THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 29, 1994 TAG: 9409290582
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
Miami players and coaches sounded as if their season lay in ruin after losing in the Orange Bowl, 38-20, to Washington Saturday.
Washington's comeback from a 14-3 halftime deficit ended the Hurricanes' NCAA-record 58-game home win streak, which dated to Sept. 7, 1985. Coach Dennis Erickson said after the game he was sick, and receiver Chris T. Jones said he was ashamed the streak terminated with his class.
It was yet another sign the Hurricanes' dominance is dwindling.
The Hurricanes fell to No. 12 in the USA Today/CNN poll and to No. 13 in The Associated Press ranking, leaving them split with Big East foe Virginia Tech (No. 10 USA Today; No. 14 AP) for the highest ranking in the league.
In all likelihood, it also dropped Miami out of the national title picture, a rare happening for the Hurricanes in September.
``A lot of things can happen in the next 10 or 11 weeks,'' Erickson said. ``We've got to earn our way back and play well.''
SLOW STARTERS: Syracuse hosts Virginia Tech (3:30 p.m., WVEC) Saturday in an early-season meeting for first place in the Big East. For the Orangemen (No. 22 USA Today/CNN), the fast start this season has come despite slow starts in three of four games.
The Orangemen trailed Oklahoma, 24-0, at the half before losing by a point, trailed Cincinnati, 10-0, in the second quarter and were down, 10-0, last week after one quarter at East Carolina.
``It's focus and it's attention to detail and understanding what we're doing,'' said coach Paul Pasqualoni. ``It's getting to the point where we have to get better at it.''
SIDELINED HOKIE: Virginia Tech senior offensive guard Damien McMahon will miss the Syracuse game with a sprained left foot suffered in practice Tuesday. His foot was placed in a cast and he could be out two to three weeks. He'll be replaced by junior Jared Hamlin.
The Hokies may also be without the services of junior tailback Dwayne Thomas, who sprained an ankle in the West Virginia game.
COACHING HAZARD: Pittsburgh coach Johnny Majors walked the sidelines of last week's game against Boston College on crutches. He was hurt in practice when a couple of overzealous freshmen barreled into him at the end of a play.
``I just knew they were going to pull up 10 yards in front of me, but they didn't,'' Majors said.
Majors said he has a stretched knee ligament and torn cartilage. He's hoping he won't need surgery.
SOMETHING TO PROVE: West Virginia coach Don Nehlen was somewhat nonplussed by Virginia Tech's offense after his team was beat, 34-6, by the Hokies. ``I don't know about their offense, but their defense is big-league,'' Nehlen said.
PHILADELPHIA STORY: Temple is 2-1, which equals the Owls' win total for the past two seasons. The Owls aren't exactly toppling giants, with victories at Akron and last week at Army. But any win at Temple is huge.
``It was one of the greatest wins that I've ever been a part of,'' coach Ron Dickerson said. ``We're reaching that point where our goal is to get our guys to believe in themselves.''
Temple will take a step backward in terms of self-confidence this week. The Owls host No. 4 Penn State at the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field, an oddity caused by a scheduled Philadelphia Phillies game (remember that sport called baseball?) at Veterans Stadium, where the Owls play.
QUICK HITS: Virginia Tech's off to a great start, but its four opponents are not. Tech has beaten teams whose combined record is 5-11. None is above 1983. . . . The practice of revolving quarterbacks continues at West Virginia (1-4), which will start Chad Johnston instead of Eric Boykin Saturday against Missouri. Johnston started the season's first two games, Boykin the next three. . . . Rutgers has a tough draw this week, playing Miami the week after The Streak. Well, Miami has another noteworthy streak - 66 consecutive wins against unranked teams, which is what Rutgers is. . . . The Scarlet Knights have an impressive streak of their own - coach Doug Graber's 12-0 record at Rutgers Stadium. by CNB