Miami quarterback Stephen Morris had already torched USF for more than 200 yards and two touchdowns in a little more than a quarter of work Saturday. He didn’t need to prove anything else.
Oh, but he did he ever want to.
“I wanted to score 70 points on them,” Morris said. “They disrespected us, so I had no respect for them. At that point, I felt like we should just keep pushing it, keep killing them.”
What was Morris’ problem? USF, he said, knew about his bruised right ankle. Underneath the pile, defensive linemen grabbed for it and twisted. Morris confronted one face-to-face before teammates separated them.
“South Florida’s a dirty team,” Morris said.
Morris limped off the field after tweaking the ankle injury, though it’s not considered serious. He took his fire to the sideline in the second quarter because the 15th-ranked Hurricanes didn’t need him the rest of the way. They dominated the winless Bulls 49-21 at Raymond James Stadium, their first game on the road this season and their last non-conference game. It’s the first 4-0 start for Miami since 2004, when it finished 9-3 and beat Florida in the Peach Bowl.
The Hurricanes racked up 540 total yards and scored 49 points, totals that fell 50 yards and a touchdown shy of records against a USF defense. They did it in front of an announced crowd of 47,562, which was split evenly among the two fan bases.
A week after setting a program record for points scored (77) against Savannah State, the Hurricanes set another offensive mark against USF (0-4). They had 411 yards of offense in the first half, which, according to UM, beat the single-half mark of 398 set against UCLA in 1998.
Leading the way was Morris, who completed 11 of 16 passes for 222 yards and a pair of touchdowns after he was limited in the first two days of practice this past week.
“We were efficient on offense,” coach Al Golden said. “Stephen did an unbelievable job given the lack of practice he had.”
Golden said he was so unsure about Morris’ ankle that he went to bed Friday believing junior Ryan Williams would be the starter. He likely didn’t lose any sleep.
Replacing Morris early in the second quarter, Williams threw for 153 yards on 8-of-14 passing with an 11-yard TD strike to Stacy Coley. Miami aired it out early and often against USF, passing for 375 yards on 19-of-32 passing.
Sophomore Herb Waters caught two passes for 73 yards, including a 19-yard TD throw from Morris to make it 14-7. Senior Allen Hurns had five receptions for 81 yards. Coley, who grabbed four passes for a team-high 96 yards and two touchdowns, made it 21-7 with a 34-yard TD catch on a pass from Morris.
The Hurricanes gained 165 yards on the ground, led by Duke Johnson’s 84 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. But Johnson’s afternoon was cause for more concern than celebration.
He took a hit to the head in the first quarter and left the game, the fourth game in a row he has gone to the sideline after a rough tackle. He was given a concussion test, which WQAM, the Hurricanes’ flagship radio station, said he passed.
Johnson also fumbled twice, losing the ball on the first fumble at USF’s 1-yard line with 10:26 left in the first half. He rushed for a 4-yard TD on Miami’s next drive but fumbled on the next series, giving the ball away at the Bulls’ 4.
“Just not concentration,” Johnson said. “Not really taking my training into the game. Just trying too much to score instead of letting it come to me.”
Miami’s four fumbles — all in the first half — were its first of the season and most since Oct. 15, 2005, at Temple.
Fortunately for UM, its defense once again produced big plays. After Johnson’s first fumble, senior defensive end Shayon Green recorded his first career sack in the end zone, stripping the ball from USF quarterback Steven Bench (13-of-27 for 189 yards and one TD with an interception). Senior linebacker Jimmy Gaines fell on it for a touchdown and a 28-7 lead.
Miami sacked Bench five times. Through four games, UM has 16 sacks after recording a program-low 13 all of last year. USF gained just 288 yards of offense, 119 from speedy running back Marcus Shaw, who scored a first-quarter touchdown.
UM’s non-conference schedule is done. The Hurricanes begin league play Saturday against Georgia Tech (3-1, 2-1 ACC), which is resting after a 17-10 loss to Virginia Tech on Thursday night.
“We’re ready. We need to get a break. We need to get healed up,” Golden said. “We’re excited. We’ve done what we needed to do in the first third of the regular season. We’ve played a lot of guys. We’ve grown up. Now it’s time to get in the ACC.”
