MIAMI GARDENS — USF has been one of the upstart teams early in the college football season.
Miami put an end to that.
Despite a long weather delay, the No. 5 Hurricanes (3-0) rolled to a 49-12 win over the No. 18 Bulls at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday, picking up their second top-25 win in the first three weeks of the season.
The Hurricanes marched down the field on their first drive, capping a nine-play, 75-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Carson Beck to West Broward High alum Josh Moore. The catch was Moore’s first of his college career.
Moore did not need to wait much longer to get his second career touchdown. He scored on a 39-yard pass from Beck on Miami’s second drive of the game, putting the Hurricanes ahead 14-0.
USF narrowed the deficit with a 45-yard field goal by Nico Gramatica, who kicked the game-winning field goal against Florida last week.
The teams endured a weather delay that lasted 102 minutes, and the Bulls came out firing once the delay ended. Byrum Brown hit Chas Nimrod for a 52-yard pass that put USF deep in Miami territory, but the Hurricanes held the Bulls to another field goal.
Miami one-upped USF when it had its first drive after the delay, driving down the field and scoring on a 38-yard run by Mark Fletcher Jr.
Although Brown is the touted dual-threat quarterback, Beck beat him to the end zone, scoring a 2-yard touchdown run that put UM ahead 28-6 late in the first half.
Miami got the ball back with less than two minutes until halftime. Although CJ Daniels made another excellent catch during the drive, the Bulls got a rare pressure on Carson Beck, who floated his first interception of the year to USF defensive back Jarvis Lee. But UM’s defense forced a three-and-out on the subsequent drive.
Beck threw a second interception on a tipped pass, but it again did not hurt Miami. Safety Jakobe Thomas forced Brown to fumble when scrambling, and Miami took possession.
Fletcher continued his strong performance this season with a second touchdown, scoring from 13 yards out to put the Hurricanes up 35-6 at the end of the third quarter.
The Bulls did score their first touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Brown to Christian Neptune, but it was too late for USF to claw its way back into the game.
Beck added a third touchdown on a 1-yard pass to running back Marty Brown, putting Miami ahead by 30 points, and the Hurricanes started rotating in their reserve players. Freshman running back Girard Pringle Jr. scored the second touchdown of his career to put an exclamation point on the win.
Five takeaways
1. Hurricanes looked focused
Entering the year, the Hurricanes had two premier non-conference games: the opener vs. Notre Dame and a Week 4 contest against Florida. USF was an afterthought. When the Bulls beat UF last week, this game skyrocketed in prominence.
The Hurricanes did not overlook the Bulls at all. Miami came out firing, scoring on its first two drives. Even after a long weather delay, the Hurricanes kept scoring. Although the Bulls entered the game as the national college football darling, Miami made sure to put an end to that storyline for now.
2. Defense shuts down Brown
Brown is a talented dual-threat quarterback, but the Hurricanes bottled him up.
Brown ended the game completing 56 percent of his passes — his lowest completion percentage of the year — for 274 yards. He also rushed for only 2 total yards (including sacks), which is also his lowest total of the year.
3. Mark Fletcher Jr. pounds the rock
Fletcher has been the Hurricanes’ top running back through three games, and he continued rolling over defenders in the win on Saturday.
Fletcher averaged 7.5 yards per carry, plowing the way to two touchdowns for the second straight game. His 120 yards were the second-most of his career.
4. Josh Moore breaks out
Moore, a standout freshman out of West Broward High, looked impressive in practice for Miami. On Saturday, he showed his promise.
The 6-foot-4 receiver caught his first touchdown pass on a crossing route to end Miami’s first drive. On the next one, he caught a deep pass for a score, fending off good coverage for the 39-yard score.
5. Defense gets off the field
The Hurricanes did a good job ending USF drives. The Bulls were just 7 of 18 on third downs and 0 of 2 on fourth downs.
Miami got a key stop on fourth down inside its own 10-yard line in the third quarter. The Hurricanes went down the field and scored on the ensuing drive, effectively ending the game.
