OCR Text |
Show r HERALD' DAILY C4 1, Saturday, January 2005 COLLEGE FOOTBALL Louisville snaps Boise State's streak Teresa M.Walker THE .a Vh XW(M LouisMEMPHIS, Tenn. ville is entering the Big East Conference in grand style snapping Boise State's winning streak in the highest-scorinLiberty Bowl ever. Eric Shelton scored on the -. 4- PRESS ASSOCIATED ' 22-ga- g go-ahe- touchdown on a run with 6:48 left, and the seventh-ranked Cardinals held off d Broncos the Friday. Stefan 44-4- JOth-ranke- LeFors 1 threw two touchdowns and ran for a third as the afcafeli f Press PAVNEAssociated WADE zone after Minnesota's Keith Lipka (99) falls into the end Cardinals recovering a fumble for a touchdown as Alabama 's Wesley Britt (70) andJ.B. Closner (74) try to stop him during the first quarter of the Music City Bowl on Friday in Nashville, Tenn. Arizona St. captures victory in Sun Bowl .THE ASSOCIATED ROUNDUP ' PRESS : EL PASO, Texas Sam Keller showed remarkable poise in his first collegiate start, touchdown throwing a pass to Rudy Burgess with 44 seconds left to lead Arizona State to a victory over Purdue in the Sun Bowl on Friday. Starting for injured star Andrew Walter, the untested sophomore completed all four of his passes on the winning drive for 80 yards in a frantic finish that stunned the Boilermakers and d crowd of the Sun game this season yards against the Crimson Tide (&6), which entered with the nation's defense. The Golden Gophers ran ) for 276 yards to overcome three turnovers including two by Barber on their first three drives. Still, they nearly gave the game away in the fourth quarter. Rhys Lloyd, who made field goals from 27 and 24 yards, missed a attempt with 5:34 left that would have sealed the victory. second-ranke- d (7-5- 24-ya- Bowl-recor- 51,288. Burgess caught Keller's final throw on a screen play, slipped two tackles along the sideline and cut back inside en route to d the end zone to give the Sun Devils ) the lead after Purdue had gone ahead 30 I Peach Bowl No. 14 Miami 27, No. 20 Florida 10: At Atlanta, the (9-3- seconds before. The Boilenrakers ) had one more chance to go ahead, but quarterback Kyle Orton's desperation heave into the end zone fell incomplete as time expired. Keller put on quite a show in place of Walter, going went 25rf45 for 370 yards and three touchdowns. (7-5- Y ran Tenn., Marion Barber III four turndespite a season-hig- h overs. The Cardinals rolled up 564 yards, topping 500 yards for the ninth time this season. for LeFors was 193 yards. The Cardinals also rushed for 329 yards against a defense that had been the nation's fourth-bes- t against the run. This was the biggest game in school history for Boise State, a program that moved in 1996. The up to Division Broncos, who played their first three bowls on their home field known for its blue turf, thought they could keep Up with an offense that had trailed only (7-5- for 187 yards and a touchdown y and teammate Laurence added 105 yards on the ground to lead Minnesota to a win over Alabama. Barber and Maroney, the only teammates in NCAA history to each rush for 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons, were the only runners to go over 100 Ma-rone- (9-3- 38-3- 3 No. 4 Gal upset in Holiday Bowl P Bernie Wilson THE ASSOCIATED n PRESS Ml lIWllll III SAN DIEGO Mack Brown and the BCS have been exoner- ated by the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Stunned at getting knocked out of the Rose LATE Bowl by the Texas GAME Longhorns, tne No. 4 California Golden Bears couldn't even hang with No. 23 Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl, losing 45-3-1 on Thursday night. Cal coach Jeff Tedford said there was no connection between the snub and the drubbing. "We didn't lose the game because we didn't go to the Rose Bowl," Tedford said. "It had nothing to do with focus and preparation because we didn't go to the Rose Bowl. "Once and for all, please, it has nothing to do with it. It is not going to set our program back." In that case, it looks as if Brown isn't such a villain, after all. Cal had been in position to go to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 46 seasons, but was leapfrogged in the final Bowl Championship Series standings ), ; v , S S3 x . -- $ .' , Louisville for most yards and points. But the Broncos, who lost 12 starters from their 2003 squad, finished with 284 yards offense, avwell below their 511.6-yar- d erage. The teams still rewrote the Liberty Bowl record book. They combined for the most points in the first quarter with 24, and their 52 points were the most for the. first half. I y Wis- Texas Tech's Trey Haverty, left, holds on to the ball for a 92-ya- 34-2- Gator Bowl , when LeFors drove them on an drive in eight plays, which he capped with a TDtoss to J.R. Russell. LeFors then gave Louisville the lead back at 4 when he ran in from a yard out with 2:17 left in the third. Boise State last led at 40-3- 5 when Jon Helmandollar plunged in from 2 yards with 81-pl- 35-3- 10:51 left. Hose Bowl FSU vs. West Virginia WHERE: Alltel Stadium, Jacksonville. WHEN: 10:30 p.m., NBC. RECORDS: Florida State 8-- KEY STAT: FSU is first nationally in rushing defense (69.0 ypg). WVU is seventh in the nation in rushing offense (254.2 THE THE PICK: Georgia, 17-1- 3. A&M WHERE: Cotton Bowl, Dallas. WHEN: 9 a.m., FOX. RECORDS: Tennessee Texas A&M 74. KEY STAT: Tennessee is 88th in the nation in pass defense (236.0 ypg). A&M is 20th nationally in passing offense (263.0 ypg), THE PICK: Texas A&M, , ypg)PICK: FSU, Michigan vs. Texas WHERE: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif. WHEN: 2:30 p.m., ABC. RECORDS: Michigan 9-- Texas 8-- 3. KEY STAT: Georgia is 21st nationally in rushing defense (111.2 ypg). Wisconsin is 87th in the nation in total offense (337.0 ypg). ' 30-2- Press 48-ya- West Virginia 9-- 9-- DENIS POROVAssocialed Boise State kicker Tyler field Jones had a record goal on the Broncos' first drive, and Broncos linebacker Andy Avalos had a intercep- - , tion return off LeFors in the first quarter that bested the by Michael Jordan of Tulane in 1998. Boise State led as much as 1 early in the third quarter after scoring 24 straight points. The Cardinals settled down -- Outback Bowl Georgia vs. Wisconsin WHERE: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa. Cotton Bowl I Press TODAY'S GAMES: MIKE HUGUENIN, ORLANDO SENTINEL Tennessee vs. Texas i right grabs Associated a pass as he is defended by Boise State cornerback Gerald Alexander during the first quarter of the Liberty Bowl on Friday. 9-- 'j - MARK HUMPHREY Louisville wide receiver J.R. Russell, consin , - it XisWL U WHEN: 9 a.m., ESPN. RECORDS: Georgia by Brown's Texas Longhorns, who ended up in Pasadena to face Michigan today. The day the BCS pairings were released, Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers said Brown "was a little classless" for begging for poll votes to help his Longhorns, and that the system was "faulty." Tedford said votes in the coaches' poll should be made public. The Longhorns, by the way, beat Texas Tech 1 at Lubbock on Oct. 23. Texas Tech fans mocked Cal with chants of "Overrated!" in the closing minutes. The Golden Bears (10-251-2- C 1 - set. Louisville won only for the second time in seven bowls 14th-rank- MinneI Music City Bowl sota 20, Alabama: At Nashville, fj' high-scorin- Miami Hurricanes were eliminated from the national championship early in the season. They missed out on the conference championship late. They settled for the state title. Devin Hester returned a blocked field goal 78 yards for a touchdown and intercepted a pass to set up another score, Hurrihelping the canes beat No. 20 Florida. Miami also earned a third consecutive "state title" by beating Florida and Florida State in the same season, spoiled interim coach Charlie Strong's debut and extended its winning streak against the Gators ) to six games. This time, the Hurricanes ) didn't need a strong performance from Brock Berlin. The senior quarterback who transferred from Florida in January 2002 torched his former team in a comeback victory last year and mocked fans after the game. 21st-ranke- 44 (11-1- in a 27-2- 3 (11-1- ), who have never finBOISE STATE 40 ished ranked higher than 13th, matched a school record for victories in a season. The Cardinals won their third Liberty Bowl in their final appearance as a Conference USA team by handing Boise State its first loss since Septem ) ber 2003. The Broncos had one last chance to win after Art Carmo-dy'- s field goal with 1:10 left put Louisville up four. Quarterback Jared Zabran-sk- y drove the Broncos to the Louisville 30 before his final pass into the end zone as time expired was intercepted by Louisville safety Kerry Rhodes. The win was a welcome end to a week in which the Cardinals were forced to deal with the news that coach Bobby Petrino had interviewed with LSU about its open coaching job. They certainly didn't seem distracted against the Broncos. g Everyone expected a game in a bowl pairing the nation's top two offenses, and the teams didn't disappoint as they swapped the lead five times. The 84 combined points topped the 80 points by Colorado and Alabama in 1969 and was one of a handful of records LOUISVILLE 24-1- KEY STAT: Michigan is 27th nationally in rushing defense (126.5 ypg). Texas is second in the nation in rushing offense (302.4 ypg). ' THE PICK: Texas, 28-2- Fiesta Bowl One Bowl Capital Iowa vs. LSU WHERE: Citrus Bowl, Or- lando. WHEN: 11a.m., ABC. LSU RECORDS: Iowa KEY STAT: Iowa is last in the nation in rushing offense (74.9 ypg). LSU is third nationally in total defense (249.9 ypg)THE PICK: LSU, 9-- 9-- - 20-1- 6. 10-- 1 Pittsburgh vs. Utah WHERE: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Ariz. WHEN: 6:30 p.m., ABC. RECORDS: Pittsburgh 8-- 3, Utah 11-- KEY STAT: Pitt is 96th in the nation in pass defense (248.6 ypg). Utah is third nationally in total offense (502.7 ypg). THE PICK: Utah, 48-2- d completion as California's Matt Giordano tries to defend in the second quarter of the Holiday Bowl on Thursday. who were 1 1 favorites, simply had no answer against the Red Raiders (84) and their efficient spread offense, which uses four wide receivers most of the time. Tech senior Sonny Cumbie 520 threw for a career-hig- h yards and three touchdowns, to Joel including a Filani. Safety Vincent Meeks set up a score with a d interception return. 60 and Cumbie was 39-broke the Holiday Bowl attempts record of 59 set by BWs Ty Detmer in 1989. He was short of Detmer's Holiday Bowl record of 576 yards, also if we executed real well." Cumbie said opponents can practice all they want, "But our er set in 1989. "We have a great band of players around me," Cumbie said. "And so throwing the ball to them makes things happen. I knew we could have a big night . receivers are too fast, our offensive linemen are too good. You can't simulate how good our offense is in three weeks of practice." Cal's J.J. Arrington became just the third running back in Pac-1- 0 history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. The senior from Nashville, N.C., carried 25 times for 173 yards, for 2,018 yards. Southern Cal's Marcus Allen had 2,427 yards in 1981, and Charles White had 2,050 in 1979. Both won the Heisman Trophy. Arrington scored on a run in the first quarter, his 15th rushing TD of the season, a school record. He had been tied with Lindsey Chapman and . Russell White. Utes Continued from Cl City's population with them for the game at Sun Devil Stadium. "This has been pretty dreamlike," quarterback Alex Smith said. "This has been a goal of ours since January, and to finally reach it, it's pretty surreal. I'm just trying to take it all in and pot let it go by too fast." Coach Urban Meyer, who brought about Utah's improbable climb to national prominence, will coach his final game for the Utes, sharing duties with his successor, defensive coordinator Kyle Whittinghaijri. After two years at Bowling Green and two at Utah, Meyer is bound for Florida. He leaves behind a Utah program that represents the hopes of every school outside the six conferences that make up the Bowl Championship Series. The Utes ( 1 are the first team to make it to one of the four elite bowls automatically qualifying by finishing sixth in the BCS rankings. They did it with an offense thataveraged more than 500 yards and 45 points per game. On 60 trips inside an opponent's line, the Utes scored touchdowns 85 percent of the time. Utah scored fewer than 40 points in a game only twice. Meyer's explanation of his offense is simple. of"It's a personnel-base- d fense," he said. "Spread the field, and let the good players touch the ball." Smith, fourth in the Heisman non-BC- S 20-ya- ' Trophy voting, is the best of those players. Second in the country in passing efficiency, the junior from La Mesa, Calif., completed 66 percent of his passes this season for 2,624 yards and 28 touchdowns, with just four interceptions. He also ran for 563 yards and 10 touchdowns, averaging 4.7 yards per carry.' "They have an extraordinary player at quarterback," Pittsburgh coach Walt Harris said. "He's not only a good runner . runs the option well he's also an outstanding passer. I think the other quality that separates him from most quar- terbacks is he's tough as nails. He's the guy that makefs it go." Smith, who might enter the NFL draft after this season, said there is no more enjoyable offense to run than the one Meyer has developed. : ' |