Miami routs Rutgers, 55-0

Posted: Monday November 22, 1999 01:46 PM

By Kevin Curtin
Daily Targum

New Brunswick, New Jersey (U-WIRE) -- What a fitting conclusion.

A season of injuries, academic probations, suspensions, and lopsided losses mercifully came to an end on Saturday as the Miami Hurricanes (6-4, 4-1) pounded the Scarlet Knights 55-0 at the Orange Bowl.

The defense, now reduced to fourth-stringers at many positions, proved to be little more than a speed bump on the way to the end zone for the potent Miami offense.

Offensively, a leaky line had Rutgers freshman quarterback Chad Schwenk running for his life instead of running the offense.

"We were beaten by a superior football team. They played very efficiently. We didn't generate any production," said Rutgers head coach Terry Shea. "We took our lumps today."

Miami did not give Rutgers (1-10, 1-7) the chance to hang around in this one, going for the jugular on its very first possession. On a fourth-and-one from the RU 20-yard line, Miami backup quarterback Ken Dorsey faked out the entire Rutgers defense by a running a naked bootleg to the right side of the field. Dorsey then hit a wide open Ivan Mercer, who walked into the end zone, giving the Hurricanes their first touchdown of the day.

"It was pretty easy for them," said Shea. "I tip my hat to Dorsey."

While the Hurricanes would go on to score six more touchdowns on the day, the loudest applause from the Miami faithful came when Jarrett Payton, son of the late Walter Payton, ran for nine yards on his first carry of the day. Payton, wearing No. 34 to honor his father, had one of the biggest days of his young career, rushing for 97 yards and a touchdown. Reminding many of his legendary father, Payton broke four tackles and spun off two RU defenders en route to a 16-yard touchdown run.

The Rutgers offense, on the other hand, had no such inspiring performances. With Jacki Crooks suspended, the rushing game stalled, gaining only 13 yards on 32 carries.

With an offensive line slowing Miami down as much as a wall of jello, Schwenk and the passing game also never had a chance.

"Sometimes we protected with eight guys, but we just couldn't get it done," said Shea. "We couldn't even breathe when it came to passing the football."

When the Knights finally did get some breathing room in the second quarter, driving the ball into scoring position, Schwenk was hit by a Miami avalanche when the RU offensive line collapsed. On the three consecutive downs, Schwenk was sacked by the Hurricanes losing more than 30 yards on the series.

"They did a really good job of coming after us. We didn't do a good job of keeping guys off of him," said Shaun O'Hara.

After last week's shocker over Syracuse, this performance was a severe disappointment. And for the Rutgers seniors, it was a tough way to end their careers.

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