MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -Pat White has No. 4 West Virginia on the brink of playing for a national championship.
White rushed for 186 yards and accounted for three touchdowns to lead the Mountaineers to a 66-21 win over No. 20 Connecticut on Saturday night, clinching the Big East championship and a spot in the Bowl Championship Series.
With one more win next week against Pittsburgh, the Mountaineers might be headed to the biggest BCS game of all – the championship game on Jan. 7 in New Orleans.
West Virginia (10-1, 5-1 Big East) will move up at least one spot to second in the BCS standings on Sunday following top-ranked LSU’s loss to Arkansas on Friday.
West Virginia has won six straight since losing to South Florida on Sept. 28 and has made a steady climb in the BCS standings after starting ninth in mid-October.
Connecticut’s dreams of a BCS berth in only its fourth season in the conference were dashed in a big way.
UConn (9-3, 5-2) was limited to one second-half touchdown and a defense that was ranked third in the nation in points allowed coming in at 14 per game, gave up the most points the Huskies have permitted in seven years.
The Mountaineers compiled a season-high 517 yards on the ground. Freshman Noel Devine rushed for 118 yards on 11 carries. Steve Slaton had a pair of TD runs, which were set up by long runs by White.
Tyler Lorenzen completed 14 of 28 passes for 151 yards and one score.
No. 19 Tennessee 52, Kentucky 50, 4OT
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) – Resilient Tennessee is back on top in the SEC East.
The Volunteers stuffed a scrambling Andre Woodson on a 2-point conversion attempt in the fourth overtime to secure their 23rd straight win over the Wildcats.
The Volunteers (9-3, 6-2) clinched the division title and a shot at LSU in next week’s SEC title game.
Tennessee and Georgia finished tied atop the East, but the Volunteers earned the title thanks to their 35-14 win over the Bulldogs on Oct. 6.
Erik Ainge threw for a career-high 397 yards and seven touchdowns and running back Arian Foster had 216 total yards for the Volunteers.
Woodson matched Ainge throw for throw, throwing for 430 yards and six touchdowns, but the Wildcats (7-5, 3-5) let a chance to beat the Vols for the first time since 1984 get away.
No. 6 Georgia 31, Georgia Tech 17
ATLANTA (AP) – Matthew Stafford ran for one touchdown and threw for another, Thomas Brown rushed for 130 yards, and Georgia won its seventh in a row over Georgia Tech.
Late in the third quarter, the Bulldogs (10-2) learned their hopes of winning the SEC East ended when Tennessee defeated Kentucky 52-50 in a four-overtime thriller.
Georgia closed the regular season winning six straight and could earn an at-large BCS bid.
Georgia Tech (7-5) hasn’t beaten Georgia since 2000, and there’s plenty of speculation that this latest loss could cost coach Chan Gailey his job. He dropped to 0-6 against the Yellow Jackets’ biggest rival.
Tashard Choice led the Yellow Jackets with 134 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown.
No. 8 Virginia Tech 33, Virginia 21
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP)- Sean Glennon threw for 260 yards and the other half of Virginia Tech’s quarterback rotation, Tyrod Taylor, ran for two touchdowns, as the Hokies earned a spot in the ACC championship game.
The Hokies (10-2, 7-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) also got a season-high 147 yards rushing from Branden Ore and six catches for 147 yards and a touchdown from Eddie Royal. They won their fourth straight in the series and earned a rematch with No. 15 Boston College in next Saturday’s conference title game in Jacksonville, Fla.
Jameel Sewell ran for two touchdowns for Virginia (9-3, 6-2), which would have gone to the conferenece title game with a victory.
No. 15 Boston College 28, Miami 14
BOSTON (AP) – Boston College ended a 15-game losing streak against Miami – and didn’t even need Doug Flutie to do it.
Matt Ryan threw for 369 yards and three touchdowns to send the Eagles into the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game with their first victory over Miami since the 1984 “Hail Flutie” pass.
BC (10-2, 6-2 ACC) will play in the conference title game Dec. 1 in Jacksonville, Fla., against Virginia Tech. The Eagles beat the Hokies 14-10 on Oct. 25 when Ryan threw a 24-yard touchdown pass across the field with 11 seconds left.
Ryan completed 26 of 43 passes Saturday, hitting Rich Gunnell nine times for 135 yards.
The Hurricanes (5-7, 2-6) failed to qualify for a bowl game for the first time in 10 years.
No. 10 Oklahoma 49, Oklahoma State 17
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) – Allen Patrick ran for a career-best 202 yards and two touchdowns as Oklahoma wrapped up a spot in the Big 12 championship game.
Patrick, who had four 100-yard rushing games after Adrian Peterson broke his collarbone last season, passed the century mark for the first time since September and also caught a touchdown pass.
The Sooners (10-2, 6-2 Big 12) had been all but assured of playing in their fifth Big 12 title game in the past six seasons even with a loss, but a Bedlam blowout left no doubt.
Sam Bradford returned after sustaining a concussion in Oklahoma’s 34-27 loss at Texas Tech last week to break the NCAA freshman record for touchdown passes in a season. He had four scoring passes to give him 32 this year.
Dantrell Savage scoredtwo touchdowns, catching a 16-yard pass from Robinson and rushing in from 6 yards out. He ran for 112 yards for his ninth straight 100-yard game.
No. 12 Florida 45, Florida Stat 12
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) – Tim Tebow threw three touchdown passes, ran for two scores and carried Florida to its foruth straight win over the Seminoles.
Tebow led the Gators (9-3) to touchdowns on four of their first five possessions.
Percy Harvin did his part, too. After missing the last two games because of migraine headaches, Harvin returned and ran 16 times for 157 yards. He scored on a 24-yard run with 3 minutes to play.
The Gators’ streak is their longest since winning six straight in the mid-1980s.
Tebow, who could become the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy, finished 19-of-28 for 262 yards. He also carried 13 times for 89 yards.
Drew Weatherford completed 20 of 37 passes for 188 yards for the Seminoles (7-5). Preston Parker ran 12 times for 48 yards and caught six passes for 55 yards.
UCLA 16, No. 9 Oregon 0
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) – Freshman Kai Forbath kicked three field goals, including a career-long 54-yarder, and the Bruins took advantage of No. 9 Oregon’s injuries to hand the Ducks their first shutout loss in more than 22 years.
Oregon (8-3, 5-3 Pac-10) had been bounced out of the national championship picture Nov. 15, when Heisman Trophy candidate Dennis Dixon injured his knee in the first quarter of a 34-24 loss at Arizona.
The Ducks lost backup quarterback Brady Leaf late in the first quarter of this game, and young signal-callers Cody Kempt and Justin Roper were unable to generate any offense.
The result left No. 11 Southern California (9-2, 6-2) in a position to win its sixth straight Pac-10 championship and play in the Rose Bowl if it beats the Bruins next Saturday.
Should UCLA upset USC and Arizona top No. 7 Arizona State the same day, the Bruins (6-5, 5-3) would get the Rose Bowl bid.
No. 21 Clemson 23, South Carolina 21
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – Mark Buchholz hit a 35-yard field as time expired to give Clemson a victory and leave Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier with the longest losing streak of his college career.
Buchholz, who starred on the Tiger soccer team this fall, had missed two earlier field-goal attempts.
Clemson (9-3) is 9-1 on South Carolina’s home field since 1989.
For Spurrier and South Carolina (6-6), the defeat was their fifth straight, and it leaves the Gamecocks with precarious postseason hopes. Blake Mitchell threw three touchdown passes for South Carolina.
Cullen Harper finished 28 of 38 for 229 yards and his 27th touchdown pass for Clemson. James Davis rushed for 122 yards on 23 carries and C.J. Spiller had 88 yards.
No. 23 BYU 17, Utah 10
PROVO, Utah (AP) – Harvey Unga ran 11 yards for a touchdown with 38 seconds left as Brigham Young rallied to beat Utah and clinch a second consecutive Mountain West title.
The Cougars (9-2, 7-0 Mountain West) converted on fourth-and-18 with 1:05 remaining on a 49-yard pass from Max Hall to Austin Collie to keep the final drive going.
Unga, who ran for 141 yards, scored on a run up the middle and Hall threw to Austin Collie for the 2-point conversion, which put BYU up by a touchdown 56 seconds after Darrell Mack had given Utah its first lead with a 1-yard TD run.
Brian Johnson finished 17-for-29 for 129 yards and two interceptions for the Utes (8-4, 5-3).
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