ORLANDO, Fla. -- It's not often that Miami senior safety Ed Reed, a finalist for the Thorpe Award as the nation's best defensive back, is embarrassed. It's not often that his confident, cocky swagger is disrupted on the football field and made silly by some All-American quarterback.

	Ken Dorsey says he has one goal in mind: to lead Miami to the national championship.

But it does happen. And more times than not, the man bruising Reed's ego is his own teammate, Ken Dorsey. That's both a good thing and a bad thing: Good because it doesn't cost Miami a game and there aren't many people watching; bad because those who are watching are his teammates. And the ribbings can be painful.

"I have very few quarterbacks that get me the way he has," Reed said. "And I get reminded of that."

Reed shouldn't feel too bad. Dorsey has made plenty of college defensive backs look like melted butter this season. From the sidelines, Reed has watched many of his counterparts try to read Dorsey's mind and figure out his tendencies, only to fail. He can't help but shake his head, knowing full well what it feels like.

"I remember this one time in practice, him and I were staring at each other eye to eye," Reed said. "I'm in the middle of the field and he's looking me off to his receives and I swear, he turned me around every which way that was humanly possible. I ended up tripping and not making the play. He completed it. And gave me that look."

With ability like that, not to mention the fact that he is the unequivocal leader of an 11-0 Miami team, Dorsey is one of four finalists for the Heisman Trophy. No surprise that Reed thinks his quarterback should win the award. But talk to Dorsey, ask him for his impressions on being included in the Heisman talk and he shrugs it off.

He says the Heisman isn't a priority for him. It's the national championship that matters most. These are words that have been heard before. But for some reason, this time they seem believable.

That's because last year, the Dorsey-led Hurricanes were just one loss away from a shot at the championship. But a disappointing loss to Washington, in a game during which Dorsey struggled mightily, cost Miami its chance. So no offense to the Downtown Athletic Club, but its cute little trophy isn't what matters.

"I honestly haven't thought about it much," said Dorsey, a junior who has announced he will return to Miami next season. "It's not a priority. My priority is winning a national championship. Don't get my wrong, it's a great honor. It's the most prestigious award in college football, if not sports. And it shows that I'm doing something right, despite what some people say. But it's not the goal."

Dorsey's statistics don't dazzle. Though he completed nearly 58 percent of his passes and has 2,652 yards and 23 touchdowns, they aren't the mind-boggling numbers of Florida's Rex Grossman or Fresno State's David Carr. But Dorsey has something that only one other quarterback in Division I-A has: a perfect record.

And that, after all, was the goal.

	Dorsey has kept the Hurricanes undefeated and Rose Bowl-bound this season.

"We're going to play for a national championship and the reason we are is because of Ken Dorsey," Miami coach Larry Coker said. "You take him out of the mix and we're a different team."

Some aren't so sure. They say that just about any consistent, intelligent quarterback could have thrived behind Miami's huge yet athletic offensive line, not to mention the luxury of having tight end/release valve Jeremy Shockey at your disposal or a solid ground game that alleviates some of the pressure of making plays.

Dorsey agrees, to a point.

"The only reason I am here is because of my teammates," he said. "Yes, they have played a huge part in all of this. But still, the only way this system will work is if there are players that can run the system and execute it properly. People don't understand how complex we are."

When asked what he thought of the criticism that Dorsey was only a byproduct of a great team, Reed shook his head in disgust and called it "a bunch of crap."

"Going into the season, a lot of people had questions about our receivers because of Reggie (Wayne) and Santana (Moss) leaving. They said Dorsey was going to have to earn his scholarship this year," Reed said. "And now that he's had success they say it was only because of the great team around him? All those critics, all those people, they don't know football. They are wrong."

Thanks in large part to Dorsey, this season's Miami team has been the highest scoring (478 points) in school history. Dorsey also became the school’s career leader with 58 touchdowns, 10 more than by Steve Walsh and Vinny Testaverde, the previous record-holders. Dorsey's 6,196 yards passing are second only to Gino Torretta's 7,690, a mark within reach next season.

But perhaps most impressive, Dorsey's 26-1 as a starter, including this season's 11-0 mark. Two other Miami quarterbacks, Testaverde in 1986 and Torretta in 1992, won the Heisman on undefeated teams that played for the national championship.

Now comes Dorsey's turn.

"The people who have played here -- Steve Walsh, Testaverde, Torretta -- those guys are heroes, they're icons," said Coker, who was the Hurricanes' offensive coordinator for six years before taking over the head coaching job this season. "For Ken to be in that echelon of players is a great thrill. But I don't think he sees himself as one of those guys just yet. Maybe 10 years from now, as he looks back at it, he'll see he's one of the great ones to play here."

Wayne Drehs is a staff writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at wayne.drehs@espn.com.