USC
Routs Irish; USF Upsets WVU
Oklahoma,
Wake, So. Miss Win Divisions
by Mike Mitchell
11/26/06
2:54 am est
USC romped
over Notre Dame 44-24 as the Trojans continue their quest for
a shot at the BCS title game opposite Ohio State. USC never trailed
in the contest and never led by fewer than 11 points after taking
a 14-0 lead on their first two possessions.
When Notre Dame cut the gap to 37-24 in the fourth quarter, USC
covered the ensuing onside kick and returned it 42 yards for
a touchdown with 3:31 to play for the final score of the game.
The Trojans go to Rose Bowl Stadium to play cross-city rival
UCLA in their season finale next week.
West Virginia's BCS bowl hopes may have vanished with a 24-19
upset loss at home to upstart USF on Saturday.
South Florida, which didn't field a football team at any level
until 1997, is going bowling for the second consecutive year.
The Bulls became a 1-A program in 2001, joined CUSA in 2003 and
switched to the Big East last year. Jim Leavitt has led the program
from the beginning and is now 65-35. As a 1-A team, the Bulls
are 42-25.
The Mountaineers, which had four turnovers in the contest, are
mostly dead in their hunt for the Big East title and resulting
automatic berth in a BCS bowl game. With a loss earlier to Louisville,
West Virginia is now just 4-2 in the conference and 9-2 over-all.
Rutgers and Louisville each won on Saturday and improved to 10-1
over-all, 5-1 in the Big East. The Scarlet Knights blasted Syracuse
38-7, and the Cardinals doubled-up Pitt 48-24.
West Virginia hosts Rutgers next Saturday while Louisville hosts
Connecticut. The Mountaineers can win the Big East only if they
beat the Scarlet Knights, the Cardinals lose to the Huskies,
and the results make West Virginia the highest-ranked team from
the conference. Louisville wins the conference if it beats UConn
and Rutgers loses to West Virginia. Rutgers is the only one of
the three that controls its own destiny.
Later on Saturday, Oklahoma claimed the Big 12 South Division
title with a 27-21 win over rival Oklahoma State in the Bedlam
rivalry. The Sooners almost blew a 27-14 lead as the Cowboys
cut the gap to six points with 6:21 left, and later marched to
the Oklahoma 25-yard line before a last-gasp pass fell incomplete
on the final play of the game.
The Sooners can thank Texas A&M for getting them into the
Big 12 championship game against Nebraska next Saturday in Kansas
City. The Aggies upset Texas 12-7 on Friday to open the door
for Oklahoma.
Wake Forest won the ACC Atlantic Division "playoff"
at Maryland 38-24 and will take on Georgia Tech in the conference
championship game in Jacksonville next Saturday. The Demon Deacons
went 6-0 on the road this season and finished the year with a
10-2 mark to tie Virginia Tech for the ACC's best over-all record.
Southern Miss won CUSA's East Division title with a 42-7 cakewalk
over Marshall. The Golden eagles, winners of four straight games
to end the regular season, will visit Houston for the CUSA championship
game next Friday night.
Boise State finished the regular season unbeaten with an impressive
38-7 win over a Nevada team that entered the contest on a five-game
winning streak and had allowed a total of 35 points in that span.
The Broncos had already assured themselves of at least a tie
for the WAC title, but the win at Nevada made them the outright
WAC champions.
Troy moved into position to claim the Sun Belt conference title
and a berth in the New Orleans Bowl with a 21-20 upset at Middle
Tennessee. A win next week at FIU would clinch the crown for
the Trojans, but a loss next week would hand the title to Middle
Tennessee.
----
A couple of upsets were avoided by Tennessee and Florida.
The Volunteers squeaked by Kentucky 17-12 on the strength of
a defensive stand late in the game. Kentucky marched to the Tennessee
3-yard line in the waning minutes, but turned the ball over on
downs and the Vols ran off the last 3:02 of the clock.
Florida squandered a 14-0 lead, then pulled out the win on a
TD pass early in the fourth quarter. The 21-14 victory was their
3rd straight over the Seminoles and 2nd straight win in Tallahassee
as Urban Meyer improved his coaching record to 2-0 against Bobby
Bowden. Florida State dropped to 6-6 while the Gators kept alive
their slim prospects of a shot at the BCS title game.
----
Virginia Tech blanked Virginia 17-0 to keep their rival from
becoming bowl eligible. The Cavaliers fell to 5-7 while the Hokies
finished the season at 10-2 on the strength of six straight victories.
During the streak, the Hokies have allowed just two touchdowns
and none in the last three games. UVa failed to get past the
Virginia Tech 48-yard line, ran just two plays inside Virginia
Tech territory, and was limited to just 5 first downs. The Hokies
have won six of the last seven meetings for the Commonwealth
Cup.
Georgia Tech lost to Georgia 15-12 as the Bulldogs improved to
8-4 and the Yellow Jackets dropped to 9-3. The Bulldogs will
now await news of their bowl destination as one of three teams
with 4-4 records in SEC East play.
Missouri ended a three-game losing streak and won for just the
second time in the last six games. The Tigers beat border rival
Kansas 42-17 to finish the regular season at 8-4. The Jayhawks
closed at 6-6.
----
Among the close finishes on Saturday:
Clemson's missed 39-yard field goal with 13 second left averted
overtime and preserved a 31-28 win for South Carolina. The Gamecocks
improved to 7-5 and snapped a four-game losing streak. The Tigers
slipped to 8-4 with their third loss in the last four games.
Cincinnati beat Connecticut 26-23 on a 29-yard field goal with
10 seconds left, giving the Bearcats their first road win of
the season and a 7-5 regular season record. The Huskies (4-7)
were eliminated from bowl consideration with the loss.
North Carolina blocked a Duke extra point attempt with 2:49 left
to play, then recovered the onside kick, for a 45-44 win. The
Tar Heels closed the season with consecutive wins over their
closest rivals, N. C. State and the Blue Devils. John Bunting
concluded his final season as the North Carolina head coach with
a 3-9 record and a 27-45 mark in six seasons. Butch Davis has
already been announced as the new head coach.
----
Elsewhere:
In a battle of surprisingly bad CUSA teams, Central Florida beat
UAB 31-22. The Golden Knights, expected by many to repeat as
East Division champs, finished the year at 4-8. The Blazers,
a projected. 500 club, dropped to 3-9.
Also in CUSA, Rice completed the regular season with its' sixth
straight win. The Owls beat SMU 31-27 to claim second place in
the West Division. Rice won seven-of-eight games down the stretch
after an 0-4 start.
UTEP (5-7) failed to become bowl eligible when the Miners lost
38-19 at home to Memphis. It was the first conference win of
the year for the Tigers who finished 2-10 over-all after being
projected as an 11-1 team in the preseason. Memphis lost five
games by six points or less. UTEP was forecasted to go 6-6.
Mississippi (4-8, 2-6) won the Egg Bowl rivalry, 20-17, over
Mississippi State (3-9, 1-7) and the Bulldogs finished with the
worst conference record in the SEC West for the sixth straight
year.
New Mexico State ended a 21-game losing streak to 1-A teams with
a 42-20 victory at Utah State. The Aggies beat the Aggies to
improve their record against WAC foes to 1-14 since entering
the league last season.
East Carolina handed state rival N.C. State a 21-16 loss for
the Wolfpack's seventh straight defeat.
TCU leaped over Colorado State 45-14 to improve to 9-2 and take
over second place in the Mountain West.
SHOOT-OUTS
Hawaii beat Purdue 42-35 in a shoot-out for its' ninth consecutive
win. The Warriors staked out a 17-0 halftime lead, only to watch
the Boilermakers go ahead 21-20 early in the fourth quarter.
But the fireworks were just beginning. After Hawaii recaptured
the lead at 27-21, Purdue scored 14 consecutive points to go
ahead 35-27 at the 6:50 mark. Then, the Warriors answered with
a touchdown and 2-point conversion to tie the game at 35-apiece
with 4:48 left. Purdue's next drive ended on an interception
and Hawaii went 54 yards in 5 plays to take the lead back at
42-35 with just over a minute remaining. The Boilermakers were
intercepted again on their next possession and the Warriors ran
out the clock. The teams scored combined to score 43 points in
the final period with Hawaii outscoring Purdue 22-21.
Brigham Young, already the champions of the Mountain West Conference,
scored on an 11-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the
game to win a wild see-saw battle with state rival Utah 33-31.
The Cougars scored the first 14 points of the game, the Utes
tallied the next 24. BYU then rang up 13 unanswered points to
take a 27-24 lead with just over four minutes left in the game,
only to relinquish it back to Utah three minutes later. The Cougars
began their game-winning 75-yard drive with 1:19 left on the
clock. BYU's first win over Utah since 2001 was their ninth consecutive
win of this season.
The BYU-Utah and Purdue-Hawaii games featured two of the NCAA's
most-prolific passers. Hawaii's Colt Brennan has 4,589 yards
passing with 51 TD's and just 9 INT's. BYU's John Beck has thrown
for 3,510 yards, 30 TD's and only 6 INT's.
WEEKEND
STARTERS
Texas
A&M's 12-7 win over Texas on Friday was their first in Austin
since 1994 and kept their hated rival from clinching a berth
in the Big 12 Championship game opposite Nebraska.
The loss was the second in-a-row for Texas which lost 45-42 at
Kansas State on November 11. Texas A&M won for the first
time since October 28th after suffering back-to-back one-point
losses to Oklahoma and Nebraska at home. Otherwise, the Aggies
could be playing for all of the conference marbles.
Texas A&M broke a six-year losing streak to Texas and improved
their record to 9-3 over-all, 5-3 in the conference. The Longhorns
are also 9-3 over-all, but 6-2 in Big 12 play.
Also on Friday:
LSU upended Arkansas 31-26 to greatly enhance the Tigers' stock
as a BCS bowl candidate with a 10-2 record. The Razorbacks are
also 10-2 after the loss, but will have to beat Florida in the
SEC Championship game to get into the BCS pool.
Nebraska tuned up for their Big 12 title game with a 37-14 win
over Colorado, but not until they spit and sputtered to a 14-14
tie in the 3rd quarter.
Oregon State kicked the go-ahead 40-yard field goal with about
a minute left, then blocked Oregon's 44-yard field goal on the
final play of the game, for a 30-28 win in the 110th Civil War
between the two rivals. The Ducks fell to 7-5 with their third
straight loss and may have fallen up to four spots in the bowl
pecking order. The Beavers improved to 8-4.
On Thursday night, Miami rescued bowl eligibility from a disastrous
season with a 17-14 win over Boston College at the Orange Bowl.
The loss knocked the Eagles out of the ACC Championship. The
winner of Saturday's game between Wake Forest and Maryland will
be the Atlantic Division champion and will face Georgia Tech
on December 1 in Jacksonville for the conference crown.
For Miami, it was their 15th consecutive win over Boston College.
The Eagles haven't beaten Miami since Doug Flutie's Hail Mary
miracle in 1984.
Regardless, Miami fired Larry Coker as head coach the next day.
SEEING
DOUBLE
On
Friday, the Bulldogs beat the Bulldogs. On Saturday, the Aggies
beat the Aggies. The Fresno State Bulldogs downed the Louisiana
Tech Bulldogs 34-27. The New Mexico State Aggies beat the Utah
State Aggies 42-20. All four teams are members of the WAC.
UNBEATEN
TEAMS
Ohio
State had already finished the regular season 12-0 with the win
over Michigan on November 18.
Boise State also finished the regular season 12-0 with a 38-7
win over Nevada.
WINLESS
TEAMS
Duke finished the year at 0-12, including a loss to 1-AA Richmond.
FIU (0-11), lost 31-0 to FAU in the Don Shula Bowl at Dolphins
Stadium in Miami. The Golden Panthers have scored a total of
10 points and been blanked three times in their last five games
- a stretch that began with loss in the "Brawl Game"
at Miami. FIU finishes the season next week at home against Troy.
1-A
vs. 1-AA
There
are no remaining games between 1-A and 1-AA schools.
1-AA teams finished 7-71
for the season against their higher-classified brethren. Since
the start of the 2003 campaign, 1-A teams hold the upper hand
by a huge margin, 235-25 (.904).
77 schools took the opportunity of a 12th game to schedule a
cupcake opponent and New Mexico State double-dipped.
STREAKS
Ohio State has won 19 straight games after a 42-39 win over Michigan.
Boise State has won 14 straight regular season games, 12 straight
over-all, and 38 consecutive regular season home games.
The Broncos have never lost a home game to a WAC opponent (24-0).
They clocked Nevada 38-7.
USC has won a nation's-best 33 consecutive home games. The Trojans
beat Notre Dame 44-24.
Duke has lost 20 games over-all, and 22 straight to 1-A teams
after a 45-44 season-ending loss to North Carolina.
UNLV ended a 10-game losing streak with a 42-39 win over Air
Force on Friday.
FIU has lost 11 straight games after a 31-0 setback to FAU. The
Panthers finish the season at home against Troy next week.
New Mexico State ended a 21-game losing streak to 1-A teams with
a 42-20 win over Utah State.
NEW
COACHES
The
2006 season introduces 11 coaching changes. We're tracking their
progress throughout the season.
Boise State, 12-0 under Chris Petersen, beat Nevada 38-7.
Wisconsin, 11-1 under Bret Bielema, is finished (Bowl Game).
Kansas State, 7-5 under Ron Prince, is finished (Bowl Game).
Middle Tennessee, 7-5 under Rick Stockstill, lost to Troy 21-20.
Rice, 7-5 under Todd Graham, beat SMU 31-27.
Idaho, 4-8 under Dennis Erickson, lost to San Jose State 28-13.
Northwestern, 4-8 under Pat Fitzgerald, is finished.
Buffalo, 2-10 under Turner Gill, lost to Central Michigan 55-28.
San Diego State, 2-9 under Chuck Long, lost to New Mexico 41-14.
Colorado, 2-10 under Dan Hawkins, lost to Nebraska 37-14.
Temple, 1-11 under Al Golden, is finished. |