AP - Oct 18, 4:18 pm EDT More Photos

MIAMI (AP) -- Jarrett Payton waited five years and 57 games for this.

Payton, the son of late Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton, had his first 100-yard game Saturday against Temple.

He carried 16 times for 115 yards and scored twice as No. 2 Miami routed Temple 52-14, dominating the Owls for the 12th consecutive time.

``You've just got to wait,'' said Payton, a fifth-year senior. ``That's my life story.''

The Hurricanes (7-0, 3-0 Big East) extended the nation's longest home winning streak to 26 games. They also won their 39th straight regular-season game and 27th in a row in the Big East -- streaks that could be tested at No. 3 Virginia Tech in two weeks.

Temple (1-6, 0-2) hasn't played Miami close since the Hurricanes joined the conference in 1992, losing by an average score of 45-11.

JARRETT PAYTON

Payton had a lot to do with the latest one-sided affair.

``I'm very happy for that young man,'' said Temple coach Bobby Wallace, who grew up with Walter Payton in Jackson, Miss., and occasionally played softball with the Chicago Bears legend. ``I know what a quality individual his father was, and I'm sure he's the same type of person.

``I'm happy he's getting his chance.''

After playing behind James Jackson, Najeh Davenport, Clinton Portis, Willis McGahee and Frank Gore, Payton finally got his chance when Gore sustained a season-ending knee injury Oct. 2 against West Virginia.

Making his first career start last week against Florida State, Payton gained 97 yards in the rain. He looked even better on a dry field -- and against Temple.

He ran five times for 32 yards on Miami's opening drive and scored on an 8-yard run. He carried four consecutive times on the team's second drive and scored from 14 yards out.

But then he gave the team a small scare.

AP - Oct 18, 4:10 pm EDT More Photos

After his fifth touchdown of the season, Payton fell to the ground on the sideline -- feeling dizzy and lightheaded. Team trainers took his blood pressure and checked his heart rate before treating him for low blood sugar.

Payton drank some water, ate an energy bar and sat out the next three series.

``It wasn't a big deal,'' Payton said. ``I just didn't eat as much this morning as I usually do. I thought I could get away with two bowls of cereal, but I couldn't. Once I got something in my system I got better.''

He returned just before the first half and eclipsed the 100-yard mark on the first series of the second half.

He sat out the fourth quarter as Miami's backups took over. By then, the game was well in hand.

Payton turned to freshman tailback Tyrone Moss on the sideline and said, ``If you don't score today something's wrong.''

Moss ran 15 times for 135 yards, most of it coming in the fourth quarter on a hot day against a drained Temple squad. It was the first time the Hurricanes had two 100-yard rushers since Clinton Portis (132) and Gore (153) did it against Syracuse in 2001.

The Hurricanes finished with 342 yards rushing and 259 passing, eclipsing 600 yards in total offense for the first time since 2001.

Brock Berlin completed 16 of 26 passes for 187 yards and threw two touchdown passes -- his first game without an interception this season.

``He's improved every week,'' offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski said. ``Despite some public opinion on that, you see it every week. He's more and more confident with his reads. He's not forcing balls and taking what the defense gives us. He manages our football team. I really see improvement in his game.''

Berlin found Jason Geathers in the flat for a 15-yard score that made it 24-14 before halftime.

On the opening drive of the third quarter, linebacker D.J. Williams ran 61 yards on a fake punt. He took a direct snap on fourth-and-1, ran up the middle and then leaped over punt returner Zamir Cobb at the 25 before going untouched the rest of the way.

``We never slowed them down offensively all game long,'' Wallace said. ``We were hanging by a thread and the fake punt broke the thread.''

Temple, which entered the game with the Big East's top passing offense at 274 yards per game, was held to 21 yards through the air.

``We were overpowered by a very good football team, simple as that,'' Wallace said.

Updated on Saturday, Oct 18, 2003 5:17 pm EDT

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ARLINGTON HEIGHTS -- In little more time than it would have taken Walter Payton, the NFL's all-time leading rusher, to run for a long gain, Arlington Heights Park District commissioners unanimously voted Tuesday night to approve plans to honor his memory.

"We wanted to wait, let the dust settle a bit, let the family mourn and think this thing through," Park Board President Tom Drake said of the district's plans to dedicate "Payton's Hill" at the Nickol Knoll Golf Club.

Payton, who died of liver cancer in November, trained privately on a 92-foot-high hill in a landfill north of Dundee Road and Kennicott Avenue.

His test of strength and endurance--and the hill--became the stuff of local legend in the 1970s and 1980s when Payton lived in Arlington Heights.

The entire site eventually was turned into the Nickol Knoll Golf Club, with tons of dirt excavated from Lake Arlington. The course opened in 1995.

While the actual hill Payton trained on no longer exists because the terrain was altered during the course's construction, Park District commissioners decided to post a bronze plaque at an overlook that is the general area where Payton ran.

They also voted to place another plaque near the clubhouse. Inside the clubhouse will be a photo exhibit and display of a Bears jersey signed by Payton.

First Northwest Bank, which Payton helped start, will pay for the plaques, Michael Silverman, chairman and chief executive officer of the bank, announced.

Silverman, a former photographer for the Chicago Bears, said he ran up the hill with Payton a couple of times and is certain the Hall of Famer would be delighted by the memorial.

"I talked to Connie Payton (his widow), and she's really happy about this," Silverman said. "I know for sure Walter would be proud. I know for sure he'd be appreciative, and I know for sure he'd say, `You didn't need to do it for me.' "

A variety of tributes emerged in discussions among Park District staff and board members, Drake said.

"We are trying to do something tasteful that people will be proud of," Drake said before the meeting.

The Park District's plans also include a charity golf tournament to raise money and collect toys for the Walter Payton Foundation, which the Bears great founded to help wards of the state.

Soon after Payton died, Bears fan Dave Tilley of Round Lake Beach raised the idea of naming the site in honor of Payton. But the idea was swiftly opposed by Cyril F. Nickol, a descendant of the German family for which the golf course is named.

Now, both Tilley and Nickol say they approve of the Park District's plans.

"I think the whole thing is just great," Tilley said, "and the Nickol family will be able to retain their heritage."

"The main thing I wanted to do," Nickol said, "was keep the name of the park the same. That was my goal, and I think I succeeded. I figured right along it would be resolved that way."

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