Nov 27, 2005 10 min read

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – The 14 Louisville seniors hadn’t lost a home game in two years. They weren’t about to let Syracuse ruin their final bow at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. Montrell Jones caught six passes for a career-high 118 yards and two touchdowns, fellow senior Brandon Johnson made a key third-quarter interception and the Cardinals overcame the loss of quarterback Brian Brohm to win a school-record 12th straight home game, 41-17 on Saturday night.

The Cardinals (8-2, 4-2 Big East) held off a late rally by the Orange (1-10, 0-7), who finished with the first 10-loss season in the program’s 110-year history.

“The seniors made sure we were going to finish that game with a win,” Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino said.

Even if Petrino was just trying to finish the game as quickly as possible after Brohm suffered a right knee injury on a third-quarter scramble. On third-and-8 from the Louisville 21, Brohm dropped back to pass and ran to his right after the protection broke down before being tackled by Syracuse’s Kellen Pruitt.

Brohm awkwardly rolled over his right knee as he fell and lay on the turf for several minutes before being helped to the sideline. He will have an MRI exam on Monday and his status for next Saturday’s game at Connecticut is uncertain.

Brohm finished with 219 yards and two touchdowns but also threw two interceptions, twice as many as he’d thrown in Louisville’s first five home games this season. The Cardinals turned the ball over a season-high four times.

None of those turnovers, however, came with Louisville nursing a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter. With the Big East’s leading passer sitting on a training table on the sidelines, his knee wrapped in ice, Petrino put the game in the hands of the Louisville defense and running backs Kolby Smith and George Stripling.

San Jose State 26, Idaho 18

SAN JOSE, Calif. – John Broussard caught two touchdown passes and Josh Powell had three interceptions to help San Jose State end coach Dick Tomey’s first season on a positive note with a victory over Idaho.

After breaking an eight-game losing streak last week against winless New Mexico State, the Spartans (3-8, 2-6 Western Athletic Conference) followed it up with another win, their first consecutive victories since 2002 and their first to end a season since 1997.

Houston 35, Rice 18

HOUSTON – Kevin Kolb became Houston’s all-time offensive leader as the Cougars beat cross-town rival Rice, earning bowl eligibility.

Kolb completed 16 of 25 passes for 222 yards and one score and rushed 11 times for 75 yards and a touchdown. Anthony Evans scored twice on short runs for the Cougars (6-5, 4-4 Conference USA), who claimed the Bayou Bucket with the win.

Utah St. 24, New Mexico St. 21

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Justin Hamblin kicked a 32-yard field goal with 1:16 remaining, lifting Utah State to a victory over winless New Mexico State in the season finale for both schools.

Utah State (3-8, 2-6 Western Athletic Conference) drove 51 yards in nine plays to secure the decisive points.

Oklahoma 42, Oklahoma St. 14

NORMAN, Okla. – Adrian Peterson ran for a season-high 237 yards, including two long touchdowns in the second half, and Rhett Bomar threw three touchdown passes to lead Oklahoma to a victory over Oklahoma State.

The Sooners’ third straight win in the Bedlam rivalry was lackluster until Peterson, the Heisman Trophy runner-up last season, livened things up with an 84-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Boise St. 30, La. Tech 13

RUSTON, La. – Ian Jackson ran for 103 yards and scored the team’s final touchdown as Boise State defeated Louisiana Tech.

Johnson bolted in from 18 yards after a fumbled kickoff to give the Broncos (9-3, 7-1 Western Athletic Conference) their fourth consecutive win against Tech (6-4, 5-2), whose hopes for a bowl appearance dissipated with the setback.

Grambling St. 50, Southern 35

HOUSTON – Bruce Eugene threw for 418 yards and six touchdowns and ran for another score to lead Grambling State to a victory over Southern.

Eugene, who hit 22-of-45 passes, threw for three touchdowns in the third quarter when the Tigers (9-1, 8-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference) opened up a 43-21 lead with 5:18 to play in the third. The six touchdowns were one short of his school record set two times previously.

Kansas 24, Iowa St. 21

LAWRENCE, Kan. – For the second straight year, Iowa State let a berth in the Big 12 title game slip away in overtime.

Scott Webb kicked a game-winning 34-yard field goal to give Kansas a victory and prevent the Cyclones from advancing to the conference championship for the first time.

Instead – just like last year – Colorado will represent the North Division. The Buffaloes (7-4, 5-3) were clobbered 30-3 by Nebraska on Friday, giving Iowa State (7-4, 4-4) a chance to win the division by beating Kansas.

Mississippi St. 35, Ole Miss 14

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Jerious Norwood scored four touchdowns in his final game at Mississippi State, leading the Bulldogs to a victory over rival Mississippi in the Egg Bowl.

Norwood rushed for 204 yards and three touchdowns on 34 carries, and caught a 5-yard scoring pass from Mike Henig in leading the worst offense in the Southeastern Conference to 409 total yards – 146 more than its average.

Memphis 26, Marshall 3

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – DeAngelo Williams closed out his Memphis career with 127 yards and two touchdowns as the Tigers became bowl-eligible for the third consecutive year with a victory over Marshall.

Williams’ rushing performance marked his 33rd game where he surpassed 100 yards, tying him with Tony Dorsett of Pitt and Ohio State’s Archie Griffin for the most career 100-yard games in NCAA history.

Stephen Gostkowski, another senior, booted four field goals for the Tigers (6-5, 5-3 Conference USA), including a school-record 53-yarder.

Marshall (4-7, 3-5) managed only 154 yards in the game as the Thundering Herd suffered its first losing season in 22 years. Three fumbles also contributed to a tough day for Marshall.

Memphis relied on its running game all day, leaning on Williams and quarterback Maurice Avery, who had 93 yards on 19 carries.

The Tigers had only one pass completion in eight attempts, that coming in the first half and resulted in a loss of three yards.

The Thundering Herd offense was led by running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who had 89 yards on 26 carries. Quarterback Jimmy Skinner was 11-of-19 for 97 yards on the day.

Memphis led 17-3 at the half despite its only completion of the game yards. On the ground, however, the Tigers had 169 yards, with Williams scoring on a pair of first quarter 1-yard runs.

The other Tiger score came on Gostkowski’s 49-yard field goal as time expired in the half.

Memphis threw only two passes, both incomplete, on its three scoring drives in the first half.

Marshall was held to 103 yards of offense in the first half, most of it coming on the Bradshaw totaling 59 yards. The Thundering Herd’s first-half score came on Ian O’Connor’s 37-yard field goal with 4:50 left in the half.

The drive, which reached the Memphis 20, was the deepest penetration by Marshall in the half.

Gostkowski would account for all of the second half scoring with 43 and 42 yard field goals after the school-record 53-yarder.

Rutgers 44, Cincinnati 9

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Brian Leonard and Ray Rice each ran for two touchdowns to lead Rutgers past Cincinnati and virtually ensure the program’s first bowl berth since 1978.

With representatives of the Insight Bowl looking on at Rutgers Stadium, the Scarlet Knights (7-4, 4-3 Big East) rushed for a season-high 337 yards and sacked Cincinnati quarterback Dustin Grutza nine times en route to winning their first seven-win season since 1992.

Rutgers has had only four winning seasons since 1984 and had a 25-game losing streak in the Big East from 1999-2003.

Which bowl will extend a bid to Rutgers could depend on whether Notre Dame defeats Stanford Saturday night. Under the terms of Notre Dame’s agreement with the Big East Conference, if the Fighting Irish lose and drop out of the BCS picture, they would take one of the Big East’s four non-BCS bowl slots.

At the beginning of the day Saturday, those four slots were occupied by West Virginia, South Florida, Louisville and Rutgers, with the fourth spot targeted for the Insight Bowl on Dec. 27 in Phoenix, Ariz.

N.C. State 20, Maryland 14

RALEIGH, N.C. – Toney Baker had the go-ahead touchdown on a 1-yard leap over the pile, Marcus Hudson returned one of his two interceptions 28 yards for a clinching score and North Carolina State beat Maryland to become bowl eligible.

Mario Williams tied his own school record with four sacks for the Wolfpack (6-5, 3-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), who allowed a total of minus-6 yards in the third quarter. They likely will return to the postseason for the fifth time in six seasons under coach Chuck Amato after missing out in 2004.

No such luck for the Terrapins (5-6, 3-5). They are staying home for the second year in a row, done in by repeated turnovers and other mistakes down the stretch. A week ago, quarterback Sam Hollenbach was responsible for three turnovers – two were turned into TDs by Boston College – and he continued to give away the ball against N.C. State.

With Maryland trailing 10-7 in the fourth quarter, Hollenbach tried to connect with Danny Melendez, but Williams forced him to throw early. Hudson stepped in front of Melendez and ripped the ball out of his hands, then sprinted up the sideline with his first interception of the season.

That made it 17-7, and on the next possession, Williams sacked Hollenbach and forced a fumble, with defensive tackle DeMario Pressley recovering for the Wolfpack. When the Terps held, John Deraney came on for a 29-yard field goal to increase the margin to 20-7.

Hollenbach briefly bounced back. He led Maryland on a 75-yard drive to pull within 20-14, finishing it off with a scoring toss to tight end Vernon Davis that covered 15 yards. But N.C. State held on for its fourth win in the final five games when Hudson intercepted another one of Hollenbach’s passes with 34 seconds left.

Now Hudson and his teammates can only hope for one more game.

The Terrapins completed their schedule losing four of the final five. They played this one without starting wide receiver Derrick Fenner, who didn’t make the trip for unspecified reasons. Yet even with him, they would have had a hard time solving the Wolfpack’s defense, which gave up 30 yards rushing and finished with seven sacks.

Hollenbach was 20-for-35 for 235 yards.

Maryland completely controlled the first half, yet led only 7-3 after Dan Ennis hooked two field goals wide left. And the only points for N.C. State – a 38-yard field goal by Deraney – came after Jo Jo Walker bobbled a punt into the hands of Hudson.

The Wolfpack needed to drive 13 yards to take a 3-0 lead, and it was a good thing, too. They struggled offensively in the opening half and finished with only 39 yards on 21 plays.