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Canes Rout Marshall To Give Shannon 1st Win

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By CHRISTOPHER STOCK, Tribune correspondent

Published: September 2, 2007

MIAMI - Not only did Randy Shannon not trip, he began his head coaching career with a win.

With running backs Graig Cooper and Javarris James combining to rush for 215 yards and two touchdowns, the University of Miami defeated Marshall 31-3 Saturday in Shannon's head coaching debut with his alma mater.

'I didn't get nervous for some reason,' Shannon said. 'The only thing I was worried about was tripping out of the tunnel.'

Cooper, a freshman, led Miami with 116 yards on 12 carries. His 56-yard run set up James' second touchdown of the game.

'I changed my expectations last night,' Cooper said. 'I told God to bless me and let me have an all right game. I don't want no big game and have all this hype around me.'

James, a sophomore who led the Canes with 802 yards rushing last season, ran for 99 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. He had a 5-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and an 8-yard run in the third quarter.

'I thought that was great,' Shannon said of the running back rotation. 'Both of those guys had close to 100 yards, and that reminded me of the days with Edgerrin James and Clinton Portis, Portis and Willis McGahee, and Willis and Frank Gore. When you have that kind of combination you feel great about it.'

On defense, Miami intercepted four passes and recorded six sacks.

Tavares Gooden and Spencer Adkins intercepted passes, becoming the first Hurricanes linebacker teammates to get their first interceptions in the same game since Nov. 24, 2001 against Washington.

'That was really rare, but those guys did a nice job,' Shannon said.

Calais Campbell, an All-America candidate at defensive end, also intercepted the first pass of his career.

'That was unbelievable,' Shannon said. 'He read the screen, and that is just something he has to step up and do.'

Francesco Zampogna, a sixth-year walk-on senior, converted a 34-yard field goal on Miami's first possession of the game. He missed a 44-yarder later in the game.

Gooden, playing middle linebacker for the first time in his career, returned an interception 35 yards to the 1-yard line to set up a touchdown pass to DajLeon Farr, his first career touchdown reception. Gooden snagged the ball just before it hit the ground, but the play was not reviewed. After the extra point, Miami led 10-0.

'I was trying to get in that end zone, thinking about how we've had so many opportunities and haven't made them,' said Gooden, who finished with a team-high nine tackles. 'So I got as much as I can to try to help the offense out to get some points on the board.'

Later in the first quarter, Marshall faced fourth-and-inches from the 8-yard line, and Coach Mark Snyder decided to go for it instead of kicking a field goal. A quarterback sneak was unsuccessful.

The Hurricanes made it 17-0 after a 5-yard touchdown run by James following the interception by Campbell. The 6-foot-8 defensive end dropped back and tipped a pass to himself.

After James' second touchdown of the game capped a four-play 70-yard drive in the third quarter, Miami led 24-0.

Marshall avoided the shutout when Anthony Binswanger kicked a 37-yard field goal with 13:37 left in the game.

Chris Zellner recovered a fumble on the goal line by teammate Jerrell Mabry for Miami's final score of the game.

Marshall quarterback Bernard Morris completed 16 of 26 passes for 162 yards, but he threw three interceptions and was sacked five times.

Marshall amassed just 51 yards on the ground on 32 carries. Miami set a school record last season, allowing just 67.8 yards a game.

Miami travels to No. 9 Oklahoma Saturday.

'Oklahoma is a great team,' Shannon said. 'But I am not going to sit up here and tell you that we cannot go out and beat Oklahoma. I have confidence in this football team.'

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