No. 20 MIAMI HOSTS DUKE ON SENIOR DAY IN HOME FINALE

No. 20 (BCS) Miami returns home to face ACC Coastal Divisional foe Duke in the regular season home finale Saturday at Land Shark Stadium. The game will be televised by ESPNU.

Miami fell at North Carolina last Saturday, 33-24, in Chapel Hill. The Hurricanes racked up 435 yards against the nation's fifth ranked defense, outgaining UNC, 435-329, which was the sixth time this season Miami has gone over 400 yards in a game and third time in the last four games.

Sophomore quarterback Jacory Harris completed a career-high 28 passes, going 28-for-50 for 319 yards and a TD pass against the Tar Heels. On the year, Harris has passed for 2,655 yards with 19 touchdowns, 16 interceptions and is completing 60.7 percent of his passes.

Heading into the Duke game, Harris ranks 26th nationally in passing efficiency (141.67). With two games remaining, Harris needs 345 more passing yards to become the first Miami QB since Ken Dorsey in 2002 to top the 3,000-yard mark.

Miami receiver Leonard Hankerson caught seven passes for 92 yards against UNC. Hankerson continued his streak of being the only Hurricane to have a catch in all 10 games this season. He currently leads the team with 34 receptions for 609 yards and four touchdowns. Travis Benjamin has 447 receiving yards on 25 receptions and four TD catches while LaRon Byrd has 28 receptions for 403 yards and a touchdown.

Colin McCarthy racked up a career-high 13 tackles against the Tar Heels and leads the team with 78 tackles (42 solo, 36 assisted) and has 8.0 tackles for loss. It was his third double digit-tackle game in the last four games. Fellow linebacker Darryl Sharpton ranks second with 67 tackles after picking up nine tackles at UNC.

Junior defensive lineman Allen Bailey (27 total tackles) leads the defense with seven sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss.

Cornerback Brandon Harris ranks third nationally in passes broken up (12) while tying for fifth in total passes defended (13). He also ranks third on the team with 46 tackles.

Kicker/punter Matt Bosher leads the team with 73 points (11 field goals, 40 PAT's). On the year, Bosher ranks second in the ACC in punting (42.7) and fifth in field goal percentage (84.6).

The MIAMI-DUKE SERIES

Miami owns a 5-1 record in the all-time series with Duke.

After dropping the first meeting in 1976, the 'Canes have won the last five meetings - including four since Miami joined the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The last time Duke played in South Florida, Miami won 24-14 at the Orange Bowl in 2007. Last year, the 'Canes picked up a 49-31 win at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham.

A 'CANES WIN OVER THE BLUE DEVILS WOULD...

Give the Hurricanes a 5-3 finish in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

Give Miami a 5-1 home record for the 2009 season.

Give Miami its first eight win season since 2005 when the 'Canes finished 9-3.

Guarantee head coach Randy Shannon his best record since taking over the helm of the UM football program in 2007.

The COACHES

Randy Shannon is in his third season as Miami's head coach and owns an overall record of 19-16. David Cutcliffe is 53-42 in nine seasons as a collegiate head coach and 9-13 in two seasons at Duke. Scouting THE BLUE DEVILS

Duke comes into Saturday's game with an overall record of 5-5 and an Atlantic Coast Conference record of 3-3, with wins over NC State, Maryland and Virginia and losses to Virginia Tech, North Carolina and most recently, Georgia Tech. This past weekend in Durham, the Yellow Jackets defeated the Blue Devils, 49-10, at Wallace Wade Stadium.

The Blue Devils feature on the nation's top passing games, coming in ranked ninth in the FBS in passing offense (297 ypg). Veteran quarterback Thaddeus Lewis ranks third in the ACC in both passing yards per game (264.0) and total offense (269.1). He comes in with 2,640 yards passing, with 16 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 134.22 passing efficiency. Lewis has three main targets in the passing game - wide receivers Austin Kelly (47 rec., 501 yards), Donovan Varner (46 rec., 708 yards) and Conner Vernon (44 rec., 601 yards). All three average at least 50 yards receiving per game while combining on 11 of the team's 20 receiving touchdowns. The less frequently used running game has four backs over 100 yards this year but none that have hit the 200-yard mark yet. Desmond Scott has a team-high 197 yards on the ground while Re'quan Boyette (128 yards) leads the team with 62 carries.

On defense, linebacker Vincent Rey leads the team with 82 tackles and ranks fourth in the league with a 8.2 tackle per game average. Safety Catron Gainey is nearly as productive, ranking in a tie for eighth in the league with 7.3 tackles per contest. Cornerback Leon Wright has proven to be one of the ACC's top pass defender, coming in with five interceptions that he has returned for 146 yards this year. Defensive end Ayanga Okpokowuruk leads Duke in both tackles for a loss (7.0) and sacks (5.0).

Kicker Will Snyderwine is 12-of-14 on field goals this year - including 8-of-9 from 30-plus yards - while punter Kevin Jones averages 39.2 yards per punt. In the return game, Johnny Williams averages 8.3 yards per punt return and 20.6 yards per kick return. Williams is joined by Vernon (24.6 ypr) on kickoff returns.

Right BETWEEN THE NUMBERS

Miami became bowl eligible with its win at Wake Forest on Oct. 31. Last season, the 'Canes went to their 23rd bowl game in the last 26 years with an Emerald Bowl appearance against Cal in San Francisco.

Miami dropped six spots from No. 14 to No. 20 in the latest BCS rankings.

At least one former Hurricane has scored a touchdown in the last 115 weeks in the National Football League dating back to Week 15 of the 2002 season.

Junior linebacker Colin McCarthy is averaging 10.0 tackles per game over the last four contests.

As a team, UM ranks 16th in tackles for loss (7.30), 25th in scoring offense (31.50), 25th in passing offense (270.80), 27th nationally in pass efficiency (141.86) and 31st in total defense (327.70).

 The Hurricanes get stronger as the game moves on, out-scoring their opponents 181-124 after halftime. Miami is out-scoring its opponents 98-67 in the third quarter and 80-51 in the fourth.

 Junior running back Damien Berry leads the 'Canes in yards per carry (6.5) and touchdowns (7), having scored at least one TD in each of Miami's last six games.

Sophomore quarterback Jacory Harris leads the ACC and ranks 26th in the nation in passing efficiency (141.76).

Sophomore CB Brandon Harris is among the national leaders in passes broken up (12) and passes defeneded (13).

In recording a career-high 152 yards rushing in Miami's win over Virginia, junior Graig Cooper became just the eighth player in school history to rush for 2,000 yards in a career. He currently has 2,064 career rushing yards.

Senior running back Javarris James recorded 56 yards rushing against Clemson to move past Willis McGahee into sixth on UM's career rushing list. Cooper needs just four more yards to also pass McGahee (2,067).

UM's 12 scheduled opponents this season had a combined record of 93-61 (.604) last season, with eight of the 12 opponents having won at least eight games.

Four UM receivers stand at 6-3 or taller: Leonard Hankerson and Aldarius Johnson are 6-3, LaRon Byrd is 6-4 and Tommy Streeter is 6-5. Miami's top three tight ends are all 6-4 or taller, including Jimmy Graham who stands at 6-8.

Seventeen different players have caught a pass this season for the University of Miami while 10 of those 17 have at least eight catches thus far. Leonard Hankerson leads the team with 34 receptions, while LaRon Byrd (28), Travis Benjamin (25), Dedrick Epps (15), Aldarius Johnson (14),Thearon Collier (13) and Mike James (13) all have doubledigit catches.

The 35-point margin of victory against UVa was Miami's biggest in an ACC game since beating Duke 52-7 in 2005.

UM is 75-22 in the month of November since 1984.

The UM football team currently consists of 53 freshmen and sophomores and only 38 juniors and seniors.

No position on the UM roster is as young as the receiver position, where junior Leonard Hankerson is the lone upperclassmen. Behind Hankerson, the next seven receivers are all in just their second year in the program.

After playing 21 true freshmen in last season's season-opener, UM played just five in the 2009 opener in Tallahassee.

A year after Travis Benjamin collected 274 all-purpose yards against FSU, Graig Cooper nearly matched the impressive feat in tallying 232 yards against the 'Noles in Tallahassee in the season opener. Cooper reached the 200 all-purpose yard mark against against Virginia, tallying 203 against the Cavaliers.

Miami IS 20TH IN BCS RANKINGS

With an overall record of 7-3 - including three wins against ranked opposition - Miami is ranked 20th in the this week's Bowl Championship Series rankings.

The 'Canes dropped six spots to No. 20 after losing a close battle at UNC this past weekend.

Miami currently has an average of .1936, right behind USC (.2714) and Oregon State (.2487) and just ahead of Utah (.1910) and BYU (.1874).

Three of Miami's 2009 opponents are currently ranked in the BCS Top 25, with Georgia Tech at No. 7, Virginia Tech at No. 15 and Clemson at No. 23.

Going BOWLING

With Miami's road win at Wake Forest on Oct. 31, the 'Canes became bowl eligible with their sixth win of the season.

Miami has appeared in a bowl game 23 times in the last 26 seasons and owns an all-time record of 19-15 in 34 bowl appearances overall.

Last season, Miami lost a close battle with Cal in the Emerald Bowl at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Dec. 27, 2008.

This year's bowl destination will likely be determined after the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship game is played on Saturday, Dec. 5.