Torretta’s Support Grows : Nonconference: He throws for 363 yards and three touchdowns while leading top-ranked Miami past West Virginia, 35-23.

MIAMI —  Who’s No. 1? In the Heisman Trophy race, it might be Gino Torretta.

The senior completed 28 of 40 passes for 363 yards and three touchdowns Saturday, leading the top-ranked Miami Hurricanes past West Virginia, 35-23.

In the final 3:40, West Virginia’s Darren Studstill threw three touchdown passes, the first two against Miami reserves.

Who would Torretta vote for if he had a Heisman ballot?

“I’d vote for myself,” he said. “What do you think, I’m stupid? That’d be like asking one of the presidential nominees who they’re going to vote for.”

The Hurricanes (8-0) extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 26 games and earned their 50th consecutive victory at the Orange Bowl.

Miami held a one-point lead in last week’s rankings over No. 2 Washington, which routed No. 15 Stanford, 41-7, on Saturday. Among voters who emphasize margin of victory, the late letdown against West Virginia could prove costly.

“It just kind of taints things,” Coach Dennis Erickson said. “Our second guys have to learn to become a little more accountable.”

Torretta agreed: “Those guys have to be able to come in and start playing better. It wasn’t an all-out effort by our second group.”

West Virginia (3-3-2) is mired in a four-game winless streak, its longest since 1986.

“I voted Miami No. 1 the whole year,” Mountaineer Coach Don Nehlen said. “And I’m not going to change my mind. If that’s not the best team in America, I don’t want to see the other one on my schedule.”

Torretta completed 13 consecutive passes before Horace Copeland dropped a long pass that probably would have gone for a 64-yard touchdown.

Torretta increased his touchdown total for the season to 16 with passes covering nine yards to Kevin Williams and two and 22 yards to Thomas.

The performance gave Torretta a boost in the wide-open Heisman race, as two other contenders had sub-par days. Georgia’s Garrison Hearst managed only 41 yards rushing in 14 carries in a loss to Florida, and San Diego State’s Marshall Faulk ran for 60 yards in 18 carries and injured his left quadriceps against Colorado State.

“Gino Torretta is a special quarterback,” Nehlen said. “This team has won 50 in a row at home, and he is their No. 1 guy. If he is not a Heisman Trophy candidate, they shouldn’t have the trophy.”

West Virginia, averaging 390 yards and 27 points per game, crossed midfield only once while Miami was scoring four touchdowns. Studstill capitalized on two Miami turnovers in the final minutes by throwing touchdown passes of 10 and seven yards to Ed Hill and 18 yards to James Jett.

Again, criticism was aimed at the Miami reserves.

“I have to question whether these guys want to be No. 1,” Thomas said. “It hurt us. We dominated this game, and West Virginia is lucky to get that many points. I didn’t want those guys to score. They talk too much. They weren’t good; they were terrible.”

Studstill, making his first start since the season opener, completed 23 of 41 passes for 308 yards.

Miami mounted three touchdown marches of at least 70 yards and also scored on Larry Jones’ 70-yard run. Jones started over left guard, veered right, split two defenders and straight-armed cornerback David Mayfield while racing down the sideline for a 14-0 first-quarter lead.