The 2009 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the Hurricanes' 84th season of football and 6th as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Hurricanes were led by third-year head coach Randy Shannon and played their home games at Land Shark Stadium. They finished the season 9–4 overall and 5–3 in the ACC to finish in third place in the Coastal Division. They were invited to the Champs Sports Bowl where they lost to Wisconsin, 20–14.
Pre-season In the offseason three quarterbacks transferred, including last season's starter Robert Marve. The moves left sophomore Jacory Harris as the starter and true freshman A.J. Highsmith as the backup. The Hurricanes' staff also saw turnover, with a new offensive coordinator Mark Whipple, known for his pro-style offense and a new defensive coordinator, John Lovett.
On December 29, 2008, Miami fired offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Patrick Nix, two days after the Emerald Bowl. The following day, redshirt freshman quarterback Robert Marve, who had been suspended from the Emerald Bowl due to academic reasons, was granted conditional release from his scholarship and announced he would be transferring. Marve had started 11 of 13 games for Miami in 2008, and his transfer would result in true freshman Jacory Harris officially becoming the team's starting quarterback for 2009. Harris had played in all 13 games in 2008, starting in two of them.
On January 20, 2009, defensive coordinator Bill Young announced his leaving Miami to become the defensive coordinator of his alma mater, Oklahoma State University. This left Shannon with the task of having to replace two coordinators in the same off-season.
Shannon made the first hire on January 27, when Mark Whipple was hired to be the team's new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, as well as being named assistant head coach. On February 12, John Lovett was hired as the team's new defensive coordinator.
Miami began spring practice on February 24, and held their spring game on March 28.
Practice for the fall began on August 8. Several injuries occurred during practices; defensive end Adewale Ojomo suffered a broken jaw during a locker room incident that could have kept him out of the whole season. Defensive end Eric Moncur visited a specialist in Philadelphia on August 19 to have a groin injury examined and was held out of some practices, while defensive end Gavin Hardin was held out of camp with an unknown injury.Miami Herald
On August 25, backup quarterbacks Taylor Cook and Cannon Smith both announced that they had requested and obtained a release for transfer to other schools. This left true freshman A.J. Highsmith as the second team backup to Jacory Harris.
Roster changes Starting tight end Dedrick Epps suffered a torn ACL in practices leading up to the Emerald Bowl in December 2008, keeping him out of spring practice. Jimmy Graham, a former forward on the Miami basketball team, announced in April that he would be joining the football team for the 2009 season as a tight end. Graham had not played football since high school.
Due to lack of depth at the cornerback position, receiver Sam Shields and safety Ryan Hill were moved to cornerback before the start of spring, where they would remain for 2009. Defensive end Allen Bailey was moved permanently to defensive tackle, and safety CJ Holton was moved from safety to linebacker. Several players from 2008 either transferred or left the team, including quarterback Robert Marve, receiver Jermaine McKenzie, running back Shawnbrey McNeal, and offensive lineman Christopher Barney.
On February 6, Miami announced its 2009 recruiting class, of which there were 19 members, and six of whom were early enrollees who participated in spring practice. Two signees failed to qualify: offensive tackle Malcolm Bunche and defensive back Prince Kent.
Recruiting class of 2009 Name Pos Ht Wt Hometown High school/prep school/junior collegeRay Ray Armstrong S 6-4 218 Sanford, Florida Sanford Seminole HS Malcolm Bunche OT 6-6 315 Newark, Delaware Newark HS Dyron Dye DE 6-4 215 Sanford, Florida Sanford Seminole HS Shayon Green LB 6-2 225 Tifton, Georgia Tifton County HS A.J. Highsmith QB 6-0 186 Ft. Bend, Texas Hightower HS Mike James RB 5-11 211 Davenport, Florida Davenport Ridge HS Jermaine Johnson OT 6-6 309 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida St. Thomas Aquinas HS/Hargrave Military Academy Prince Kent S 6-3 195 Norcross, Georgia Norcross HS Brandon McGee CB 5-11 186 Lauderhill, Florida Plantation HS Lamar Miller RB 5-11 205 Miami, Florida Killian HS Stephen Plein TE 6-6 240 Ft. Myers, Florida Ft. Myers HS Curtis Porter DT 6-2 334 Charlotte, North Carolina Victory Christian HS Jamal Reid CB 6-1 175 Mayo, Florida Lafayette HS Luther Robinson DT 6-3 280 Ft. Pierce, Florida Westwood HS Billy Sanders TE 6-4 235 Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Lake City HS Olivier Vernon DE 6-3 239 Miami, Florida American HS Brandon Washington OG 6-5 330 Miami, Florida Northwestern HS/Milford Prep Jared Wheeler OG 6-5 310 Plantation, Florida American Heritage HS Cory White OT 6-4 225 Jacksonville, Florida Fleming Island HS
Schedule
Regular season
#19 Florida State
The Hurricanes' first game was against Florida State. The lead changed seven times during the game, and Miami won 38–34. The outcome was in doubt until the final play of the game when a pass from Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder bounced incomplete in the Hurricanes' end zone. Miami quarterback Jacory Harris, in only his third career start, completed 21 of 34 passes for 386 yards and 2 touchdowns against 2 interceptions. In the process, Harris set the record for most passing yards by a Miami quarterback against Florida State. Harris also rushed for a touchdown.
A seesaw first half saw the Hurricanes take a 14–10 lead to the locker room on the strength of a 39-yard touchdown pass from Harris to Travis Benjamin and a 6-yard touchdown run by Javarris James. In the third quarter, Florida State outscored Miami 13–3 to take a 23–17 lead heading into a back-and-forth fourth quarter.
Harris put the Hurricanes back in front early in the fourth with a 1-yard touchdown off a quarterback sneak, but the lead was short-lived. On the Hurricanes' next possession, Harris was hit as he released the ball and was intercepted by defensive end Markus White, who returned the interception 31 yards for a Florida State touchdown. Florida State then successfully converted a two-point attempt, making up for an earlier missed extra point, and took a 31–24 lead. Harris responded by orchestrating a 10-play, 73-yard drive that culminated with a 24-yard game-tying touchdown pass to Graig Cooper. Florida State then came back ahead with a 44-yard field goal. Losing by 3, Miami took possession with 4 minutes 11 seconds remaining and after a series of short gains, crossed into Florida State territory. On second-and-five from the Florida State 43-yard line, Harris threw a 40-yard pass to Benjamin, who was able to get behind double coverage, catch the ball in stride near the left sideline, and get one foot down before his momentum took him out of bounds at the 3. Cooper rushed 3 yards for a touchdown on the next play, putting the Hurricanes back in front, 38–34, with less than 2 minutes to play.
A 15-yard penalty for excessive celebration and a short kickoff allowed Florida State to start its final drive at the Miami 49-yard line. A 30-yard rush by Ponder on third-and-three gave Florida State a first down from the Miami 12-yard line, and an 8-yard pass brought Florida State down to the Miami 4-yard line. After Ponder was stopped in the backfield for a 1-yard loss on second down and Miami was called for pass interference on third down, Florida State was set up with first-and-goal at the Miami 2-yard line with 14 seconds remaining. The Miami defense, however, made a goal line stand and forced two successive incompletions, both intended for Jarmon Fortson. With 5 seconds remaining, Florida State had time for one play. Ponder took the snap from the shotgun formation, rolled right, and, under pressure, fired a low pass to Fortson, who was unable to corral the ball before it short-hopped off the end zone turf as time expired.
In recognition of their performances, Harris was named ACC Offensive Back of the Week and Brandon Harris was selected as ACC Defensive Back of the Week.
#13 Georgia Tech
Ten days after their win over Florida State, Miami faced off against Georgia Tech, who had won four consecutive games against the Hurricanes. the previous season, the Hurricanes gave up 472 yards on the ground (most given up by the school since 1944) in a loss 41–23, removing them from ACC Championship contention. Georgia Tech won the coin toss and settled for a 32-yard field goal. Miami then proceeded to score on their first three possessions (Harris threw a 40-yard throw to WR LaRon Byrd, 18-yard throw to TE Dedrick Epps and Matt Bosher converted a FG). The Hurricanes led 17–3 at the end of the half.
Javarris James controlled the opening Hurricane drive of the half, first catching a ball for three yards, running for 14, 6 and then 3 to score. The Yellow Jackets' Anthony Allen also had a 3-yard after Georgia Tech QB Josh Nesbitt threw a 39-yard pass to WR Demaryius Thomas. Harris threw his third TD of the night, this time to TE Jimmy Graham for a 31–13 score and the resulting kickoff by Alex Uribe resulted in good field position for the Hurricanes' defense. Restricted by their own 23, Georgia Tech lost 23 yards, which resulted in a safety. The fourth quarter featured the Hurricanes running the ball and Bosher missed FGs for 26 and 31. Newsbitt threw his only TD pass of the night to Thomas for 56 yards. With the 33–17 win, for the first time since 1988, Miami opened their season with back-to-back wins against ranked opponents.
The school improved to 14–2 overall and 10–0 at home on Thursday nights. After the large amount of rushing yardage given up in last year's contest, Miami managed to give up 95, 228 total against the Yellow Jackets' triple option. The Hurricanes' defense also contained the ailing preseason All-American and reigning ACC Player of the Year running back Jonathan Dwyer (who had a shoulder injury). Dwyer finished with 7 yards on five carries. With 270 yards and 3 touchdowns, Harris was named ACC Offensive Back of the Week for the second time of the season.
#12 Virginia Tech
At Lane Stadium, the Hurricanes were unable to get on track against the Virginia Tech defense, losing their first game of the year, 31–7. Jacory Harris struggled with both the wet conditions and the Hokie pass rush, going 9 for 25 for 150 yards with 1 interception and 1 fumble, while the Miami defense was unable to stop the Virginia Tech rushing attack, which achieved 272 yards on 55 attempts. A strip-sack of Harris on Miami's first possession of the game set-up Virginia Tech's first touchdown, and a 48-yard touchdown pass from Tyrod Taylor on the Hokies' next series put the Hurricanes at 14–0 at the end of the first quarter. On The Hurricanes' team Matt Bosher's punt was blocked and returned 1-yard for a Virginia Tech touchdown. The Hurricanes scored a quick touchdown on its opening drive and forcing a three-and-out on Virginia Tech's next possession. Down 21–7, Harris then drove the Hurricanes into Virginia Tech territory, but several critical drops by tight end Jimmy Graham defeated the drive and the Hurricanes would not threaten again for the rest of the game.
#8 Oklahoma