The Other Miami Is Red Hot, Stunning No. 14 Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech has lost to Miami before. But not this Miami.

Thanks to a big-play defense and a trick play, Miami of Ohio surprised No. 14 Virginia Tech, 24-17, Saturday at Blacksburg, Va., snapping the Hokies’ 11-game regular-season winning streak and their 12-game home winning streak.

For Miami (4-1), a 20-point underdog, it was the biggest upset since 1995, when the RedHawks beat Rose Bowl-bound Northwestern in a season when the Wildcats beat Penn State, Michigan and Notre Dame.

In the second quarter, Miami scored on a blocked punt and later, after a 46-run on an option by quarterback Sam Ricketts, the RedHawks scored on a fake field-goal try. Holder Mike Bath handed off to blocker Travis Prentice, who ran 32 yards virtually untouched for a touchdown that gave Miami a 14-10 lead over the Hokies (4-1).

West Virginia 48, Rutgers 0--Marc Bulger threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third score before leaving with a hand injury as Mountaineers (4-1, 2-1) rolled to a 48-0 victory over the Red Raiders (0-5, 0-3) in a Big East game at Morgantown, W.Va.

Sophomore Amos Zereoue, the conference’s leading rusher with a 150-yard per-game average, ran for 103 yards. West Virginia beat Rutgers for the 15th time in 18 meetings, including the 11th consecutive time in Morgantown. Rutgers has lost eight in a row, its worst losing streak since 14 consecutive losses from 1900-1902.

Temmpe 17, Pittsburgh 13--The Owls (2-4, 2-1) made a late defensive stand for a Big East victory over Pitt (3-2, 1-1) at Philadelphia.

Pitt threatened to tie or win after Tray Crayton returned an interception 53 yards to the Temple 18. The Panthers drove to the eight but had to settle for a field goal.

Temple has won a second Big East game in one season for the first time since joining the Big East in 1991.

Syracuse 56, East Carolina 0--Donovan McNabb scored two touchdowns and threw for another in leading the Orangemen at Syracuse, N.Y.

It was the first time since they opened the season with a 34-0 victory over Wisconsin that the Orangemen (3-3) played up to expectations. East Carolina (1-3), which had beaten Syracuse two straight times in the Carrier Dome, never had a chance in this one, suffering its second straight shutout.

EAST

Peter Sellers connected with Zach Ellis on a 22-yard pass-play touchdown early in the fourth quarter to give Dartmouth (3-0, 2-0) a 24-20 Ivy League victory over Cornell (1-2, 1-1) at Hanover, N.H. Dartmouth has gone 19-0-1 since it lost to Cornell, 17-14, in 1995. Dartmouth’s 20-game unbeaten streak is the nation’s longest. . . . Sophomore quarterback Don McDowell came off the bench to lead unbeaten Bucknell (4-0) to a comeback 24-20 Ivy League victory over Harvard (2-1) at Boston on Saturday. Bucknell trailed early, 20-7, but took command in the second quarter after McDowell replaced starter Jim John, who was sacked four times. . . . Jason Lenderman scored twice on blocked-punt returns and James Perry threw three touchdown passes as Brown (3-0) recorded a 45-14 victory over Fordham (2-3) at New York. . . . Princeton quarterback Harry Nakielny completed 16 of 28 passes for 176 yards and one touchdown as the Tigers (2-1) posted a 21-7 victory over Holy Cross (1-3) at Worcester, Mass. . . . Daymon Smith rushed for a career-high 150 yards and four touchdowns to lead Colgate (3-1, 2-0) to a 61-28 Ivy League victory over Lehigh (1-3, 1-2) at Hamilton, N.Y. . . . Fullback Todd Stahlnecker rushed for two touchdowns and caught a pass for another as Lafayette (1-4) scored a stunning 31-3 victory over Columbia (1-2) at Easton, Pa.

WAC

No. 23 Air Force (6-0) remained unbeaten with a 17-3 win over The Citadel. Despite outgaining Air Force 367 yards to 302, a career-high 185 yards by Antonio Smith, The Citadel (2-3) lost its 15th straight road game dating to 1994. Smith also had two costly fumbles. . . . Wyoming (4-2) limited Montana (3-1) to 14 yards rushing and 195 throwing to defeat the Grizzlies, 28-13, at Laramie. . . . Benji Wood scored three touchdowns as Rice (3-2 overall, 1-1 WAC) ran away with a 42-24 victory at Tulsa (0-4, 0-1). The Owls’ defense forced five Tulsa turnovers. . . . Colorado State whipped Hawaii, 63-0, as Moses Moreno passed for two touchdowns, Jaime Blake ran for two more and Geoff Turner and Darran Hall each scored on punt returns. “Sonny [Lubick, Colorado State’s Coach] apologized at the end,” Hawaii Coach Fred vonAppen said. “There was no need for it. You run the score up on yourself if you play as abysmally as we did.”

WEST

Mike Stadler completed five touchdown passes and ran for another score as San Diego defeated Evansville, 55-20, at Evansville, Ind. Stadler completed 20 of 31 passes for 283 yards with one interception. Dylan Ching, who caught a 55-yard TD pass for the only score in the fourth quarter, had seven receptions for 134 yards.

San Diego (3-2, 1-0 Pioneer League) took the lead on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Stadler to Chris Del Santo, and stayed on top the rest of the way.

Evansville (1-3, 0-1) drew close when it moved 71 yards in 11 plays to score on an 8-yard run by Sean Bennett. However, Tony Salpietra’s conversion run was unsuccessful.