No. 1 Hurricanes Win in a Breeze

Add West Virginia to the list of football teams devastated by “Hurricane Vinny” and No. 1 Miami.

Vinny Testaverde, a leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy, threw for three touchdowns in slightly more than two quarters to help Miami breeze to a 58-14 victory. Miami scored on six of seven possessions in the first half and turned three West Virginia fumbles into touchdowns for a 42-7 halftime lead.

The Hurricanes’ 6-0 start matched those of the 1941, 1950 and 1954 teams and extended their school-record regular-season winning streak to 16 games.

West Virginia is 2-4, and its four-game losing streak equals the longest in Don Nehlen’s seven years as coach. The Mountaineers suffered their worst loss since a 62-14 pounding by Penn State in 1973.

“There is no way you can turn the ball over to the No. 1 team in the nation three times in the beginning of the game and expect to win,” Nehlen said. “I am very disappointed because this was not indicative of the kind of team we have.”

Testaverde, who completed 14 of 20 passes for 188 yards, left the game four minutes into the third quarter after throwing a 17-yard touchdown pass to Brett Perriman. Testaverde has 15 touchdown passes and 1,381 yards in 6 games.

“We just go out every week and try to get a victory,” he said. “We did all the things that we wanted to do.”