Miami Hail and Hearty in Beating Boston College

Fifteen years after the “Hail Flutie,” Miami mounted a miracle comeback of its own.

No. 23-ranked Miami rallied from a 28-point, third-quarter deficit to beat Boston College, 31-28, Saturday at Boston--the Hurricanes’ 10th consecutive victory over the Eagles since Doug Flutie completed a “Hail Mary” pass for a game-winning touchdown in 1984.

“We have a long history. It goes all the way back to Doug Flutie,” said tight end Daniel Franks, who caught the game-tying touchdown pass with 3:51 left. “Every time we play, it seems like a dogfight.”

After a first half in which Miami made virtually every mistake imaginable, quarterback Kenny Kelly led Miami, 3-3 overall and 1-0 in the Big East Conference, to four touchdowns in 13:20.

Then, facing a fourth-and-17 from the Boston College 35 with 14 seconds to play and no timeouts, Kelly connected with Reggie Wayne for a 22-yard gain. He caught the pass at the sideline and stepped out of bounds to stop the clock, setting up Andy Crosland’s game-winning 30-yard field goal with three seconds left.

Boston College (5-2, 2-2) has not beaten Miami since Flutie heaved a 48-yard pass to Gerard Phelan to win a 47-45 shootout and the 1984 Heisman Trophy.

Kelly completed 20 of 36 passes for 218 yards and three touchdowns, going nine for 14 for 124 yards in the fourth quarter. Cedric Washington ran for a career-high 183 yards for Boston College.

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David Priestley, reinstated as a starting quarterback, passed for 375 yards and four touchdowns to lead Pittsburgh (4-3, 2-2 in the Big East) to a 38-15 victory over Rutgers (0-7, 0-4) at Piscataway, N.J. . . . Jay Taylor’s 32-yard field goal with six seconds left lifted West Virginia (3-4, 2-1) to a 20-17 victory over Temple (1-6, 1-2) at Morgantown, W.Va.

Chad Pennington completed 20 of 25 passes for 339 yards and five touchdowns in less than three quarters for No. 15 Marshall (7-0 overall, 4-0 in the Mid-American Conference) in a 59-3 victory over Buffalo (0-7, 0-6) at Amherst, N.Y. . . . New Mexico State (3-4) was held to 115 yards rushing--127 below its season average--in a 35-18 loss to Army (3-4) at West Point, N.Y.

Dartmouth (1-5, 1-2 in the Ivy League) ended a 10-game losing streak--the longest in the school’s 118 years of playing football--with a 20-17 victory over Cornell (4-2, 3-1) at Hanover, N.H. . . . James Perry threw for 440 yards to become the Ivy League’s all-time leader (8,031 yards) and had five touchdown passes to lead Brown (5-1, 3-1) to a 44-37 victory over Pennsylvania (3-3, 2-1) at Philadelphia.

SOUTH

No. 20 East Carolina (6-1, 2-1 in Conference USA) scored 38 unanswered points in the second half of a 52-7 victory over Tulane (3-4, 1-2) at Greenville, N.C. Tulane’s Patrick Ramsey--the nation’s total offense leader at 358 yards a game--had 107 yards passing and minus-49 rushing. . . . Jeff Kelly threw three touchdown passes and No. 21 Southern Mississippi (5-2, 4-0) held off a late comeback by Cincinnati (2-5, 0-4) in a 28-20 victory at Hattiesburg, Miss. Cincinnati scored three touchdowns in the final 15 minutes and a long pass by Deontey Kenner was broken up at the 10-yard line with one second left. . . . Chris Redman completed 27 of 53 passes for 397 yards and became the NCAA’s all-time leader in pass attempts (1,554) for Louisville (5-3, 2-1) in a 39-33 victory over visiting Houston (4-3, 1-2).

Quarterback Jamie Barnette’s seven-yard run in overtime gave North Carolina State (5-3, 2-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) a 31-24 victory over Duke (1-6, 1-3) at Durham, N.C. The Blue Devils have played overtime in four of their last nine games. . . . LaMont Jordan ran for 147 yards and two touchdowns and Maryland (5-2, 2-2) forced seven turnovers in a 45-7 victory over North Carolina (1-6, 0-5) at College Park, Md. It was the biggest margin of victory for Maryland in a series that began in 1920. . . . Ben Sankey ran for 108 yards and threw for 132 and Wake Forest (4-3) scored 24 points in the first 11 1/2 minutes in 47-3 victory over Alabama Birmingham (3-4) at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Tim Rattay completed 46 of 62 passes for for 561 yards and five touchdowns for Louisiana Tech (5-2) in a 46-35 victory over Central Florida (2-5) at Orlando, Fla. Rattay moved past five players into sixth place on the NCAA’s career passing yardage list with 10,984 yards. Louisiana Tech’s Sean Cangelosi had 14 catches of 227 yards and two touchdowns. . . . Visiting Louisiana Monroe (3-5) was a 30-7 winner over Louisiana Lafayette (1-7) in the first game between the schools since each changed their names before the season. Louisiana Monroe was formerly Northeast Louisiana and Louisiana Lafayette was previously called Southwestern Louisiana.

SOUTHWEST

Quarterback Dan Robinson had 283 total yards and accounted for three touchdowns for visiting Hawaii (5-2, 3-1 in the Western Athletic Conference) in a 35-21 victory over Tulsa (1-6, 0-4). The five victories match the total for the previous three seasons for Hawaii, which was 0-12 in 1998. . . . Quarterback Chad Richardson passed for two touchdowns, ran for another and outgained LaDainian Tomlinson--the nation’s leading rusher--for Rice (5-3, 4-0) in a 42-21 victory over Texas Christian (3-4, 2-2) at Houston. Tomlinson carried 19 times for 133 yards--increasing his season total to 1,193--and Richardson had 163 yards in 28 carries.

WEST

The game between Southern Methodist (1-5, 1-2 in the Western Athletic Conference) and San Jose State (3-4, 1-2) was canceled after an electrical transformer exploded and caught fire, knocking out electricity to Spartan Stadium. No injuries were reported. The game will be rescheduled if there is a bowl bid at stake. . . . Billy Volek threw three touchdown passes and Fresno State (5-3, 2-1) stopped visiting Texas El Paso (3-5, 1-2) on a two-point conversion try in overtime in a 24-23 victory.

No. 19 Brigham Young (6-1, 3-0 in the Mountain West Conference) was a 29-0 winner at Nevada Las Vegas (3-4, 1-2). . . . Mike Anderson ran for 124 yards and two touchdowns to lead Utah (6-1, 3-0) to a 38-16 victory over San Diego State (3-5, 1-3) at Salt Lake City. Larry Ned had 203 yards in 18 carries for San Diego State. . . . Matt Newton passed for 247 yards and two touchdowns for Colorado State (4-3, 1-2) in a 24-13 victory over Wyoming (4-3, 1-2) at Laramie, Wyo.

SOUTHLAND

Cal State Northridge (5-3, 4-2 in the Big Sky Conference) held on for a 24-21 victory over Montana State (3-5, 1-4) at Bozeman, Mont., when Carson Souter’s 48-yard field goal with six seconds left was wide. The Matadors have won three of their last four games to remain in contention for the conference championship. . . . Sophomore J.T. O’Sullivan threw for a career-high 351 yards and two touchdowns to lead UC Davis (7-1) to a 31-24 victory over visiting Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (2-5). . . . Quarterback Danny Ragsdale threw for 392 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown on a one-yard run with three seconds left for Redlands (4-2, 2-0 in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) in a 22-21 victory over visiting La Verne (5-1, 3-1).