Yahoo Sports FINAL: No. 8 Miami Hurricanes 50, USF Bulls 15, fourth quarter
The Miami Hurricanes and USF Bulls played a hectic, lengthy, back-and-forth first half on Saturday.
But once the teams returned from their locker rooms, the Hurricanes took over and played like the team that has dominated through the first three weeks of the season.
Fueled by three total rushing touchdowns by Damien Martinez, including two in the second half, and another stellar performance from quarterback Cam Ward, No. 8 Miami pulled away from USF and left Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium with a 50-15 road win.
Miami is 4-0, after winning its first three games of the season 41-17 against the Florida Gators, 56-9 against the Florida A&M Rattlers and 62-0 against the Ball State Cardinals. USF is 2-2.
The Hurricanes played a nearly perfect second half to outscore the Bulls 28-0 over the final 30 minutes.
Ward to Restrepo
If the game wasn’t already put away, Cam Ward certainly sealed it with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Restrepo to put Miami up 43-15 with 7:44 left to play.
Ward now has 404 passing yards. Restrepo has six catches for 99 yards.
An interception for the defense
Miami’s defense once again stood tall to stop a USF drive.
This time, it ended with Mishael “Meesh” Powell intercepting a pass in the end zone.
A short-yard touchdown? Must be Damien Martinez
For the third time today, Damien Martinez found the end zone. His 1-yard score capped a 7-play, 80-yard UM drive to go up 36-15 with less than a minute left in the third quarter.
The drive featured some great plays, including Xavier Restrepo eclipsing 2,000 career receiving yards and Isaiah Horton making a spectacular catch that was originally ruled a 19-yard touchdown but ultimately ruled that he was down at the half-yard line to set up Martinez’s touchdown.
Damien Martinez with his second TD
The Hurricanes capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run from Damien Martinez — his second of the night. Hurricanes touchdown. 1-yard run from Damien Martinez.
Miami now leads USF 29-15 with 7:25 left in the third quarter.
Martinez today has five carries for 6 yards (including a long of 4) and two rushing touchdowns. He also has 2 catches for 50 yards.
Hurricanes lead going into halftime.
USF missed a 31-yard field goal attempt in the final minute, and the Hurricanes took a knee to go into halftime with a 22-15 lead over the Bulls.
Miami quickly strikes back
There’s the big play UM’s offense needed.
A perfect throw from Cam Ward to a wide-open Sam Brown for a 76-yard touchdown — Brown’s first with Miami.
Brown had just 98 receiving yards all season entering today.
UM goes for two and gets it to put Miami up 22-15 with 1:56 left in the first half.
USF takes lead, but UM defense holds when it matters
The Bulls methodically went down the field on a 19-play, 66-yard drive but the Hurricanes recorded back-to-back sacks at the end of that drive to hold USF to a 45-yard field goal.
That field goal did give USF the lead again, 15-14, with 2:36 left in the first half, but Miami minimized the damage.
To that point: USF’s only touchdown so far has come on the drive in which it had to gain just 30 yards after the first-quarter interception.
Another UM stop, another long USF field goal
The Hurricanes defense gets its second stop in three drives to force USF to settle for another long field goal.
Nico Gramatica was up for the task, nailing the 51-yard attempt to cut Miami’s lead to 14-12 with 14:14 left in the second quarter.
Hurricanes back on top
After USF botched an onside kick attempt due to a player being lined up offsides, the Hurricanes started at their 10 yard line and quickly proceeded to march 90 yards for another touchdown.
Cam Ward’s 6-yard pass to Isaiah Horton capped the 8-play drive.
Miami is back on top 14-9 with 1:47 left in the first quarter.
Horton has 40 yards on a team-high four catches so far.
An odd interception, a trickery touchdown
Well, that was a series of unfortunate events for the Hurricanes.
First, Jacolby George couldn’t hold onto a third-down pass from Cam Ward, with the ball popping out of his hands and into the arms of USF’s Brent Austin for an interception
Couple that with a UM personal foul on Mark Fletcher and USF got a short field.
Three plays later, USF scored on some trickery, with wide receiver Sean Atkins completing a 12-yard touchdown pass to quarterback Byrum Brown on a double pass.
Miami then blocked the ensuing PAT but is down 9-7 with 6:52 left in the first quarter.
6:52 left in the first quarter.
UM holds USF to field goal on first defensive drive
USF reached Miami territory on its opening drive but the Hurricanes defense stepped up late to hold the Bulls to a 58-yard field goal by Nico Gramatica.
The Hurricanes are still up 7-3 with 8:28 left in the first quarter.
Hurricanes open scoring
Miami, aided by a pair of big third-down conversions and four USF penalties, marched 75 yards down the field on its opening drive, with running back Damien Martinez capping it with a 2-yard rushing touchdown.
Martinez also had a 14-yard catch-and-run on a third down midway through the drive.
The Bulls were called for offsides, defensive holding, unnecessary roughness and pass interference on the drive — the final penalty of which put Miami at the 2-yard line before Martinez ran in for his second touchdown of the season.
Miami leads 7-0 with 11:30 left in the first quarter.
Injury updates
Based on pregame warmups, right guard Anez Cooper will play on Saturday against USF, while left tackle Jalen Rivers and defensive end Rueben Bain Jr. will not for a third consecutive week.
Season recap
▪ Miami 41, Florida 17: Cam Ward threw for 385 yards and three touchdowns, Mark Fletcher added two scores on the ground, the defense held its own despite one of its top players exiting the game early with injury, and the No. 19 Hurricanes made quick work of the Florida Gators with a season-opening win at Gainesville’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium to kick off a critical Year 3 under Mario Cristobal.
▪ Miami 56, Florida A&M 9: That one went as expected. Cam Ward threw for three touchdowns and ran for a fourth before turning the game over to the second-string offense midway through the third quarter. The defense held the Rattlers to just three field goals.
▪ Miami 62, Ball State 0: The No. 10 Miami Hurricanes had to wait through nearly two-and-a-half hours of lightning delays before kicking off their home game against Ball State on Saturday.
Once the game finally began, they wasted little time asserting their dominance, as was expected in this non-conference matchup.
The final score from a soggy Hard Rock Stadium: Hurricanes 62, Ball State 0.
It’s the most points Miami has scored in a shutout of a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent in program history.
▪ Miami at South Florida (tonight)
▪ Miami vs. Virginia Tech (Sept. 27, 7:30 p.m.)
▪ Miami at California (Oct. 5, time TBD)
▪ Miami at Louisville (Oct. 19, time TBD)
▪ Miami vs. Florida State (Oct. 26, time TBD)
▪ Miami vs. Duke (Nov. 2, time TBD)
▪ Miami at Georgia Tech (Nov. 9, time TBD)
▪ Miami vs. Wake Forest (Nov. 23, time TBD)
▪ Miami at Syracuse (Nov. 30, time TBD)
Pregame Hurricanes reading
Need to catch up before kickoff? Here are the highlights of the Miami Herald’s coverage over the past few days.
▪ No. 8 Hurricanes just ‘want to get better’ as strong start continues. Next up: The USF Bulls
▪ Miami Hurricanes tight ends, a ‘dynamic group,’ putting up results early
▪ Four USF Bulls with Miami ties ahead of this week’s matchup with the Hurricanes
▪ Evaluator feedback on Cam Ward and where he has taken another leap
▪ Hurricanes embracing challenge of facing USF’s ‘true dual-threat quarterback’ Byrum Brown
▪ Cam Ward’s drive for Miami Hurricanes success extends beyond what he does on the field
▪ Hurricanes’ offensive line has held up amid injuries — and appears to be getting healthy
