Maybe they needed to be in an evening prime time spot.  Or maybe they needed good tropical weather. 

The 17th-ranked Miami Hurricanes used both of them to their advantage in a 21-20 victory over the 8th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners.

The Sooners were still missing Heisman trophy winner Sam Bradford, but they managed to jump out to a 10-0 lead against the home team.  A couple of mistakes by Jacory Harris had the Miami faithful wondering if they were going to witness a repeat of what happened a week ago in Blacksburg.

Canes tight end Jimmy Graham caught a big touchdown pass on Saturday night.

But on this night, the Hurricanes didn’t hang their heads.  They kept plugging along – led by a great running attack (Javarris James had 15 carries for over 150 yards) and Harris’ resilience.  The sophomore sensation bounced back with three touchdown passes and ended with over 200 yards passing on the evening.

Oklahoma lacked the offensive explosiveness that we’ve seen in seasons past – due to the combination of an absent Bradford and a stingy Miami defense.  Bradford is due back in the Oklahoma lineup next week, as the Sooners face the Baylor Bears followed by a highly anticipated matchup with the Texas Longhorns.

After a tough 4-game starting slate, Miami will get to relax a bit with dates against two Florida teams (vs. Florida A&M, @ Central Florida).  Then they’ll return to ACC play and finish the season against teams that they should run the table on.  The “U” will likely end ACC play with one loss.  But with the Virginia Tech Hokies ahead of them, they’ll need some help from another ACC team if they want to appear in the Orange Bowl this year.