PITTSBURGH — The decades may change, the conferences may change but everything seems to stay the same when Miami plays Pitt. The games are as one-sided as the rivalry.
Jacory Harris led quick touchdown drives to start each half and No. 19 Miami dominated Pittsburgh much like it did when the schools were Big East Conference rivals, winning 31-3 Thursday night.
Harris had two more floater-type interceptions like the four he threw in a 36-24 loss to No. 2 Ohio State two weeks ago, but shook them off to throw for 2 scores and 248 yards while going 21 of 32. Damien Berry did the rest by running for 87 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries in an offense that outgained Pitt’s 348-232.
The Hurricanes (2-1), faster, deeper and more athletic than the Panthers (1-2), never gave Pitt quarterback Tino Sunseri any time to throw in his third college start, and he was pulled in the fourth quarter after completing 8 of 15 passes for 61 yards.
Dion Lewis, the nation’s leading returning rusher, was given little running room by an overwhelmed offensive line and ended with 41 yards on 12 carries. Lewis, coming off a 1,799-yard season as a freshman, has been held to 143 yards in three games.
Miami’s plan was simpleand effective: Strike early, strike effectively, then let its defense and special teams do the rest.
With the Hurricanes up 17-3 early in the fourth, they forced a fumble by punt returner Cam Saddler. Harris took advantage to throw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Travis Benjamin that wrapped up Miami’s seventh consecutive victory against Pitt and its 15th in 16 games dating to 1984.
“The defense played great,”defensive end Andrew Smith said. “We put an emphasis on tackling [in practice], and we were getting all 11 to the ball. We wanted to wrap them up and drive them back, and that showed up on the field.”
And in the statistics. The Hurricanes had 5 sacks, 9 tackles for losses - a stat in which they lead the nation - and forced 3 turnovers. Sean Spence had 1 1 /2 sacks and 2 1 /2 tackles for a loss and a teamhigh nine tackles.
“When you can stop the run and make them one-dimensional, you have a good chance of winning,” Spence said. “We always want to be the one to throw the first punch. We did a great job of starting fast.”
Again, it was a bad day for the Big East, which is 1-7 this season against nonconference opponents from BCS conferences. Pitt is 1-11 against ranked nonconference teams since 1996, while Miami has won 33 in a row against unranked nonconference teams.
Harris also found Leonard Hankerson on a 19-yard scoring pass play on Miami’s fourth play from scrimmage in the second half, completing a 51-yard drive set up by a 26-yard punt by Pitt’s Dan Hutchins. Harris hit Benjamin for 20 yards on first down.
Sports, Pages 22 on 09/24/2010