Oct. 29, 2005
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PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Josh Betts threw for 379 yards and three touchdown passes, leading Miami to a 41-14 victory over winless Temple.
Brandon Murphy ran for two scores as the RedHawks (5-3) won their third straight game.
Umar Ferguson had a pair of TD runs for woeful Temple (0-9).
Temple is just two losses away from the school's first winless season on the field since 1959; the Owls forfeited six wins in 1986 due to the use of ineligible players. Temple finishes with road games at Virginia and Navy.
Miami dominated once it took the lead for good, 10-7 on a 31-yard field goal by Todd Soderquist late in the first quarter.
The RedHawks racked up 506 total yards to 195 for Temple.
A 3-yard TD pass from Betts to R.J. Corbin gave Miami a 17-7 lead early in the second. Darrell Hunter's interception set up the 59-yard drive.
An interception by Frank Wiwo set up the RedHawks' next score, a 12-yard TD pass to Martin Nance that made it 24-14.
Murphy had a 7-yard TD run early in the third and Betts connected with Ryne Robinson for an 8-yard pass late in the quarter to make it 41-14.
Ferguson had TD runs of 1 and 2 yards in the first half.
Temple, which will join the Mid-American Conference for the 2007 season, has been outscored 409-87 in its first season since being kicked out of the Big East.
It was the last home game for coach Bobby Wallace, who announced earlier this month he would leave when his contract expires at the end of the season after nine losing years.
Nance finished with six catches for 96 yards, and became the school's all-time leading receiver with 2,818 yards. He moved ahead of Michael Larkin (2,772).
Betts completed 28 of 40 passes and moved ahead of Sam Ricketts into third place on the school's all-time list with 6,202 yards passing. Mike Bath (6,524) and Ben Roethlisberger (10,829) are ahead of Betts.
Betts also passed Ricketts for third place on the TD list. He has 44, Bath had 49 and Roethlisberger had 84.
The announced crowd of 11,257 at Lincoln Financial Field - home of the Philadelphia Eagles - was missing about 9,000 or so no-shows.