Torretta on Offensive as Miami Rolls, 43-23

After sputtering early in the season, Miami’s offense has moved into high gear.

Gino Torretta passed for 249 yards and three touchdowns and became Miami’s all-time completions leader as the top-ranked Hurricanes routed Virginia Tech, 43-23, Saturday for their 25th consecutive victory.

Miami (7-0), which shares the No. 1 ranking with Washington, averaged only 15 points during a three-game stretch against Arizona, Florida State and Penn State. But the Hurricanes scored 45 last week against Texas Christian and nearly matched that in their Big East opener against Virginia Tech (2-4-1).

Miami Coach Dennis Erickson credits the turnaround to an improvement in the Hurricanes’ patchwork offensive line.

“They are starting to gain experience, starting to see defenses and not make a lot of mental mistakes,” Erickson said.

Torretta, who became Miami’s all-time leader in passing attempts, passing yards and total offense last week, broke Bernie Kosar’s school mark for completions by connecting on 17 of 28 passes against Virginia Tech. The senior has 464 completions, one more than Kosar.

“Being able to play as a freshman gave me a jump on all those other guys,” Torretta said of Miami’s long list of great quarterbacks, which also includes Jim Kelly, Vinny Testaverde, Craig Erickson and Steve Walsh.

Torretta, who played only one series in the second half, threw two touchdown passes to Lamar Thomas and one to Coleman Bell as the Hurricanes opened a 31-0 lead in the first half. Bell finished with six receptions for 117 yards.

Miami, which was penalized 18 times for 160 yards, also scored on one-yard touchdown runs by Donnell Bennett and Stephen McGuire and three field goals by Dane Prewitt.

McGuire’s touchdown was the 33rd of his career, breaking the Miami record he had shared with Melvin Bratton. Miami had 154 yards rushing in 39 carries.