The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • C1

Orlando Sentinel: PRODUCT: OS DESK: SPT DATE: 11-06-2005 EDITION: FLA ZONE: FLA PAGE: C1.0 DEADLINE: 23.0 OP: rsimmons COMPOSETIME: 00.08 CMYK Magic slip to 0-3 after 87-79 loss to Wizards Sports, D1 Game Day Central Florida Edition Orlando Sentinel OrlandoSentinel.com Sunday, November 6, 2005 Section 27, VIRGINIA TECH 7 WEEK Hurricanes dash Hokies' hopes HOW THE AP TOP 25 FARED Miami wide receiver Darnell Jenkins (8) is lifted up by teammate Greg Olsen (82) after a touchdown catch during the 2nd half of the Hurricanes' victory against Virginia Tech. Now this was more like what Hurricanes fans expected. Fifth-ranked Miami went into facing an undefeated Virginia Tech team in a key Atlantic Coast Conference game and emerged with a 27-7 victory Saturday night. UM's defense forced Tech QB Marcus Vick to turn over the ball six times, and the Hurricanes tossed the Hokies out of the national-championship picture while moving themselves a step closer to the first ACC Champi onship Game in Jacksonville. Miami had lost two straight and seven of 10 to its former Big East rivals, but now the Hurricanes control the Coastal Division race in the ACC.

Vick finished 8-for-22 for 90 yards against the top-ranked defense in the country, the worst performance of his college career, by far. He ran for a 2-yard TD in the fourth quarter, to keep the Hokies from being shut out. Complete coverage, C5 DON PETERSENTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS UCF 31, HOUSTON 29 GOLDEN MOMENT Questionable call becomes right one For the love of the GMAC Bowl, what was George O'Leary thinking? "Before we go any further," he opened his postgame news conference, "I called the fake punt." Before we go any further, let's put this into perspective. UCF was trying for its sixth victory Saturday night. After 58 minutes, 31 seconds of very entertaining football, the Golden Knights led 3 1 -29 and had the ball at Houston's 44-yard line.

It was fourth-and-1 You don't have to be Vince Lom- bardi to know what to do next. Heck, you don't even have to be Mrs. Lombardi. You punt. Even if it goes into the end zone, the Cougars still would need to zip 45 yards to attempt a winning field goal.

If you fake the punt and don't get it, they would need only 20 yards. And the way Houston was moving the ball, that would have taken all of one or 1 Southern Cal Hosted Stanford in late action. 2. Texas FourTDs for Ramonce Taylor in Long horns 62-0 rout of Baylor. C7 3.

Virginia Tech Hokies gained only 169 total yards in 27-7 to No. 5 Miami. C5 4. Alabama Defense saved the day in 1 7-0 win over Mississippi State. C7 5.

Miami Hurricanes defense shut down No. 3 Virginia Tech in 27-7 cakewalk. C5 6. LSU Extended winning streak to six games with 24-0 win over Appalachian. C7 7.

UCLA No comeback this time as the Bruins got spanked 52-1 4 at Arizona. C7 8. Notre Dame Irish pull away late to beat struggling Tennessee 41 -21. C7 9. Florida State Seminoles suffered third loss in five years to N.C.

State 20-1 5. C4 10. Penn State Tamba Hali's four sacks led as Lions pound No. 1 4 Wisconsin 35-1 4. C2 1 1 Georgia The Bulldogs did not play.

Next: vs. No. 17 Auburn. 12. Ohio State Buckeyes reached 40 points in third consecutive game as they cruised past Illinois 40-2.

C6 13. Florida Gators held off Vanderbilt 49-42 in 2 overtimes to keep SEC East title hopes alive. C3 14. Wisconsin Fell behind early and never recovered in 35-1 4 loss to No. 1 0 Penn State.

C2 1 5. Oregon TD pass in overtime lifted Ducks to 27-20 win over No. 23 California. C7 16. Texas Tech Scored 42 points in second half to pull away from Texas 56-1 7.

C7 17. Auburn Tigers piled up 589 total yards in 49-27 romp over Kentucky. C7 18. West Virginia Mountaineers defeated Connecticut 45-1 3 on Wednesday night. 19.

Boston College Eagles knocked out of ACC title contention in 1 6-1 4 loss to North Carolina. C6 20. TCU Wrapped up first title in 47 years with 33-6 win over Colorado State. C7 21 Fresno State Hosted San Jose State in late action. 22.

Michigan Wolverines did not play. Next: vs. Indiana. 23. California Third loss in four games as Bears fell 27-20 at No.

15 Oregon in overtime. C7 24. Louisville Cardinals defeated Pittsburgh 42-20 on Wednesday night. 25. Colorado Lawrence Vickers scored fourTDsin Buffs' 41-12 victory over Missouri.

C7 David WHITLEY SENTINEL COLUMNIST two plays. So O'Leary called a play that left fans mumbling, scratching their heads and even booing. Which is where the perspective comes in. How great is it to be second-guessing a coaching move? In order to send fans home wondering whether the coach left his brain in the locker room, a team has to be in position to hack off the faithful. When was the last time that happened at UCF? So before we engage in the time-honored football tradition of Sunday-morning quarterbacking, we all should thank O'Leary for giving us the opportunity.

Good Lord, the Golden Knights are now bowl eligible. If you'd have breathed those words a month ago, you would have been deemed asylum eligible. Be it the GMAC, the New Orleans, the Liberty or the PLEASE SEE WHITLEY, C8 WHAT IT MEANS FOR UCF UCF clinches a winning record, 1 st since finishing 7-5 in 2002. Six wins makes the Knights eligible for a bowl game, and Conference USA has tie-ins with five bowls. UCF (5-1 gains a 1 -game lead on Southern Miss (3-1 in Conference USA's East Division (though the Golden Eagles can still catch the Knights and hold a tiebreaker edge).

The Knights polish off a 4-0 home season, theirfirst unblemished home season since 2001 Complete coverage, backpage BOBBY COKERORLANDO SENTINEL Giddy UCF fans scream at the end of the Golden Knights' victory against Houston on Saturday night. The team's defense came through big time on the final series for the Cougars, getting a sack and 3 incompletions from quarterback Kevin Kolb. FLORIDA 49, VANDERBILT 42 (2 OT) Gators hang on in OT Backup cornerback Reggie Lewis, beaten all game by Vanderbilt's bigger receivers, intercepted Jay Cutler's first pass in the second overtime to give No. 1 3 Florida a 49-42 victory against the pesky Commodores. The Gators also kept alive hopes of winning the Southeastern Conference.

Barely. Cutler threw for 361 yards and four touchdowns, including two in the final 2:1 7 of regulation to send the game into overtime. Complete coverage, C3 NC STATE 20, FSU 15 FSU backs into ACC title game Freshman Andre Brown ran for 179 yards and a touchdown, and NC State intercepted three passes in a 20-1 5 upset of Florida State. It was the second time in five years NC State has beaten the Seminoles in Tallahassee. Florida State, meanwhile, backed into the ACC's first title game in Jacksonville on Dec.

3 thanks to Boston College's loss at North Carolina. Compete coverage, C4 1 COLORSTRIP: I.