People all over the country glanced at this score and shrugged and said, ``Oh well. So Miami only beat Central Florida 20-14. It happens. No question as to the better team there.''

Yeah. Right.

You'll never see a UM victory over a ''minor'' opponent wrapped in so much angst.

UCF came this close -- hold two fingers as close together as you can without them touching them -- to pulling it all off.

If Sam Shields hadn't been there to claim Joe Burnett's fumble on a punt return and set up the score that sent UM out front 20-7 with 5:21 left, the whole middle of the state might be celebrating one of the season's biggest upsets.

And the questions about coach Randy Shannon, hitherto only mumbled by fans squirming with his 2-3 record coming into Dolphin Stadium, might be picking up steam.

Because this whole thing is Shannon's gamble, and only a bulging bag of clutch at the end staved off snake eyes.

Shannon has bet his future on flaming youth. It all flamed out offensively with two freshman quarterbacks, Robert Marve and Jacory Harris, and no fewer than five freshman receivers -- Travis Benjamin, Aldarius Johnson, Laron Byrd, Davon Johnson and Thearon Collier.

Some day, for sure, all those fuzzy-cheeked kids on Miami's offense will start paying off, and Shannon's patience will emerge as a clear virtue.

Saturday, though, UM's fizzling attack forces simply paid the price for all that youth.

For a rather discouraging comparison, you might consider the way several previous UCF opponents had dartboarded them. UTEP scored 58 on the Knights. Boston College nailed them for 34 points. South Florida hit them with 31.

Obviously, the Canes' defense -- itself liberally sprinkled with five frosh and sophomore starters -- saved the day.

''It wasn't pretty,'' junior offensive tackle Jason Fox observed afterward, speaking for untold thousands, ``but it's a win.''

Pretty? How ugly is 2 for 17 on third-down conversions?

That was Miami.

How much less ugly is 3 for 18?

That was Central Florida.

Trying to quantify a tussle this taut, this soaked with desire and sheer guts, is either presumptuous or stupid or both.

Numbers can't tell you even a fraction of what went on out there Saturday.

If they could, they would be offering a deep, deep bow to a UCF team that strutted into this pit of Miami-based partiality and slugged it out all evening.

And a fractionally deeper bow to a Miami that won almost in spite of itself.

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