Miami Flattens Houston : Football: Klingler does not throw a touchdown pass until final seconds of 40-10 loss to the Hurricanes.

If he’s smart, Houston Coach John Jenkins will crank up his world-famous shredding machine today and begin slicing and dicing the evidence of Thursday night’s 40-10 lopsided loss to second-ranked Miami.

Game plan . . . game film . . . top-10 ranking . . . coach of the year acceptance speech--they are history, just as the Cougars are.

And while he’s at it, Jenkins might want to hold off on those non-refundable tickets to New York and December’s Heisman Trophy presentation.

His quarterback of the ages, David Klingler, had the kind of night that the Miami defensive coordinator--and Brigham Young’s Ty Detmer, the other leading Heisman candidate--hoped for, which is to say miserable, by Houston standards.

But before he does anything, Jenkins plans to cast a vote for the team that did what few teams have ever done to his precious passing offense. Shut down and almost shut out, Jenkins made his poll preferences very public.

“Miami deserves to be No. 1,” he said wearily.

If the Hurricanes (2-0) climb atop the rankings, they can thank their defense. Hurried, harried and often buried, Klingler could do not do anything against the oppressive Hurricanes in their equally oppressive Orange Bowl, where Miami has now 39 consecutive games. With 71,842 looking on, Klingler completed 32 of 59 passes for 216 yards and one touchdown. And that touchdown came with three seconds left.

Klingler was sacked five times and mocked who knows how many times by a Miami defensive line that was in his face all evening as Houston fell to 1-1.

In truth, Klingler never had a chance. His offensive line, beefy but slow, couldn’t have stopped the Hurricane rush with a safety net. Even with his celebrated three-step drop routine, Klingler was constantly badgered. Once, before Klingler took a step backward, Miami defensive tackle Mark Caesar swept past Houston’s helpless center and wrestled the Cougar quarterback to the turf.

The run-and-shoot? Against the Hurricanes, it was run for your life.

Hurricane quarterback Gino Torretta, who was once told by Miami recruiters that he would be better off at another school, played as if he had already rented a tuxedo for the postseason awards session. He was everything Klingler was supposed to be.

Whatever Torretta did worked. Short passes, long passes, touch passes, any passes . . . Torretta was able to complete them. He finished with 365 yards and four touchdowns, and it could have been more had Miami Coach Dennis Erickson been in a cruel mood.

Torretta had help. Split end Lamar Thomas caught six of Torretta’s passes for 138 yards and two of the touchdowns. Wide receiver Kevin Williams had four catches for 126 yards and two scores. As if that wasn’t enough, Torretta could simply turn around and hand the ball to running back Stephen McGuire, who rushed for 120 yards.

But most of all, Torretta had the benefit of going against a Cougar defense that blitzed early and often. For their troubles, Torretta burned Houston’s cornerbacks time and time again. This must have come as a surprise to Houston cornerback Jerry Parks, who spent much of the week publicly questioning the Miami receivers--and Torretta with them.

“They have quote, ‘good’ receivers,’ ” he had said defiantly. “But if I focus on what I have to do, not a receiver on their team can beat me. Let ‘em talk. Show me and then talk about it.”

About that “not getting beat” part. . . .

Parks, a transfer from Oklahoma, was beaten by Thomas on a 71-yarder with 3:18 left in the first half. He wasn’t alone, of course. Nearly every Houston defensive back was scorched by the trio of Torretta, Thomas and Williams, to say nothing of the Cougars’ blitz-’til-we-drop policy.

“Well, they say we weren’t an explosive offense,” Torretta said. “I just wanted to show them that we were. The guys were making great plays around me, the line was giving me enough time to get the ball to the receivers.”

Klingler never got the same chance. His offensive line gave him nothing, except perfect views of the onrushing Miami linemen. And if his receivers were open, it was not for long.