STANDING on the Orange Bowl field after Miami crushed Syracuse 59-0 Saturday, Bryant McKinnie, the Hurricanes’ mammoth offensive tackle who has never allowed a sack, seemed a bit baffled by the questions that were coming at him like Dwight Freeney, the Orangemen’s relentless end who leads the nation with 16 ½ sacks.
McKinnie, who’s as soft spoken as he is big (6-foot-8, 335 pounds), wondered why reporters were so surprised by his dominating performance.
“He’s not the only good player I’ve faced,” McKinnie said. “I’ve played against Jamal Reynolds at Florida State and Alex Brown at Florida. Those are good players, too.”
Congratulations, Freeney, you’ve joined some elite company – premier college defensive ends who couldn’t post a sack against McKinnie. In fact, the Syracuse end didn’t even post a tackle.
“I might have bumped him one time,” Freeney said of Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey. “But I didn’t get in there too much.”
“There were chants on the sidelines saying, ‘Did Freeney even make the trip?’ ” center Brett Romberg said.
Yes, Freeney (6-1, 250) made the trip and he put forth a determined effort. But he was going up against player who outweighed him by 86 pounds. And McKinnie had a lot of help in keeping Freeney out of the backfield and off the stat sheet.
Offensive line coach Art Kehoe pumped up Freeney throughout the week. Rumors circulated that Freeney said he would make millions Saturday but no Syracuse reporter heard the intelligent and humble defensive end utter such a bulletin board statement.
On Miami’s first offensive possession, Najeh Davenport, the best blocking fullback in college football, chipped Freeney before McKinnie engaged him. Tight end Jeremy Shockey also attempted to throw a block.
On the ‘Canes’ second possession, Freeney thought he had a path to Dorsey as McKinnie slid to the outside and Freeney took an inside rush. Guard Ed Wilkins picked up Freeney.
The ‘Canes ran draw plays at Freeney, who ran himself out of the play. They threw swing passes to his side. They ran right at him.
“It’s hard enough to go against him by himself. I had to worry about him, the play-action, the tight end helping him,” Freeney said. “I had a lot of things to worry about.”
McKinnie got stronger as the game went on while Freeney wore down. For McKinnie, it was his 31st straight game without allowing a sack.
