Quietly, Torretta Gets Job Done : College football: Through all the Hurricanes’ turmoil this season, there has been one constant--the Miami quarterback.

They took University of Miami quarterback Gino Torretta out on a very big boat in Biscayne Bay on Tuesday for an atmospheric ESPN television interview. “Not the ocean, I get seasick on the ocean,” Torretta said. but the queasiest stomach of all this day belonged to Hurricanes Coach Dennis Erickson.

Erickson wasn’t all that thrilled to begin with about the nautical excursion, and his attitude got worse with storm clouds on the horizon and Torretta delayed longer than expected in returning to campus. Was it any wonder that the coach placed several nervous phone calls to the school’s sports information office trying to locate the young man who is skipper and even-keel anchor of the cruise ship Hurricane?

“Quarterback Lost at Sea” was about the only calamitous headline followers of 9-0 and top-ranked Miami haven’t read this tumultuous season. The team has been rocked by the violent offseason deaths of former players Jerome Brown and Shane Curry, battered by Hurricane Andrew, devastated by the loss of top defensive star Rusty Medearis with a season-ending knee injury and embarrassed by a fraud scandal involving improper financial aid to several players.

Through it all, there has been one constant--Torretta, the self-effacing 6-foot-3, 205-pound graduate-student quarterback from Northern California who is now coming on strong in Heisman Trophy sentiment with each passing Miami victory.

“It’s unbelievable what he’s done for us this year,” Erickson said a few hours after Torretta had finally been returned to campus--safe, sound and dry. “I’d hate to even think if he got knocked out of there how much trouble we’d be in on this football team.

“The Heisman is obviously something we’d like to see him win, but the most important thing is to win the national championship. If we should do that, then I think he should get the trophy. How can there be a guy out there who’s done more?”

Here’s a sampler of what Torretta has done so far. He has a 24-1 record as a starting quarterback, going into Miami’s final two games--Saturday at No. 8 Syracuse, the following week against San Diego State and its own Heisman hopeful, Marshall Faulk at a school that’s already produced quarterback icons such as Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Craig Erickson and Steve Walsh, he holds school records for total offense, passing attempts, completions and yards. He’s the only Miami quarterback to start on two national championship teams, and he’d dearly love to be the first to do it back to back.

In Torretta’s last four games since Miami went to a shotgun since Miami went to a shotgun offense--”When Coach Erickson told me, I just said thank God,” he said--he’s been a 64% passer, with 11 touchdown throws and only one interception. For the year, he’s had four passes intercepted in 324 attempts, “just an amazing number for as much as we’ve thrown the ball this year,” Erickson said.

In the last few weeks, there’s also been a Heisman groundswell. It’s happened without the help of a slick brochure, fancy postcards or a massive publicity campaign, even if Athletic Director Dave Maggard walks around the office wearing a red-striped Heisman tie “to bring Gino a little luck,.”

“We don’t want to cram him down people’s throats,” said sports information director Linda Venzon. “People know who he is. The whole point is the Heisman should be won on performance and character, all that good stuff.”

Certainly, Torretta has all of the above right stuff for consideration, even if he seems somewhat ambivalent about all the attention. He prides himself on his leadership abilities and immersing himself in the team concept, “we” as opposed to “me.” And at a school that has been harshly criticized over the years for its taunting, woofing, mock-those-suckers style, the closest you’ll ever see Torretta to a passionate display is an itty-bitty fist pump and a wide-angle smile.

“I know the media attention is getting more and more,” Torretta said in an interview a few minutes before going on a conference call with a dozen reporters around the country, to be followed by a session with ABC. “But when I step on the field, I’m not trying to win games by myself or put stats up on the board, I want to win games, that’s what’s most important to me. I like playing the games. I really don’t do it for the attention.

“There are high expectations here. People expect the Miami quarterback to be perfect. But I have high expectations myself. It can be tough on a quarterback at this place. When you first get here, you hear all the comparisons with all the other guys. If you listen to some of that stuff, you can get yourself in trouble if you believe it.”

Torretta does listen intently, however, when some of those former quarterbacks call him on the phone. He speaks with Kosar every few weeks, and chats with Walsh and Ericson too. After the Virginia Tech game, Kosar called to tell him he needed to fix the mechanics on his footwork. “He told me I was starting to look like him,” Torretta said. “I’d like to be in the same situation he’s in myself in a couple of years.”

The professional scouts say they have no doubt that Torretta will join many Miami alums in the league, though there are some questions about his athleticism, his speed and the strength of his arm.

Said one general manager, “He’s a smart guy, but he’s also the product of two things--a great system and great receivers. When you watch him throw deep, it’s almost embarrassing. He throws it up off his back foot, the old heave-ho. But he makes up for it by using his head. He’ll play in this league, but there are some shortcomings.”

Sam Jankovich, a former Miami athletic director who is now running the New England Patriots, had a different view. “He’s going to have a fine career in this league, because all he does is win. I know him, know him well. Great family, as fine a kid as you’ll ever see. And he’s worked hard for everything he’s achieved.”

Torretta has heard about all his so-called negatives but said “there’s no question in my mind I can play at that level.”