ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 1, 1996 TAG: 9612020111
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SYRACUSE, N.Y.
SOURCE: Associated Press
Someday, Syracuse will beat Miami. Maybe after Tremain Mack graduates.
Mack, a junior, returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown with 35 seconds left in the first half Saturday to stun Syracuse just when it seemed poised to rebound from a disastrous start.
Instead, despite a valiant 21-point rally in the second half, the 16th-ranked Orangemen lost 38-31 to the 23rd-ranked Hurricanes and watched a major bowl bid slip away.
Syracuse had scored only 13 seconds before Mack's return to get back in a game that quarterback Ryan Clement and the Hurricanes were dominating.
``When you do something like that totally unexpected it brings the other team down,'' said Mack, who last year blocked a field goal and intercepted two passes against the Orangemen in Miami's comeback 35-24 win. ``They went in at halftime down instead of up.''
The kickoff return for a touchdown was Miami's first since 1980.
The Orangemen (8-3, 6-1 Big East), who would have won their first outright Big East title and secured a berth in the Bowl Alliance with a victory, never gave up. Not after Clement shredded their defense with touchdown passes to Magic Benton, Yatil Green and Tony Gaiter in the first half. And not after Duane Starks returned an interception 35 yards for another touchdown early in the second half to put Miami up 35-10.
Syracuse, outscored 69-0 by Miami in the second half of the last three meetings, stormed back. Donovan McNabb, ineffective in the first half (3-for-9 for 38 yards), combined with Darryl Daniel on a 70-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter, then hit Kevin Johnson with a 15-yard scoring pass with 9:55 left to make it 35-24.
The Orangemen appeared set to pull off a miraculous comeback, but Deon Maddox fumbled just inside the Miami 45 with 6:36 left and Starks recovered for Miami. Trent Jones then ripped off a 58-yard run to set up Andy Crosland's 25-yard field goal.
``We were really trying to fight back, but that really pushed a lot of guys' confidence back,'' Johnson said of the fumble. ``We knew we could score 30 points in the half. But you go back in the second half and they bust open a run and score a another touchdown, it's real difficult to bounce back and keep your momentum going.''
The victory gave the Hurricanes (8-3, 6-1) a share of the league title with Syracuse and Virginia Tech. The highest ranked team of the three in the next poll will go to either the Fiesta Bowl or the Orange Bowl.
The Miami victory further complicated a cryptic bowl picture.
University of Virginia athletic director Terry Holland, approached at the Cavaliers' men's basketball game with George Mason, speculated that Syracuse was going to the Gator Bowl.
Holland said it was his guess that Virginia would play Miami in the Carquest Bowl, but then was reminded that Syracuse and North Carolina, already extended a Gator Bowl bid, had played in the regular season.
``Well, they won't have a rematch,'' Holland said. ``How could it not be Miami now [in the Gator Bowl]? I thought I kind of had it figured out who we were going to play. Now, I don't have any idea.''
If the Gator Bowl takes Miami, then the Carquest Bowl, with the third choice of Big East teams, would have Syracuse and West Virginia as its options. West Virginia brings more people, but the Mountaineers are fourth in the standings.
``I don't think a team [Syracuse] that ties for first would want to go behind a team that finishes fourth and supposedly brings more people,'' Holland said. ``There's going to be some intense lobbying going on.''
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines KEYWORDS: FOOTBALLby CNB