Related Links: Game summary Fields' late TD helps Penn State overcome Miami Video: Penn State vs. Miami key plays Saturday's Top 25 roundup Forum: Is Penn State overrated?
	T O P   N E W S

It took two plays, two terrible calls by the Hurricanes coaching staff, to ruin what was supposed to be the perfect coming-out party and give a 27-23 victory to Penn State.

Nursing a 23-20 lead, Miami seemingly had the game in hand. Running back James Jackson was chewing up yards on the ground and the Nittany Lions had just burned their final timeout.

One minute, 59 seconds were all that remained on the clock. The Hurricanes were at the Penn State 22 facing fourth-and-two. But instead of kicking a field goal to ensure Penn State would need a touchdown to win, Davis got a touch of the Clint Eastwood machismo syndrome and decided he was going to go for it.

Fourth-and-one against arguably the best defense is the nation is a difficult enough task. Add an extra yard and Davis basically elected to turn the ball over on downs.

The result: a one-yard gain by Jackson, a deflated Orange Bowl crowd and one last chance for Penn State.

That was mistake No. 1 by Davis and his coaching staff.

"I got forced inside and I just held on tight and tried to keep my legs moving," Jackson said of his fourth-and-2 run. "The offense is going to have to come out and be stronger and finish stronger."

The second mistake came on the proceeding play.

Rather than sit back in zone coverage and keep everything in front of them, Davis again got Eastwood syndrome again and elected to play man coverage. It didn't take Penn State long to recognize it as quarterback Kevin Thompson connected with Chafie Fields for a 79-yard touchdown.

"It was just a big play," Thompson said. "We saw them in man (coverage) and were thinking of something big. (Chafie) made a great release on the ball. He did a great job breaking away from his defender and I laid it out there for him. He made a great catch and a great run. We had a two-play combo and it worked for us. They played a tough game and gave us a lot of trouble."

Just like that, the 'Canes went from salting away a victory to giving Penn State a tough game.

"I was a second away from sacking him and he got away," Miami linebacker Dan Morgan said of Thompson's touchdown toss to Fields. "We made a lot of good plays, but we just seemed to let up a couple times in key situations."

For all his hard work in turning around a program ravaged by probation, Davis blew it -- harder than any Category 5 hurricane possibly could. This was supposed to be Miami's wakeup call to the rest of college football. Instead, the alarm is still on snooze -- much like Davis and his staff were for the final two minutes.

Watching Miami's late lead slip away was too much for some Hurricanes, like tight end Daniel Franks, to watch.(AP)

"To be honest, I thought we'd make the first down," Davis said. "We made a call that we felt would give us two yards. The field goal would have been at a bad angle and our holder bobbled the extra point earlier, plus the ball was wet. So we didn't feel comfortable trying to kick it."

But what about the man-to-man coverage?

"We got beat," Davis said. "(Michael Rumph) got beat and the receiver made a great catch."

Said Penn State coach Joe Paterno: "We didn't know we were going to get a touchdown, but you got to loosen them up a little on a big play, and we scored on it. We didn't expect them to go for it. But when we saw their personnel on the sideline, we knew (the fourth-and-2) would determine the outcome of the game. I thought our defense was tight at the end, but you got to give Miami credit, they came to play."

This year marks JoePa's 50th year on the Penn State coaching staff. Throughout this season he's been showered with gifts.

Saturday, he got the biggest present of all. Courtesy of Butch Davis.