Hurricanes fight off Boston College to remain undefeated

The top-ranked Miami Hurricanes (4-0 overall, 2-0 Big East) overcame a sluggish first half… The top-ranked Miami Hurricanes (4-0 overall, 2-0 Big East) overcame a sluggish first half against visiting Boston College to post a 38-6 victory Saturday.

Big East Offensive Player of the Week Willis McGahee collected 221 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns as the Hurricanes turned a four-point halftime lead into a 28-point second-half scoring spree.

Head coach Larry Coker takes his Hurricanes into its off week after a game he feels was “a lot closer than the score indicated.”

“They’re the first really physical team we’ve played this year,” Coker said. “They’re very smart and had a great plan.”

Despite Miami winning its 26th straight game, including the 19th consecutive conference game, Coker feels this off week will give the team an opportunity to improve.

“This week’s going to be focused on the University of Miami,” Coker said. “We need to get better fundamentally as a football team.”

Boston College head coach Tom O’Brien, meanwhile, watched his Eagles keep at striking distance in the first half for the second time in two years, only to see the Hurricanes eventually pull away.

“[Miami] is a really explosive football team,” O’Brien said. “I thought going into the fourth quarter down 17-6 we had a chance … but when they decided to turn up the heat, we couldn’t withstand it.”

Looking ahead, the Eagles host Central Michigan Saturday at Chestnut Hill.

“It will be a challenge to see how we bounce back after Saturday night at the Orange Bowl,” O’Brien said.

The Eagles defense will be tested again this weekend as Central Michigan brings its eighth ranked, no-huddle offense to Chestnut Hill.

West Virginia returns home to face East Carolina

Head coach Rich Rodriguez used this last off week to prepare his Mountaineers (2-1, 0-0) for East Carolina for Saturday in a Big East Game of the Week.

“We thought we had a pretty good week last week as far as getting a couple guys healthy and working on some problem areas that we had,” Rodriguez said.

In ECU, the Mountaineers face a tough opponent that in some circles is a favorite to finish atop Conference USA.

“They’ve got explosive players on offense and athletic players on defense,” Rodriguez said. “I think our guys are excited to be back home, but they know what’s ahead of them.”

The Mountaineers plan on riding tailback Avon Cobourne to victory again this weekend. The senior tailback posted his 20th career 100-yard rushing game with his 193-yard and two-touchdown performance at Cincinnati two weeks ago.

Virginia Tech ends Texas A’M streak

No. 5 Virginia tech defeated its third straight nationally ranked opponent with its 13-3 win in College Station Saturday.

The Hokies, who were held to just 129 total rushing yards after a 395 yard performance just nine days before, are the first nonconference team to beat Texas A’M at Kyle Field since 1988.

“Anytime you go beat a team as good as Texas A’M at their place in front of a crowd like they have and that kind of atmosphere,” head coach Frank Beamer said, “and for us to play as well as we did – as poised as we were, certainly you got to give our guys credit, but also the [assistant] coaches credit.”

Quarterback Bryan Randall threw 10 of 11 passes for 119 yards, while the Hokie defense held the then-ranked No. 19 Aggies to 156 yards of total offense.

Senior safety Willie Pile earned Big East Defensive Player of the Week honors with his 10 tackle, one interception and one fumble recovery performance Saturday.

This weekend Virginia Tech travels to Western Michigan, who last weekend put Purdue back on its heels before the Boilermakers pulled out a late victory.

Syracuse faces Auburn

The Syracuse Orangemen (1-2, 0-1) come off a 63-17 rout of Rhode Island two weeks ago to meet a much harder task with its date at Auburn Saturday night.

In the Tigers (3-1, 1-0), head coach Paul Pasqualoni foresees a dangerous opponent running high on emotions. Last Thursday, the traveling Tigers defeated Southeastern Conference division rival Mississippi State in its conference opener.

“It’s going to take a complete effort to compete with Auburn,” Pasqualoni said, “[especially] with the way they’ve been playing and the way things are going right now.”

The Orangemen will have more difficulty with the Tiger defense than with what they faced at home against Rhode Island – a game in which they amassed 628 yards of total offense.

In an effort to establish ball control and clock management in the hostile Auburn environment, Pasqualoni plans on utilizing both Walter Reyes and Damien Rhodes, who have combined for more than 500 yards rushing and eight touchdowns so far this season.

Temple looks to rebound from defeat in South Carolina

Temple tailback Tanardo Sharps ran 21 times for 143 yards and a score, but it was not enough for the Owls (1-3, 0-1) in a 44-21 loss to Lou Holtz and the Gamecocks.

Despite matching up evenly with South Carolina in the first frame, Bobby Wallace’s Owls could not capitalize on a 14-14 first quarter tie.

“We did not play really well in the third quarter and that was really the difference in the game,” Wallace said.

The Owls had trouble containing quarterback Corey Jenkins and the spread offense. Jenkins ran for two scores as well as completing 18 of 23 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns.

With Cincinnati up next on Temple’s schedule, Wallace is troubled with his defense’s play of late.

“Defensively, we’re not playing against the pass very well right now, which has me very concerned,” Wallace said. “This week against Cincinnati we’ve got a tremendous quarterback coming in that almost pulled off a great upset at Ohio State this weekend.”

Wallace said Sharps, who was knocked out of Saturday’s game with a broken tooth, is in “a lot of pain” but should be ready to practice by the middle of the week.

Rutgers stumbles out of Pittsburgh into Tennessee

After opening the season with three home games, the Scarlet Knights (1-3, 0-1) traveled to Pittsburgh and struggled against a mighty Panther defense in a 23-3 loss.

After managing only 164 yards of total offense, including minus-3 rushing, it appears that the road does not get any easier for Rutgers.

Saturday, Rutgers goes south into SEC country to face the Tennessee Volunteers.

Despite the Volunteers loss at home last weekend, Rutgers coach Greg Schiano does not predict a repeat performance from Tennessee.

“They will be a formidable task, [Tennessee is] one of the better football teams in the country,” Schiano said. “They seem like they have a lot of weapons and do a lot with those weapons.”

Schiano hopes to improve his team’s running game, which he called the “ultimate demise” in the loss to the Panthers.