ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Heather Dinich

Miami tight end Dedrick Epps said he will have about 30 family members in the stands for Saturday's important Coastal Division game at Virginia. Epps grew up in Richmond, Va., but always followed the Hurricanes and said he wanted to be a part of their tight end tradition.

His homecoming, though, is of secondary importance to him this weekend.

"That has a little something to do with it, but the main thing is we lost to them in the Orange Bowl last year," Epps said. "A lot of the players that played in that game have a bitter taste in our mouths."

It's a sentiment coach Randy Shannon has been trying diligently to get his players to ignore. Shannon said he's not thinking about last year's embarrassing 48-0 drubbing by Virginia on Nov. 10, the final game played in the historic Orange Bowl, and there aren't too many players left on the roster who should remember it.

"I think you look at this football team, if I'm not mistaken, I think maybe four players are probably left that are starting from last year's loss," Shannon said. "This team is different. These young guys, the only thing they worry about is what we're trying to get done at Miami and our opponent."

Shannon is right. It is a very different Miami team, and one heavily dependent on true freshmen making plays. Wide receiver Travis Benjamin is one of them. He is averaging 30.8 receiving yards per game, and is also a dynamic kick and punt returner. Benjamin said he's even shocked himself this season with his ability to immediately contribute.

"I'm very surprised," he said. "I didn't know I was going to make big plays like this."

And the upperclassmen seem to be OK with sharing the spotlight.

"If we can complete a pass to Travis for 60, I'd rather do that than I catch one for 15," said Epps, a junior. "It's all for the better."

Epps has 14 catches this season for 146 yards. He had eight catches for 83 in the past two seasons combined. Epps said offensive coordinator Patrick Nix is involving the tight ends in the offense more this season, and the entire group has been more effective this year because it is the second season under Nix.

"It's a lot easier," Epps said. "We already know the offense, so that's like our foundation. Then when they want to add new plays, we don't have to learn the whole thing over. We just go off of what we already know, so it makes it easy to grasp the concept."

What Epps can't do just yet, is let go of last year's loss to Virginia.

"You can't forget it," he said. "That was the last game in the Orange Bowl. I feel like we, me personally and the team, we feel like we let down the city of Miami, the alumni of the school, and players who played in the Orange Bowl in previous years."

Shannon said the revenge factor is a concern heading into this game and he has talked about it with the team.

"You can't have a revenge factor because most people make the biggest mistakes when they're angry or upset, things like that," he said. "You do things you're not supposed to because you're trying so hard and you're mad. With this football team we're going to stay calm, stay focused on the game and not anything else to distract us."