Canes Greatest Comeback Win

Berlin turns nightmares into heroics for No. 3 Miami

MIAMI — Late in the third quarter of Saturday night's game at the Orange Bowl against Florida, some Hurricanes fans obviously wanted a change. Quarterback Brock Berlin was struggling in his first outing before the home crowd, the Hurricanes were down 33-10, their 22-game home winning streak in serious jeopardy and their 33-game regular-season victory skein just about gone.

Miami wide receiver Ryan Moore bows to the crowd after scoring the winning, fourth-quarter touchdown against Florida.

Berlin, who started his career at Florida before transferring and sitting out last season, had thrown interceptions on the two previous possessions. In the first half, he had thrown a lateral behind running back Frank Gore, which was returned by Keiwan Ratliff for a Gators touchdown.




As Berlin came on the field with the Hurricanes down by 23, he was booed, perhaps by fans wanting to see backup Derrick Crudup replace him.

Little more than a quarter of football later, Berlin was saluted by a roaring, celebrating crowd. Miami's 38-33 victory had stamped him a hero.

The key to the turnaround?

"I just focused on getting things going," he said. "I think there were probably some emotions from it being a big game. It was a tough start, but I was able to push through it and lean on my teammates. They did an incredible job. They made huge plays."

On the next two Miami possessions, Berlin completed eight consecutive passes for 142 yards. He finished with 340 passing yards and two touchdown tosses, completing 27 of 41 passes.

"Things were going terrible until we finally started getting things going," he said.

Hurricanes coach Larry Coker dismissed the possibility of switching to Crudup.

"It wouldn't be the right thing to do at the time," he said. "Obviously, Brock finished it and had a great game. I told our team I've been around coaching a long time, this is my 34th year, but I've never seen character displayed like I did tonight from a football team. There were many times we didn't do things very well. We could have folded up and quit. But we never, never, never gave up, and I was very, very proud of that."

Behind by such a large margin, Miami went to a hurry-up offense, calling plays at the line of scrimmage. Florida was immediately on its heels and never recovered.

"We needed to score some points, obviously, so we went to the two-minute (offense)," said Berlin. "That's something we really worked hard on over the spring and summer so we really felt comfortable out there. I think this is the most satisfying win I've ever had."

Berlin's arm led the comeback, but his feet provided one of the biggest plays. He rolled out and picked up a first down on a fourth-and-1 call to keep the winning drive going. Then he hobbled to the sideline during a timeout.

"Both my calves started cramping," he said. "When I rolled out, I thought for a second I wasn't going to be able to get the first down. But I was able to, and our trainers did a good job getting the cramps out.

"This was a confidence booster for me and to show my teammates I'm the biggest competitor out there. I do whatever it takes to win. It was a great way to show them I'm a fighter."

Berlin said even facing the big deficit, the Hurricanes remained positive.

"The thought never crossed our minds that we were going to lose," he said. "So we said 'Let's go back and play. They're not going to come in our home stadium like that and beat us.'

"I can't even explain my emotions. I'm so thankful that I'm here at Miami and able to be part of such a great program and be around such great coaches and teammates. I'm proud to be a Hurricane."