MIAMI - Miami tailback Frank Gore left Thursday night's game against West Virginia with 6:15 left in the first quarter after spraining his left knee, team officials said.
Gore, who missed last season after tearing ligaments in his right knee in spring 2002, went down after a 12-yard gain. He was helped to the locker room, and senior Jarrett Payton replaced him.
Late in the first half, Hurricanes strong safety Maurice Sikes left with an injury.
ERASING MISTAKES: Miami entered its Big East home opener leading the conference in two categories it would rather not: penalties (92 yards per game) and turnovers (10).
Guard Vernon Carey said this week the Hurricanes have the talent they've had the past few seasons but keep putting the offense in bad positions.
"When we stop shooting ourselves in the foot, that's when you'll see the real Miami," Carey said.
Early on it looked like that trend would continue. Despite recovering two West Virginia fumbles in the first 5 minutes, 13 seconds, the offense did nothing with them.
After the second recovery, quarterback Brock Berlin tried to force the ball to tight end Kellen Winslow, who was in triple coverage. The pass was tipped and intercepted. He later underthrew Winslow in the end zone and was picked off again.
STARTING NOW: Defensive end Baraka Atkins (right ankle sprain) sat out, giving freshman Bryan Pata his first start.
He recovered his second fumble after Jonathan Vilma knocked it out of Quincy Carter's hands with 10:31 left in the first quarter. CONNECTIONS: Miami long-snapper Chris Harvey is the only Hurricane from West Virginia (Accoville), but 10 Mountaineers are Florida natives, including free safety Leandre Washington (Key West) and cornerback Lance Frazier (Delray Beach). Frazier attended Spanish River High, where he was a teammate of 'Canes receiver Jason Geathers.
EXTRA POINTS: Miami is 7-1 in Thursday night games on ESPN. The loss was at Pittsburgh in 1997. ... The 84-yard pass from Rasheed Marshall to Kay-Jay Harris was the longest non-touchdown pass play for West Virginia. It also was the longest given up by Miami, breaking the mark of 81 against Colorado in 1976.
