Big plays nothing new for Reed
The jury is still out on Ed Reed’s snatch-and-dash, game-saving play in the final minute of Miami’s 19-7 win over Boston College last Saturday.
But there is no doubt about the safety’s penchant for pulling such tricks. The senior safety has done it time and time again during his tenure at Miami.
But no interception or deflection measures as zany as Saturday’s play.
With 38 seconds left in the contest and the Eagles down just 12-7 at the Miami 9-yard line, BC quarterback Brian St. Pierre fired a pass that ricocheted off Miami cornerback Mike Rumph’s knee and into the hands of Hurricanes defensive tackle Matt Walters.
Calling for the ball, Reed grabbed it from Walter’s paws and scampered 80 yards for the touchdown.
‘It was called lucky,’ Miami head coach Larry Coker said Monday, six days before his 8-0 ‘Canes host Syracuse for the Big East title. ‘I think in Boston it was called the immaculate interception.
‘I wanted Matt to fall down. And then I became a cheerleader, ‘Go. Go. Go.’ What I didn’t realize – and what Ed Reed knew – is that we needed the touchdown for our margin-of-victory points, so we had to score on that play.’
Though Reed said after the game that the play wasn’t a smart one, he knows that Miami needs the padded scores to ascend in the Bowl Championship Series rankings, which currently list the ‘Canes at No. 2, just a hair ahead of No. 3 Oklahoma.
‘We always felt that we were right where we wanted to be,’ Reed said before the BC game. ‘We can’t control what the BCS is going to do.’
Another stellar play by Reed certainly wouldn’t hurt Miami’s chance to climb the standings.
If past history against SU is any indication, Reed should be all over the Orange Bowl field on Saturday. In last year’s 26-0 drubbing of the Orangemen, Reed made seven tackles, picked off two passes and deflected three others.
And last Oct. 7, Reed made perhaps the biggest play of the ‘Canes 11-1 season. On a crucial fourth-and-goal during the first quarter of the Canes 27-24 win over No. 1 Florida State, Reed deflected a Chris Weinke pass, keeping UM close enough for Ken Dorsey to engineer the game-winning drive.
Syracuse wide receiver David Tyree, who saw Reed’s play against BC on ESPN, is wary of the quick reflexes that have Reed atop the Big East interception list with seven.
‘He’s making plays and you can’t take it away from a guy if he has confidence in himself and his team,’ Tyree said. ‘As an individual, he’s trying to do what it takes to get them in the national championship game. I credit the guy. He has a big heart.’
Fellow Orangemen wideout Maurice Jackson crossed paths with Reed’s wrath before. Reed, who started 36 of 37 games as a Hurricane, looms in the backfield during the yearly SU-UM showdown.
‘He tried to take my head off a couple times, but I managed to get away from him,’ Jackson said.
But Jackson and the Syracuse receiver corps won’t be able to escape a vicious Miami secondary that boasts 12 picks, especially if they plan to run deep routes that Tyree said ‘break the will of a team.’
‘I think we’re a lot better than we were in past years,’ Reed said of the Miami secondary. ‘But I still think we’ve got room for improvement.’
And in this season where the ‘Canes ship seems steered by destiny, Coker can always rely on Reed for a fateful play in some form or another.
‘I think there’s a little magic,’ Coker said. ‘I always thought there was a little magic involved.’
