College football roundup
Top-ranked Hurricanes roll past Orangemen SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) – Willis McGahee ran for 134 yards and Ken Dorsey threw for 345 yards as No. 1 Miami defeated Syracuse 49-7 Saturday, leaving one obstacle left in the Hurricanes’ path to the national title game.
Miami (11-0, 6-0 Big East) won its 33rd straight game, extending the longest current streak in Division I-A.
Barring an upset by Virginia Tech in Miami next week, the ‘Canes will finish No. 1 in the Bowl Championship Series standings, setting up a showdown against No. 2 Ohio State (13-0) for the national title in Tempe, Ariz., on Jan. 3.
With No. 3 Oklahoma losing to Oklahoma State, No. 5 Georgia put itself in position to climb into the picture if Miami loses. No. 4 Iowa’s season is finished, while Georgia has one more game – the SEC title game next weekend.
Miami’s quick-strike offense gave the Hurricanes a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter. On the second play from scrimmage, McGahee ran 61 yards down the right side for the touchdown. That gave him 20 rushing touchdowns, 1,737 all-purpose yards and 120 points this season, all school records.
His 5-yard run late in the first quarter also gave him a team-record 1,419 yards rushing, eclipsing the season mark of 1,416 set by Edgerrin James in 1998. McGahee, who did not play in the fourth quarter, finished with 134 yards on 14 carries to move his season total to 1,481.
Walter Reyes ran for 110 yards and gave the Orangemen (4-8, 2-5) their only score on a 1-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
Dorsey completed his first 10 passes and was 12-of-15 for 229 yards in the first half.
Oklahoma St. 38, No. 3 Oklahoma 28: STILLWATER, Okla. – Rashaun Woods had 12 catches for a school-record 226 yards, including three first-half touchdowns to lead the Cowboys to the upset.
A year ago, Woods caught a touchdown pass in the final two minutes to give the Cowboys a 16-13 victory that cost Oklahoma the Big 12 South title.
The Sooners (10-2, 6-2) already had the South Division wrapped up this year, but with two losses, they’re out of the race for the national championship.
In beating the Sooners for the fifth time in eight years, Oklahoma State (7-5, 5-3) enhanced its chances of going to a bowl for the first time since 1997. The Cowboys kept Oklahoma from ever holding the lead, something no team had done against Bob Stoops in his first 49 games as Oklahoma’s coach.
No. 5 Georgia 51, Georgia Tech 7: ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia built a 34-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 51-7 rout of Georgia Tech – the most points the Bulldogs have ever scored against their state rival.
Georgia (11-1) ensured its first 11-win season since 1982, which also was the last time the school won a SEC title. The Bulldogs will get a chance to end that drought next Saturday in the conference championship game against Arkansas in Atlanta.
UNLV 36, No. 16 Colorado St. 33 FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Larry Croom ran for 222 yards and a touchdown, and DeJhown Mandley caught a 29-yard touchdown pass with 46 seconds left for Nevada-Las Vegas.
The Rebels (5-7, 3-4 Mountain West) had 390 yards rushing to beat Colorado State for the first time since 1982.
Colorado State (10-3, 6-1), which wrapped up the conference title last week, had won six straight. The Rams can still tie the school record for victories in a season at the Liberty Bowl on Dec. 31.
Colorado State’s Cecil Sapp had 157 yards on 31 carries. He has 1,495 yards this season, 76 more than Steve Bartalo’s 1986 team record.
No. 22 Virginia Tech 21, Virginia 9: BLACKSBURG, Va. – Lee Suggs ran for two touchdowns, and Virginia Tech found its defense, shutting down Matt Schaub and beating rival Virginia for the fourth consecutive year.
The Hokies (9-3) ended a three-game losing streak – their longest in a decade – by holding the Cavaliers to 203 yards and getting a touchdown from their special teams to go with Suggs’ 51st and 52nd career TDs.
The Cavaliers (8-5), seeking their third consecutive victory against a Top 25 team, led 3-0 in the first quarter and struggled after that. Schaub, the ACC player of the year, went 12-of-23 for just 43 yards.
No. 25 Maryland 32, Wake Forest 14: COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Scott McBrien threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone, helping the Terrapins take a 27-point lead and earn a Peach Bowl berth.
The victory gave Maryland a second straight 10-win season for the first time in school history and earned the Terrapins (10-3, 6-2 ACC) a trip to Atlanta for the Dec. 31 postseason game.
Wake Forest (6-6, 3-5), which probably needed a victory to earn a bowl berth, instead endured its fourth consecutive loss to the Terrapins.
No. 6 Southern Cal 44, No. 7 Notre Dame 1: LOS ANGELES – Carson Palmer threw for 425 yards and four touchdowns, and Southern California’s defense held Notre Dame to 109 yards as the sixth-ranked Trojans defeated the No. 7 Fighting Irish.
With Palmer passing for the most yards ever given up by Notre Dame, Southern California rolled up 610 total yards – most ever by any team against the Irish.
Early in the fourth quarter, Trojans fans chanted the inevitable “Overrated! Overrated!” at the Notre Dame players.
No. 14 Alabama 21, Hawaii 16: HONOLULU – Shaud Williams ran for 160 and a touchdown as No. 14 Alabama beat Hawaii, extending the Crimson Tide’s NCAA record of 10-win seasons to 27.
Alabama (10-3) grounded the nation’s top passing team in Hawaii (9-3), forcing quarterback Timmy Chang into four interceptions.
No. 23 Florida St 31, No. 15 Florida 14: TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Chris Rix used his second chance to make a bad week much better for Florida State.
Rix threw two touchdown passes to Anquan Boldin and ran for 83 yards to help No. 23 Florida State defeat No. 15 Florida.
Freshman tailback Leon Washington ran for 134 yards, and all of the sudden, a week of turmoil and a season of disappointments didn’t seem so bad for the Seminoles (9-4).
They did, after all, win the Atlantic Coast Conference. They will, after all, play in a major bowl game – probably the Sugar. And they punctuated the regular season by beating their biggest rival for the fourth time in five years.
Ron Zook had no more luck in his first year than Steve Spurrier did in 12 seasons when it comes to winning at Doak Campbell Stadium. The Gators (8-4) still haven’t won in Tallahassee since 1986.
Rix won the starting job by default when Adrian McPherson was kicked off the team last week after a police investigation led to his arrest on a charge of felony grand theft. McPherson’s final game was a dreadful 17-7 loss to North Carolina State last Saturday that had Seminoles fans howling.