BIG EAST ROUNDUP : New Miami Passer, Same Old Story

Kelly, Kosar, Testaverde, Walsh, Erickson, Torretta--and now Collins. The seasons change, but the run of excellent Miami quarterbacks seems almost endless.

Ryan Collins, a sophomore emerging as the latest in a long line of Miami stars, threw four touchdown passes in the first half as the No. 4 Hurricanes defeated Pitt, 35-7, Saturday at Pittsburgh.

Until his fourth-quarter interception led to Pitt’s only score, Collins was nearly flawless in only his third collegiate start. He was 12 of 21 for 173 yards and threw scoring passes on four of the Hurricanes’ first five possessions.

“Sometimes in the past when we played a team we were supposed to beat, we didn’t jump on them at the beginning, but today we did,” Collins said after Miami outgained Pitt, 516 yards to 138.

Miami, accustomed to the warmth of south Florida, ignored temperatures in the high 30s and a chilly drizzle to continue to dominate Big East opponents. The Hurricanes, 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the Big East, are 9-0 since joining the conference and have outscored the Big East, 170-23, this season.

Pitt (2-7, 1-4) hasn’t beaten Miami in five games since Johnny Majors coached the Panthers to the national championship in 1976.

Miami has won of 34 of its last 35 regular-season games.

Boston College 48, No. 25 Virginia Tech 34--The passer outdid the scrambler at Boston. Glenn Foley, who runs the Eagles’ pro-style offense, threw for 448 yards and three touchdowns. Maurice DeShazo, the multitalented Hokies’ quarterback, was held to 174 yards passing and was intercepted twice.

Foley, 21 of 29 while throwing for the fourth-highest total in school history, had touchdown pass plays of 10 and 68 yards to Ivan Boyd and a 35-yard scoring pass to Brent Gibbons.

Foley has 16 touchdown passes and only two interceptions in his last six games, all victories for the Eagles (6-2, 4-1).

The Hokies fell to 6-3, 3-3.

Foley has averaged 352 passing yards in his last five games. He has 2,374 passing yards this season.

No. 11 West Virginia 58, Rutgers 22--Mike Baker caught eight passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns and David Mayfield returned an interception 82 yards at Morgantown, W. Va.

But it wasn’t all good news for the Mountaineers (8-0, 4-0).

Quarterback Jake Kelchner, the nation’s passing efficiency leader, pulled a hamstring while running out of bounds in the second quarter. Kelchner’s status was uncertain for the Big East showdown against No. 4 Miami on Nov. 20.

The 58 points were the most given up by the Scarlet Knights (4-5, 1-4) since a 61-19 loss to Princeton in 1952.

Syracuse 52, Temple 3--Marvin Graves threw for two touchdowns and ran for another to key a second-quarter outburst as the Orangemen rebounded from consecutive shutout losses at Syracuse.

It was the Orangemen’s most lopsided victory since a 42-0 rout of Rutgers in 1990. Richard Maston kicked a 35-yard field goal early in the final quarter to foil Syracuse’s shutout bid.

The Orangemen (5-3-1, 2-3), coming off losses to Miami and West Virginia by a combined score of 92-0, scored 35 points in the second quarter to take a 42-0 halftime lead over the Owls (1-8, 0-5), who lost for the eighth consecutive time. It was also the Owls’ 16th conference loss in a row.