No. 2 Miami Escapes With 22-20 Victory

Miami freshman Jon Peattie was singing along with the music playing in the Orange Bowl, trying to stay calm. He had to wait through three timeouts called by West Virginia as he set up again and again and again for the game-winning field goal.

Peattie then calmly kicked a 23-yard field goal with 11 seconds remaining as the second-ranked Hurricanes staved off an upset with a 22-20 Big East Conference victory over West Virginia (1-4, 0-1) on Thursday night.

“I never expected it,” Peattie said. “But something I learned when I came to college was that every kick counts, no matter how short it is.”

Peattie finished with a school-record five field goals, his biggest coming after Miami (5-0, 2-0) drove 66 yards with two minutes remaining.

Peattie’s other field goals were 22, 32, 43 and 30 yards.

Brock Berlin needed a fourth-down completion to Kellen Winslow to keep the winning drive alive. On fourth and 13 from the Miami 25, Berlin passed to Winslow over the middle. The tight end made a leaping catch for an 18-yard gain.

“Winslow’s probably the best in the country,” West Virginia Coach Rich Rodriguez said. “He made a great play and made it happen.”

After Winslow’s catch, Berlin completed three passes in a row to move the Hurricanes into Peattie’s range. Then a pass interference call against West Virginia’s Brian King turned Peattie’s final field goal into a chip shot.

Running back Frank Gore sprained his left knee in the first half and his availability for the Hurricanes’ Oct. 11 showdown at No. 5 Florida State is in doubt.

“It doesn’t look good right now,” Coach Larry Coker said.