MIAMI
Jacory Harris had his aching right thumb heavily taped for the game, and his arm was in a sling afterward.
It turns out that the sound of Duke players singing was the best medicine.
Harris passed for 348 yards and two touchdowns, Darryl Sharpton capped his final home game with a 73-yard interception return for a touchdown, and No. 21 Miami staved off a Duke challenge for the fourth straight year in a 34-16 win yesterday.
"What really turned everything around was something that happened in the tunnel," Harris said. "We were coming out and Duke was just cheering, singing songs, basically like they've got this game won. Right there, that kind of lit a flame inside my soul. I was like, ‘I can't let this happen.' "
Damien Berry's 2-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter opened the floodgates for Miami (8-3, 5-3 ACC). Leonard Hankerson had career bests of eight catches and 143 yards -- including a 44-yard score -- for the Hurricanes, who scored the final 24 points to keep hope alive for their first 10-win season since 2003.
The Blue Devils led 16-10 early in the third quarter. After that, it was all Miami, which outgained Duke 252-118 over the last 26 minutes.
"We needed somebody to step up and make a play," Hankerson said. "We were looking kind of sluggish, not playing to our tempo, playing to our speed, playing to our level."
Thaddeus Lewis -- playing in his hometown -- finished 20 of 37 for 303 yards for Duke (5-6, 3-4), taking over the school's all-time lead in passing yardage with 9,678. Donovan Varner caught eight passes for a career-high 165 yards and a touchdown for the Blue Devils, who have now lost 55 straight away from home against ranked opponents, dating to October 1971.
"It's frustrating, but it's just another ACC game. I can't make this personal just because I'm from Miami," said Lewis, who -- like his good friend Harris -- was also hampered, his injury being a bad ankle. "It's frustrating because we had an opportunity to keep bowl eligibility alive. We were right there and we let it get away."
The Blue Devils were going for their first postseason appearance since the 1994 season.
Duke 3 10 3 0 -- 16
Miami 3 7 3 21 -- 34
First Quarter
Duke--FG Snyderwine 30, 5:50.
Miami--FG Bosher 33, 1:25.
Second Quarter
Duke--FG Snyderwine 49, 14:50.
Miami--T.Johnson 5 pass from J.Harris (Bosher kick), 4:50.
Duke--Varner 24 pass from Lewis (Snyderwine kick), 2:17.
Third Quarter
Duke--FG Snyderwine 26, 11:05.
Miami--FG Bosher 20, 6:15.
Fourth Quarter
Miami--Berry 2 run (Bosher kick), 13:41.
Miami--Hankerson 44 pass from J.Harris (Bosher kick), 7:37.
Miami--Sharpton 73 interception return (Bosher kick), 6:06.
A--38,200.
TEAM STATISTICS
Duke Miami
First downs 18 25
Rushes-yards 22-55 44-148
Passing 303 348
Comp-Att-Int 20-37-1 25-43-1
Return Yards 10 80
Punts-Avg. 4-42.5 3-40.7
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties-Yards 1-0 5-49
Time of Possession 21:34 38:26
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Duke, Hollingsworth 10-32, D.Scott 10-27, Lewis 2-(minus 4). Miami, Berry 16-76, Cooper 14-42, J.James 9-33, Benjamin 1-9, Team 1-(minus 1), J.Harris 3-(minus 11).
PASSING--Duke, Lewis 20-37-1-303. Miami, J.Harris 25-43-1-348.
RECEIVING--Duke, Varner 8-165, Kelly 4-31, Vernon 3-52, Hollingsworth 2-24, B.King 1-16, Parker 1-9, D.Scott 1-6. Miami, Hankerson 8-143, Graham 5-73, Benjamin 3-43, J.James 2-19, Epps 2-17, T.Johnson 2-14, A.Johnson 1-20, Byrd 1-17, Cooper 1-2.
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