Miami Thrashes Tulsa, 34-3, as Walsh Ties School Record

Steve Walsh passed for 3 touchdowns Saturday to lead third-ranked Miami to a 34-3 victory over Tulsa.

Walsh, who has thrown 20 touchdown passes in Miami’s last 5 games, tied Vinny Testaverde’s school record of 26 in a season.

The Hurricanes (7-1), which has games remaining against Louisiana State, Arkansas and Brigham Young University, lost a chance for their third shutout of the season when Tulsa’s David Fuess kicked a 34-yard field goal with 3 minutes to play.

Tulsa (2-6) fumbled away its only other scoring opportunity early in the second quarter after a 9-play drive took the Golden Hurricane to the Miami 23.

Walsh, who completed 22 of 39 passes for 253 yards, threw touchdown passes to Randy Bethel and Leonard Conley in the second quarter to give the defending national champions a 17-0 halftime lead.

Bethel caught scoring passes on plays covering 30 and 33 yards, and Conley caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Walsh.

Conley also rushed for 116 yards in 13 carries, becoming the first Miami back this season to gain more than 100 yards in a game.

Walsh’s backup, sophomore Craig Erickson, threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Andre Brown, and Carlos Huerta added field goals of 29 and 27 yards to complete the Miami scoring.

Walsh, zeroing in on most of the school’s career passing records, has thrown 45 touchdown passes, 3 behind Testaverde’s career mark. Walsh has passed for 2,587 yards this season and 4,481 yards in his last 19 starts.