Florida ruins Georgia's hopes of perfect season
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Chris Leak threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score, and No. 16 Florida used an impressive defensive performance to beat the previously unbeaten Georgia Bulldogs 14-10 Saturday at the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.
The Gators (6-2, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) defeated their rivals to the north for the 14th time in the last 16 meetings, and kept alive their hopes of winning the SEC East and returning to the league title game for the first time since 2000.
But No. 4 Georgia still controls its fate in the division. The Bulldogs (7-1, 5-1) need to beat Auburn in two weeks or have Florida lose to Vanderbilt or South Carolina to advance to the conference championship game for the third time in four years.
Playing without injured quarterback D.J. Shockley, the Bulldogs probably lost their shot at the national title.
Brandon Breazell caught a 23-yard TD pass from Drew Olson in overtime after No. 8 UCLA scored 21 points in the final 7:04 of regulation to beat stunned Stanford.Maurice Drew ran for two late scores, including a 1-yard tumble across the goal line with 46 seconds left to force OT. Olson went 24-of-35 for 293 yards and two TDs while leading his latest jaw-dropping comeback.UCLA (8-0, 4-0 Pac-10) has specialized in fantastic finishes during conference play, rallying from consecutive deficits against Washington, California and Washington State earlier in October.Trent Edwards passed for 169 yards and two scores for the Cardinal (4-3, 3-2), who blew a golden opportunity to make a national mark in their first season under new coach Walt Harris. J.R. Lemon had two TD catches.Olson led fourth-quarter scoring drives of 65, 72 and 66 yards — and all three took a combined 3:40.
Matt Leinart passed for 364 yards and three touchdowns before coming out late in the third quarter, LenDale White rushed for 155 yards and two scores, and top-ranked USC won its 30th straight game.The Trojans, No. 1 in the AP, coaches' and Harris polls, fell .0007 behind first-place Texas in the latest BCS standings because the computers favored the Longhorns. It might be a different story when the next set of standings are released.Playing before a homecoming crowd of 92,021 at the Los Angeles Coliseum, the Trojans (8-0, 5-0 Pac-10) tied Texas for the 11th longest winning streak in major college football history. Only three teams have won as many as 30 in a row in the past 35 years.USC also has a 24-game winning streak at home and a 20-game streak against Pac-10 opponents. Both are school records.The loss was the fifth straight for the Cougars (3-5, 0-5), but was far more decisive than the other four, which came by a total of 21 points.
Vince Young rushed for a career-high 267 yards and two scores and threw two touchdown passes as Texas scorched Oklahoma State in the second half for a third straight season.In the past three meetings, the Longhorns have outscored Oklahoma State 118-0 in the second half after trailing at halftime in each game.This time, the Longhorns (8-0, 5-0) trailed by as many as 19 points before rallying to stay on track to earn a spot in the Rose Bowl and play for a national title.After struggling against the last-place Cowboys (3-5, 0-5) — the only Big 12 team without a conference win — the Longhorns might have opened the door for third-place Virginia Tech to close the gap on Texas in the Bowl Championship Series standings, but the late rally could limit the damage.
Brodie Croyle threw three touchdown passes and DJ Hall set an Alabama receiving record. Hall finished with 11 catches for 157 yards, becoming the first Alabama receiver to have back-to-back games with at least 10 receptions. Hall caught 10 balls for 139 yards last week.The Crimson Tide improved to 8-0 for the first time since 1994 and finished its nonconference season with an easy win that allowed the starters to rest in the fourth quarter after two straight dramatic, last-minute league wins.On the bench after three quarters, Croyle completed 22 of 31 passes for 279 yards against Utah State (2-5).
Shyrone Carey ran for two scores and fellow backup tailback Justin Vincent added a TD run as LSU rolled past North Texas in a game that had been postponed by Hurricane Katrina.The Tigers (6-1) won their fifth straight and their 13th consecutive nonconference game.The Mean Green (2-5) lost for the fifth time in six games. North Texas, which has won the Sun Belt Conference each of the last four seasons, dropped to 3-29 all-time against SEC teams.Vincent rushed for 70 yards on 12 carries and Carey finished with 44 yards on eight carries. Both received extended playing time as Joseph Addai, the leading rusher in the Southeastern Conference, left the game after two series in the first quarter. He had three carries for 7 yards and a touchdown.
Drew Weatherford and James Coleman scored fourth-quarter touchdowns to lift Florida State (7-1, 5-1 ACC). Weatherford's 15-yard run with 8:52 left gave the Seminoles a 28-27 lead and they scored three minutes later on Coleman's 1-yard run. Coleman's score was set up by Ernie Sims' interception.Maryland's final bid for a tie ended with 52 seconds left when Joel Statham was sacked by A.J. Nicholson at the Florida State 40. Florida State can lock up a spot in the first league title game with a victory over North Carolina State next Saturday.Maryland (4-4, 2-3) scored 24 straight points midway through the game, building a 24-14 lead.
Antonio Pittman rushed for two second-half touchdowns and a career-high 186 yards, springing No. 12 Ohio State to a 45-31 victory over Minnesota on Saturday in a game featuring more than 1,000 yards of offense.Troy Smith passed for 233 yards and three scores, two to Santonio Holmes, and Ted Ginn Jr.'s 100-yard touchdown on a kickoff return highlighted a wild first quarter for the Buckeyes (6-2, 4-1 Big Ten).Ohio State's speed was just too much, evidenced by Ginn's breath-stopping, untouched return for a 17-7 lead. Minnesota (5-3, 2-3) surged back to tie it at 17 before the half on Jared Ellerson's 5-yard touchdown catch from Bryan Cupito.Laurence Maroney, the Big Ten's leading rusher for a Gophers team that led the nation in yards rushing coming into the game, ran for 114 yards and a score on 16 first-half carries against the stingiest rushing defense in the country. But he had only 13 yards rushing in the second half and also fumbled.
Tyrone Moss rushed for career-highs of 195 yards and four touchdowns, three scores after halftime. The Hurricanes trailed 16-7 at intermission, then scored three touchdowns in an eight-minute span of the third quarter to take control.Moss scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter, then added second-half scoring runs of 1, 4 and 15 yards to ensure Miami (6-1, 3-1) wouldn't be upset by North Carolina for the second straight year. Quadtrine Hill recovered a punt he blocked in the end zone for the go-ahead score for Miami, which won its sixth straight.The Hurricanes' defense, which entered ranked No. 1 nationally but yielded 170 first-half yards, kept the Tar Heels (3-4, 2-2) to 18 total yards on 30 plays after halftime — 14 of those yards coming in the final minute.
Brian Calhoun ran for 197 yards and five touchdowns. The workhorse running back carried the ball 35 times, his fourth game this season with more than 30 carries. He also caught two passes for 37 yards. The Badgers finished with 464 yards total offense.Wisconsin (8-1, 5-1) still is in the mix for the Big Ten title. Illinois (2-6, 0-5) lost its sixth straight game despite gaining a season-high 538 yards.Illini quarterback Tim Brasic was 20-of-39 for 277 yards and two touchdowns and carried the ball 16 times for 116 yards. Freshman Kyle Hudson caught 10 passes for 114 yards, including a 32-yard touchdown.
Taurean Henderson ran for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and Cody Hodges threw for another as Texas Tech overcame three terrible quarters to beat Baylor.Texas Tech (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) is off to its best start since 1976 when the team went 8-1, and the Red Raiders have won 10 straight over Baylor (4-4, 1-4).The shutout was Tech's first since 2002 and its first ever in a Big 12 road game.Henderson ran for 136 yards, and Hodges threw for 266 yards, more than 130 below his average, with two interceptions.
Brandon Cox passed for 205 yards and a touchdown, and Kenny Irons ran for 101 yards and another TD.Placekicker John Vaughn also hit a pair of field goals for the Tigers (6-2, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) after a nightmarish 1-for-6 performance in an overtime loss at LSU.
Cory Rodgers ran 6 yards for the go-ahead score early in the fourth quarter and David Roach had an interception in the end zone as TCU won its seventh straight game.Robert Merrill carried 29 times for a season-high 170 yards and two touchdowns for TCU (8-1, 6-0), which is closing in on winning the Mountain West Conference title in its first year in the far-flung league.San Diego State (3-6, 2-4), knocked out of bowl eligibility, lost for the 19th straight time to a ranked team.
Leon Hall returned a fumble recovery 83 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, and Michigan won its third straight, shutting out Northwestern in the second half.The 17 points were a season-low for the Wildcats (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten), whose three-game win streak ended. Michigan (6-3, 4-2) held an offense that was fourth in the nation, averaging 529.3 yards, to 415 yards and intercepted Brett Basanez twice.Michigan's Jerome Jackson ran for 105 yards on 24 attempts. And Kevin Grady, starting for the injured Mike Hart, carried 20 times for 64 yards and a touchdown. Chad Henne completed 17-of-30 passes for 174 yards and a touchdown, but threw three interceptions for the Wolverines.
Wendell Mathis ran for 229 and three touchdowns, including a 78-yarder late in the fourth quarter, to lead Fresno State to a victory over Hawaii.The victory was the first at Aloha Stadium for Fresno State since 1994 and kept the Bulldogs (6-1, 4-0 Western Athletic Conference) atop the WAC standings with Boise State, which defeated Nevada earlier in the day.Paul Pinegar completed 15-of-25 passes for 213 yards and a touchdown for Fresno State.
Josh Brown kicked a 49-yard field goal with 2:45 left and South Carolina held on to beat Tennessee and snap a 12-game losing streak to the Vols.Steve Spurrier coached South Carolina (5-3, 3-3 Southeastern Conference) to its first win in Knoxville and improved to 10-5 against Tennessee.On a night when Tennessee great Peyton Manning was in attendance to have his No. 16 retired, the Vols (3-4, 2-4) continued their offensive struggles even against one of the worst defenses in the SEC.Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer had never lost to South Carolina.Blake Mitchell finished 22-of-36 for 242 yards, and Sidney Rice had eight catches for 112 yards for South Carolina.
