Dorsey Rides to the Rescue for No. 1 Miami

Miami’s run defense had yet another poor showing, so Ken Dorsey came to the rescue with his best game ever.

Dorsey threw for a career-high 422 yards and two touchdowns as top-ranked Miami defeated stubborn West Virginia, 40-23, Saturday.

He set school career records for completions (564), yards passing (8,024) and total offense (7,981), all previously held by Gino Torretta, who played in 1989-92.

Except for two career categories, Dorsey now has surpassed Heisman Trophy winners Torretta and Vinny Testaverde, along with Bernie Kosar, Craig Erickson and Steve Walsh.

“Ken has been so steady and so good that you sometimes take him for granted as a football coach,” Miami Coach Larry Coker said.

The Hurricanes (7-0 overall, 3-0 in the Big East Conference) pulled away from a 17-17 third-quarter tie to extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 29 games, which equaled the school record set from 1990 to ’92.

West Virginia (5-3, 2-1) stayed in the game because it was able to run on the Hurricanes.

Just like two weeks ago against Florida State, Miami’s run defense was pummeled. This time it was Avon Cobourne, backup Quincy Wilson and quarterback Rasheed Marshall doing the damage, as the Hurricanes allowed a season-high 363 yards on the ground.

It was the most allowed by Miami since Syracuse had 318 yards rushing in 1998.

“Every team is going to try to rush on us,” Miami defensive end Andrew Williams said. “Other teams will get 300 yards also if they don’t pass.”

Cobourne, the nation’s third-leading rusher, had 26 carries for 175 yards, his sixth 100-yard effort of the season.

Although the Hurricanes were held to a season-low 102 yards rushing, Willis McGahee showed he was healed from a turf toe injury with 112 yards and three short scores.

Dorsey overcame a sluggish first half to complete 22 of 36 passes. His previous high for yards was 362 against Nebraska in the Rose Bowl last January and against Florida State two weeks ago.

“Gino can’t give me a hard time after today,” Dorsey said with a smile.

Dorsey, who is 33-1 as a starter, also is within one touchdown pass of tying the Big East mark of 77 set by Syracuse’s Donovan McNabb from 1995-98.

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Passing Fancy

With a career-high 422 yards passing Saturday, Ken Dorsey became Miami’s leading career passer:

*--* Player Years Yards Ken Dorsey 1999- 8,024 Gino Torretta 1989-92 7,690 Vinny Testaverde 1982, 1984-86 6,058 Craig Erickson 1987-90 6,056 Ryan Clement 1994-97 6,004 Bernie Kosar 1983-84 5,971 Steve Walsh 1986-88 5,369 Jim Kelly 1979-82 5,228 George Mira 1961-63 4,633

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*--* WHERE DORSEY RANKS AT MIAMI IN Comp Att Pct TDs Total Off 564 973 579 76 7,981 1st 2nd 5th 1st 1st

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