REGIONAL ROUNDUP : Miami’s Home Streak Reaches Record 58

The Miami Hurricanes won, 56-0, and improved to 58-0.

Miami’s rout of Georgia Southern on Saturday at the Orange Bowl was its 58th consecutive victory at home, which is an NCAA record. The old mark of 57 was set by Alabama from 1962-82.

Sixth-ranked Miami allowed Division I-AA Georgia Southern only two first downs until the game’s final five minutes. The score equaled the most lopsided during the winning streak, which began nine years ago.

Texas A&M;, with 20, has the second-longest active home winning streak.

The shutout, preserved by a goal-line stand in the final two minutes, was the Hurricanes’ 14th during their winning streak.

James Stewart rushed for 145 yards and three touchdowns in 17 carries and scored on runs of 31, 16 and two yards, and Alfred Shipman scored on an 82-yard run.

Quarterback Frank Costa, who lost his starting job midway through last season, passed for 168 yards and one touchdown.

Miami’s swarming defense included end Rusty Medearis, playing for the first time since suffering a knee injury that nearly ended his career two years ago. Medearis played most of the first half and made one tackle.

West Virginia 16, Ball State 14--Freshman Bryan Baumann’s first collegiate field goal, a 33-yarder with eight seconds left, gave the Mountaineers a surprisingly difficult victory over the Cardinals at Morgantown, W.Va.

The defending Big East champions (1-1), playing the defending champions from the Mid-American Conference, needed Baumann’s field goal after linebacker Kevin Johnson of Ball State stopped a two-point conversion bid with 3:46 left by sacking quarterback Eric Boykin.

West Virginia held on the next series and Boykin, a sophomore playing in his second game, led West Virginia on a 12-play, 51-yard drive that set up the field goal.

West Virginia was coming off a 31-0 loss to Nebraska in the Kickoff Classic.

No. 21 Virginia Tech 34, Arkansas State 7--Maurice DeShazo completed 13 of 20 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a third score to lead the Hokies at Blacksburg, Va.

Virginia Tech scored touchdowns on its first three possessions.

Rutgers 28, Kent 6--Ray Lucas ran for a touchdown and passed for another in a 21-point second-quarter as the Scarlet Knights opened their new $26 million stadium in Piscataway, N.J., with a victory.

The loss spoiled the debut of Kent Coach Jim Corrigall and extended the Golden Flashes’ losing streak to 17 games, longest among the nation’s 107 Division I-A schools.

SOUTH

Southern Mississippi 25, Tulane 10--Chris Buckhalter gained 186 yards in 30 carries and Howard McGee had 141 in 13 to lead the Golden Eagles at New Orleans.

McGee put the game away with a 60-yard run up the right sideline that put Southern Mississippi up 25-10 with 3:32 remaining in the game.

MIDWEST

Temple 32, Akron 7--Danny Davis ran for two touchdowns and caught a scoring pass as the Owls took advantage of five turnovers to win at Akron, Ohio, and snap a 10-game losing streak.

WESTERN ATHLETIC

Colorado State 34, Air Force 21--With the Rams leading, 28-21, at halftime, this season opener at Air Force Academy, Colo., looked as if it was going to turn into a typical high-scoring Western Athletic Conference game. But the Rams shut down the Falcons in the second half.

Utah 32, Utah State 17--Mike McCoy threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Utes at Logan, Utah.

Wyoming 36, Texas El Paso 13--Ryan Christopherson ran for 244 yards, second-best in Wyoming history, and John Gustin threw three touchdown passes as the Cowboys opened with a WAC victory at Laramie, Wyo.

Fresno State 45, San Jose State 13--Sophomore Adrian Claiborne completed 14 of 19 passes for 319 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs at Fresno.

BIG WEST

Nevada 30, Northern Arizona 27--Junior Mike Maxwell, in his first college game, threw for one touchdown and set up two others to lead the Wolf Pack of the Big West to a comeback victory over the Division I-AA Lumberjacks at Reno. Northern Arizona outgained Nevada, 506 yards to 445.

Nevada Las Vegas 17, Eastern Michigan 3--Jason Davis completed 17 of 35 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Rebels at Las Vegas in Jeff Horton’s debut as the Rebels’ coach.

Pacific 24, UC Davis 7--Craig Whelihan threw for 302 yards and two touchdown passes to lead the Tigers in Stockton. Whelihan was 17 of 34 with two third-quarter scoring passes to Kerry Brown.