TAMPA, Fla. - Miami’s first road test was a breeze.
The 15th-ranked Hurricanes scored on their first three possessions and dominated defensively during a 49-21 rout of winless South Florida on Saturday.
Miami (4-0) has yet to trail this season, but Coach Al Golden felt USF was much better than its record and posed a different challenge for his team in its final tuneup for Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Stephen Morris and a talented group of speedy receivers set the tone for an impressive offensive display, and the Hurricanes played stifling defense before giving up a long touchdown drive at the end.
“I think we were ready to go,” Golden said.
“Our whole game plan was to continue to push the ball and continue to play smart,” Morris added. “Offensively, the receivers had a great game.”
Morris threw for two touchdowns before limping off with an ankle injury that’s not considered serious, and Duke Johnson scored a TD in his eighth consecutive game for the Hurricanes, who are off to their best start since 2004, when they opened the season with six consecutive victories.
USF (0-4) is off to the worst start in school history and has dropped 13 of 14 dating to last season.
“That’s a really good football team, and we’ve got to play so much better in order to have a chance … because of where we’re at right now,” said USF Coach Willie Taggart. “Until we get to where we want to be, we’ve got to play perfect football in order to compete with a team like Miami.”
Morris threw for 222 yards, moving ahead of Steve Walsh and into ninth place on Miami’s career passing list. He tossed touchdown passes of 19 yards to Herb Waters and 34 yards to Stacy Coley as the Hurricanes scored on their first three possessions and had 251 yards of offense in the first quarter alone.
Johnson had a 4-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and finished with 84 yards on 14 carries. Miami’s defense also scored, with Shayon Green sacking Penn State transfer Steven Bench and forcing a fumble that Jimmy Gaines recovered for the sixth defensive TD scored against USF in four games.
USF’s offense has six touchdowns all season, including Marcus Shaw’s 3-yard run that made it 7-7. Shaw wound up with 127 yards rushing, but the Bulls’ offense didn’t come close to scoring again until Bench - their third starting quarterback in four weeks - threw a 16-yard TD passto Derrick Hopkins with two seconds remaining.
Bench was 13-of-27 passing for 189 yards. He was intercepted once and lost two fumbles.
In other games involving ACC teams, host Pittsburgh (3-1, 2-1) turned a pair of early Virginia (2-2, 0-1) turnovers into touchdowns and the Panthers defense did the rest in a 14-3 victory. … Shadrach Thornton and Matt Dayes each had long scoring runs during North Carolina State’s four-touchdown second quarter, and the Wolfpack (3-1) routed Central Michigan (1-4) 48-14 in Raleigh, N.C. … Tajh Boyd became the second ACC quarterback to account for 100 career touchdowns and got No. 3 Clemson’s (4-0, 2-0) offense back on track in a 56-7 victory over visiting Wake Forest (2-3, 0-2). … Shane Carden threw three touchdown passes and ran for three scores to help East Carolina (3-1) beat North Carolina (1-3) 55-31, earning its first victory in Chapel Hill in nearly four decades.
AMERICAN ATHLETIC
Idaho outlasts Temple
MOSCOW, Idaho - Chad Chalich rushed for 120 yards and threw for 310 and a score, and freshman Austin Rehkow kicked four field goals to help Idaho hold off a late surge and give the Vandals their first victory of the season, beating Temple 26-24 on Saturday.
Idaho (1-4) had command in the first half, holding a 17-3 lead, but the Owls (0-5) made it interesting with three touchdowns in the second half.
The Owls, who had trailed 23-10 early in the fourth quarter, produced a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard touchdown run by Kenny Harper with 3:32 to play to bring Temple to within 26-24.
Idaho then ran out most of the clock with the Temple offense getting possession with only 10 seconds left. Connor Reilly attempted a Hail Mary that made it to the end zone, but the pass was incomplete.
Sports, Pages 33 on 09/29/2013