Miami rolls past Duke 49-31

In the end, Duke couldn't keep its grip on time of possession and couldn't keep pace with Miami.

The Hurricanes trailed 17-7 late in the first half before backup quarterback Jacory Harris helped uncork a quick-strike offense that pushed the Hurricanes to a 49-31 victory yesterday at Wallace Wade Stadium.

The Hurricanes' first five scoring drives took up a combined 6 minutes, 59 seconds. The sixth and seventh, by comparison, lasted an eternity -- taking 3:40 and 4:28, respectively, off the fourth-quarter clock. Those last two sent many in the crowd of 32,011 to the exits.

After a joyous end to a 25-game ACC losing streak in its last home game, a 31-3 victory over Virginia, Duke (3-3, 1-2) is staring at a two-game losing streak, one started by a 27-0 defeat at Georgia Tech. Coach David Cutcliffe didn't mask his displeasure yesterday, declining to fall into coach speak about how the Blue Devils would go back to work or try harder next week.

"I'm really frustrated," Cutcliffe said. "I'm mad. I'm really mad. I'm angry. I'm angry, that's all I can say."

Miami entered the game having lost its previous six conference games and 12 of its previous 15 -- not exactly what ACC expansion proponents expected and certainly not what fans in South Florida would put up with. Now, the Hurricanes are 4-3, 1-2. Though the ride has been bumpy in the tenure of Coach Randy Shannon -- an un-Miami-like 9-10 in his second season -- the Hurricanes are finding ways to score quickly, even when they aren't perfect. Eighteen of Miami's 25 touchdown drives this season have been three minutes or less.

"It was great to see us score the way we did," Shannon said. "It was kind of a hurry-hurry situation.… It was like a two-minute drill, but not a two-minute drill. Just line up and snap the football."

Duke couldn't take advantage of three Miami turnovers. Or, more accurately, Miami overcame its turnovers with a multitude of weapons. The seven touchdowns were scored by seven players, though Harris played a key role in the final six, a burst that began 11 seconds before halftime and ended at the 4:19 mark of the fourth quarter.

Harris ran for one touchdown and passed for four, completing 18 of 28 passes.

"Jacory did some things," Shannon said. "We know we have to play him … to build depth at that position. He did a tremendous job and responded in tough situations."

Shannon declined to name Harris the starter, though Harris clearly outplayed Robert Marve (4 of 7 passing, one interception). Harris, in the eyes of Cutcliffe, made it easy by scrambling away from Duke's pressure.

Duke's Adrian Aye-Darko intercepted two passes, the second on the first play of the second half to give the Blue Devils a first down at the Miami 12. Two plays later, Thaddeus Lewis found Raphael Chestnut, a senior from Reidsville, in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown and a 24-14 lead at 14:05 of the third quarter.

Duke, and its near-capacity crowd, was feeling good.

"It happened very early in the third quarter, so there was still a lot of time left," Aye-Darko said. "We have to remember it's a four-quarter game."

That had been a point of emphasis under Cutcliffe, who vowed to have a team that was conditioned enough to play well for four quarters. Heading into this game, Duke had outscored opponents 48-14 in the third quarter. With that early score by Chestnut, it seemed like another strong start to the second half.

Miami 7 7 21 14 -- 49


Duke 0 17 7 7 -- 31

First Quarter

Miami--D.Johnson 17 pass from Marve (Bosher kick), 3:10.

Second Quarter

Duke--Harris 2 pass from Lewis (Maggio kick), 12:44.

Duke--Lewis 1 run (Maggio kick), 6:48.

Duke--FG Maggio 40, 1:33.

Miami--Zellner 9 pass from J.Harris (Bosher kick), :11.

Third Quarter

Duke--Chestnut 10 pass from Lewis (Maggio kick), 14:05.

Miami--J.Harris 15 run (Bosher kick), 12:52.

Miami--A.Johnson 6 pass from J.Harris (Bosher kick), 2:52.

Miami--Benjamin 25 pass from J.Harris (Bosher kick), :36.

Fourth Quarter

Miami--L.Byrd 10 pass from J.Harris (Bosher kick), 10:59.

Miami--McNeal 1 run (Bosher kick), 4:19.

Duke--Z.Asack 2 run (Maggio kick), :12.

A--32,011.

TEAM STATISTICS

Miami Duke

First downs 23 19

Rushes-yards 29-154 44-142

Passing 266 191

Comp-Att-Int 23-36-3 16-34-0

Return Yards 38 16

Punts-Avg. 4-46.5 7-40.6

Penalties-Yards 6-30 8-53

Time of Possession 26:09 33:51

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING--Miami, Cooper 7-64, J.Harris 10-53, James 3-13, Marve 1-11, McNeal 2-7, Benjamin 1-3, D.Johnson 1-3, Thomas 2-1, Collier 1-0, Team 1-(minus 1). Duke, Jackson 11-69, Harris 19-56, Hollingsworth 4-17, Z.Asack 4-10, T.Robinson 1-0, Team 1-(minus 1), Lewis 4-(minus 9).

PASSING--Miami, J.Harris 18-28-2-185, Marve 4-7-1-64, Benjamin 1-1-0-17. Duke, Lewis 12-28-0-130, Z.Asack 3-5-0-22, Harris 1-1-0-39.

RECEIVING--Miami, A.Johnson 8-84, Benjamin 3-45, L.Byrd 2-29, Epps 2-16, Cooper 2-12, Zellner 2-9, Farquharson 1-23, J.Harris 1-17, D.Johnson 1-17, Collier 1-14. Duke, Chestnut 5-48, Riley 2-48, Huffman 2-36, Harris 2-15, Parker 2-11, Kelly 1-14, Ringfield 1-11, Jackson 1-8.