Kickoff Countdown: 11 Best Games Since 2000, Hurricane Warning

In the first six years of the Bowl Championship Series, Miami became a fixture. The Hurricanes won four consecutive Big East Conference championships from 2000 through 2003, thus playing in four BCS bowls. The U was a national heavyweight that gained the Big East respect. However, its exit to the Atlantic Coast Conference prior to the 2004 season had the Big East in a precarious position.

Among the programs the Big East looked to for restructuring and thus maintaining its BCS status was Louisville. With some football history and a string of recent success, UL made for an obvious candidate. And before making that move to automatic qualifier status, the Cardinals were a dark horse candidate to become the first BCS buster, representing Conference USA.

To do that though, the Cardinals would have to beat Miami. In the Orange Bowl. Something only Tennessee had managed to accomplish during the Hurricanes’ four-year run of dominance.

The odds were stacked heavily against UL, but Bobby Petrino’s bunch came into Coral Gables swinging.

A two-headed backfield of Lionel Gates and Eric Shelton came at the vaunted Hurricane defense early, and often. UL would carry the ball 41 times with five different rushers, surpassing 200 yards against a Hurricane defense that had made stopping the rush its hallmark.

And by putting those cracks in the Miami wall, it opened up an early flood of Cardinal scoring. UL poured on 24 first half points, including two touchdown passes by quarterback Stefan LeFors. Meanwhile, the defensive roles reversed as UL put a stop to Brock Berlin and the ‘Cane offense.

Miami managed just seven points through the initial 36 minutes, and headed into the Orange Bowl locker room down three scores. Suddenly that BCS buster label looked mighty fitting the red-and-white.

The U would start the second half with the first strike to double its point total, but UL answered almost immediately — 3:09 later, in fact — via LeFors’ third scoring strike.

Government officials bickering over debt ceilings may want to examine the Hurricanes’ systematic chipping away at its deficit, which began late in the third quarter. Miami re-answered with a Berlin touchdown pass, which began a deluge of Hurricane scores.

UL was seeing what so many others who came to Coral Gables discovered in the 1980s, early 1990s and again in the early 2000s: The U can score in bunches, and quickly.

Miami racked up 20 consecutive points over less than 11 minutes of game time. Many college basketball teams aspire for such offensive potency. The cherry on top of Miami’s run was Devin Hester giving NFL fans a glimpse of what he would do better on Sundays than anyone: immediately change the complexion of a game on special teams.

Hester electrified the Orange Bowl and gave The U its first lead since the opening quarter, running back a UL punt 78 yards.

UL managed to shake loose the cobwebs and answer on the ensuing possession, and take the lead 38-34 on a Gates touchdown. Thus, the stage was set for perhaps the best finish of the 2004 season.

With four minutes left and its unbeaten record at stake, UL failed once again to contain Hester. In retrospect given all the NFL special teams coverages he’s embarrassed it’s more understandable. But on this Thursday night, the Cardinals were wearing serious egg on their face when they surrendered 34 yards on the kickoff.

The return gave Berlin a short field to work with, and in nine plays he had the ‘Canes on the goal line. That’s when Frank Gore punched in the final score, the epic capper to a 34-point second half and the coup de grace on Miami’s comeback.

The loss was Louisville’s only defeat of the season. UL would finish its C-USA run conference champions, and top Boise State in a classic Liberty Bowl. Miami, seemingly headed back into the BCS Championship race, would go .500 in its remaining regular season contests.

UL would also get some Orange Bowl redemption, defeating Wake Forest there in the 2007 installment of that particular bowl game. Conversely Miami has yet to return to the BCS since then.