Dorsey, Hurricanes Make a Solid Statement

Californian Ken Dorsey, whose Heisman Trophy campaign had stalled in the last two games, put his name back in focus Saturday by riddling a porous Syracuse secondary for 345 yards passing and two touchdowns in Miami’s 49-7 Big East rout under the Carrier Dome.

The victory solidified the Hurricanes’ No. 1 standing with an 11-0 record and left them one game -- against Virginia Tech next Saturday -- removed from a national championship match with undefeated Ohio State in the Jan. 3 Fiesta Bowl.

It also extended Miami’s undefeated streak to 33, the longest since Toledo won 35 straight from 1969-71.

Dorsey started the season as the Heisman favorite after finishing third last year, but when he passed for only 163 yards last week against Pittsburgh and had only one touchdown in each of the last two games, his status slipped.

Against the hapless Orangemen, it wasn’t so much that he toyed with them -- after all, their pass defense ranks 115th among 117 Division I-A teams -- as the way he did it. The 6-foot-5, 200-pound senior from Orinda looked as if he should be throwing for the Miami Dolphins instead of the Hurricanes as he completed his first 10 passes for a 21-0 halftime lead.

“Dorsey made a statement today,” Miami Coach Larry Coker said. “He is special. You can use all those cliches you want, but in our opinion, he is the best player in the country, and as good as any of the great quarterbacks we’ve had.”

That would include Heisman winners Vinny Testaverde and Gino Torretta, plus Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar, George Mira and Steve Walsh.

As he has all season, Dorsey deflected attention from himself and warned, “We can’t have a letdown; Virginia Tech is going to come in with a lot of energy.”

Flanker Andre Johnson was Dorsey’s favorite target, hauling in six passes for 181 yards that included a four-yard touchdown across the middle from a spread formation.

“That was one of my best games, catching and blocking,” said Johnson, a junior who was co-player of the game with Dorsey in Miami’s 37-14 national championship win over Nebraska in the Rose Bowl. “I was proud of some of the blocks I made on big runs today.”

An uncanny ability to convert third-down plays has become Dorsey’s hallmark. He did it seven of 10 times Saturday, including precision strikes to Kellen Winslow on a deep pass for 33 yards and a crossing pattern for 19. This season Dorsey has converted 63 of 103 third-down passes for 757 yards, with nine touchdowns and no interceptions.

“The line does a great job blocking and guys picking up blitzes,” said Dorsey, who did not play most of the fourth quarter. “Experience comes into play; [our linemen] just have an understanding of the situation.”

To prove he was human, he was sacked twice and fumbled once on third down, but recovered the ball.

Sophomore Willis McGahee, Miami’s other Heisman candidate, had an unusual day. He had scoring runs of 61 and 51 yards, the first coming on the Hurricanes’ second offensive play, but in his other 12 carries he gained only 22 yards.

“They are not the No. 1 team in the nation for nothing,” said Syracuse tailback Walter Reyes, who ran for 120 yards. “They came in here and we knew we would have to play 60 minutes very hard. They are a great team, and unfortunately we kind of sputtered today.”

With the score 35-7 in the fourth quarter, what was left of the crowd of 45,679 booed loudly when Miami punter Freddie Clapshaw surprisingly threw a wobbly pass to Sean Taylor, who ran 47 yards for an unexpected -- and almost unwanted -- touchdown.

“That was regrettable coming at that time in the game,” Coker said. “It was an automatic that we had in our game plan, that if the receiver is not covered, we go to him, but unfortunately I had forgotten to call it off.”