MORGANTOWN, W.VA. – No. 14-ranked Miami took advantage of two Brad Lewis interceptions for touchdowns to cruise to a 47-10 victory over the Mountaineers Saturday.
Leonard Myles picked off a Lewis pass and raced 25 yards for Miami’s first score in the first quarter, and Howard Clark started the second half with a 29-yard interception return to help the Hurricanes improve to 2-1 on the season.
"That's as good of Miami team as I've played," admitted West Virginia coach Don Nehlen. "Their front people are something else. I guarantee you that team is going to beat an awful lot of folks."
Miami took control of the contest after West Virginia scored the game's first touchdown.
The Mountaineers benefited from a muffed punt by Santana Moss and backup wide receiver Carlos Osegueda pounced on the ball at the Miami one. On the play, West Virginia lost starting cornerback Richard Bryant to a dislocated elbow.
One player later, tailback Cooper Rego scored to give the Mountaineers a 7-0 lead.
Rego started in place of Avon Cobourne, who was a game time scratch due to an Achilles heel injury sustained last week against Maryland.
"I kind of thought by Thursday that Avon wasn't going to play this week," Nehlen admitted.
Miami answered with Myles’ interception return, and added another score when quarterback Ken Dorsey hit Reggie Wayne for 38-yard touchdown down the near sideline. Wayne beat freshman Brian King on the play.
Miami had a chance to tack on seven more, but West Virginia had its second goal line stand in two weeks to turn back the Hurricanes.
"I thought our defense played very well," Nehlen mentioned.
West Virginia countered with Jon Ohliger field goal with 2:37 left in the second quarter after West Virginia blocked a Freddie Capshaw punt.
Miami came right back to produce a long, seven-play, 73-yard touchdown drive to push the margin to 11 at halftime. Miami’s score came on a 17-yard run by Clinton Portis with 44 seconds left in the half.
It didn’t take Miami long to put the game away in the second half. With Lewis under pressure, the quarterback fired a pass intended for Khori Ivy that linebacker Howard Clark stepped in front of and raced 29 yards for the score.
With the Miami's advantage now 18, UM tacked on a Sievers 29-yard FG to make it 31-10, and followed with a Dorsey-to-Wayne 47-yard TD pass to put the game out of reach, 41-10. Wayne again got past King for the touchdown.
Miami added a late touchdown when West Virginia backup running back Terrance Johnson fumbled at the Miami 23, and Phillip Buchanan scooped up the football and raced 77 yards to the end zone. The conversion attempt was blocked.
Miami’s 47 points were the most allowed by West Virginia at Mountaineer Field since the No. 1-ranked Hurricanes scored 58 in 1986.
Dorsey had a terrific day, hitting 22-of-33 passes for 291 yards and two touchdowns. Wayne caught seven passes for 127 yards and two scores.
Lewis, meanwhile, was not as effective, completing just 11-of-31 passes for 107 yards and two interceptions under constant pressure. Rego rushed for a game-high 107 yards on 25 carries, his second straight 100-yard effort.
"Cooper played very hard," Nehlen noted.
"When we had the football we just couldn't get anything going," the coach added. "When we did do something we would drop it, they would pick it up, intercept it or something."
West Virginia finished the afternoon with four turnovers.
Backup Scott McBrien got into the game in the fourth quarter, and completed four-of-five passes for 49 yards.
Phil Braxton was West Virginia’s top receiver, catching three passes for 56 yards. Khori Ivy was limited to just two catches for 12 yards, but did extend his consecutive catch streak to 31 straight games.
Miami produced 387 yards for the game while West Virginia managed 317, though most of those came when the game was already decided.
"Offensively, you can't have missed assignments against a team like that," Nehlen said.
West Virginia falls to 2-1 and has a short week in preparation for a Thursday night game at Temple.
Scoring Summary
WV – Rego 1 rush (Rauh kick)
UM – Myers 25 interception return (Sievers kick)
UM – Wayne 38 pass from Dorsey (Sievers kick)
WV – Ohliger 41 FG
UM – Portis 17 rush (Sievers kick)
UM – Clark 29 interception return (Sievers kick)
UM – Sievers 29 FG
UM – Wayne 47 pass from Dorsey (Sievers kick)
UM – Sievers 40 FG
UM – Buchanon 77 fumble return (Kick blocked)
Individual Statistics
Rushing – UM: Jackson 15-35, Portis 6-29, Wayne 1-11, Williams 2-10, Davenport 10-9, Sands 1-2, Dorsey 1-0, Total 36-96; WV: Rego 25-107, McMillen 3-44, Johnson 4-11, Brown 2-7, Ours 1-1, McBrien 2-minus 3, Lewis 3-minus 12, Total 40-155.
Passing – UM: Dorsey 22-33-0-291-2, Total 22-33-0-291-2; WV: Lewis 11-31-2-113-0, McBrien 4-5-0-49-0, Total 15-36-2-162-0.
Receiving – UM: Wayne 7-127, Moss 6-65, Williams 3-54, Portis 2-20, Shockey 2-9, King 1-12, Mercer 1-4, Total 22-291; WV: Braxton 3-56, Berton 3-17, Abraham 2-41, Brown 2-21, Ivy 2-12, Johnson 2-8, Rego 1-7, Total 15-162.
Attendance: 63,735
