Does Miami Have Reason to Run Up the Score?

Miami was putting the thump on West Virginia, 35-3, last Saturday when coach Dennis Erickson figured it was time to call off his dogs. The Mountaineers partied over the last six minutes and the final was 35-23.

“The score was hardly indicative of how one-sided the game was,� said West Virginia Coach Don Nehlen. “We couldn’t begin to stop Miami’s passing game.�

The operative numbers with the Hurricanes these days are 26 and 50. They’ve won 26 straight games, the longest current win streak in college ball, and the half-century is how many games they’ve won consecutively in the Orange Bowl.

The ‘Canes’ celebrating was short-lived, however. Because of the apparent “tightness� of their contest and the apparent ease with which Washington dispatched Stanford (41-7), the front-runners in the weekly Associated Press poll changed positions, Miami being assigned the runner-up spot.

“If voters in the AP poll moved us down or changed their votes because of what happened in the last five minutes of our game, I’d be very disappointed,� Erickson said. “I don’t know why votes change, but I hope it’s because of the way Washington played.

“If not, we’re sending out the wrong message about college football. It tells you if you put your second and third groups in, you’ll lose votes. It tells you you have to keep your first group in all the way and beat the heck out of people.�

If that’s the message, and it has been for years, and Miami takes heed, say an extended prayer for Temple. The Owls are 1-7, are only an even bet against Akron this weekend, then head south for a little R&R; (rest and relaxation) in the Orange Bowl Nov. 14.

“We’re off this week,� Erickson said, “and we’ll treat the time like a week during spring practice. We’ll work our first units against each other and that way we figure to improve.�

What, no scrimmage against the Dolphins?