Eagles look to avenge last year’s close loss to Miami

The top-ranked Hurricanes (3-0 overall, 1-0 Big East) extended the nation’s longest winning… The top-ranked Hurricanes (3-0 overall, 1-0 Big East) extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 25 on Saturday with a 47-21 victory at Temple (1-2, 0-1). Senior quarterback Ken Dorsey completed 20 of 35 passes for 314 yards and two touchdowns, while sophomore tailback Willis McGahee ran for 135 yards and four touchdowns.

“It was our very first Big East game – we think the league is very tough this year,” head coach Larry Coker said in the weekly Big East coaches’ teleconference. “It was a very good win for us at Temple.”

The Hurricanes had bolted to a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter when two Miami fumbles let the Owls back into the game.

Miami, however, regrouped and put the next 23 points up on the board before the Owls would score the last touchdown of the game.

Next, the Hurricanes faced a visiting Boston College squad that tested last year’s national champions before a late Miami defensive stand secured an 18-7 victory.

Boston College head coach Tom O’Brien and his Eagles (2-0, 0-0) spent last week preparing for their showdown against top-ranked Miami this weekend.

As great a task as this may seem, O’Brien worked on having his defenders in the right positions on the field for each play.

“They have tremendous team speed on both sides of the football, and it manifests itself on special teams,” O’Brien said. “That’s the thing that is our biggest problem right now.”

Coker will depend on Dorsey and McGahee to put up big numbers against a defense that held the Hurricanes to their lowest scoring output of the season.

“They have good players who execute well and play hard,” Coker said, “and when they do that, they make you execute to win.”

Despite the Eagles matching up well against the Hurricanes last season, O’Brien does not feel his team can be confident that their last meeting will help their performance this weekend.

“We’ve played them well in Chestnut Hill, but we haven’t played them well in the Orange Bowl,” O’Brien said. “So it’s a challenge for us to go to [Miami] to make sure we play well on Saturday night.”

Temple prepares for Lou Holtz and South Carolina

With 4:55 left in the second quarter and Miami leading by 21 points, the Owls launched a comeback attempt that cut the lead to seven, but it was not enough to overcome the eventual loss that was closer than many expected.

“We came back, we made some plays and we challenged them,” head coach Bobby Wallace said. “We fought them all game long and I was pleased with that.”

This week, Wallace is intent on preparing his team for Saturday’s matchup against Lou Holtz and his South Carolina Gamecocks.

“It doesn’t get any easier to go to South Carolina,” Wallace said. “They give us some looks that we really haven’t seen.”

Holtz utilizes numerous defensive packages that Wallace says are “very hard to prepare for.”

Look for the Owls to exert extra pressure on the Gamecock pocket, as Holtz often uses an offensive spread that gives quarterback Corey Jenkins little blocking but many receiver options to throw to.

WVU goes into off week with a win over Cincinnati

Head coach Rich Rodriguez unleashed his powerful Mountaineer rushing attack on Saturday in a 35-32 victory at Cincinnati. Senior running back Avon Cobourne posted 193 yards and two touchdowns to record the 20th 100-yard rushing game of his career.

While the Mountaineers (2-1, 1-0) outrushed the Bearcats (1-0) 334-137, Rodriguez saw a lot of things his squad needs to work on before its Sept. 28 date with East Carolina.

“We know we did not play our best and had a lot of mistakes,” Rodriguez said, “but we were still able to beat a pretty good team on the road.”

The Mountaineers nearly blew an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter as the Bearcats mounted a late rally.

West Virginia, however, preserved the win with just a few seconds left on the clock when Bearcat place kicker Jonathon Ruffin hit the upright from 49-yards out on the potential game-tying field goal.

No. 7 Virginia Tech annihilates Marshall with eyes toward Texas A’M

Lee Suggs and Big East Offensive Player of the Week Kevin Jones combined for 324 yards rushing and five touchdowns as the Hokies (3-0, 0-0) defeated Marshall (1-1) 47-21.

The Hokies used their ground attack to maintain ball control in an effort to keep the Thundering Herd and their talented quarterback Byron Leftwich off the field.

“I was proud of the way we were able to control the ball and control the clock,” head coach Frank Beamer said.

Jones ran the ball 24 times for 171 yards and three scores while the offense was forced to punt just once throughout the game.

On the defensive side of the ball, Beamer was pleased with the way his Hokies handled Marshall’s offense.

“Going into it, we thought we were going to play a great quarterback,” Beamer said, “and coming out we knew we had played a great quarterback.”

Although the Hokies surrendered 442 yards through the air, sophomore linebacker Mikal Baaqee earned Big East co-Defensive Player of the Week honors with his eight tackles, one interception and one pass break up performance on Saturday.

The Hokies face a tough opponent with their visit to Texas A’M this weekend. The Aggies’ major strength is their run-stopping ability, which could create a lot of problems for Beamer’s stable of running backs.

“We’re going into Texas A’M playing a team that’s No. 1 in rushing defense,” Beamer said. “They have great players and are extremely well coached.”

Syracuse tramples Rhode Island

The Orangemen (1-2, 0-0) put up 628 yards of total offense as they defeated Rhode Island 63-17 at the Carrier Dome on Saturday.

Sophomore quarterback R.J. Anderson completed 13 of 18 passed for 306 yards and two touchdowns, while sophomore tailback Walter Reyes carried the ball 14 times for 128 yards and three touchdowns.

“Offensively, we played very well,” head coach Paul Pasqualoni said. “We had a lot of big plays in the game that resulted in touchdowns.”

The Orangemen are off this week then face Auburn Sept. 28.