In the search for motivation, Miami finds it without awards

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Miami coach Larry Coker tossed the rolled-up pieces of paper to the ground and shook his head in disgust, reacting to a question about several of his players missing out on individual postseason awards.

Coker was exaggerating his displeasure, but by how much?

He told his players all year that if they remained unselfish and kept winning, individual honors would follow -- and he was wrong. The top-ranked Hurricanes (12-0), winners of 34 consecutive games and heavily favored to repeat as national champions, were nearly shut out in college football's postseason awards.

"Certainly I'm disappointed by it, and I know that they are disappointed by it, too," Coker said.

Uh, oh.

Now Miami, which plays better when cornered and typically pounds opponents when players can claim a "no-respect, us-against-the-world" mantra, has extra motivation against No. 2 Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.

"I wanted us to get totally shut out. Absolutely nothing," longtime offensive line coach Art Kehoe said. "I wanted us to go into that game against Ohio State completely angry and say, 'Bring it on.' We win 34 straight games and go something like 0-14 on national awards, that's great. Really great."

The Hurricanes actually only missed out on 11 postseason awards, including Coker's sixth-place finish in The Associated Press' college Coach of the Year voting.

Running back Willis McGahee and quarterback Ken Dorsey, two of five finalists for the Heisman Trophy, finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Even their combined votes wouldn't have been enough to beat out Southern California quarterback Carson Palmer for the award given annually to the nation's most outstanding player.

Dorsey finished two spots lower than he did last season, a drop that stunned Coker.

"I was more than surprised. I was shocked by it," Coker said. "He deserved better than that, in my opinion."

Dorsey, who threw for 3,073 yards and 26 touchdowns this season, also was a finalist for the Davey O'Brien and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm awards as the nation's top quarterback, the Maxwell Award as the nation's best all-around player, and the Walter Camp Player of the Year award.

McGahee, who ran for a school-record 1,686 yards and 27 touchdowns, also was a finalist for the Doak Walker Award as the nation's top running back and the Walter Camp Player of the Year award.

Kellen Winslow Jr., who caught 46 passes for 604 yards and seven touchdowns, was a finalist for the John Mackey Award as the nation's top tight end.

And Brett Romberg was a finalist for the Outland Trophy as the nation's best interior lineman and the Dave Rimington Trophy as the nation's top center.

"It's frustrating. Nobody wants to give us the credit we deserve," said Romberg, the only Miami player to win anything, picking up the Rimington Trophy.

"I don't want to say it's jealously because that's too strong a word, but what it comes down to is people think winning here comes too easy," athletic director Paul Dee said.

If it sounds like the Hurricanes are complaining, they are, and it's nothing new. They have talked about a lack of respect for three straight years.

They said it in 2000, after they beat Florida State and then had to watch the Seminoles play for the national championship. The bitterness of seeing Oklahoma celebrate a title stayed with the Hurricanes last season. They used it in practice, pregame warmups and halftime speeches, and it worked.

Adding to their resentment, they opened the 2001 season ranked behind Florida, a team they beat 37-20 in the Sugar Bowl about seven months earlier.

The result? A fifth national title.

Miami also claimed bias many times this season, especially in response to criticism of Dorsey and following a drop in the AP poll after a sluggish performance at Rutgers.

The result? The Canes beat Tennessee 26-3 in Knoxville the following week and went on to earn a return trip to national title game.

Even now, after getting nearly shut out in postseason awards, the Hurricanes aren't looking for sympathy. They know they play better when threatened, and they also know that winning 34 games in a row makes it tough to get up for every game -- even if they are trying to become just the second team in the last 20 years to repeat as national champions.

So they will use everything they can as motivation.

"It's not too often that the No. 1 team in the country gets left out of everything," Dorsey said. "We almost feel like there's a lack of respect for the University of Miami, and we want to earn (it) back."