Carson Beck threw three touchdown passes and Mark Fletcher Jr. ran for two more to lead the host Miami Hurricanes to a 49-12 victory over South Florida on Saturday night in Miami Gardens, Fla.
The No. 5 Hurricanes (3-0) totaled 576 yards and jumped out to a 14-0 lead over the No. 18 Bulls (2-1), who earned their ranking after beating then No. 25 Boise State and then-No. 13 Florida to open the season.
Fletcher ran for 120 yards on 16 carries while Beck completed 23 of 28 passes for 340 yards and the Georgia transfer threw his first two interceptions as a Miami quarterback.
But the Hurricanes’ defense rendered the miscues inconsequential as Miami beat USF for the seventh time in eight meetings all-time.
Beck sealed the outcome when he faked a handoff and delivered a 1-yard touchdown pass to CharMar Brown with 7:05 left in the fourth.
USF quarterback Byrum Brown completed 20 of 36 passes for 274 yards, one touchdown on a 12-yard connection with Christian Neptune, and one interception.
Beck’s first two touchdown passes went to freshman Joshua Moore — from 8 and 39 yards — to give the Hurricanes their early edge.
The first of two Nico Gramatica field goals, a 45-yarder, cut Miami’s lead to 14-3 in the first quarter.
The game was then delayed for an hour and 42 minutes due to severe weather.
Chas Nimrod led the Bulls with four catches for 128 yards, and two of those big-chunk gains led to USF’s first two scores.
Leading 14-6, the Hurricanes made sure there would be no major momentum shift following the delay as Fletcher ran for 38 yards — his longest of the season — and weaved through USF defenders to the end zone to push Miami’s lead to 21-6 with 10:05 left in the second quarter.
Jarvis Lee and James Chenault recorded interceptions for the Bulls. After Beck’s second interception, Miami’s Jakobe Thomas stripped Brown of the ball and Chase Smith recovered.
Brown led USF into the red zone again, but he was stopped on a run up the middle for 1 yard on fourth-and-3 from the Hurricanes’ 9, turning the ball over on downs with 4:08 left in the third quarter.
Miami receiver C.J. Daniels exited the game with 13 minutes left in the third quarter and did not return after being tackled and landing on his shoulder.
