Miami Won’t Stop and Smell These Roses

These weren’t the finest of roses, the ones presented in a bouquet by the Rose Queen and officials of the Rose Bowl. These roses resembled the kind you buy at the last second, at the grocery store or in a vending machine. But, amid a sellout crowd of 78,114 waving such banners as “We Smell Roses” and “California Here We Come,” the Miami players were more than happy to grab a handful of roses and wave them during the fourth quarter of the Hurricanes’ 65-7 demolition of Washington on Saturday.

“We got rid of those in a hurry,” Miami Coach Larry Coker said Sunday.

The top-ranked Hurricanes are one victory away from their first trip to the Rose Bowl, and a spot in the national championship game there Jan. 3.

If the Hurricanes win at No. 14 Virginia Tech this week, Miami is in, and then Coker will allow his players to smell the roses.

The Hurricanes have lost their last three games at Virginia Tech--no current Miami player has won there--but in the last two games the Hurricanes have beaten two other Top 20 teams by a combined score of 124-7.

Though Miami plays its home games in tropical conditions, Coker abruptly dismissed any suggestion that a chilly Virginia climate this week could derail the Hurricanes’ championship express.

“If we can’t play if it’s a little cold for three hours and seven minutes, we don’t deserve to go to Pasadena,” Coker said.