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Miami Hurricanes' Jacory Harris as sharp as a surgeon's scalpel
Jacory Harris, cool under pressure, has his sights on four consecutive victories against ranked teams -- something no UM quarterback has done.
He played patiently and poised when the pressure was on in Tallahassee.
Thursday night, Jacory Harris was practically perfect for four quarters.
With surgeon-like precision, he sliced and diced Georgia Tech's defense. Harris connected with nine different receivers for 270 yards and three touchdowns, completing 20 of his 25 pass attempts.
Two of those incompletions were drops.
Another was a ball intended for Leonard Hankerson in the end zone and was mistakingly gloved by 6-8, 260-pound tight end Jimmy Graham, who skied to try and catch it.
Not a bad encore to his first start against Florida State on Labor Day night when he threw for a school-record 386 yards, two touchdowns and engineered three comebacks in the second half.
``Jacory has confidence in this football team, the guys protecting him and his receivers,'' UM coach Randy Shannon said.:00hour
``When you have confidence like he does, the sky is the limit. Without the pass protection he had against guys like [Derrick] Morgan, he wouldn't have had the success he had. He did a great job using the guys around him.''
Thursday, he took his first snap trailing 3-0. The Canes' deficit lasted exactly one minute and 39 seconds.
After Harris' first pass was dropped, his second found Leonard Hankerson over the middle on third and 10 for a 35-yard gain. His next pass went for six when LaRon Byrd snatched a beautifully timed deep ball out of the air 40-yards down field and leaped into the end zone.
The Canes never trailed again.
Heisman winner Gino Torretta, honored at halftime for his selection into the College Football Hall of Fame, pointed out before the game that Harris is facing something no other UM quarterback has ever had to before: four games to open the season against a ranked opponent.
Harris is halfway to accomplishing what no one expected from that challenge -- a 4-0 start.
Harris wasn't just calm in the pocket. He took every possible second he was given by a UM offensive line that didn't give up a sack. That included Morgan, who had five sacks in his first two games but barely breathed on Harris at all.:SIB
``Early in the game I saw [Derrick Morgan] coming from the side,'' Harris said. ``Then I saw they picked him up. I didn't worry about looking at the defensive line the rest of the game.''
With the protection, Harris didn't just find open receivers, but players who could do something with the ball once they caught it.
On UM's second scoring drive, Harris converted three third downs -- finding Travis Benjamin for five yards when he needed five and Byrd for six yards when he needed four.
On third-and-1 at the Georgia Tech 13, he let the pressure come to him, then fluttered a perfect touchdown pass to a wide open Dedrick Epps, who skipped into the end zone with 13:33 left in the half.
On UM's third drive, he was a perfect 3 of 3 for 51 yards before Graham interferred with what could have been a touchdown pass to Hankerson in the end zone. UM settled for a field goal and 17-3 lead.
On the opening possession of the second half, he was again 3 for 3 and set up Javarris James' 3-yard touchdown run with a 14-yard pass to fullback Tervaris Johnson. When Georgia Tech scored to pull within 24-10, Harris answered again.
On UM's ensuing nine-play, 52-yard scoring drive, he had a 33-yard pass to Byrd wiped out by penalty. But his next three passes went for 13, 10 and 14 yards -- Graham hauling in the last one -- for a touchdown.
``I already know what's in Jacory. He's a leader,'' safety Randy Phillips said. ``. . . You might as well compare him to Tom Brady. I say Jacory Harris for Heisman.''
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OK here is our QB on Saturday afternoon. The winning QB.
It seems simple enough
