College football today - Week 14 notes
ASSOCIATED PRESS
STARS
-Colt Brennan, Hawaii, completed 42-of-50 passes for 442 yards and five TDs as Warriors defeated Washington 35-28.
-Kevin Smith, Central Florida, ran for 284 yards and four touchdowns, and the Knights beat Tulsa 44-25.
-Sean Glennon, Virginia Tech, threw three touchdown passes, and the sixth-ranked Hokies beat No. 12 Boston College 30-16.
-Ryan Perrilloux, LSU, completed 20 of 30 passes for 243 yards and a touchdown to lead the fifth-ranked Tigers to a 21-14 victory over No. 14 Tennessee.
-LeSean McCoy, Pittsburgh, ran for 148 yards to lead the Panthers to a 13-9 win over No. 2 West Virginia.
-Sam Bradford, Oklahoma, was 18 of 26 for 209 yards and two touchdowns in the Sooners' 38-17 victory over No. 1 Missouri.
STAYING PERFECT
Hawaii remained the nation's only undefeated major college team with a 35-28 come-from-behind victory over Washington Saturday night. The No. 11 Warriors, who have won a national-best 13 straight games, dating to their victory over Arizona State in the Hawaii Bowl, and 22 of their last 23 games, finished the regular season 12-0. Hawaii overcame a 21-point deficit behind quarterback Colt Brennan, who threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, the last with just 44 seconds left. For the game, Brennan completed 42-of-50 passes for 442 yards and five TDs.
ON THE PROWL
Jonathan Zenon scored on an 18-yard interception return with 9:54 left and LSU beat No. 14 Tennessee 21-14 to win the Southeastern Conference championship and a spot in a BCS bowl, most likely the Sugar.
RUNNING TO THE ROSES
John David Booty passed for 206 yards and one touchdown, USC rushed for another 231 yards and the Trojans beat UCLA 24-7 to assure themselves a spot in the Rose Bowl. The Trojans won their final four regular-season games to earn an unprecedented sixth consecutive conference championship. It also gives them their third consecutive Rose Bowl berth and a sixth appearance in a BCS bowl.
NUMBER ONE BITES THE DUST
The No. 9 Sooners rushed for three touchdowns, quarterback Sam Bradford threw for two more and Oklahoma coolly captured its fifth Big 12 title since 2000 by upending upstart Missouri 38-17 in the conference championship game in the Alamodome. The Sooners contained the Tigers' Heisman Trophy hopeful quarterback Chase Daniel and forced one of the nation's best offenses to settle for short field goals instead of touchdowns. It was the first time this season Missouri was held under 30 points.
BACKYARD BAWL
Pittsburgh beat No. 2 West Virginia 13-9, knocking the Mountaineers out of the national title race. No. 2 had already lost six times this season, five times to unranked teams. The Mountaineers squandered two scoring opportunities in the first quarter, missing short field goals and finished with only 183 yards. West Virginia, a four-touchdown favorite, came in averaging 310 yards rushing and 42 points.
HOKIE HERO
Sean Glennon threw three touchdown passes, outshining Boston College star Matt Ryan and leading No. 6 Virginia Tech to a 30-16 victory over the 12th-ranked Eagles in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game. Glennon was picked as the game's MVP after finishing 18-of-27 for 174 yards with the three touchdowns and an interception. Oranges flew on the field as the Hokies (11-2) celebrated their fifth consecutive victory and their first win in two trips to the ACC championship game - one which puts them in a BCS bowl, most likely the Orange.
SMOOTH SAILING
Reggie Campbell had a school-record 98-yard kickoff return, and Navy defeated mistake-prone Army 38-3, putting a lopsided slant on college football's biggest rivalry by becoming the first team to win six straight. The Midshipmen improved to 52-49-7 against Army, their biggest lead in a series that began in 1890. No team had ever won six in a row, though the Black Knights once registered eight successive wins around a pair of ties.
WHAT A RUSHER
Kevin Smith ran for 284 yards and four touchdowns, moving into second place behind Barry Sanders on the NCAA's single-season rushing list, and Central Florida beat Tulsa 44-25 for the Conference USA championship. Smith, the nation's leading rusher, entered the game fourth all-time with 2,164 yards - 464 behind Sanders' 1989 total. Smith has 1,000 yards and 11 TDs in his last four games. Smith now has 2,448 yards this season, 180 yards behind Sanders.
SUPER SOPH
Dan LeFevour ran for 170 yards and threw for 185, helping Central Michigan win their second straight Mid-American Conference championship game 35-10 over Miami. LeFevour ran for two scores and threw for another, giving him 41 touchdowns - 17 rushing, 23 passing and one receiving - this season. LeFevour has 1,008 yards rushing and 3,360 yards passing this season, joining Vince Young (Texas, 2005) as the only members of the 1,000-3,000 club in Football Bowl Subdivision history.
LONG TIME COMING
Paul McCall threw for 228 yards and three touchdowns in his first start, and Florida International beat North Texas 38-19 to end major college football's longest current losing streak at 23 games. FIU won its first game since Dec. 3, 2005, against Middle Tennessee State. FIU's losing streak tied Duke (1999-2002) and Northern Illinois (1996-98) for the seventh-longest in Bowl Subdivision - formerly known as Division I-A - history.
HAPPY BEAVERS
Freshman wide receiver James Rodgers ran 25 yards around end for the go-ahead touchdown, and the Oregon State defense stuffed No. 18 Oregon on fourth down to preserve a 38-31 victory in double overtime. It was the first time a road team had won the rivalry game since 1996. Oregon State has won six of its last seven - the only loss coming at Southern California.
BAD NEWS BEARS
T.C. Ostrander passed for 151 yards and an early touchdown to Mark Bradford, and Stanford snapped its five-game losing streak against Cal with a 20-13 victory, the Golden Bears' sixth loss in seven games during an incredible collapse by the former No. 2 team. Stanford won for just the sixth time in 29 games, but beat Cal coach Jeff Tedford for the first time in six tries. Cal, which hadn't even trailed against Stanford since 2003, finished in a tie for seventh place in the Pac-10 standings.
STRONG IN DEFEAT
Paul Smith passed for 426 yards, his third 400-yard game this season, in Tulsa's 44-25 loss to Central Florida. ... Matt Ryan was 33-of-52 for 305 yards in Boston College's 30-16 loss to Virginia Tech.
SPEAKING
''Coach gives me the ball a lot.'' - Central Florida's Kevin Smith after the Knights 44-25 victory over Tulsa. Smith ran for 284 yards and four touchdowns, and moved into second place behind Barry Sanders on the NCAA's single-season rushing list. Smith has 2,448 yards this season, 180 yards behind Sanders, and averages 188 a game.
''Thirty-eight to three is not much of a rivalry.'' - Army coach Stan Brock after the Black Knights' 35-point loss to Navy. The Midshipmen have won six straight over Army and have outscored the Black Knights by 169 points during their six-game streak.
Stubbs, Cassity gone as Cardinals begin offseason facelift
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe released defensive coordinator Mike Cassity, and offensive coordinator Charlie Stubbs resigned on Sunday just days after the Cardinals stumbled to a 6-6 season.
Jeff Brohm, a former Louisville star whose brother Brian just finished his career with the Cardinals, was promoted to offensive coordinator. Jeff Brohm served as assistant head coach, quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator this season.
Cassity was released after spending four seasons with the Cardinals, three of them as defensive coordinator. Louisville struggled stopping opponents all year, finishing 84th nationally in total defense and 93rd in scoring defense, allowing 416.5 yards and 31.4 points per game.
Though Louisville finished eighth in the country in total offense, averaging 488 yards per game, the Cardinals couldn't seem to generate a consistent running game and had trouble protecting Brian Brohm.
Louisville began the season ranked in the top 10 after winning the Big East and the Orange Bowl last year under former coach Bobby Petrino, but plummeted after consecutive losses to Kentucky and Syracuse.
Louisville's problems weren't limited to the field. Willie Williams was kicked off the team in September after being arrested on drug charges and ended up pleading guilty to possession of marijuana, one of several players to run into trouble.
The Cardinals never factored in the Big East race, and needed an 18-point rally in the season finale against Rutgers on Thursday to avoid their first losing season since 1997.
After meeting with Georgia Tech, Edsall stays at UConn
Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Connecticut coach Randy Edsall is staying with the Huskies.
Edsall traveled to Atlanta earlier this week to talk to Georgia Tech officials about their coaching vacancy. But the coach informed his team at its annual banquet Sunday that he had withdrawn his name from consideration for that job.
Edsall told reporters Sunday that his decision was based on consideration for the "Husky Family" and his own family. He has a daughter and a son who are both in high school.
"I'll stay here as long as they would like me to stay," Edsall said. "There is still quite a bit of work to be done and I want to continue to do that."
Edsall said his agent is talking to UConn athletic director Jeff Hathaway about a new contract. Edsall is in the third year of a six-year deal that calls for him to make $920,000 this academic year, with a $23,000 bonus for making a bowl game.
Edsall's announcement came hours after the Huskies earned a share of the Big East championship in just their sixth season in college football's top division.
When Pittsburgh stunned West Virginia on Saturday, that knocked the Mountaineers (10-2, 5-2 Big East) into a tie with UConn (9-3, 5-2) atop the conference standings.
Edsall said his players were calling him right after the game asking if the upset meant the team would be getting a trophy and championship rings. It does.
West Virginia had already secured the Big East's automatic Bowl Championship Series berth because of its 66-21 win over the Huskies on Nov. 24.
The co-championship comes in UConn's fourth year in the conference and its sixth season since moving up from what was then called Division I-AA.
The title is the latest in a series of milestones reached by the Huskies this season. UConn earned its first national ranking in October, won its first game over a ranked opponent that month, and went undefeated at home (7-0) for the first time in school history.
"When you take a look back at what this team has accomplished this year, I don't think it's anything short of amazing," Edsall said.
The Huskies are heading to the Meineke Car Care Bowl on Dec. 29 in Charlotte, N.C, where they will play Wake Forest.
"We know that we've got to go down and play them kind of in their backyard," Edsall said. "It's going to be a tough environment and a tough game, but we're looking forward to playing a class outfit and a very good football team."
It will be UConn's second trip to a bowl. The 2004 team won the Motor City Bowl.