BIG EAST ROUNDUP : Miami Exacts Revenge on West Virginia

Frank Costa threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns to lead No. 7 Miami to a 38-6 victory over West Virginia on Saturday at Morgantown, W.Va.

It was the Hurricanes’ 68th consecutive victory over an unranked opponent.

Costa helped Miami, 5-1, 2-0 in the Big East, take a 25-0 halftime lead by hooking up with Chris T. Jones on a 52-yard touchdown pass play and with Yatil Green on a 54-yarder.

“Revenge, that’s the main thing we had on our minds this year,” Miami linebacker Ray Lewis said.

Last year, the Hurricanes were insulted and their bus rocked as a swarm of Mountaineer fans celebrated a 17-14 victory, Miami’s only Big East defeat. This year, most West Virginia fans were gone by the start of the fourth quarter.

Miami Coach Dennis Erickson said it was easy to motivate his team. “They sat on that bus when it got rocked and spit on,” Erickson said. “I didn’t have to play it up.”

Miami’s other first-half touchdowns came on a one-yard run by Danyell Ferguson and a nine-yarder by Larry Jones, who started in place of injured Larry Stewart.

West Virginia (3-5, 1-3) looked better and Miami sluggish for most of the third quarter. Then Vann Washington fumbled a punt at his seven--West Virginia’s fourth turnover--and Miami’s Eugene Ridgley pounced on it in the end zone to make it 32-0.

West Virginia has struggled to run the ball all season. It was no different against the Big East’s top-ranked defense.

Miami held West Virginia to 23 yards rushing in 23 attempts. Robert Walker, who rushed for 100 yards against the Hurricanes last season, had only 10 yards in 12 carries.

No. 16 Syracuse 49, Temple 42--Marvin Harrison made a memorable visit home to Philadelphia, scoring three touchdowns to lead the Orangemen to a Big East victory over the Owls.

Harrison caught nine passes for 191 yards, both career highs, and scored on pass plays of 53 and 55 yards. He also had the first touchdown run of his career, 20 yards on a reverse.

Kevin Mason was the other star for Syracuse (6-1, 4-0), completing 17 of 20 passes for 334 yards and three touchdowns. The completions, yards and touchdowns represented career bests for Mason, a fifth-year senior. Mason, who also ran five yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, led all runners with 66 yards in 13 carries.

Henry Burris threw four touchdown passes, rallying Temple (2-5, 0-3) from a 42-14, third-quarter deficit. His six-yard pass to Randy Canzater with three seconds to go cut the final margin to a touchdown. Temple has lost four in a row.

No. 17 Virginia Tech 45, Pittsburgh 7--Antonio Freeman returned a punt 80 yards for one touchdown, caught a touchdown pass for another and set up two more scores with long returns as the Hokies rolled to an easy Big East victory at Blacksburg, Va.

Virginia Tech (7-1, 4-1) won its 10th game in a row in Lane Stadium and has its best record since 1967. Pitt (1-7, 0-4) lost its fifth in a row.