University of Miami sophomore Thearon Tyrone Collier III said his mother, Tranise, ``broke down and cried'' when she watched him return a punt 60 yards for a touchdown Saturday.

His father never got the chance.

``My father was killed when my mom was pregnant with me so I never had the opportunity to meet him,'' said Collier, who turned 19 in June and is a year older than his father was when he was shot to death Dec. 14, 1989.

The tragic story was documented in The Miami Herald.

``Thearon Tyrone Collier and his friend Fred Brown looked so much alike it was uncanny,'' the story began. ``For Collier, the resemblance was fatal. . . . Someone gunning for Brown fired a .45-caliber slug into the 18-year-old Collier's chest.

``No doubt about it, he was an innocent victim,'' the homicide detective said. ``Collier was a good kid.''

Collier's mother was 15 and three months pregnant at the time. Collier's father, who graduated from Miami Beach Senior High and was a wide receiver there, was raised by his grandmother. He was scheduled to enter the army the next day so he could earn money to go to college.

A TIGHT BOND

Tranise Harris is a single mother and school-bus driver for Miami-Dade County. She also is her son's hero. She can't afford to travel to road games, but she'll be planted in front of the TV with her three younger children when Collier returns punts and catches passes for 12th-ranked UM (7-2, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) on Saturday at North Carolina (6-3, 2-3).

``She's very supportive,'' Collier said. ``I talk to her every night before I go to bed and before and after every game. She's my mother. She's my father. She's my pride and joy. I love her to death.''

Collier, according to teammates and UM coach Randy Shannon, is quiet, humble, respectful and so shy that it took him a while to be able to pass Shannon without avoiding eye contact.

``Every time I'd see Coach Shannon in the hallway I'd drop my head down,'' Collier said. ``He'd say, `Put your head up.' I came into his office a couple times but I was scared because I'm not used to opening up. Since then, I've tried to sit with different guys and start conversations. I've made a lot of friends. We're a team, a family -- I just can't be around Davon Johnson and Brandon Harris all the time.''

Johnson and Harris played with Collier at Miami Booker T. Washington, where Collier was described as a big-play threat and compared with former Hurricanes Roscoe Parrish and Devin Hester. As a senior in 2007, he had 711 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. He also was an All-State returner, returning six punts for touchdowns. He chose Miami over Auburn, Florida and South Florida.

A slot receiver, Collier played in 12 games as a freshman and was the second-leading receiver with 324 yards and two touchdowns. His only missed game came after he bruised his ribs and was taken to UM's Ryder Trauma Center during the UNC loss. He has 201 yards on 12 catches in nine games, and has returned nine punts for 138 yards and two touchdowns.

Collier's dazzling 60-yard return was No. 2 on ESPN SportsCenter's top-10 plays of the day. He evaded seven defenders and was aided by magnificent blocks from Ramon Buchanan, Colin McCarthy and Chavez Grant. He became the first Hurricane with multiple punt returns for touchdowns in a season since Hester had three and Parish had two in 2004.

He also had a clutch 18-yard catch on third down to extend UM's winning drive at Wake Forest, where he came down with one foot in bounds.

``I only stand 5-9, Ma'am,'' he said. ``The defender was 6-1. I saw the jump ball in the air and the only thing in my mind was `I gotta come down with the catch -- toe-tap sideline drill.' Big-time players step up in big-time games.''

`A GREAT YOUNG MAN'

Collier's mother lives in Overtown and works two jobs. She sometimes shows her son the only picture she has of his father: a worn prom shot from 1989. He's in a white tuxedo with a pink bow tie. She's in a pink dress.

``He's a very quiet kid and his dad was the same way,'' Tranise Harris said. ``He would have been proud of his son.''

Collier, whose father had a close-cropped, low-fade haircut, has dreadlocks. He's stockier than his dad, but said he lost 12 pounds to get to 186 so he could use his quickness and agility -- he's not super fast -- more to his advantage. He'd like to get to the NFL, ``but everybody can't,'' he said. ``Whatever God has planned for me I'll accept.''

Tranise's greatest day will be when her son, in the sports administration program, earns his degree.

``He's the only kid in my family to see something positive like this in life and go to college,'' she said. ``Everybody I meet says, `Miss Harris, you have a great young man.' ''

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