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Show a C13 Sunday, November 23, 2003 — The Salt Lake Tribune COLLEGE FOOTBALL ee. USC takes care ofbusiness, UCLA: LOS ANGELES — Regardless of the outcome back in the Midwest, the Southern California Trojans Carroll said of the Trojans’ play as they took control early. “There was nothing we couldn’t do. We were in total command.” The Trojans (10-1, 6-1 Pac-10) have a regular-season game re- knew they hadto take care of busi- maining against Oregon State at By KEN PETERS The Associated Press ness at the Los Angeles Coliseum. They did just that Saturday, scoring on their first four posses- sions and rolling to a 47-22 victory over crosstown rival UCLA. As the second-ranked Trojans were taking the field, Michigan was wrapping up a 35-21 victory over Ohio State. USC hadslipped to third in the BCS standings behind the Coliseum on Dec.6. If they win —and the BCS computers don’t spit cut something quirky at the end — the Trojans ostensibly will play in the Jan. 4 Sugar Bowlfor the national title. Oklahomais the nation’s only unbeaten team and No.1 in both the national polls and the BCS Some of the Trojans learned of the Buckeyes last week. “Tt was a great day for Michigan, Michigan’s win just before their a great win,” Trojans coach Pete Carroll said. Not a bad a day for USC, either. gameagainst the Bruins began, and some apparently didn’t know the outcomeuntil afterward. “What was it? I’m asking you,” said Williams, whosat out the second half with:a sore ankle. “I just found out. I’m sure a lot of people knew.” Williams, who could have played in the second half if needed, was most pleased about beating Matt Leinart threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns, Mike Williams caught11 passes for 181 yards and two scores, and the Trojans’ defense held UCLA to 11 yards rushing and also chipped in with a Nick U't/ The Associated Press USC wide receiver Mike Williams,left, hauls in a touchdown pair of touchdowns. “Everything was just right,” pass despite the defense of UCLA cornerback MatthewClark. UCLA (6-6, 4-4). “Man,the only thingI feel good aboutis today,” the he said. “None of it, the BCS, the Sugar Bowl, mat- ters. I really don’t like them [the Bruins], I don’t like them atall.” Leinart also said the Trojans their fourth en route to their fifth” straight win over UCLA. t #2 USC 47, UCLA 22 UCLA usc 027132 14419 14 0-47 First Quarter USC—M. Willams 21 pass from Leinart (Killeen kick), 12:09 weren’t thinking about the Michigan-Ohio game or the BCS USC—White 1 run (Killeen kick), 5:13 Second Quarter USC—M. Williams 4 pass from Leinart (Killeen kick), 14:57 rankings. USC—FG Killeen 38, 11:09 USC—Udeze fumble recovery in end zone (kick blocked), 6:26... UCLA—Clark blocked extra point retum, 6:26 “Our coachesnevertold us what the score was,” he said. “Westill have one gameleft, and that’s what USC—FG Killeen 32, 1.14 Third Quarter USC—Patterson 52 tumble retum (Killeen kick), 6:24 UCLA—Lewis 17 pass from Olson (Medlock kick), .05 USC—Bush 96 kickoff return (Killeen kick), 00 Fourth Quarter UCLA—Drew 99 kickoff retum (pass failed), 14:43 UCLA—Cowan2 pass from Olson (Medlock kick), 1:02 A—93,172 we haveto worry about.” Theloss was the fourth straight for UCLA andfirst-year coach Karl Dorrell. “Weplayed a very good football team. We could not keep up,” Dorrell said. “This game was a great measuring stick for us, and we havea lot of work to do.” The Trojansled 33-2 at halftime, with Leinart passing for 273 yards. Heleft the gamefor good late in the third quarter. The Trojans overwhelmed the Bruins by scoring touchdowns on their first three possessions and addinga field goal for a 24-0 lead on UCLA USC 16 29-11 283 First downs Rushes-yards Passing a W123 321 22-40-1 2 Retum Yards Comp-At-int 27-4104 8-36 53 Punts-Avg Fumbles-Lost 345° $2. 13-104 67. Penalties-Yards 29:11 6-60 Time of Possession INDIVIDUAL LEADERS 0.49 4 RUSHING—UCLA, Drew 10-27, Ebel 6-5, Olson 13-(minus 21) USC, Dennis 12-69, White 10-33, Woodert 2-22, Bush 6-10, oe Malone 1-0, team 1-(minus 1), Booty 1-(minus 10), PASSING—UCLA, Olson 21-39-1-266, Kiuwe 1-1-0-17 USC. Leinart 23-32-0-289, Hance 2-6-0-23, Booty 2-3-0-9 RECEIVING—UCLA, Drew 4-76 aes 2-66, R.Smith 2-27, Cowan 2-5, Lewis 1-17, Chillar 1-17, Taylor 1-4,_ Harris 1-4, Ebel 1-4. USC. M Williams 11-181, Colbert 4-41, Guenther 4-37, S.Smith 4-27, Bush 2-32, White 2-3 LSU holds offOle Missto stayin title hunt Troy State upendsBy Rapu D. Russo trying to reactto it and just didn’t makeplays,” The Associated Press said Manning, whodidlittle to help his Heisman Trophy candidacy. Ole Miss can still win the SEC West if LSU loses its season finale on Friday and the Rebels OXFORD, Miss. — Stellar defense, just enough offense anda little good fortune kept LSUin the huntfor a national championship — beat Mississippi State on Thanksgiving night. Mauck was 16-for-29 for 189 yards, but he and No. 15 Mississippi from clinchingits first SEC Westtitle. The No. 3 Tigers held Eli Manning and the high-scoring Rebels in checkfor three quarters, then withstood a fourth-quarter rally to earn a 17-14 football victory Saturday. Matt Mauck threw two touchdown passes for LSU (10-1, 6-1), which now controls the SEC West race and can clinch its second trip to the conference title gamein three years with a victory over Arkansas. The Tigers were fourth in the latest BCS standings, but with Ohio State’s loss they are sure to move up a spot next week. “It wasn’t pretty, but our character and maturity showed,” LSU coach Nick Saban said. “Their defense really played well, too. It’s a shame somebodylost, but I was definitely re- lieved to get the “W.’” Ole Miss(8-3, 6-1) had its chancesto pull off a threw three interceptions that helped keep Ole Miss close while gaining only 98 yards through three quarters. #3 LSU 17, $14 Mississippi 14 LSU Mississippi First Quarter Mis—T.Johnson 6 interception retum (Nichols kick), 13.54 LSU-FG Jackson 45, 6:44 Second Quarter LSU—Ciayton 9 pass trom Mauck (Jackson kick), 2:42 Fourth Quarter LSU—Henderson 53 pass from Mauck (Jackson kick), 14:50. Mis—Jaoobds 10 pass from Mannings (Nichols kick), 10:51 A—42,552 Bruce NEwMAN/ The Associated Press LSU's Michael Clayton (14) is tackled by Mississippi's Eric Oliverin the first half. It was Nichols’ second miss of the day. 3707-17 7007-14 LSU “Everything was perfect,” Nichols said. “I thoughtI hit it real good. WhenI looked up,it faded right on me. Man,it’s not a good feeling.” The Rebels got onelast chance with 2:15 left, but Manning was incomplete on three straight Miss 7 First downs 4 47-152 189 16-29-3 Rushes-yards Passing Comp-Att-int 21-27 200 16-36-1 & Retum Yards 4% 7-50 00 Punts-Avg Fumbies-Lost 6-43 0 10-70 Penalties-Yards 430 Time of Possession 24:11 comeback passes, and on fourth down, he was tripped victory. Jonathan Nichols, who had missed only one of 24 field-goal attempts coming in, was wide pulling away from center by oneofhis linemen. Manning was 16-for-36 for 200 yards with a (minus 4). Mississippi, Tumer 7-27, Pearson 9-24, Townsend 1-(minus 1), Manning 4(minus straight fourth-quarter right on a 36-yarder that would havetied the game 17-17 with 4:15left. touchdownandan interception. He was sacked three times. “They were bringing pressure and we were 23) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TROY, Ala. — DeWhitt Betterson scored on an 11yard run with 1:20 left, and Jason Samplestallied three touchdowns to lift Troy Sun Belt STANDINGS NonthTexas laafayette MiddieTenn. INDIVIDUAL RUSHING—-1 Vincent 22-105, Addai 6-36, Carey 6-11, Broussard 2-4, Mauck 11PASSING—LSU, Mauck 16-29-3-189. Mississippi, Manning 16-36-1-200 RECEIVING—-LSU, Clayton 9-83, Henderson 3-74, Green 2-20, Davis 1-12, Addai 1-0 Mississippi, Collins 3-39, Flowers 2-74, Espy 2-28, Jacobs 2-19, K Johnson 2-11, Biddle 1-12, Razzano 1-9, Pearson 1-6, Hill 1-5, Tumer 1-(minus 3) McArthur leads Cal to Big Game victory PA 132 228 204 All Games PF PA” 328 248 266 415 332 375 Utah St 3.3 93 4 131 273 5 7 242 401 Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday. The Trojans, who finished the season 6-6, trailed 24-14 going into the fourth Idaho 3 New Mexico St La.-Monroe Samplesscored on an 18yard run with 6:41 left after catching first-half touchdown passes of 5 and 16 yards from Aaron Leak. Steven Jyles completed 27 of 48 passes for 271 yards for ULM and threw for a pair of touchdownsto Mack Vincent. The Indiansbuilt the 2414 lead with a pair of big third-quarter plays. Jyles hit Vincent on a 49-yard Kevin Paynewith 7:40 left. The Trojans will join Louisiana-Monroe 4 179 113 WL 8 3 4 8 4 8 AnansasSt touchdown pass early in the quarter, and receiver Floyd Smith added a 46-yarder to AROUND THE NATION Conterence WL PF 6 0 224 4 3 225 4 3 213 State to a 28-24 victory over 191 3 9 264 171 315 3 9 248 314, 2 4 144 159 3 8 252 328 1 6 180 249 1 11239 467 Thursday's Game Middle Tennessee 24, Arkansas St. 14 Saturday's Games Troy St. 28, Louisiana-Monroe 24 idaho 20, Utah State 13 Tuesday's Game North Texas at New Mexico St. 5 p.m. quarter. 3549 second Louisiana-Monroe. Sun Belt Conference next year. Troy State 28 Louisiana-Monroe 24 Louisiana-Monroe Troy State 010 14 0-24 7 7 0 4-2 First Quarter TSU—Samples 16 pass from Leak (Olmsted kick), 1:09 Second Quarter ULM—Vinoent 14 pass trom Jyles (Kueckerkick 13:19 ‘SU—Sampies 5 pass trom Leak (Olmsted kick 208 . ULM—FG Kuecker 38 00:00 Third Quarter 1334 if ULM-—Vinoent 49 pass trom Jyles (Kuecker kick ULM—Payne 46 pass from Smith (Kuecker kick 7:40 TSU—Samples 18 run (Olmsted kick). 641 TSU—Betterson 11 run (Olmsted kick), 1:20 A—19,057 in ,the THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STANFORD, Calif. — While his teammates danced at midfield and raised the California school flag, Geoff McArthur embraced his soaking-wet coach. McArthur had just madehistory in the Big Game, and Jeff Tedford madeit possible. “T just thanked him for believing in me, and I thanked him for pushing as hard as he does,” McArthur said. ‘““This game, myplays, Cal’s success, it’s all about him. ... The program is just going to skyrocket now.” McArthur set a Cal record with 16 catches for 245 Ohio State quarterback Craig Krenzel, right, is sacked by Michigan's LaMarr Woodley,left, and Alain Kashama. The Buckeyes’ loss will drop them from No. 2 in the BCS standings. @ Continued from Cl outright for the first time since 1997. They were invited to the Rose Bow] after the game and will accept unless they move up from ninth to second in the BCS standings and earn a berth in the na- tional title game at the Sugar Bowl. “We're excited about any opportunities we're presented with,” Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said. Ohio State’s loss opens the door for Southern California and LSU, the two teams that trailed the second-place Buckeyes in the BCS standings. “Our main goal was to come in and get a win against Michigan,” tight end Ben Hartsock said. “Nowit will be interesting to see how the bow! situa- tion pans out. A lot of pecple are going to be saying,‘I told you so.’ There’s noth- ing we can do about that - ) biggest rivals: Ohio State, Michigan State and Notre Dame. He was mobbed as the students rushed the field after he took a knee on the final play. “T felt I was established already,” Navarre said. “But the reality was I was going to be defined bythis game.” #5 Michigan 35 #4 Ohio State 21 ing helped off the field a couple of times after hard hits. The victory was vindication for Navarre, who holds nearly all the passing records at Michigan but hadn’t come up with the big wins until this season. The target of boos for muchofhis career, Navarre received a loud ovation the NCAA-record from crowd of 112,118 when the seniors were honored before the game. Then he delivered to cap a season featuring wins three aoe over Adimchinobe Echemandu rushed for 87 yards, including a clinching 17-yard score with 1:39 to play. The huge Cal rooting section at Stanford Stadium didn’t charge the field, but the fans roared for the Bears’ second straight win over their biggest rivals following a seven-gamelosing streak. OTHER GAMES: short scoring runs as the Blue Devils ended a 13-gamelos- Third Quarter UM—Penry30 run (Rivas kick), 13:04 OS—Holmes 13 pass from Krenzel (Nugent kok) 6% Fourth Quarter OS—Aioss 2 run (Nugent kick), 13:53 UM—Pery 15 run (Rivas kick), 7:55 A—112,118 Osu 2 Bs 329 First downs Rusnes-yards Passing UM 24 4-170 ae 2846-1 112 Comp-Atl-int Retum Yards 21-224 i) OO Fumbies-Lost Ot Punts-Avg 641 55 7 a0 PenaltiesYards 4H Time of Possession 3220 INDIVIDUAL LEADERS RUSHING— Ohio Si. Ross 9-22 Krenzel 9-19. Joe 4-12 Childress 1-6, McMullen 1-(munus 2), Hal 1minus 3). Michigan, Pemy 31-154, Edwards, 146. Jackson 2-£, Brsaston 1-3, Rembert 1-3. team 4minus § PASSING—Onio S.. Krenzel 20-33-0221, Mo- Mullen 6-13-1-108. Michigan, Newame 21-32-1-278 * since 1993. UM—Eqwards 23 pass from Navarre (Rivas kick) OS—Holmes § pass from Krenze! (Nugent lack sag postseason contention in its first home loss to Cal UM—Edwards 64 pass trom Navarre (Rives kick) gan’s offensive line domi- nated Ohio State's stellar front seven, which leads the nation by allowing 50.5 rushing yards per game. Perry also gained 55 yards receiving despite be- Saturday in the 106th Big Game. Aaron Rodgers passed for a career-best 359 yards and three touchdowns as Cal (7-6,5-3 Pac-10) kept the Axe and became bow!l-eligible for the first time in seven years. Stanford (4-6, 2-6) was eliminated from Auburn 28, Alabama 23: Carnell Williams opened the gamewith an 80-yard touchdown run andfinished with 204 yards in the host Tigers’ victory in the Iron Bowl. Oregon 34, Oregon State 20: Kellen Clemens passed for three touchdowns and ran for anotherto lead thevisiting Ducks Oregonin the 107th Civil War. Duke 30, North Carolina 22: Chris Douglas ran for 119 yards and a touchdown and Cedric Dargan added two £ Michigan defeats Buckeyes Michigan used a_ balanced offense to hand the Buckeyes (10-2, 6-2) their secondloss in 26 games. Perry had huge holes to run through all day and Navarre hadplenty of time to throwin the 100th meeting in one of college football’s greatestrivalries. Braylon Edwards had seven catches for 130 yards and two scores for the Wolverines. Perry ran for 154 yards and two scores as Michi- yards and two touchdowns,and the Golden Bears rallied in the second half to beat Stanford 28-16 RECEIVING—Oho St. Jenkins 9-132, Holmes 6-121, Ross 3-18, Hamby 3-18, Childress 2-17, Hart sock 2-13, Hal 1-10. Michigan, Edwards 7-130, Pemy 2-55, Breaston 5-23, Tabb 2-35, Ecker 1-30, Avant 15 j ing streak, winning at North Carolina. Duke (4-8, 2-6 ACC) took the Tar Heels outof the gamein thefirst half, opening a 23-pointlead to reclaim the VictoryBell. Clemson 63, South Carolina 17: Charlie Whitehurst tied the school record with four touchdown passes, and Clemson’s players made their strongest pitch yet to save coach Tommy Bowden's job with a 63-17 victory overarchrival South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. Chad Jasmin added four 1-yard TD runs as the Tigers scored their most points ever in the 101-game series that began in 1896. Harvard 37, Yale 19: Ryan Fitzpatrick threw four touchdown passes to lead Harvard to over archrival Yalein the 120th meeting of the Ivy League teams. The Crimson (7-3, 4-3 Ivy League) snapped a three-gamelosing streak and grounded Yale’s potent offense, which was secondin Division I-AA at 471.3 total yards a game and averaging a league-best 37.22 points. The Bulldogs (6-4,4-3) still had 475 yards of total offense, mostly all in the air, but sputtered repeatedly inside the red zone. East Tennessee State 16, The Citadel 13: With 2 secondsleft, the junior kicker Jonathan Godfrey kicked a 22-yarder to lift host Buccanners to victory in the last DouG Loneman/ The Associated Press Montana State's Kenneth Qualls (24) and Brandon Eggart celebrate after a defensive stopin the first quarter. MontanaState earns: automatic NCAA bid THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Big Sky BOZEMAN, Mont. — Montana State scored on two big returns in thefirst half and held off fourthranked Montanain the sec ondfor a 27-20 win that gave the Bobcats the Big Sky Conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Division 1-AA playoffs. Montana, Montana State and Northern Arizona share the league title this season, but Montana State took the tiebreaker byvirtue of wins over both teams. Corey Smith returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and Kenneth Qualls returned an interception 54 yards for a score as the Bobcats took a 13-10 halftime lead. Bruce Molock and quarterback Travis Lulay scored on 1-yard runs in the second half to build a 27-10 lead with 12:29 remaining in STANDINGS football game for East Tennessee State football program. the game played in single digit temperatures. ETSUdecided before the season began to drop the program because of rising budget deficits. Montana rallied with a 32-yard field goal by Chris ’ Conterence Montane N Anzona Montane St WL 52 2 PF 260 233 Ali Games PA 122 1 9 WeberSt 43 183 165 idaho St 43 224 20 Portland St 16 105 214 E Washingion SacramentoSt 3 4 290 247 WL PF PA 9 390 223 49 254 wa Oe ewnwe we Joun F. Martin/ The Associated Press 16 117 21 Saturday s Games Montane St. 27, Montane 20 Weber State 35, at St Mary's. Calif. 15 idaho State 36. Southem Utah 17 Snyder and a 6-yard TD pass from Craig Ochs to Dane Oliver, but the Bobcats’ defense held on Mon tana’s final possession Montana State 27 Montana 20 Montane Montane State 0” 00-2 .&77-Z7 First Quarter MSU—Smith 90 tackoff return (kick tailed). 14.48 Second Quarter UM—FG Snyder 38 12:09 UN—Green 1 run (Snyder tuck), 3:30 MSU—Qualis 54 inermepton ratum (Cook tick Kix ¢ Third Quarter WSU—HMolock | nun (Cook lick), 6:11 Fourth Ul—Oliwer 6 pass trom Ochs (Snyder kick), 425 A~15,087 ; |