MIAMI – Tyrone Moss matched a career-high with three touchdowns and No. 9 Miami ended South Florida’s hopes of springing a second straight upset with a sloppy 27-7 win on Saturday.

Moss ran for 89 yards and had scoring runs of 1 and 19 yards in the first quarter, when Miami (3-1) took advantage of three South Florida turnovers to build an early 17-0 lead.

Miami scored on four of its first five possessions, then didn’t add to the total until Moss’ 1-yard, fourth-down plunge with 8:25 left. South Florida avoided the shutout – which would have been the first in its 93-game history – with 5:56 left, when Johnny Peyton caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Pat Julmiste.