Hurricanes Stretch Lead in Rankings

Miami flexed its muscles on the field, and the results were felt in the polls.

The Hurricanes not only strengthened their grip on No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll Sunday, they regained the top spot in the USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll.

Following a 59-0 rout of then-No. 14 Syracuse, Miami (9-0) gained eight first-place votes in the AP poll, collecting 52 first-place votes and 1,777 points. Nebraska (11-0), which did not play Saturday, had 20 first-place votes and 1,746 points.

UCLA (6-4) and Florida State (6-4) were among the teams dropping out of the AP top 25.

It was the first time the Seminoles dropped out of the top 25 since Sept. 17, 1989, ending a streak of 210 consecutive polls, second longest behind Nebraska’s 338 in a row.

In the coaches’ poll, Miami had 33 first-place votes and Nebraska had 25.

In the AP poll, Florida (9-1) was No. 3, followed by Oklahoma (10-1), Texas (9-1), Oregon (9-1) and Tennessee (8-1).

Maryland (10-1) moved up two spots to No. 8, followed by BYU (11-0) and Illinois (9-1).

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Justin Ayat kicked a 24-yard field goal as time expired Saturday night to give Hawaii a 52-51 victory over Miami of Ohio on Saturday night at Honolulu.

Nick Rolovich set a Hawaii record with seven touchdown passes, surpassing the mark of five set by Dan Robinson two years ago. Rolovich finished with 30 completions for 500 yards.

Miami’s Ben Roethlisberger completed 40 of 53 passes for 452 yards and three touchdowns.

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Florida tailback Earnest Graham, who learned Sunday he’ll have to sit out three to five weeks because of a sprained right knee, claims the injury might not have been an accident.

Graham, who left on crutches Saturday night after Florida’s 37-13 victory over Florida State at Gainesville, told Coach Steve Spurrier that a Seminole player may have twisted the leg in the pile after a tackle.

“I hate to bring it up, but I’ve got to say something on behalf of Earnest Graham,” Spurrier said.

“If it happened, we’ll let the proper people look at the thing, because I know [Florida State Coach] Bobby Bowden wouldn’t have a player try to twist a guy’s leg in the bottom of the pileup.”

Lineman Darnell Dockett is listed as the tackler on the play.

“In the history of college football, I’ve heard of people twisting an ankle, but how are you going to twist a knee?” Bowden said.