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'Canes are engaging, yet are hard to gauge

CORAL GABLES -- Once again, top-ranked Miami won by a big margin. But the Hurricanes' 38-6 victory against Boston College on Saturday at the Orange Bowl felt closer.

It was 0-0 after a quarter. And 10-6 Miami at the half.

Then the 'Canes started hitting one big play after another. Miami won its 26th game in a row, three shy of the best mark in the program's history.

Larry Coker, who has not lost in 16 games, termed it "just another day at the office" but said it's hard to gauge just how good his team is.

"I think in the first half we were pressing a little bit," said receiver Andre Johnson, who returned from shoulder surgery to catch three passes for 73 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown.

The defense shut out BC in the second half.

"I figured they would come out hard and give us a run for our money," linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. "They're a good team."

Meanwhile, Willis McGahee again showed that he -- not quarterback Ken Dorsey -- is the top dog on offense. He finished with 221 all-purpose yards, scored two touchdowns and set up another with a 77-yard catch-and-run.

"I was trying to hurry up and score," McGahee said of the screen pass. "I was tired."

GROUNDED EAGLES: Boston College came in with an idea of how to attack Miami after almost pulling off an upset a year ago. That strategy of running the ball right at the 'Canes with backs Derrick Knight (57 yards) and Brandon Brokaw (50 yards) and an occasional first-down pass by Brian St. Pierre was successful -- for a half.

"They came out and stuck it to us pretty good," defensive tackle Matt Walters said. "We really hadn't faced a team all year that had a power game."

But what the Eagles needed most were touchdowns. They didn't get any Saturday.

"We were planning on running the ball to try and hold on to it," Eagles coach Tom O'Brien said. "It was the best chance we had of keeping their offense on the sideline."

"We knew what we had to do," Vilma said. "Keep them to field goals ... eventually the offense was going to come around."

FRESHMEN MOVE UP: Two freshmen have moved to No. 2 on the UM depth chart. At tight end, Eric Winston has become Kellen Winslow's backup because of David Williams' broken wrist. Greg Threat, who has seen action at cornerback in the first three games, has supplanted Marcus Maxey as the backup to Maurice Sikes at strong safety.

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