MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Carson Beck threw three touchdown passes, Mark Fletcher Jr. rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns, and No. 5 Miami remained unbeaten with a 49-12 win over No. 18 South Florida on Saturday.
It was Miami’s biggest victory margin over a ranked opponent since beating Washington 65-7 in 2001, the Hurricanes’ most recent national championship season.
Beck completed 23 of 28 passes for 340 yards and ran for a touchdown for Miami (3-0). Fletcher had a two-TD game for the second consecutive week and Joshua Moore had two first-quarter scoring catches.
The Hurricanes are 6-0 since the start of last season against in-state opponents, winning those games by an average of 34.5 points.
Byrum Brown completed 20 of 36 passes for 274 yards and a touchdown for USF (2-1), which was bidding to be the first team since Miami in 1987 to open a season by beating three consecutive AP-ranked opponents. Brown threw an interception late in the first half, ending his school-record streak of 252 passes without being picked off.
Christian Neptune had a 12-yard touchdown catch for the Bulls, who got 128 yards on just four catches from Chas Nimrod. USF had four passes go for more than 25 yards, including 53- and 43-yarders to Nimrod.
The game was delayed for 1 hour, 41 minutes in the first half because of severe weather in the area.
The takeaway
South Florida: USF led Miami 15-14 with 2 minutes left in the half of their game last year. Miami outscored the Bulls 36-0 the rest of the way in that game — and was up 28-6 with 2 minutes left in the half this year. Add it up, and USF was outscored 64-6 by the Hurricanes over 60 minutes of play.
Miami: The game was essentially sealed when the Hurricanes’ Rueben Bain Jr. stopped Brown on a fourth-and-3 carry from the Miami 9 late in the third quarter, with the hosts leading 28-6. Miami needed only six plays to go 91 yards; Beck had three passes for 64 yards on the drive and Fletcher capped it with a 13-yard TD run.
Up next
South Florida: Hosts South Carolina State next Saturday.
Miami: Hosts Florida next Saturday.