Miami drubs Bethune-Cookman 63-0 to give Manny Diaz his 1st win as head coach

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Jarren Williams threw for 254 yards and three scores, and the Miami Hurricanes gave rookie coach Manny Diaz his first victory by beating Bethune-Cookman 63-0 Saturday.

Williams went 19 for 24 without a turnover or a sack, and his scoring passes covered 22 yards to K.J. Osborn, 32 yards to Michael Harley and 1 yard to Larry Hodges. Williams’ longest throw was to Mark Pope for a 54-yard gain, and he departed late in the third quarter.

DeeJay Dallas ran for 108 yards and three touchdowns. Miami outgained the Wildcats 590-137 and held them to four first downs.

The Hurricanes (1-2) won their home opener to bounce back from season-opening losses at Florida and North Carolina. With the victory, Miami avoided its worst start since 1975.

Diaz, the Hurricanes’ defensive coordinator from 2016 – 18, replaced Mark Richt after last season as head coach.

Bethune-Cookman (1-1) remained winless in five games against Miami, all since 2011, with the defeats by a combined score of 232-37.

The Hurricanes had nine touchdowns before Bethune-Cookman had its third first down. Dallas scored untouched on a 51-yard run, and scored twice on 1-yard runs.

EXCESSIVE CELEBRATION

Senior Jimmy Murphy, a former walk-on, drew a flag when he did a cartwheel after scoring his first career touchdown on a 4-yard run in the final minutes.

BLING

The Hurricanes’ turnover chain came out for the first time in two weeks when Robert Knowles recovered a fumble at midfield in the final minute of the first half. Two plays later, with two seconds remaining, Miami made the score 28-0 on Osborn’s touchdown catch.

Miami had no takeaways in last week’s loss at North Carolina.

MISSED CHANCES

The Hurricanes came up empty in the red zone twice in the first half. Bubba Baxa missed a 30-yard field goal try, and they were stuffed on a fourth-and-1 run.

Miami was 0 for 5 converting thirds downs in the first half.

INJURY REPORT

Pope had three catches for 92 yards before he limped off the field late in the third quarter with an apparent left ankle injury.

THE TAKEAWAY

The schedule is favorable for the Hurricanes, whose next four games are also at home. Their only game against a ranked team is Oct. 11 at home against No. 25 Virginia.