That magical season that was near perfection. It started with a bang, a shocking blowout of nationaly ranked PSU, and ended likewise with a similar dismantling of a Nebraska team that didn’t even stand a chance. Along the way the 2001 Miami Hurricanes football team faced near defeat, and set the record for largest margin of victory against two consecutive ranked opponents (124-7 against #14 Syracuse and #12 Washington), but it ended with these Hurricanes being consider one of the best teams in all of college football history, and some even say the best team.
The previous season Miami had been inexplicably left out of the National Title game. This despite having beat Florida State (the team that went in their stead) earlier in the season, and being ranked ahead of them in both polls (this led to some changes in the BCS formula). The Seminoles would go on to play the Oklahoma Sooners in the Orange Bowl, and lose 13-2. Though bringing back essentially the same core of players who had gone 11-1 the previous season (including a blow-out victory against the Florida Gators in the Sugar Bowl), there was one noticeable difference: Butch Davis was in the NFL, coaching the Browns. Taking the reigns as a head coach for the first time, with a team with high National Championship aspirations, Larry Coker would find a comfortable spot upon the hot seat for his entire career.
