CORAL GABLES - University of Miami quarterback Robert Marve has tended to stay away from reading newspapers of late.

And the Internet message boards. And listening to sports talk-radio shows.

Any forum that may stir up thoughts of a quarterback controversy brewing at UM is off limits. After being named the starter in the preseason, a recent slump has Marve facing criticism but he prefers to avoid it altogether.

“Just kind of stay away from them,” Marve said. “It’s a lot different from a person outside looking in than from a person that’s inside looking out. Everybody has a different opinion.”

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DURHAM, N.C. -The University of Miami has suffered several indignities on its descent from national powerhouse to ACC also-ran, but escaped a new low on Saturday thanks to backup quarterback Jacory Harris.

Harris came off the bench in place of starter Robert Marve and threw four touchdown passes and ran for a fifth score to rally the Hurricanes to a 49-31 victory against Duke that snapped the Hurricanes’ six-game losing streak in conference games.

Harris led UM (4-3, 1-2) on six touchdown drives after replacing Marve in the second quarter as the Hurricanes rolled to their second-highest point total in an ACC game.

Which raises the question: Who is Miami’s starting quarterback for Saturday’s home game against Wake Forest?

“Robert is still going to start,” UM coach Randy Shannon said of Marve, who was pulled from the game Saturday after throwing a second-quarter interception.

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They know what the boxscore said. And after a rocky couple of weeks, they were not about to downplay it.

The University of Miami’s defense gave up just 78 yards last week, the fewest it has allowed in almost a decade, and no offensive touchdowns.

But the defensive players know something else, too.

The opponent was Central Florida, which has an offense that seemingly would not have found the end zone had UM rolled out a red carpet to the goal line.

A better indicator of how much Miami’s defense has improved on what hampered it in losses to North Carolina and Florida State will come Saturday at Atlantic Coast Conference rival Duke.

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Another strange game. Another case of the Miami Hurricanes seeming to do their best to give one away.

But the Knights of Central Florida were not going to let it happen. Not with their offense.

Robert Marve threw threw interceptions, UM’s offense could barely get it going, but the Hurricanes defeated UCF 20-14 on Saturday at Dolphin Stadium.

”Very weird game. Very sloppy on both sides,” said Marve, who has seven interceptions in his past three games. “A win is a win. We’ll take it. We love it. It feels good right now.”

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Jorge Milian:  Hurricanes working way toward irrelevance

Iliana Limon:  UCF defense only bright spot

Edwin Pope:  Young Hurricanes experiencing growing pains

CORAL GABLES - Travis Benjamin promised himself that if he’s ever tackled by someone grabbing hold of his lengthy dreadlocks, he’ll cut off all his hair.

“It’s never happened,” Benjamin quickly points out.

Opponents of the University of Miami are finding it increasingly difficult to grasp any part of the Hurricanes’ speedy true freshman this season.

Saturday against Florida State, Benjamin piled up the most all-purpose yards (274) by a UM player in 10 years. The former Glades Central standout sparked a Hurricanes’ rally by scoring on a reverse and halfback-option pass and also returned kickoffs for 57, 42 and 29 yards in Miami’s 41-39 loss.

“There were a couple of times on special teams when I was like, ‘They got that fool,’ and he’d poke his head around the corner,” quarterback Robert Marve said. “It’s like he runs a 3.9 or something.”

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You can say this wasn’t real football. You can claim Florida State’s 41-39 victory over Miami was sheer circus — at least UM’s part of it. But don’t dare say it wasn’t the most watchable Hurricanes game since Maryland nosed them 42-40 way back in 1984.

Because it was.

Seems to me Miami had Maryland down by something like 31-0 at one point in that classic nearly a quarter century ago in the now-gone Orange Bowl.

So, too, Saturday night at Dolphin Stadium, FSU had UM down and drowning 24-0 just before halftime.

Then Miami cut it loose. Flea-flickers, reverses, a touchdown run by a tackle, fumbles, interceptions, a dozen near-breakaways, even in addition to all that really were.

It was purely eye-popping stuff. It is what we go to games hoping to see.

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Dave Hyde:  How hard can you question UM?

Andrew Carter:  Florida State is now Christian Ponder’s team

Mike Bianchi:  A game worthy of the legendary Miami-FSU rivalry

Graham Gano knew the questions were coming.

After all, this is Miami week. And he’s the starting place-kicker at Florida State.

So the senior from Penascola wasn’t exactly shocked when reporters brought up a couple of memorable field-goal misses from years gone by.

“People say it’s a curse and stuff, but that’s baloney,” said Gano, who was 3 for 3 last week against Colorado, including a career-long 52-yarder. “You’ve just got to go out there and kick it straight. If you kick it straight, it will go in.”

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To get a feel for why the Miami Hurricanes’ game against Florida State on Saturday is important for reasons other than the rivalry or the Atlantic Coast Conference, consider the recent scene at Khalil Jones’ church.

Jones, UM’s senior wide receiver and Miami Northwestern product, was worshipping Tuesday night when he noticed something.

“I saw someone with a ‘Canes jersey,” Jones said.

You still see the same kind of thing everywhere in South Florida. Many remain devoted to the Hurricanes - in their hearts (or at least their wardrobes) if not in their seats at Dolphin Stadium.

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It’s Miami - but not as deeply talented and feared as it once was.

That said, Florida State offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher had a point when the questions outside the FSU locker room following Saturday’s 39-21 victory over Colorado turned to the next opponent.

This remains a Hurricanes’ team to reckon with.

Two days of watching film has not altered Fisher’s thinking that Miami poses plenty of challenges for his mostly young offense. Miami has the ACC’s top rushing defense, just ahead of FSU, plus more speed with intimidating size up front.

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Randy Shannon:  Considering ‘changes’ to UM’s struggling secondary

Randy Shannon knew, but there was nothing he could do. His players were upset about their last-minute loss to North Carolina, and they wanted to share their anguish. So the University of Miami football coach’s phone kept ringing Saturday night.

With Florida State on the horizon, the Hurricanes needed to discuss all kinds of things before they could move on to the Seminoles.

”I had phone calls last night from players stressing that what they did in the game was unacceptable,” Shannon said Sunday. “That makes you feel good as a coach, but it doesn’t change anything. A loss is a loss.

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