The Associated Press

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Miami coach Larry Coker is addressing his team's biggest weaknesses this week: penalties, run defense and special teams.

He hopes the changes will help the second-ranked Hurricanes against Tennessee on Saturday.

Coker is using officials at practice, trying to help his players eliminate unnecessary penalties. He is matching the first-team defense against the second-team offense in drills, giving his vaunted front line a better test. And he is changing some special teams personnel.

"Our goal is to win, and as a coach you like to win perfectly," Coker said Tuesday.

"You like to have every play and every series go well, but that's probably not going to happen."

The Hurricanes (8-0) have been flagged 79 times for 701 yards and lead the Big East with 87.6 yards in penalties a game. In the first half against Rutgers on Saturday, they were penalized nine times - which Coker blamed for his team's 17-14 halftime deficit.

FLORIDA: Steve Spurrier remembers when he was a first-year coach at Florida, and not every member of Gator Nation was sold on what he was bringing to town.

That might be one reason he was on the phone with Ron Zook this week, congratulating him for No.23 Florida's victory over Georgia.

"I told him I was extremely proud of the way they played the other night," Spurrier said. "It was an exciting game for all Gators."

UNLV: An assistant football coach will be reprimanded for leaving a game against Wyoming to attend a boxing match he helped promote.

John Jackson, who oversees UNLV's running game, left with three minutes remaining in Saturday's 49-48 overtime victory to attend the Marco Antonio Barrera-Johnny Tapia featherweight fight. Jackson, head of Los Angeles-based Forum Boxing, serves as Barrera's promoter.

VIRGINIA TECH: Tailback Kevin Jones will be out for two to four weeks with a strained left hamstring.

An MRI exam showed the sophomore suffered a "mild to moderate" tear, with damage mostly to the muscle and not the tendons, during the eighth-ranked Hokies' 28-21 loss to No.22 Pittsburgh on Saturday night.

PURDUE: Coach Joe Tiller said QB Brandon Kirsch was questionable to start against Ohio State this week.

Kirsch broke a bone in his right hand when he struck a wall during a fight at a fraternity party. He said last week he was trying to defend himself during a scuffle.

NORTHWESTERN:Northwestern announced Tuesday that, due to an error in its stats, RB Jason Wright actually had 196 yards rushing Saturday, not 219. He'd been given credit for a 23-yard rush that was really a 23-yard pass from quarterback Brett Basanez to Ashton Aikens.