College Career
McGahee received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Miami, where he played for coach Butch Davis and coach Larry Coker's Miami Hurricanes football teams from 1999 to 2002. McGahee broke several records in the 2002 season. He shattered school season records, carrying the ball 282 times for 1,753 yards (6.2 yards avg.) and 28 touchdowns. Only UCF's Kevin Smith (29 in 2007), Nebraska's Mike Rozier (29 in 1983), Oklahoma State's Barry Sanders (37 in 1988) and Wisconsin's Montee Ball (39 in 2011) ran for more touchdowns in an NCAA Division I-A season.
McGahee's ten 100-yard performances broke the Hurricanes' season record of eight, set by Ottis Anderson in 1978; he added 355 yards on 25 receptions (14.2 yard avg.) that season. He gained 2,108 all-purpose yards during 2002, which remains a Hurricanes' season record.
McGahee was a member of the 2001 University of Miami team, which won the Division I national championship in that year (the fifth such national championship for the University of Miami since 1983, the most of any university in the past 25 years).
In 2002, McGahee, along with Ken Dorsey, Andre Johnson, Kellen Winslow II, and others led Miami to an undefeated regular season and a No. 1 ranking, which included a trip to the National Championship game against second ranked Ohio State. Ohio State won the game in double overtime. Following his 2002 sophomore season, he was a first-team All-Big east selection and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American. He was also a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, given to the nation's top player, finishing fourth in the voting (660 votes), while teammate Ken Dorsey finished 5th with 643 votes.
In the early part of the fourth quarter during the 2003 Fiesta Bowl National Championship Game, McGahee suffered an injury after catching a screen pass from Dorsey. He was immediately hit by Buckeye safety Will Allen, bending his left knee backwards and causing tears of the ACL, PCL, and MCL. Prior to getting hurt, he had rushed for 67 yards and a touchdown, as Miami would lose the game in double-overtime, 31–24. This injury required several surgeries and extensive rehabilitation before he would be able to play again. At the season's end, McGahee announced he would not collect on a $2.5 million insurance policy he had taken out before the Championship game, and therefore would enter the 2003 NFL Draft.
At the conclusion of his collegiate career (2001–2002), he rushed for 2,067 yards and 31 touchdowns. He majored in criminology.
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Famous quotes related to college career:
“In looking back over the college careers of those who for various reasons have been prominent in undergraduate life ... one cannot help noticing that these men have nearly always shown from the start an interest in the lives of their fellow students. A large acquaintance means that many persons are dependent on a man and conversely that he himself is dependent on many. Success necessarily means larger responsibilities, and responsibilities mean many friends.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)