The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 152

12G SUNDAY NOVEMBER 21 1906 COLLEGE FOOTBALL THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER TOP 25 ROUNDUP Virginia Tech stays in Big East title chase By DAVID REED Associated Press BLACKSBURG -Virginia Tech defensive end Cornell Brown heard all the hype about West Virginia linebacker Canute Curtis and his 14 sacks Then Brown had 10 tackles Saturday as No 17 Virginia Tech defeated No 23 West Virginia 31-14 all due respect to Canute Curtis I think we all saw the best defensive player in the Big East out there Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said Meanwhile Jim Druckenmiller picked apart the top defense with 238 yards passing including two touchdown tosses to Cornelius White and Ken Oxen-dine became the first runner to gain more than 100 yards against the Mountaineers in 20 games The victory keeps Virginia Tech (9-1 6-1) in contention for a share of the Big East title The Hokies have won nine straight at home 19 of their past 20 and three straight against West Virginia West Virginia (8-3 4-3) lost for the third time in four games Virginia Tech went ahead 10-0 early in the second quarter on a 35-yard touchdown catch by White who tipped the ball with the hand in his face and pulled it in as he was falling down under the goalposts Another acrobatic catch by Hokie fullback Brian Edmonds set up a field goal in the first quarter West Virginia scored on its last possession of the first half Chad Johnston after completing passes for 24 and 20 yards found David Saunders in the end zone on fourth down from the 1 Virginia Tech responded with an 81-yard drive in 71 seconds capped by a 6-yard TD pass to White with 24 seconds left in the half to go ahead 17-7 Oxendine who gained 104 yards also had the longest run of the season against the Mountaineers a 39-yard burst up the middle for a touchdown that put the Hokies up 24-7 Brown then went to work by foiling a promising West Virginia drive just before the fourth quarter He charged into the backfield stole pitch and was tackled at the Virginia Tech 40 West Virginia gained just 65 yards rushing going into the fourth quarter forcing Johnston to pass 51 times the most in a game for a Mountaineer since Gerald Fisher threw 57 times in 1951 Johnston completed 20 for 209 yards Druckenmiller completed 16 of 28 passes and the offense finished with 365 yards the most yardage gained against West Virginia before this season If Miami defeats Syracuse next week those teams and Virginia Tech will end up in a three-way tie for first place in the Big East Virginia Terh an All-American rg nia lecti Jl ast year went West Virginia 14 out and showed still boss of the Big East when it comes to intimidating quarterbacks Brown had three sacks against the Mountaineers for the third straight season swiped a pitch in the backfield broke up a pass and mmm Vols roll over Kentucky farewell game not pretty for Wildcats Ohio St Buckeyes are again denied shot at title Emotions run high after Holtz era ends with 62-0 win Observer News Services SOUTH BEND Ind Lou Holtz finally broke down will miss this place and I will miss it a tearful Holtz said after coaching his final game at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday a 62-0 rout over Rutgers here and it will always be here In fact asked my wife to bury me here he added a moment later wanted to do that a couple of times before It was the one funny moment during a news conference where Holtz struggled to keep his composure After a week of keeping his emotions bottled up they finally came rushing out lived and tried to have our players live by the values that Notre Dame Holtz said can look up at the lady on the Dome I can look up at God and say think I left it clean I think I left it The victory by No 1 0 Notre Dame (8-2) over Rutgers (2-8) was his 100th as Irish coach Ron Powlus threw for four touchdowns setting a school record with 42 career touchdown passes and tying the single-game record Autry Denson rushed for 116 yards giving him l019yards this season It was the most points scored by Notre Dame (8-2) during career and the most for any Irish team since a 69-14 victory over Georgia Tech in 1977 As the clock ran out players hoisted him on their shoulders and carried him to midfield He then ran to the end of the field where surrounded by his players he thanked the students for their support Defensive coordinator Bob Davie will replace Holtz with the announcement set for today No 7 Penn State 32 Michigan State 29: Brett Conway kicked a 30-yard field goal with 12 seconds left as Penn State strengthened its bowl alliance chances On the previous Spartan possession a 33-yard field goal attempt by Chris Gardner sailed wide left Penn State (10-2 6-2 BigTen) won its fourth straight game overall and its fourth straight over Michigan State (6-5 5-3) Penn Curtis Enis carried 28 times for 165 yards and a touchdown Joe Jurevicius had eight receptions for 1 17 yards and Wally Richardson in his fina home game completed 2 1 -of-3 1 passes for 28 1 yards and a touchdown Aaron Harris scored three touchdowns for the Lions No 8 Brigham Young 37 Utah 17: Brian McKenzie and Ronney Jenkins combined for 332 rushing yards and four touchdowns as the Cougars routed Utah McKenzie carried 23 times for 176 yards and one touchdown Jenkins gained 156 yards on 29 carries and three scores as Brigham Young (12-1 8-0) earned a WAC title showdown Dec 7 against Wyoming In breaking a three-year losing streak to the arch-rival Utes (8-3 6-2) Brigham seventh-ranked passing attack gave way to the running game which used a 30-pound advantage on the line to gain 366 yards Steve Sarkisian the top-rated quarterback threw just 12 times completing seven for 70 yards down from an average of 3089 No 14 Kansas State 35 Iowa State 20: Mike Lawrence rushed for a team-record 252 yards and scored three touchdowns as Kansas State (9-2 6-2 Big 12) finished the regular season with nine victories for the fourth consecutive year Kansas State appears headed for the Cotton Bowl and its first-ever appearance in a New Day bowl Troy Davis had 225 yards on 48 carries for Iowa State (2-9 1-7) No 16 Syracuse 36 Temple 15: Malcolm Thomas Kyle McIntosh Tebucky Jones and Keith Downing ran for touchdowns as Syracuse won its eighth straight The Orangemen (8-2 6-0 Big East) clinched at least a tie for the conference title Syracuse can win the title outright with a victory next week in its season finale against Miami at home Temple finished with its third 1-10 season in four years under coach Ron Dickerson No 25 Miami 43 Boston College 26: Miami broke out of its offensive slump at the Orange Bowl compiling a season-high 617yards Edgerrin James and Dyral McMillan rushed for a combined 266 yards and three touchdowns and Scott Covington threw three TD passes in his first college start Miami had scored only 29 points in three consecutive losses at home this season but depleted Boston College (5-7 2-5 Big East) was no match for the Hurricanes (7-3 5-1) By TOM SHARP Associated Press KNOXVILLE Tenn Peyton Manning passed for 317 yards and three touchdowns in just over a half of action Saturday to lead No 9 Tennessee past Kentucky 56-10 mmmmmmmmmm Wildcats coach Tennessee 56 eCury's last Kentucky 10 Kentucky (4-7 3-5 SEQ had won three straight since Curry was fired on Oct 20 but could not summon the magic against the Volunteers (8-2 6-1) Curry finished his Kentucky career 0-7 against Tennessee and the Volunteers won the Battle for the Beer Barrel for the 12th consecutive year Manning hobbled by a knee sprain suffered last week against Arkansas threw touchdown passes of 80 and 59 yards to Peerless Price and one of 38 yards to Andy McCullough before retiring less than halfway through the third quarter He completed 16 of 23 passes and became the first Tennessee quarterback ever to pass for more than 3000 yards in a season breaking the school single-season record he set last year Manning has 3124 passing yards with one regular-season game left next week against Vanderbilt The Volunteers also got touchdown runs of 7 and 35 yards from Jay Graham 1 yard by fullback Chester Ford a 30-yard option keeper by reserve quarterback Jeremaine Copeland and a 26-yard interception return by Ray Austin score was just one highlight for the Tennessee defense which was dominant Kentucky turned two of three first-quarter turnovers into all of its points Brian Johnson hit a 23-yard field goal and Billy Jack Haskins passed 24 yards to Norman Mason with 2:22 left in the first period At that point Tennessee led 14-10 From then until the score reached 56-10 late in the third quarter the Kentucky offense managed a total of three yards in seven possessions The Wildcats could have turned in their longest winning streak under Curry by beating Tennessee painful and Curry said of winning too late my arrogance I thought I could do it in a couple of years always think that always wrong but always happened sooner or later It just took too long here no responsibility but my The week leading up to his final game had been difficult feeling is not like any ever had Curry said this week mixed look forward to seeing the team every day the way a good football team is supposed to work to By RICHARD ROSENBLATT Associated Press COLUMBUS Ohio This time it seemed Ohio State lose This time the No 2 Buckeyes would beat No 21 Michigan cap a perfect season mbhhm and head to the Mirhiffan 11 Rose Bowl with a Michigan 13 shot at the na Ohio State 9 tionalchampion-ship The offense forgot to show up though and the Wolverines stunned Ohio State for the second straight year beating them 13-9 on Saturday with a second-half comeback led by backup Brian Griese sickening an awful a distraught Ohio State fullback Matt Calhoun said thought I have this type of feeling again and here I am feeling it The loss shattered Ohio bid for its first national title since 1968 and sends the dejected Buckeyes (10-1) now co-champions of the Big Ten with Northwestern into the Rose Bowl against No 4 Arizona State on Jan 1 have had a good year but not a great year when you beat Michigan" Buckeyes coach John Cooper 1-7-1 against Michigan said in a somber interview room outside the locker room excuses now we have to win the Rose At least they have a chance to go to Pasadena Last year the Buckeyes were 11-0 before a 3 1 -23 loss to Michigan sent Northwestern to the Rose Bowl In 1993 a 9-0-1 Ohio State team lost 28-0 to Michigan and Wisconsin ended up in the Rose Bowl For Michigan (8-3) coming off consecutive losses to Purdue and Penn State the upset salvaged the season Griese who had thrown only 10 passes all season and rugged defense gave Ohio State trouble in the second half was our Rose Griese said Rose The Buckeyes who had won 14 in a row at home led 9-0 at halftime But Griese who replaced starter Scott Dreisbach Photos by AMY SANCETTA (top) and MARK HAUAssociated Press Michigan kicker Remy Hamilton (top photo) kicks a 43-yard game-winning field goal in the third quarter Saturday as the Ohio State defense led by Tony Eisenhard (96) John Lumpkin (85) and Orlando Pace (75) attempt in vain to block the kick (above) in 13-9 victory (dislocated left elbow) threw a 69-yard touchdown pass to split end Tai Streets and the Wolverines trailed 9-7 The play silenced the Ohio Stadium crowd of 94676 and turned the game around With linebackers Jarrett Irons and Sam Sword stopping Ohio Pepe Pearson time after time the Wolverines held the Buckeyes to 14 yards in the third quarter and just 84 in the second half Michigan took a 10-9 lead on the last play of the third quarter on Remy 43-yard field goal In the fourth quarter the offense averaging 426 points and 4658 yards per game never woke up Whether it was Joe Germaine or Stanley Jackson at quarterback the Wolverines had all the answers After Hamilton kicked a 39-yard field goal with 1:19 left in the game to give the Wolverines a four-point lead the Buckeyes had one last chance Germaine 12-of-31 for 148 yards moved Ohio State to the Michigan 47 with 24 seconds left but threw three incompletions before a fourth-down pass was intercepted by Michigan safety Marcus Ray on the final play of the game not going to say they have our said Germaine who started for the first time a year to year thing Football is a momentum thing we had it in the first half and they had it in the second This is our biggest game of the year and we came up Mississippi goes the distance to earn victory over Georgia SEC Observer News Services ATHENS Ga Mississippi proved Saturday it could play more than 30 minutes The Rebels whose lack of depth led to second-half collapses against Tennessee Alabama and LSU out-scored Georgia 17-0 after halftime for a 31-27 upset that snuffed out the bowl hopes wanted our players to notice at halftime that (Georgia) thought we had Ole Miss coach Tommy Tuberville said took some gambles and most of them worked We played over our The Rebels hampered by NCAA-imposed scholarship limits brought only 63 players to Athens but rallied from a 27-14 halftime deficit getting two touchdowns Georgia had a chance to keep its bowl hopes alive after an 83-yard pass from Mike Bobo to Hines Ward who had five catches for 134 yards But the Rebels knocked away fourth-and-6 pass from the 12 with 1:46 remaining After an Ole Miss punt Georgia got a final opportunity from the Rebels 42 Bobo lofted a pass into the end zone but the ball was batted down as time expired with three Bulldog receivers sprawled on the ground hurts" said receiver Juan Daniels who caught a career-high eight passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns had established ourselves as an offense and as a team Then we gave it Bobo who learn until shortly before the game he would be starting at quarterback threw for a career-high 366 yards and three touchdowns Arkansas 16 Mississippi State 13 (overtime): Todd Latourette who missed a 48-yard field goal on the final play of regulation kicked a 30-yarder in overtime to give Arkansas the win on the road After Mississippi State failed to score in overtime freshman Chrys Chukwuma had a 13-yard run for Arkansas (4-6 2-5) Oscar Malone then carried twice for just 1 yard setting up third field goal of the game Mississippi State (4-6 2-5) overcame a 13-0 deficit in the fourth quarter but gained only five yards on three plays in overtime Brian Hazlewood who earlier missed an extra point then was wide right on a 37-yard field goal attempt Freshman quarterback Matt Wyatt had come off the bench to lead Mississippi State to two fourth-quarter touchdowns scoring on a 1-yard keeper with 37 seconds left Wyatt completed 9 of 14 passes for 112 yards his 6-yard touchdown to Lahitia Grant with 6:04 left being followed by first missed extra point in 24 attempts this season On the next drive Wyatt threaded three defenders with a strike to Matthew Butler for a 31-yard play to the 2 Wyatt dove into the end zone three plays later The loss assured Mississippi State its second straight losing season Jackie Sherrill in his sixth season at State and 19th as a college coach had never had consecutive losing seasons from their defense Eli Anding one of several players who must go both ways for Mississippi (5-5 2-5) caught a 2-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter to complete the comeback It was only the second catch of the year for Anding who also plays linebacker The Bulldogs (4-6 3-5 SEQ were hoping to win their final two games to qualify for bowl consideration Now they are assured of a losing record in coach Jim debut season game was typical of our team all Donnan said had critical mistakes at critical Summaries Page 14G.