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MIAMI (Ticker) -- Count Ken Dorsey among the best freshman quarterbacks in Miami history. Dorsey threw a school freshman record four touchdown passes, erasing the names of Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar and Gino Torretta from the record book, in Miami's 55-0 destruction of Big East Conference foe Temple. Dorsey, a true freshman, completed 23-of-34 passes for 288 yards and was intercepted once for the Hurricanes (8-4, 6-1), who will play Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville on New Year's Day. "It was a great way to end the regular season," Miami coach Butch Davis said. "This is a team that was continually able to redefine themselves. We reached one of our goals today by giving UM a chance to play on January 1." This game originally was scheduled for October 16, but the threat of Hurricane Floyd forced its postponement. Miami closed the season with six wins in seven games, rebounding from a three-game losing streak. "We knew if we won this game that the Gator Bowl would invite us to play," Miami tight end Daniel "Bubba" Franks said. "We had to go out and win big for them." Dorsey has been amazing in wins over Rutgers, Syracuse and Temple, filling in for the injured Kenny Kelly. He has completed 64-of-91 passes (70.3 percent) for 718 yards and nine touchdowns with one interception as Miami has outscored the opposition 155-13. "The game went really well," Dorsey said. "There were a few mistakes on my part, but a win is a win. And when you win like this, you have to be happy." The three-game output broke the school record of 153, set in 1933 Temple (2-9, 2-5) finished tied with Pittsburgh for sixth place in the Big East and lost to Miami for the eighth straight time since a 34-0 defeat in the first meeting between the schools, back in 1930. In the wins, Miami has scored no less than 36 points and allowed more than 15 only once, outscoring them 365-81. "It was an embarrassing day for us," Owls coach Bobby Wallace said. "I still like this team. They were in a bad situation today, but you didn't see any bickering on the sideline or any of the other negative things that you could see on a day like this. "We had some people out and we had two guys on the offensive line that hadn't played a down all year long. One (David Terry) was a defensive tackle until Monday and today he played the whole game at offensive guard. On one of the long touchdown runs, we had five players on defense who normally wouldn't be on the field at all." Miami stopped Temple on three plays to start the game, then embarked on a six-play, 60-yard drive that Dorsey's classmate, Clinton Portis, capped with a 38-yard touchdown run. The Hurricanes drove 79 yards in 12 plays on their second drive and James Jackson finished it with an 11-yard scoring run for 14-0 lead with 3:48 remaining in the first quarter. Santana Moss' 31-yard punt return to the Temple 40 set up Miami's next touchdown, a 22-yard pass from Dorsey to Portis that pushed the lead to 21-0 with 10:35 left in the second quarter. Moss was Miami's top receiver with 96 yards on seven catches. After stopping Temple on the next series and getting the ball at their own 44, the Hurricanes had to wait only one more play to take a 27-0 lead as Jackson broke off a 56-yard scoring burst. Temple's highlight of the game came when defensive end Raheem Brock blocked the extra point attempt. The Owls got a break on the ensuing possession, when yet another true freshman, running back Jarrett Payton, caught at pass from Dorsey at the Temple 5 but was stripped by strong safety Sean Martin for a touchback. The Owls failed to capitalize when they botched a punt attempt and gave Miami the ball at the 7. Dorsey hit Reggie Wayne with a four-yard TD toss one play later for a 34-0 lead. "We did today what we were supposed to do all year," Wayne said. "Everything we practiced this week worked today and that is how you win games." Payton, the son of the late Walter Payton, led Miami with 81 yards on nine carries before leaving with an injured right ankle. His status for the Gator Bowl is unknown. Jackson had been hampered by a thigh bruise in addition to ankle, knee, shoulder and hip ailments this season but returned to run for 74 yards on eight carries. "My teammates welcomed me on the field and that meant a lot to me," Jackson said. Portis added 61 yards on eight attempts as the Hurricanes racked up 239 yards on the ground and limited Temple to 41. Devin Scott was 15-of-25 for 83 yards and one interception, while Mac DeVito was 5-of-14 for 14 yards and was picked off once for Temple, which had 138 yards of offense and allowed 540, a Miami season high. Dorsey threw a nine-yard scoring pass to fullback Will McPartland with 9:23 left in the third quarter and found running back Robert Williams from six yards with 4:41 left for a 48-0 lead. The second of those scored was set up when linebacker Nate Webster intercepted Scott and returned the ball seven yards to the Temple 25. "We just wanted to send the seniors out with a bang today," said Webster, whose four interceptions are a school single-season record for a linebacker. "We wanted to show (the seniors) that they are greatly appreciated." The final touchdown, with 11:39 left in the game, was a nine-yard pass from Troy Prasek to tight end Ivan Mercer.
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