Brandon Harris said he can't wait to wipe the images of Florida State receivers making big plays on him from the minds of Hurricanes fans.

Demarcus Van Dyke, a junior, said he can't wait to quiet the ``haters'' at his mom's job who keep asking her, ``What's wrong with DVD?''

And freshman Brandon McGee said he can't wait for UM's secondary to show everyone they can make a lot of plays.

UM's collection of young cornerbacks won't be on display for everyone to see until Sept. 7 at Florida State.

But on Saturday, during the team's first scrimmage of the fall, they hope to show coaches just how far they have come since practice began a week ago.

So far, at least according to practice reports, the defense that produced a school record-low four interceptions last season has become much better at creating turnovers.

``We're definitely looking to make an impact on Saturday at the scrimmage,'' said McGee, who had his first interception of the fall Wednesday.

``What you do in practice is what you carry over to the game. Coach [Wesley] McGriff is definitely emphasizing our technique and staying over the top of receivers. He just wants to see us execute all the fundamentals and all the techniques.''

PICK-OFF PLAYS

Miami ranked seventh nationally in pass defense last season. But it might be the most skewed stat on the team, considering opponents had so much success running the football on the Canes. Of the players currently in the secondary, Harris was the only player to have an interception last year.

The only other guys with picks in their careers? Seniors Randy Phillips (four) and Chavez Grant (two) and junior Jojo Nicholas (one).

``Once you get older as a unit, those things start coming,'' McGriff said. ``When you are young, you're just trying to line up in the right spot. Now they're going to take the next step. We were seventh in the country [in pass defense], but that wasn't good enough for the University of Miami. That's just the starting point.

``We have to affect the game; we have to take the ball away from the opponent.''

McGriff said UM is rotating Harris, Grant and former receiver Sam Shields at boundary corner -- a position where coverage is from the hash mark in. McGriff said the Canes ``have to have really quick feet and be good against the run.'' Van Dyke, McGee and Hill are rotating at field corner, where McGriff said vertical speed is more important because ``you have to cover more ground.''

``I'm ready to explode this year,'' said Van Dyke, who has made 10 starts in two seasons and has two pass break-ups. ``I'm ready to prove all the doubters wrong. I don't get into the message-board things, but I listen to my mom and the things she tells me. She keeps telling me I have to have a great season this year because there are a lot of haters at her job. I've got to prove all of them wrong. We have to bring the swagger back.''

SHORT TAKES

• Tight end Dedrick Epps said after Thursday's first two-a-day and two days of full-contact drills that he is ``the same old, Dedrick Epps'' and doesn't have any pain in his left knee. The 6-4, 253-pound senior had reconstructive surgery in December after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament before the Emerald Bowl.

• Freshman defensive end Olivier Vernon said he recently was promoted to playing with the first-team defense again. Vernon, who ran for the first time in the spring, said he is playing in front of sophomore Adewale Ojomo on the left side.

• Sophomore receiver Aldarius Johnson said he thinks he is improved on ``finishing at the top of my routes, coming and out of my break and blocking'' since the end of spring.