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North Carolina State Boots Miami In OT

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The Associated Press

Published: November 4, 2007

Updated: 11/04/2007 01:12 am

MIAMI - Suffice to say, North Carolina State kicker Steven Hauschka didn't envision a moment like this when he was playing for Division III's Middlebury College.

But he came through, giving Miami the boot to end the game - and a good kick afterward, too.

Hauschka's fourth field goal, a 42-yarder in overtime, sealed the surging Wolfpack's 19-16 win against Miami on Saturday. He made three field goals in the final quarter as N.C. State (4-5, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) rallied to win its third straight and essentially end Miami's fledgling title hopes.

"I've never had the chance to win a game like that with a kick, so I was really excited to have that opportunity," said Hauschka, who graduated from the small college in Vermont last year and enrolled for graduate school at N.C. State. "It's very exciting. I'll never forget it."

Miami's Daren Daly missed a field goal in regulation and then a 27-yarder on the first possession of overtime. Hauschka said the OT miss made Daly look "like an idiot."

Daly pointed the finger at himself.

"I let everyone down. I missed it," Daly said. "It's pretty simple. It was a close kick, and I should make it. There's nobody to blame this game on. There's no coaches to blame it on, nobody. It falls directly on my shoulders."

Daly was hardly the only Miami player to struggle in this one.

The Hurricanes (5-4, 2-3) lost despite running 60 times for 314 yards against the ACC's worst rush defense. But Miami couldn't throw at all - Kirby Freeman, playing for the injured Kyle Wright, was 1-for-14 for 84 yards and three interceptions.

"The game came down to the way I played," Freeman said. "I just didn't have it today."

Wright said his sprained left ankle and left knee tendon wouldn't keep him sidelined again next week, when Miami plays its final game at the Orange Bowl against Virginia.

But instead of heading into that game on a two-game winning streak, the Hurricanes are back in the familiar spot of trying to figure out what went wrong.

"The worst part of this season is we had too many opportunities and we didn't take advantage of them," said wide receiver Darnell Jenkins, who caught the 84-yard TD pass from Freeman. "So this is the results that we get. We had a second chance, and we let it go down the drain."

UCF 47, MARSHALL 13: Kevin Smith rushed for 188 yards and two TDs as host UCF (6-3, 4-1 Conference USA) easily beat Marshall (1-8, 1-4).

Smith - the second-leading rusher in the country going into the game - had 29 carries, including an 87-yard TD run. He also caught four passes for 48 yards.

FLORIDA A&M 24, NORTH CAROLINA A&T 21: Wesley Taylor (Riverview) kicked a 33-yard field goal with 45 seconds left to give host Florida A&M (3-6, 2-4 MEAC) a win against North Carolina A&T (0-10, 0-7).

The game was delayed at halftime after a confrontation between the North Carolina A&T team and the Florida A&M marching band.

HAMPTON 31, BETHUNE-COOKMAN 24: Henti Baird returned an interception 30 yards for a TD with 26 seconds remaining to lead Hampton (5-4, 4-3 MEAC) past host Bethune-Cookman (3-6, 1-5).

Bethune-Cookman had taken a 24-17 lead with 2:28 to play when Corey Council returned a kickoff 90 yards for a TD.

ARKANSAS STATE 27, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL 24: Josh Arauco kicked a 31-yard field goal with 2 seconds left to give host Arkansas State (4-5, 2-3 Sun Belt Conference) a victory against Florida International (0-9, 0-4).

FIU has the nation's longest Division I losing streak at 21.

VALPARAISO 29, JACKSONVILLE 27: Fullback Mozelle McHenry scored on a 2-yard run with 1:45 left to play to lift Valparaiso (5-5, 2-4 Pioneer) past host Jacksonville (2-7, 1-5).

Jacksonville gained 205 yards rushing, 122 of which came in the second half when it mounted its comeback. Rudell Small had 92 yards and Ron Harris added 83.

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