Jason Fox held out his hands like a proud warrior eager to show off his battle scars. From his thumbs to his pinkies, the University of Miami's starting left tackle pointed to each of his fingers that were either broken, mangled or completely exposed without fingernails.

``It's just bumps and bruises,'' grinned Fox, set to make his 45th career start at noon Saturday against Virginia (3-5, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) at Land Shark Stadium.

``That's football. That's the season. Everybody is beat up. But I'd be lying to you if I told your our bodies didn't feel it going out there and hitting every week. I'm happy coach is taking it a little easier on us in practice now. Because the team that can push through [injuries] and not get complacent is the one that is going to win games down the stretch.''

The Hurricanes (6-2, 3-2) have taken quite a few licks in their first eight games -- mostly on defense.

But the offensive line, where Fox is among six iron men who have taken the majority of the snaps this season, hasn't been spared either. Fox ``banged up'' his left knee against Clemson doing what he and the rest of UM's offensive line have been asked to do a lot more of lately -- play on their heels and try to protect quarterback Jacory Harris from the blitz.

UM did a good job protecting the quarterback early this season, allowing only four sacks in the first three games. But opponents have found leaks in the Canes' pass protection schemes lately with different blitz packages.

THE KITCHEN SINK

Last week, Wake Forest got to Harris five times, bringing the total to 20 sacks in the past five games.

``People are just throwing the whole kitchen sink at us and hoping they get there before Jacory lets go of the ball,'' Fox said. ``We're doing the best we can. But when they're blitzing seven guys and we only have six guys to protect, somebody is going to get through.''

The Cavaliers, ranked 34th nationally in total defense (329.3 yards per game) and 40th in scoring defense (21.8 ppg), don't blitz often. But they are averaging two sacks a game (16 this season) and present problems for the Hurricanes in various ways, including being the only ACC team to run the 3-4 defense.

``We've seen the 3-4, but they run it differently,'' Fox said. ``It's a very unique defense. It's an NFL-type defense. It's not a penetrating-type defense. It's reading and reacting.''

UM coach Randy Shannon said: ``Defensively, they play eight-man fronts. Sometimes they'll line up and play man coverage the whole entire game. They're just going to try and out-execute you.''

PLAYMAKERS

The Cavaliers have several playmakers on defense. Defensive end Nate Collins has been named ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week twice, making 35 of his 57 tackles during the past three weeks. He leads Virginia in sacks with five.

Ras-I Dowling (6-2, 200) was named to the All-ACC Preseason Team and is fourth on the team with 40 tackles.

He and fellow cornerback Chris Cook (6-2, 210) have combined for 11 career interceptions and 39 pass breakups and are part of a secondary that has given up just four passing touchdowns all season.

It wasn't until last week against Duke that the Cavaliers finally allowed an opponent to throw for more than 200 yards.

Another Virginia defensive strength: red-zone stops. Of the 27 times opponents have driven inside the Cavaliers 20-yard line, they have forced 15 field goals.

``We got out of the running game early last week because we were down. But we plan on running the ball a lot more this week,'' UM center A.J. Trump said. ``Virginia doesn't blitz as much on film. But every week we say that, and we end up seeing more blitzes. We just have to do a better job winning the battle up front.''

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