The Coker Era: The Ten Best Wins

1. Miami 26 Tennessee 3 (2002)

The Hurricanes were being written off by media pundits coming into this game in Knoxville after three lackluster wins in a row, but Coker got his team focused and motivated and after a big run on the first series of the game the Vols never crossed the Miami 40 yard line again. Willis McGahee had a 154 yards rushing and Todd Sievers made 4 of 5 field goal attempts as the Canes humbled the arrogant Vols on Rocky top.

2. Miami 27 Virginia Tech 7 (2005)

How quickly we forget how well Coker's team played against the #3 ranked team in the nation on the road just last year. Despite losing Tyrone Moss and Devin Hester early to injuries and having to play with Kirby Freeman for a few series the Canes ball control running game was fantastic and the Defense single handedly ended Marcus Vick's Heisman Campaign. A sweet victory for Coker but after this game it was all downhill for Larry.

3. Miami 41 Florida 16 (2002)

It's amazing when you look back at this game that Florida was actually a two point favorite. Willis McGahee rushed for over 200 yards and Jason Geathers scored twice as the Canes routed the Gators in the Swamp. Ken Dorsey had a so so game tossing one interception that Bam Hardmon returned for a UF TD, tossing another INT in the endzone and another INT inside the Gator 5. However those turnovers didn't matter, except that UM could have padded the score further against Ron Zook's inept bunch.

4. Miami 31 Virginia 21 (2004)

Anybody who believes Larry Coker can't coach needs to watch the film of this game. Virginia was favored at home, was ranked higher and quite frankly had better talent. But in this game, Coker pushed the right buttons in what many UVA fans called their program's biggest game ever. The best call was on a 4th down late in the game when Coker sent Jon Peattie on to kick a 49 yd FG that would have given the Canes a 27-21 lead and then he called a timeout, sent the offense back on the field and saw Brock Berlin throw a perfect 31 yard TD pass to Roscoe Parrish. Coker used to coach like Steve Spurrier, but this year alas he lost that edge and coached not to lose.

5. Miami 65 Washington 7 (2001)

The scoreline says it all. A thrashing of U Dub in a payback game for both 1994 and 2000.

6. Miami 41 Louisville 38 (2004)

Devin Hester and Brock Berlin can be blamed for keeping Louisville out of the BCS that year and getting Utah and Urban Meyer in. For those Kyle Wright apologists who blame everyone from receivers to coaching, Brock Berlin proved in this game alone you could put up big numbers throwing to Darnell Jenkins, Akeim Jolla, Greg Olsen and Lance Leggett while Dan Werner was calling the plays. Berlin was dialed in the whole second half as was Devin Hester who had two huge returns (and one that was nullified by a strange call) as the Canes erased a 17 point third quarter deficit for the win.

7. Miami 38 Florida 33 (2003)

"The Miracle in Miami" has taken on legendary status in the months and years that followed the game but one very critical aspect is lost. Larry Coker who in the last two years as Miami coach forgot how to make adjustments, made the ultimate in game adjustment, placing Brock Berlin in the shotgun. Kevin Beard had a career game as the Canes erased a 23 point third quarter deficit and beat Ron Zook's inept Gator team once again.

8. Miami 28 Pittsburgh 10 (2003)

Some people forget how difficult it is for South Florida boys to play in the snow particularly when a championship is on the line for both schools. The weather was awful that night at Heinz Stadium but Antrel Rolle absolutely shut down Larry Fitzgerald in this prime time ABC matchup for the Big East title and Brock Berlin solved his year long interception woes in a huge, often forgotten win for the Canes.

9. Miami 33 Penn State 7 (2001)

Larry Coker's first win was special because he beat the then all time winningest coach Joe Paterno in primetime in front of 106,000 people. Clinton Portis had 164 yards rushing as the Canes avenged what was a stinging last minute loss two years earlier at the hands of Penn State.

10. Miami 17 Boston College 14 (2006)

Okay, this probably doesn't deserve to be on the list especially since I did not include any of Coker's 5 wins versus rival FSU. However it is sentimental and Coker, probably knowing he'd be fired the next day still did a masterful job of talking down Kirby Freeman after he threw a horrible INT that was returned for a TD. Freeman came back and led the Canes to a victory, and now has one more comeback victory against ranked teams and ACC teams than does Kyle Wright.