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MIAMI (Ticker) -- Showing up for the second half for the second time in as many weeks was enough for 23rd-ranked Miami. The Hurricanes did not need the best comeback in school history this time, but rallied from a pair of 13-point deficits in the second half in a 28-20 Big East Conference victory over West Virginia. Kenny Kelly started despite a bum leg but helped Miami (4-3, 2-0 Big East), playing at home for the first time since September 18, to little offense in the opening half as West Virginia built a 13-0 lead. It was the first time since the Florida State game in 1984 that Miami was shut out in the first half at home. Last weekend, the Hurricanes spotted Boston College a 28-0 lead before scoring 31 unanswered points to win, but they never fell that far behind against the Mountaineers. "He moved the ball well Thursday and we felt it would be better for him to start rather than come off the bench," Miami coach Butch Davis said of Kelly. "It's not that we didn't have confidence in (true freshman) Ken Dorsey, we just felt Kenny was physically able." "It hurt me in the first half because I didn't feel sharp," reported Kelly, who was limited during this week's practices. Miami took the lead for good, 21-20, with 10:17 left in the game when Kelly shook off what appeared to be a sure sack and found true freshman running back Clinton Portis alone on the left side of the field for a nine-yard touchdown. "I thought about taking the sack or throwing the ball away," Kelly said. "But then I fought a little bit, turned around and saw Portis." Portis, who carried 17 times for 104 yards, somersalted into the end zone from a yard out with 1:46 left with a needed insurance touchdown that pushed the lead to 28-20. He set up the score with a spectacular 41-yard run the play before. "I jumped behind a tackle block and stumbled," Portis said of the 41-yard run, in which he juked a series of tacklers. "When I regained my balance, I saw that I was in the open field. I ran for the sideline and saw that a defender was on my tail. I reached out for the goal line but I stepped out at the 1." Marc Bulger, who completed 21-of-34 passes for 346 yards and a touchdown, drove West Virginia (3-5, 2-2) to the Miami 20 with 12 seconds left. But on 4th-and-3, he threw a lob toward the goal line that was intercepted by cornerback Markese Fitzgerald. Bulger was intercepted four times, twice by cornerback Mike Rumph. With 7,488 yards, he passed Major Harris as West Virginia's career leader in total offense, his 25th school record. Kelly was 21-of-34 for 268 yards and two touchdowns with one interception as Miami improved to 12-3 all-time against the Mountaineers, including winning six of the last seven meetings. In the second half the last two games, Miami has outscored the opposition, 59-14, and racked up 624 yards of total offense to 285 for West Virginia and Boston College. "Sometimes you fall into a trap," Davis said. "When you have big-play people, you always know you can come back because there is always someone to bail you out. ... Our defense prevented us from being blown out. They created turnover after turnover." The four interceptions were the most in a game for Miami since 1991. "In the first half, we were sitting back and waiting for a play to happen," Hurricanes linebacker Nate Webster said. "In the second half, we came out with a more aggressive attitude." "Our team showed a lot of confidence in the second half and I think our experience last week helped us," Miami linebacker Dan Morgan said. "We knew we could come back." West Virginia took the lead on its second play of the game, a 43-yard scoring pass from Bulger to Jerry Porter. Jay Taylor kicked two field goals from 33 yards in the second quarter, the last on the final play of the first half, to make it 13-0. Miami scored on its second play of the second half, a 17-yard TD run by James Jackson. Jackson, bothered by an injured hip, ran for 72 yards on 16 carries. The Mountaineers built the lead back to 13 points by taking the ball 80 yards on the ensuing drive, with Avon Cobourne's five-yard scoring run capping the eight-play march. But Miami responded to get within 20-14 when Kelly hit tight end Daniel "Bubba" Franks for an eight-yard score with 51 seconds left in the third quarter. Kelly was 3-of-3 for 45 yards -- all to Franks -- on the six-play, 52-yard drive.
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