Miami Wins by 3 Yards : College football: Hurricanes escape with 16-10 victory when last-play tackle denies Syracuse.

Syracuse running back David Walker threw his helmet in disgust. Tight end Chris Gedney, a mere three yards short of a game-tying touchdown, pounded the Carrier Dome turf in frustration. Syracuse cheerleaders dabbed at tears and runny mascara. A sellout crowd stood in amazement.

It didn’t matter. The scoreboard lights still flickered with the news of No. 1-ranked Miami’s 16-10 victory, yet another in long line of last-second Hurricane success stories.

Only Miami (10-0) can cause this sort of anguish. Only Miami can flirt with greatness and mediocrity in the same afternoon and still leave with a victory. Only Miami can come this close to blowing a national championship chance and, yet, prance and dance off the field and say it wasn’t worried a bit.

“Good teams play bad and lose,” said Kevin Patrick, Miami defensive end and noted postgame philosopher. “Great teams play bad and win.”

Patrick would know. He has now seen the Hurricanes struggle against Arizona and win by a point. He has seen them struggle against Florida State and win by a field goal, struggle against Penn State and win by the same amount and struggle against eighth-ranked Syracuse (9-2)--at least, for a half--and win by six.

This time the Hurricanes had to survive a frenzied final drive by the Orangemen and their woozy quarterback Marvin Graves, who was so ill that he vomited on the field during Syracuse’s last timeout. That done, Graves took the snap with only four seconds remaining and, from Miami’s 33-yard line, found Gedney lumbering toward the goal line.

Gedney caught the pass at the three. He was stopped there, too, when strong safety Casey Greer slammed him to the ground.

“I knew it was over,” Greer said.

So did Miami linebacker Micheal Barrow, who immediately stared at the stadium clock. Zeros shone brightly. “I was just looking at the time,” he said. “I was so happy.”

He ought to be. The Hurricanes dominated in the first half, building a 13-0 lead and holding Syracuse to minus-one yard of offense. But then the Orangemen quit trying to test Miami’s outside speed and started attacking the one place where the Hurricane defense was vulnerable: the middle.

So they ran. And ran some more. As Miami’s defense began to soften, Graves began to complete passes. When the game was complete, Syracuse had 295 yards, 10 points and was close to an upset.

Standing in the Miami huddle, livid at the prospect of a perfect season in jeopardy, Barrow took control. The All-American linebacker turned to his teammates and began pounding his chest.

“This is your life,” he said.

It worked. Sort of.

Syracuse still gained yards, getting as close as the Miami 17-yard line with 39 seconds to play. Again, Barrow challenged the Hurricanes.

“Thirty-nine seconds! This is your life!” he yelled once more.

Sure enough, defensive tackle Warren Sapp stormed through the Syracuse offensive line and sacked Graves for a six-yard loss. It was then that Graves staggered toward the sideline and then, in full view of 49,857, vomited.

“When we saw him throw up, we said, ‘Yeah, we got him,’ ” Sapp said. “No, he wasn’t going to pull this one out. It was over.”

Not exactly. Thirty-one seconds were left, plenty of time for the Orangemen to travel 23 yards. Except this time defensive end Darren Krein found a hole and tossed Graves to the ground.

Out of timeouts and the clock at 00:04, Graves dropped back for his final pass. Rather than throw into the end zone, hoping for the best, he took his chances with Gedney. So much for chances.

“Never in the last decade has there been a team like Miami on defense,” Syracuse offensive coordinator George Deleone said. “Nobody has the speed and the pass rush they do.”

And nobody has the knack of the Hurricanes at sidestepping potential losses. Just ask Miami Coach Dennis Erickson, who looked as if he were in need of bed rest.

“I’m elated, but I need to relax for about 10 minutes,” he said.

Erickson had his opportunity for R&R; in the first half. That’s when the Hurricanes, despite three interceptions by quarterback Gino Torretta, could do little wrong. Miami botched several scoring chances but still appeared in control.

Truth is, Graves couldn’t adjust his chin strap without a Miami defender there to help him. And when he did have a moment to himself, he found his Orangemen receivers covered like the snow that blanketed Syracuse earlier in the week.

Graves spent most of those first two quarters peeling himself off the artificial turf or jogging back to the sideline after another failed series of plays. He was sacked seven times, nearly a quarter of the sacks allowed by Syracuse all season. He didn’t complete a pass until early in the second quarter. He didn’t lead the Orangemen to a first down until 59 seconds remained in the half.

“I think our first half on both sides of the ball was about as good as we’ve played,” Erickson said.

Then came the second half, when Syracuse took advantage of a superior running game, a deafening crowd and a bit of inspiration.

“The second half we came out a little flat,” Barrow said. “The scheme we were running didn’t work out so well.”

Barrow shouldn’t be so hard on the Miami defense. If anything, he could safely place some blame on the Miami offense, which gained yards but produced only three points in the final two quarters.

Torretta, who might win the Heisman Trophy by default, finished the game 28 of 43 for 343 yards and no touchdowns. Deprived of his favorite option--the bomb--Torretta had to rely on short passes that pumped up his yardage and completion totals, but did little else.

“We were putting ourselves in bad situations with mistakes and penalties,” Torretta said. “It was frustrating to me as a quarterback to be intercepted three times, but all that matters is that we win.”

This is the measure that Torretta is judged by. Twenty six times he has started for Miami and 25 times the Hurricanes have won. Overall, the Hurricane win streak has grown to 28, the best in the nation.

Only San Diego State stands between Miami, the Sugar Bowl and a shot at a second consecutive national championship. Of course, don’t tell that to the Orangemen, who remain unconvinced about who exactly was the better team.

Said linebacker Glen Young: “We should’ve beaten them.”

Should have. Could have. That’s what they all say.