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Virginia embarrasses Miami in last game in Orange Bowl

Nov 11, 2007 - 5:28 AM MIAMI (Ticker) -- On a night when Miami celebrated its storied history, the current version of the Hurricanes gave their fans absolutely no reason to cheer.

Jameel Sewell threw a touchdown pass and also ran for a score Saturday night as No. 23 Virginia blanked Miami, 48-0, in the last game the Hurricanes will play in the Orange Bowl.

It was the most lopsided shutout loss in Miami's 71-year history at the Orange Bowl, topping the Hurricanes' 44-0 drubbing at the hands of Notre Dame on December 1, 1973. The Hurricanes had not been shut out since a 47-0 loss to Florida State on October 4, 1997.

The crowd of 62,106 also was treated to Miami's worst home loss since a 70-14 loss to Texas A&M on December 8, 1944.

"I feel very bad and disappointed for the city of Miami, Dade County and the University of Miami," Hurricanes coach Randy Shannon said. "I was expecting a better turnout from us as a team and I'm disappointed, because it hurts.

"The fans were out tonight, the atmosphere was right. But we just couldn't get anything started."

The Hurricanes won three of their five national championships at the Orange Bowl and compiled an NCAA-record 58-game winning streak here from 1985 to 1994.

But Miami fell in embarrassing fashion Saturday night, reflecting a program which currently is a far cry from the national powerhouse which dominated college football for the better part of two decades.

"It's a bitter loss," Shannon said. "A tough one, especially with it being the last one in the Orange Bowl - and you lose 48-0. It's very tough. I'm not making excuses for anybody. The coaching staff and myself, we have to get these guys back and going."

The capacity crowd, which included various former Miami stars, was treated to the Hurricanes' first shutout loss at home since a 3-0 defeat to Auburn on October 3, 1974.

The Hurricanes, who will play their home games at Dolphin Stadium next season, finished with an all-time record of 318-143-7 at the Orange Bowl.

"It is kind of shocking," Miami lineman Derrick Morse said. "Virginia played a great game. I'm not taking anything away from them, but we played really bad."

Appropriately enough, the Hurricanes exited the Orange Bowl with their third straight home loss - their longest losing streak here since a three-game skid in 1996.

"I'm disappointed that we couldn't get it done tonight," Miami quarterback Kyle Wright said. "We haven't gotten it done all year. It was such a historic night, the last game at the Orange Bowl for all of the players and the fans. For us not to play well and get it done, it's the worst loss I probably ever had to deal with."

Miami (5-5, 2-4 ACC Coastal) managed just nine first downs and 189 yards of total offense while committing five turnovers en route its fourth loss in five games.

Conversely, the surging Cavaliers (9-2, 6-1 Coastal) cruised to their ninth win in their last 10 games and remained one-half game ahead of Virginia Tech (8-2, 5-1) in the Coastal Division standings.

"This stadium has been a wonderful place for football," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "My team was very mindful of some of the great performances individually and team-wise that have occurred in this stadium, and we tried to set it as a standard of performance tonight."

Sewell finished 20-for-25 for 188 yards and an interception. Mikell Simpson ran for 93 yards and a pair of scores for Virginia, which rolled up 418 yards of total offense.

The Cavaliers went ahead, 7-0, just 6 1/2 minutes into the contest when Sewell hooked up with Maurice Covington for a 29-yard TD.

Keith Payne, Sewell and Simpson all scored on short runs over an 11-minute span bridging the first and second quarters to give Virginia a 31-0 halftime advantage.

"We knew what we were up against," Sewell said. "We knew they were a good team that has great athletes, and we just wanted to make sure we were able to play our ball and keep going down there and scoring."

"We knew that the only thing that was going to determine the outcome was what happened in between the white lines," Groh said. "So obviously our team was very focused as far as what we had to do in that circumstance."