MIAMI (AP) -- The Miami Hurricanes finally met one of their goals.

	Santana Moss hauled in seven passes for 96 yards.

Ken Dorsey threw four touchdown passes and Jarrett Payton, James Jackson and Clinton Portis combined for 216 yards rushing Saturday as Miami (No. 24 ESPN/USA Today, No. 23 AP) beat Temple 55-0, sending the Hurricanes to a New Year's Day bowl for the first time since 1995.

Miami (8-4, 6-1 Big East) accepted a bid to the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, where they will play Georgia Tech (No. 16 ESPN/USA Today, No. 17 AP) on Jan. 1.

"Finally," Miami center Ty Wise said. "People respect Jan. 1 ball games and for us it's a great honor to finally play in one."

The Hurricanes started the season with hopes of a national title, but they had to turn their sights toward a Big East championship after three early-season losses. And following a conference loss to No. 2 Virginia Tech last month, Miami was left with one goal: get to a New Year's Day bowl.

The Hurricanes had gone to a Jan. 1 or later bowl 12 years in a row beginning with the Orange Bowl in 1984, the site of their first national championship. That streak ended with coach Butch Davis' arrival in 1995, when the Hurricanes missed out on a bowl game because of NCAA probation.

"This was a great way to end the regular season," Davis said. "This was a football team that was able to continue to redefine its goals, and certainly one of those goals was accomplished today by giving the University of Miami an opportunity for the first time in five years to go back and play on Jan. 1."

Miami rotated Payton, Jackson and Portis on each possession against the Owls (2-9, 2-5). It resulted in the Hurricanes' best rushing performance of the season with 239 yards.

Portis rushed for 61 yards. Jackson ran for 74 and Payton had 81 before leaving with a sprained right ankle early in the fourth quarter. Jackson and Portis combined to score Miami's first four touchdowns, three running and one receiving.

"It was a performance where the playmakers on offense made plays and defensively, like we've done for about the last month, we were stingy," Davis said. "It was a complete ball game."

Dorsey broke the school record for touchdown passes by a freshman with four. He tied the record last week against Syracuse with three TD passes.

Making his third consecutive start for an injured Kenny Kelly, Dorsey completed 23 of 34 passes for 288 yards.

In Dorsey's three starts -- against Rutgers, Syracuse and Temple -- Miami scored its most points (155) in a three-game span in school history. The previous high was 152 against Piedmont, Bowden and Louisville in 1933.

"This has been such a frustrating year that we took out our frustration on these last three games," Wise said.

Added receiver Santana Moss, who caught seven passes for 96 yards: "It just shows how dangerous we can be. I know the teams that we played these last three games are not as strong, but we still have to play them."

Temple's offense was as inept as its defense, which allowed Miami 540 total yards.

The Owls crossed midfield just once in the first half and did not have a legitimate chance to score until there was less than a minute to play in the game. Mac DeVito threw an interception in the end zone with four seconds to play.

DeVito went 5-of-14 for 14 yards off the bench for starter Devin Scott, who finished 15-of-25 for 83 yards.

"It was an embarrassing day for us," Temple coach Bobby Wallace said.