Oregon coach Mike Bellotti had a prime press-box seat Thursday night as No. 1 Miami dismantled fourth-ranked Nebraska 37-14 in the Rose Bowl.
Bellotti would have preferred a spot down on the sideline. He thought his Ducks deserved a berth in the Bowl Championship Series title game, and nothing he saw changed his mind.
“Obviously, the polls made us No. 2 for a reason,” Bellotti said as the rout dragged on.
Miami coach Larry Coker was asked what he would say if Bellotti called and offered to play the Hurricanes.
“Why?” Coker said. “We’re the national champions. It’s already settled. It was settled on the field tonight.”
Debate over the BCS formula raged for nearly a month. The argument continued Thursday night.
Bellotti speculated that the Ducks might have fared better against Miami.
“We see that type and style of Miami’s offense more often,” he said. “But I don’t want to downgrade Miami. Miami’s a great football team. The bottom line: We would have liked to have a shot at them.”
The Ducks took out some of their frustration in a 38-16 Fiesta Bowl rout of Colorado. Bellotti had no doubt the AP media pollsters would give the Ducks their national championship if the Cornhuskers had upset top-rated Miami.
Nebraska coach Frank Solich said he didn’t know whether Oregon might have fared any better.
“We didn’t play them well enough to make it a competitive game at the end, or by the end of the first half,” Solich said.
“From that end of it, certainly it was not the matchup that everybody dreams of.
“But whether or not any other matchup would have worked any different, I don’t know about that.”
Proud moment: Miami reserve Jarrett Payton thought of his late father, Walter, as the final seconds ran out on the Hurricanes’ Rose Bowl victory.
Asked in a radio interview what he would say to his father, Payton, who got into the game at fullback, replied: “The only thing I might ask him is if he’s proud of me, and I know he’d say yes. I’d probably say, `You never got [a national title].’ He’d be very proud of us.
“When I came to Miami, he knew this could happen,” Payton said. “This is a great feeling. It feels like you’re on top of the world.”
He’ll be back: Miami’s future brightened when junior quarterback Ken Dorsey announced after the game that he would return for his senior year.
“I definitely am coming back next year,” Dorsey said. “It means a lot to me to continue my education. I had the special privilege of being affected by guys who stayed around their senior year. To see the effect they had on me, I hope to have the same effect on the younger guys.”
“I’d like to interrupt,” Coker said. “I’m definitely coming back next year.
“We have 22 juniors who will be seniors next year,” Coker said. “We hope that those juniors will opt not to go to the NFL. This is not over for us. We’re going to have a chance to be good every year.”
Dorsey was named co-MVP, along with Miami receiver Andre Johnson. Dorsey completed 22-of-35 passes for 362 yards. He threw three touchdown passes, two to Johnson, and had one pass intercepted.
Fourth-and-inches: Coker became the first rookie head coach to post a perfect record since 1948, when Michigan’s Bennie Oosterbaan completed a 10-0 season by smashing Southern California 49-0 on this field. “I’m just so thankful for this opportunity,” said Coker, who was promoted from Butch Davis’ staff after Miami failed to come to contract terms with Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez.
