Down 13, No. 18 Miami rallies past Wake
October 31, 2009
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP)—Jacory Harris threw a 13-yard touchdown pass toTravis Benjamin with 1:08 left, and No. 18 Miami rallied to beat Wake Forest28-27 on Saturday.
Harris threw for 330 yards and three touchdowns for the Hurricanes (6-2, 3-2ACC), who trailed 27-14 going into the fourth quarter. Miami took advantage of amuffed punt to score a touchdown, then took its first lead when Harris directedan 82-yard scoring drive in the final minutes that ended with Benjamin’s divingcatch near the left pylon.
Riley Skinner threw for 349 yards and two touchdowns for the Demon Deacons(4-5, 2-3), but may have sustained a concussion when he took a hard hit on akeeper that ripped off his helmet with about 6 1/2 minutes left. The four-yearstarter sat out the rest of the game, watching backup Ryan McManus direct WakeForest’s desperate final drive.
McManus got the Demon Deacons across midfield to set up a 60-yard field goalattempt from Jimmy Newman, but the kick fell well short on the game’s finalplay.
It was a frustrating finish for the Demon Deacons, who scored the first 17points and looked to be in control until Harris directed the decisive finaldrive.
Wake Forest made several costly mistakes, including a 45-yard missed fieldgoal by Newman and a couple of dropped interceptions in the fourth quarter. Butnone were bigger than when punt returner Devon Brown fumbled the catch on one ofMatt Bosher’s numerous booming kicks and Miami recovered at the 2-yard line. Onthe next play, Harris connected on a short pass to Tervaris Johnson that made it27-21 with 11:47 to play.
Skinner directed the Demon Deacons to 555 total yards, while the defensefrustrated Harris and the Hurricanes much of the afternoon. Miami, which wascoming off an overtime home loss to Clemson, managed 356 total yards—a bigchunk of it coming late in the game.
Chris Givens and Tommy Bohanon each had touchdown catches for the DemonDeacons, who have lost three straight games.