CBS SportsLine wire reports
Oct. 31, 1998

MIAMI -- Credit Miami's offense with holding Mike Cloud under 100 yards rushing for the first time this season.

The 25th-ranked Hurricanes

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ran up 21 points before Boston College could call eight offensive plays, rolling up 582 yards total offense in a 35-17 victory Saturday night.

EDGERRIN JAMES SHREDDED THE EAGLES for the second consecutive year, rushing for 182 yards and scoring the Hurricanes' first two touchdowns on runs of 2 and 1 yards. Scott Covington fired a 10-yard TD pass to Daryl Jones to complete the first-quarter romp.

"We were challenged by the coaches to see if we could start fast tonight," Covington said. "We did what we wanted. We called the plays well and basically executed every play."

Boston College coach Tom O'Brien said: "We couldn't keep our defense off the field and they couldn't get themselves off."

Miami (5-2, 3-1 Big East) powered to 352 yards rushing on 52 attempts, only one for more than 20 yards. That was James Jackson's 79-yard run to set up the final first-quarter TD.

James carried 31 times, none for more than 19 yards, in outperforming one of the league's top backs for the second time in as many games. Last week, he ran for 162 yards and three TDs in a 34-31 win at West Virginia, which features Amos Zereoue.

"I CAN'T SAY ENOUGH GOOD THINGS about our running backs," Miami coach Butch Davis said. "Edgerrin ripped off a lot of good runs tonight."

Cloud, the nation's No. 2 rusher with a 164-yard average, was held to 75 yards on 20 carries. That was 29 yards fewer than his previous low this season, 104 yards against Syracuse.

"We're all down," said Cloud, who failed to break the Big East career mark of 3,114 by Terrell Willis of Rutgers. "We had a good game plan, but we just didn't execute the way we should have."

Cloud, with 3,098 yards, now must catch Zereoue for the Big East career mark. Zereoue broke the record Saturday with 148 yards against Virginia Tech and now has 3,237.

John Matich kicked a 53-yard field goal and Anthony DiCosmo and Dedrick Dewalt caught TD passes for Boston College, which lost its fifth straight game. The Eagles (3-5, 2-3) were winless in October for the second consecutive year.

"THERE'S ALWAYS POSITIVES TO TAKE out of a game, but I can't think of too many right now," O'Brien said.

Miami has won nine straight meetings since Boston College's improbable 1984 triumph, when Doug Flutie hit Gerard Phelan with a 48-yard TD pass on the game's final play.

The Hurricanes rolled up 211 yards in the first quarter, 149 on the ground, in jumping to a 21-0 lead.

James had seven rushes for 32 yards on the game's opening series, capped when he twice bounced off tacklers for a 2-yard touchdown 3:32 into the game.

James went the final yard of a 56-yard drive on Miami's next series, giving the Hurricanes a 14-0 lead with 6:17 left in the first quarter. And Jackson's 79-yard run keyed a four-play Miami drive on its third possession to score again.

THE EAGLES PULLED TO 21-7 before halftime on Scott Mutryn's 20-yard scoring pass to DiCosmo.

Freshman Najeh Davenport's 7-yard run capped a 14-play drive on Miami's first possession after halftime, pushing the lead to 28-7. Boston College countered with Matich's 53-yard field goal.

Davenport added a 2-yard scoring run with 10:51 remaining for a 35-10 lead. Boston College capped the scoring on Dewalt's 15-yard TD catch from Cedric Washington on a halfback option with 90 seconds left.