Miami Ends Two Droughts With Upset

Miami hadn’t defeated a top 25 team or come from behind in the fourth quarter to win since 1996. It did both Saturday.

Scott Covington hit Daryl Jones with a three-yard touchdown pass with 1:37 left to give Miami a 34-31 victory over No. 13 West Virginia at Morgantown, W.Va.

West Virginia (4-2, 1-1 Big East) drove to within long field-goal range for a chance to tie the score and send it to overtime but Jay Taylor’s 53-yard attempt was wide left and short.

Edgerrin James scored three touchdowns for Miami (4-2, 2-1), whose last fourth-quarter comeback came against West Virginia, when the Hurricanes scored on a blocked punt in the final minute.

The victory kept Miami alive in the chase for the Big East title. No. 21 Syracuse is the only unbeaten team in conference play.

After stopping the Hurricanes with 5:27 left, West Virginia was forced to punt after three plays and Miami took over at the West Virginia 46. Miami needed five plays and 1:38 to drive for the score, the key James Jackson’s 41-yard run to the West Virginia five.

SOUTH

Sixth-ranked Florida State staked its claim to a seventh straight Atlantic Coast Conference championship, using Peter Warrick and a dominating defense to pull away from No. 20 Georgia Tech, 34-7, at Atlanta. The Seminoles (7-1, 4-1 ACC) already had the nation’s top-ranked defense, allowing only 214 yards per game, and actually improved their average against a team that had scored 40 points in five straight games. Warrick caught two touchdown passes from Chris Weinke and added a 16-yard scoring run on a reverse. Florida State turned a close game into a rout with a 24-point fourth quarter, which included a 60-yard touchdown run by Laveranues Coles. The Yellow Jackets (5-2, 4-1) could have taken the inside track to their first ACC title since 1990 with a victory. Instead, they are now in a three-way tie with Florida State and Virginia, which meet on Nov. 7 in Tallahassee. . . . Thomas Jones rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns as No. 16 Virginia rallied for a sloppy 23-13 victory over North Carolina State at Charlottesville, Va. The Wolfpack (4-3, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) lost for the first time in three games against ranked teams. The Cavaliers (6-1, 4-1) were plagued by dropped passes, Aaron Brooks’ ineffectiveness and an inability to convert third-down plays until late in the third quarter, when they drove 92 yards for a score. . . . Freshman quarterback Ronald Curry, playing for the suspended Oscar Davenport, threw for 230 yards as North Carolina continued its domination of Wake Forest with a 38-31 victory at Winston-Salem, N.C. The Tar Heels (3-3, 2-1 ACC) won their third in a row after starting the season 0-3 and defeated the Demon Deacons (3-4, 2-2) for the ninth consecutive time. . . . Tailbacks B.J. Hill and Letavious Wilks combined for 113 yards and three touchdowns to help Duke defeat Clemson, 28-23, at Durham, N.C. The Tigers (2-6, 1-5 ACC) drove 99 yards using a no-huddle offense to get within five points in the late going. However, Duke (4-4, 2-4) broke up the two-point attempt and an interception with 35 seconds left ended Clemson’s comeback hopes. . . . Chris Redman threw for a Conference USA-record 506 yards and four touchdowns as Louisville (4-4, 2-2) defeated Memphis, 35-32, at Louisville, Ky. Memphis (1-6, 1-2) scored with 3:10 remaining to cut Louisville’s lead to three, 35-32. But the Cardinals took over and ran out the clock. . . . Freshman Derrick Nix had his third consecutive 100-yard rushing game as Southern Mississippi defeated East Carolina, 41-7, at Hattiesburg, Miss., scoring touchdowns four different ways. In addition to a one-yard touchdown run by Nix, Southern Miss (4-3, 3-1 Conference USA) had two passing touchdowns and also returned a punt and an interception for scores against the Pirates (4-3, 1-1). . . . Daunte Culpepper passed for three touchdowns and a school-record 438 yards as Central Florida defeated Southwestern Louisiana, 42-10, at Lafayette, La. He also ran for two touchdowns to account for five of the six touchdowns scored by UCF (6-1) against Southwest Louisiana. (1-6). . . . Lamont Pegues rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown as No. 23 Virginia Tech (6-1) rebounded from an upset loss to Temple with a 41-0 victory over Alabama-Birmingham (2-5) at Birmingham, Ala.

EAST

John Vereen scored on an eight-yard run with 1:41 left, capping a 22-point fourth quarter that gave Navy (3-4) a 32-31 victory over Boston College at Boston. John Matich’s 40-yard field goal attempt for Boston College (3-4) sailed wide left as time expired. . . . Shaun King threw four second-quarter touchdown passes and ran for two more scores as No. 22 Tulane (7-0) moved to its best start since 1973 with a 52-24 nonconference victory over Rutgers (3-4) at Piscataway, N.J. . . . James Perry’s 24-yard pass to Stephen Campbell with four seconds remaining lifted Brown (3-3, 1-2 Ivy League) to a 58-51 victory over Pennsylvania (4-2, 2-1) at Providence, R.I. . . . Deon Harris rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown to lead Cornell (4-2, 1-2 Ivy League) to a 14-11 victory over Dartmouth (2-4, 1-2) at Ithaca, N.Y. . . . Rashad Bartholomew rushed for 192 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown, as Yale (3-3, 3-1 Ivy League) whipped Columbia, 34-14, at New Haven, Conn.

MIDWEST

Chris Wallace hit Mel Long on a 24-yard touchdown pass with 2:54 remaining as Toledo (5-3, 4-1 Mid-American Conference) scored the game’s final 10 points to defeat Akron (3-4, 2-3 MAC), 24-17, at Akron, Ohio. . . . Doug Chapman ran for four touchdowns and Chad Pennington passed for 349 yards and a touchdown to pace unbeaten Marshall (8-0, 6-0 MAC) to a 42-10 victory over Ball State (1-7, 1-5 MAC) at Huntington, W.Va.

WEST

Ronney Jenkins rushed for 250 yards and tied a school record with five touchdowns as Brigham Young outlasted San Jose State, 46-43, at Provo, Utah. Brigham Young (5-3, 3-1 Western Athletic Conference), led 39-22, entering the fourth quarter, but San Jose State (3-5, 2-2) scored three touchdowns in a 7:07 span early in the period to pull within three points. . . . Ryan Eslinger threw for 370 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another to lead Colorado State to its fifth consecutive victory, a 42-21 blowout of Texas Christian at Fort Collins, Colo. The Rams (7-2, 4-1 WAC) stayed in contention in the tightly contested Mountain Division by scorching the WAC’s third-best defense for 589 total yards. TCU (4-3, 2-2) suffered its seventh consecutive WAC road loss. . . . Marques Brigham rushed for 145 yards and a touchdown to lead Wyoming (6-1, 4-0 WAC) to a 34-24 victory over Rice (2-5, 2-2) at Laramie, Wyo. . . . Southern Methodist, ineffective all day on offense, drove 80 yards for the winning score with 22 seconds left to defeat UNLV, 10-7, at Dallas. Until the final drive, the Mustangs (3-5, 3-3 WAC) had gained just 167 yards against the Rebels (0-8, 0-5). . . . Blane Morgan threw for 190 yards and ran for two touchdowns as Air Force (6-1, 4-1 WAC) defeated Tulsa (2-5, 0-4), 42-21, at Tulsa Okla. . . . David Neill threw for 480 yards and five touchdowns and chief target Geof Noisy set an NCAA receiving record with 273 career grabs as Nevada (3-4, 1-2 Big West) defeated Idaho (5-3, 1-1) at Moscow, Idaho. . . . Boise State (5-3, 1-1 Big West) used two late interceptions defeat Utah State (1-7, 0-2), 30-16. . . .Ketric Sanford rushed for 108 yards and Jason McKinley threw two touchdown passes as Houston (2-5) defeated North Texas (2-5), 31-9, at Denton, Texas.