The 2005 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

during the

2005 NCAA Division I-A football season The 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on September 1, 2005 and ended on De ...

. It was the Hurricanes' 80th season of football and 2nd as a member of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

. The Hurricanes were led by fifth-year head coach

Larry Coker Larry Edward Coker (born June 23, 1948) is a former American football coach and player. He previously served as the head coach of the University of Miami and the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Coker's 2001 Miami Hurricanes football ...

and played their home games at the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

. They finished the season 9–3 overall and 6–2 in the ACC to finish in second place in the Coastal Division. They were invited to the

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially re ...

where they lost to

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, 40–3.

Season

Miami dropped its first game of the season at archrival

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

, 10–7, when punter/ holder Brian Monroe

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

d the snap on a 28-yard game-tying

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

attempt by kicker Jon Peattie with 2:16 left to play in the fourth quarter. Despite gaining 313 yards of offense to Florida State's 170, Miami lost to its archrival for the first time since 1999 (6 straight wins by Miami). The three turnovers, two missed field goals, and a muffed hold on the game-tying field goal attempt were also a contributing factor in the outcome for Miami. The Hurricanes rebounded by winning 8 straight games (including a 27–7 win over previously unbeaten

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

in Blacksburg) and climbed to the #3 spot in both polls. However, any hopes of a sixth national championship were dashed when the Hurricanes were upset, 14–10, by

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

at home on November 19 (the game was originally scheduled for October 22, but was postponed in the wake of

Hurricane Wilma Hurricane Wilma was an extremely intense and destructive Atlantic hurricane which was the most intense storm of its kind and the second-most intense tropical cyclone recorded in the Western Hemisphere, after Hurricane Patricia in 2015. Part ...

). The Miami offense, which had problems all season, sputtered badly against Georgia Tech and

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Kyle Wright Kyle Wright (born October 18, 1984) is a former American football quarterback. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2008 and was also a member of the San Francisco 49ers. He played college football at the Universi ...

was booed continuously during the second half of the game by the Orange Bowl crowd for his ineffective play. The loss also knocked Miami out of a spot in the inaugural

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

Championship Game. Miami finished the regular season at 9–2 (6–2 ACC), ranked #9 in both polls, and received an invitation to return to the

to face the 10th-ranked

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a ...

. However, this trip to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

was much different from the Hurricanes' last visit, as Wright and the Miami offense struggled, and the defense, which had been the top-ranked defense in

Division I-A The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

for most of the season, was shredded by the LSU offense. Miami was routed, 40–3, in the worst-bowl loss in the program's history. The 'Canes finished the 2005 campaign with a 9–3 record and ranked #18/17 (USA Today/AP).

Aftermath

Coker's three-loss seasons at Miami were viewed as failures, and the season-opening loss to FSU and the bowl loss to LSU made the 2005 campaign particularly difficult for alumni and fans of the proud program to swallow. The Hurricane offense had been the center of criticism all season long (as well as during the two previous seasons). In particular, offensive coordinator Dan Werner, offensive line coach Art Kehoe, and quarterback Kyle Wright were assigned most of the blame. In the aftermath of the Peach Bowl loss, head coach

fired four assistants: Werner, Kehoe, running backs coach Don Soldinger, and linebacker coach Vernon Hargreaves. Kehoe's firing was particularly controversial, as he had been with the program as a player and then a coach for over 25 years and took part in all five of Miami's national championships. With Miami failing to win a conference championship or go to a BCS bowl the previous two years and not having won a national championship since 2001, it was widely assumed that Coker would enter the 2006 season on the hot seat and need to take Miami to a BCS bowl to keep his job.

Schedule

Awards and honors

First Team All-Americans

Kelly Jennings Kelly Jarrod Jennings (born November 30, 1982) is a former American football cornerback. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Miami. Early years Jennings ...

, CB (''Sports Illustrated'') *Brandon Meriweather, FS (

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

ABC Sports ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

) *

Eric Winston Eric Joseph Winston (born November 17, 1983) is a former American football offensive tackle. He played in college at the University of Miami and was drafted by the Houston Texans in the third round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Winston has also play ...

, LT (

Walter Camp Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of foo ...

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

, ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'')

All-ACC Selections (First Team)

Devin Hester Devin Devorris Hester Sr. (born November 4, 1982) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL). He is widely regarded as the greatest return specialist i ...

, KR/PR *Kelly Jennings, CB *Tyrone Moss, RB *Eric Winston, LT

Awards Finalists

Bold indicates winners *Eric Winston, LT – Jacobs Trophy (Top ACC Lineman)

Jack Harding John Joseph Harding (January 4, 1898 – February 24, 1963) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at St. Thomas College—now the University of ...
University of Miami MVP Award

*Eric Winston, LT

References

{{Miami Hurricanes football navbox

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Miami Hurricanes football seasons

Miami Hurricanes football The Miami Hurricanes football team represents the University of Miami in college football. The Hurricanes compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Coastal Division of the Atlanti ...