grossman, that you made the right decision to return to Florida? Grossman had the worst game of his career, completing only 19-of-45 for 193 yards. The last time Grossman didn't throw for a touchdown or reach 200 yards was almost two years ago.

The Gators' mostly horizontal passing game didn't challenge Miami's inexperienced secondary enough. That might have had something to do with Miami opening the game with six defensive backs. Vilma and D.J. Williams were the only linebackers.

Defensive coordinator Randy Shannon shuttled in eight defensive linemen to keep them fresh in the heat.

"They go past eight deep," Dorsey said. "They go nine to 10 deep and we don't travel the rest of the them. It's scary. It's really a tough group."

Too often, Grossman checked down to swing passes that were quickly swallowed up by the pursuing defense. Too often, he was flushed from the pocket and had to throw on the run.

"I don't know about the 41 but (the other side) should have been zero," Vilma said. "It should have been a goose egg."

Taylor Jacobs had to ask himself if he made the right choice staying at Florida. Coming off a school-record receiving game against Alabama-Birmingham, Jacobs was more or less bottled up. Although he led the Gators in both categories, Miami should consider it a win with Jacobs catching five passes for only 56 yards.

McGahee, though, was the ultimate star. Ever since Frank Gore injured his knee in spring practice, the 6-foot-1, 225-pound McGahee knew he would have to carry the load. He had only 67 carries as a freshman, missing two games himself because of a knee injury.

Injuries forced McGahee to start at fullback in the Rose Bowl. He responded Saturday with the fourth-best single-game total in Miami history. The running game, it seems, is going to be OK, with 306 yards on Saturday. Backup Jason Geathers ran for 199 yards in the opener.

"That is probably the one thing that surprises me the most about Miami," Zook said, "that they ran the football the way that they did."

"Once we get into the second quarter and we started putting up points, I came up to him and said, 'Willis, you're winning the game for us,'" said guard Sherko Haji-Rasouli. "He kept pounding away, pounding away. He was giving so much effort and running so hard, we had to step up ourselves."

McGahee knows that it can only get worse for him. Gore is due to return in October, which means less playing time for him. Of course, that might double the problem for opponents.

"They underrated all of us to tell you the truth," McGahee said. "I know they focus on me a lot (but) when Frank comes back it's going to be even better for us and bad for teams playing against us."