By CRAIG HANDEL
The (Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press

MORGANTOWN, W.V. - While University of Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey left Mountaineer Field feeling like No. 1, the Hurricanes may not even be No. 2 when the Bowl Championship Series rankings next come out.

Dorsey sparked Miami to a 40-23 Big East victory over West Virginia on Saturday before 56,817 fans. He passed for a Mountaineer Field-record 422 yards and tossed two touchdown passes to wide receiver Andre Johnson. Tailback Willis McGahee scored three touchdowns.

While the Hurricanes are sure to retain their No. 1 ranking in both The Associated Press and USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches polls, they may slide to No.3 in the BCS after Notre Dame went into Florida State and beat the Seminoles 34-24.

Miami (7-0, 3-0 Big East) may only be the third-best team in the country right now. West Virginia (5-3, 2-1) was within 24-23 late in the third quarter. The Hurricanes' defense was again sieve-like on the ground, giving up 363 rushing yards.

While tailback Avon Cobourne (26 carries, 175 yards) was as good as advertised, the Hurricanes made quarterback Rasheed Marshall (21 carries, 93 yards) look like Michael Vick.

"He was the X-factor," Miami linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. "He made big runs when they needed it. We had guys covered and then he'd break a 20- or 30-yard run and make people miss."

Miami coach Larry Coker said the Hurricanes' run defense was a negative.

"We knew we had to stop the run and we weren't able to do that," he said. "They spread us out and got us in mismatches where they had big creases to run through."

While the Mountaineers had a 363-102 advantage in rushing yards, Miami held a 422-60 bulge in passing, thanks to Dorsey. His production surpassed Pittsburgh quarterback Alex Van Pelt's 366 yards here in 1989.

Dorsey moved into No. 1 on the Miami list for passing completions (564), passing yards (8,024) and total offense (7,981 yards).

"Kenny is so steady and reliable you sometimes take it for granted as a football coach," Coker said. "I'll probably realize that a lot more next year."

Earlier this week, Dorsey had talked about the criticism he has received despite leading his team to an unbeaten season and only losing one game in his career. When asked if he had silenced critics after this game, he joked, "Probably not. But you know, I never set out to silence critics... Sometimes it's never ending. At times, it's just part of playing at the University of Miami."

As gaudy as Dorsey's stats were, he was hot and cold early.

Miami opened impressively, going 66 yards on five plays in its first drive. After hitting fullback Quadtrine Hill on a 17-yard screen, Dorsey hit Johnson on a crossing person. Shedding his tackler near the West Virginia 40, Johnson took the ball down the sidelines to complete the 43-yard play.

However, the Mountaineers came right back with an 80-yard drive. After Cobourne had runs of 10, 9 and 16 yards, Marshall hit tight end Josh Bailey for 16 to the Miami 22. A Marshall draw for 13 took the ball to the 7, where Cobourne slashed up the middle for the tying touchdown.

After hitting on his first three passes, Dorsey threw six straight incompletions. However, he warmed up late in the second quarter and hit passes of 6, 11, 10 and 7 yards to Kellen Winslow, Hill, Johnson and Hill before hitting Kevin Beard for 22 yards to the 1. Dorsey completed the pass just as he was hit.

McGahee pounded the ball in from there and Miami went ahead, 17-7.

After Todd James hit a field goal just before the half, West Virginia tied the game 17-17 early in the third quarter on Marshall's 12-yard run. The TD was set up by McGahee's fumble at the Miami 14. It was McGahee's second fumble of the game.

"We have a little saying," Coker said. "FIDO - forget it and drive on."

McGahee rebounded from his mistake to make a make a 57-yard catch-and-run down to the West Virginia 2. Two plays later, he scored.

The Mountaineers cut the deficit to 24-23 on running back Quincy Wilson's 1-yard TD. However, the extra point failed.

After a 13-yard pass to Johnson, Dorsey hit Hill down the sidelines for 42 yards. Hill finished with six catches for 108 yards. Dorsey wrapped up the drive with an 11-yard TD pass to Johnson to make it 30-23.

In the fourth quarter, Dorsey hit Winslow to highlight a four-play, 87-yard TD drive. McGahee scored on a 1-yard run.

Todd Sievers closed out the scoring with a 37-yard field goal. A 23-yard pass from Dorsey to Hill set the play up. He finished the second half 12-of-16 for 257 yards.

"West Virginia tried to stop both the run and the pass," Dorsey said. "They put eight into the box and dropped nine into coverage. We just had to weather their storm.

"The numbers are nice but the important thing is winning and losing, more the winning. That's what I consider truly important."