EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- In a first half that no one was mistaking for college football at its finest, Miami and Ohio State saw their offenses stall with new starting quarterbacks at the reins.

But while the Buckeyes were shuttling quarterbacks in and out, the Hurricanes' Kenny Kelly found something that every great quarterback needs -- a friend in his receiving corps.

	Miami receiver Santana Moss evades, from left, Tim Cheatwood, Gary Berry and Na'il Diggs as he goes 67 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.

Santana Moss made the most out of two poorly thrown passes by Kelly, with the second catch breaking open the Kickoff Classic and leading No. 12 Miami to a 23-12 win over No. 9 Ohio State.

Taking over at their own 22-yard line, up 16-9 and 1:56 short of halftime, the Hurricanes could have just run out the clock. After two passes and a run moved the 'Canes out to the 33 with less than 30 seconds left, Miami decided to take one shot at the end zone. Kelly froze Ohio State's safeties with a play-action fake (allowing Moss to get Nate Clements in single coverage) and then let fly with a bomb down the right side of the field.

"I knew Santana had a lot of speed, so I was counting on him to run past his guy," Kelly said. "I just wanted to put it up where he could get his hands on it."

Kelly's pass traveled 42 yards to the Buckeye 25. The speedy Moss came back for the underthrown pass and outjumped Clements for the ball. A hop to his left separated Moss from Clements, and as defensive backs Gary Berry and Ahmed Plummer bore down on Moss, he cut against the grain to his left. A burst of speed got him around the corner, opening a path into the end zone for a 67-yard touchdown with eight seconds left in the half.

Score, 23-9. Momentum, Miami. Credit? Moss' psychic connection with his quarterback turned a ball that is normally picked off into a thing of beauty and an early contender for play of the year.

"Santana's so fast, you have to get your body around fast and heave it," Kelly said. "As soon as I threw it, I knew I underthrew him. He just made a great play coming back to it."

Earlier in the half, Kelly and Moss connected on a 50-yard pass that looked nearly identical to their 67-yard bomb. That time Moss outjumped Plummer after beating one of the nation's top cornerbacks down the field. But that advantage hardly came as a surprise to Moss.

"On the very first play of the game, Plummer moved back 10 yards at the snap," said Moss, who finished with three catches for 115 yards. "Right then, I knew they were scared of our speed."

Just imagine if Kelly actually hit Moss on the dead run -- if that's possible. You might have better luck flagging down Hermes.

Kelly's day -- 17-for-25, 245 yards -- earned him game MVP honors. He showed signs of being a complete quarterback, something Miami hasn't had for some time. He used play-action fakes on all three of his big passes -- the two to Moss and a 42-yarder to fullback Mondriel Fulcher -- and froze the Ohio State defense on a 7-yard bootleg for the Hurricanes' second touchdown.

But his performance was anything but perfect. He threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles on sacks created by Ohio State blitzes. But those two picks bookended a string of 10 straight completions over a stretch which spanned the second and third quarters. During that time, Miami went from trailing 9-7 to leading 23-9.

"Kenny learned more today than in his two previous years at the University of Miami," head coach Butch Davis said. "He saw things today that we can't replicate (in practice)."