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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Auburn Is Alabama’s Best

Associated Press

Around the country

Like some pickup game played to exhaustion in any backyard in America, Alabama-Auburn came down to one final stand down by the end zone. The team that was better on that one would win the game.

With 21 seconds left and 22 yards to go, Alabama quarterback Freddie Kitchens stared into the mouth of the screaming student section at Auburn, Ala., just like he might have dreamed as a kid. Auburn held its ground, and the No. 21 Tigers beat No. 17 Alabama 31-27 Saturday in a game that rivaled some of the best in this great series.

Fred Beasley’s 22-yard touchdown run gave the Tigers (8-3, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) their decisive lead with 11:15 remaining. Then, Auburn’s young, suspect defense withstood one more drive.

“We just came up short,” Alabama wide receiver Curtis Brown said. “I don’t think anyone had any intentions of losing. We played like champions.”

The rivals exchanged blows and leads, with the outcome uncertain until the end. Auburn punted with 3:22 left, giving Alabama one more shot at winning an electrifying game and preserving bragging rights for another year.

But Kitchens, in only his second start as a college quarterback, missed the end zone on three straight passes. It ended on fourth-and-10 with 9 seconds left, as Kitchens missed his receiver in the corner of the end zone.

The crowd, still not tired after nearly 4 hours of screaming, erupted into deafening cheers as some fans stormed the field.

East

(19) Penn State 27, (12) Michigan 17: At State College, Pa., Wally Richardson threw two touchdown passes and the Nittany Lions (7-3, 4-3 Big Ten) scored on a fake field goal with 2:40 remaining in a win over the Wolverines (8-3, 4-3).

The win puts Penn State into position to go to its fifth straight New Year’s Day bowl. If the Nittany Lions can beat Michigan State next week, they will probably be invited to the Outback Bowl in Tampa.

Rutgers 23, Temple 20: At Philadelphia, Ray Lucas’ second touchdown pass to Steven Harper, with 1:28 remaining in the game, lifted the Scarlet Knights (4-6, 2-4 Big East) over the Owls (1-10, 1-6).

(23) Syracuse 58, Boston College 29: At Syracuse, N.Y., Rob Konrad scored three touchdowns in the opening quarter and the Orangemen (8-2, 5-1 Big East) defeated the Golden Eagles (3-8, 3-3).

Navy 35, Tulane 7: At Annapolis, Md., backup quarterback Chris McCoy led the Midshipmen (5-5) to their most lopsided victory over a Division I-A opponent in 12 years, throwing two touchdown passes and running for two scores in a rout of the Green Wave (2-9).

South

(4) Tennessee 34, Kentucky 31: At Lexington, Ky., Peyton Manning passed for two touchdowns and ran for another in the second half, rallying the Volunteers (9-1, 6-1 SEC) to a win over the Wildcats (4-7, 2-6).

(3) Florida 38, Vanderbilt 7: At Gainesville, Fla., on a day when Danny Wuerffel lost ground in the Heisman Trophy race with his worst game of the season, the Gators (10-0, 7-0 SEC) remained a national championship contender with a rout of the Commodores (2-8, 1-6).

(6) Florida St. 59, Maryland 17: At Tallahassee, Fla., Danny Kanell set an Atlantic Coast Conference record for career touchdown passes, leading the Seminoles (9-1, 7-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) to a win over the Terrapins (6-5, 4-4) for a record fourth straight ACC title.

LSU 28, (14) Arkansas 0: At Baton Rouge, La., Kendall Cleveland, a redshirt freshman who averaged just 46 yards a game this year, rushed for 102 yards and three touchdowns as the Tigers (6-4-1, 4-3-1 SEC) shut out the Razorbacks (8-3, 6-2).

(21) Virginia Tech 36, (13) Virginia 29: At Charlottesville, Va., Jim Druckenmiller threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Holmes with 47 seconds remaining, lifting the Hokies (9-2) past the Cavaliers (8-4).

(24) Clemson 38, South Carolina 17: At Columbia, S.C., Clemson (8-3) tailback Raymond Priester, stung by a stretched and sore hamstring, came back after halftime to light up the Tigers running game in a win over the Gamecocks (4-6-1).

(25) Miami 17, West Virginia 12: At Miami, the Hurricanes (7-3, 5-1 Big East) made a goal-line stand with 4 minutes left and overcame several squandered scoring chances to beat the Mountaineers (4-6, 3-3).

N. Carolina St. 52, Wake Forest 23: At Winston-Salem, N.C., quarterbacks Terry Harvey and Rusty LaRue dueled, LaRue throwing an ACC record 545 yards but Harvey tossing five touchdowns as the Wolfpack (3-7, 2-5 ACC) routed the Demon Deacons (1-10, 0-8).

East Carolina 31, Memphis 17: At Greenville, N.C., Jerris McPhail ended his regular season with a career-high 209 yards and two touchdowns as the Pirates broke away in the second half for a win over the Tigers (3-8). After the game, the Pirates (8-3) got an official invitation to the Liberty Bowl.

Louisville 57, North Texas 14: At Louisville, Ky., Marty Lowe threw a career-high four touchdown passes and Calvin Arrington rushed for two TDs as the Cardinals (7-4) routed the Mean Green (2-9).

North Carolina 28, Duke 24: At Chapel Hill, N.C., Mike Thomas threw two 4-yard scoring passes in the fourth quarter and the Tar Heels (5-5, 3-4 ACC) kept alive their slim bowl hopes with a win over the Blue Devils (3-8, 1-7).

Midwest

(2) Ohio St. 42, Indiana 3: At Columbus, Ohio, Bob Hoying passed for two touchdowns before leaving with a concussion and Eddie George rushed for 130 yards and two scores as the Buckeyes beat the Hoosiers (2-8 Big Ten, 0-7).

Ohio State improved to 11-0 for only the third time in school history and the first time since 1979. The Buckeyes are 7-0 in Big Ten.

(5) Northwestern 23, Purdue 8: At West Lafayette, Ind., Darnell Autry gained a career-high 226 yards as the Wildcats (10-1, 8-0 Big Ten) beat the Boilermakers (3-6-1, 1-5-1) to keep their Rose Bowl hopes alive and clinch a share of their first conference title since 1936.

Iowa 33, Wisconsin 20: At Madison, Wis., junior tailback Sedrick Shaw carried 41 times for 214 yards and three touchdowns as the Hawkeyes (6-4, 2-4 Big Ten) snapped a four-game losing streak with a win over the Badgers (4-5-1, 3-4).

Illinois 48, Minnesota 14: At Champaign, Ill., Illinois’ offense finally erupted from a season of doldrums while star linebackers Kevin Hardy and Simeon Rice enjoyed big games as the Illini rolled.

Illinois (5-5, 3-4 Big Ten) kept its bowl hopes alive with the victory. It finishes the regular season at Wisconsin next Saturday while Minnesota (3-7, 1-6) is at Iowa.

Southwest

(10) Texas 27, Texas Christian 19: At Austin, Texas, Shon Mitchell ran for two scores, including a 2-yard TD plunge with 2:08 left, and the Longhorns defense came on late in the game as Texas (8-1-1, 5-0 SWC) beat the Horned Frogs (6-4, 3-3).

(18) Texas A&M 56, Middle Tennessee 14: At College Station, Texas, Albert Connell caught a 61-yard touchdown pass on the second play of the game and Leeland McElroy ran 58 and 5 yards for touchdowns during a 28-point first quarter that led the Aggies (7-2) to a win over the Blue Raiders (7-4).

Cincinnati 24, Tulsa 5: At Tulsa, Okla., Robert Tate returned the second-half kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown and the Bears pressure defense came up with three turnovers in a win over the the Golden Hurricane (4-7).

(15) Kansas 22, Oklahoma St. 17: At Stillwater, Okla., Mark Williams threw for one touchdown and ran for another as the Jayhawks (9-2, 5-2 Big Eight) survived a scare to the Cowboys (3-8, 2-5) for their first nine-victory season since 1968.

Baylor 34, Rice 6: At Waco, Texas, Jerod Douglas rushed for 197 yards and two touchdowns as the Bears (7-3, 5-1 SWC) kept their Southwest Conference title dreams alive with a win over the Owls (2-7-1, 1-5).

Texas Tech 45, Southern Methodist 14: At Dallas, Byron Hanspard scored five touchdowns and racked up 260 yards of total offense as the Red Raiders (7-3, 4-2 SWC) beat the Mustangs (1-10, 0-7) in the Cotton Bowl’s farewell to the Southwest Conference.

Texas-El Paso 17, New Mexico 12: At El Paso, Texas, Toraino Singleton rushed for 199 yards and a touchdown and the Miners (2-9, 1-7 WAC) took advantage of a porous Lobos line (4-7, 2-6).

West

Wyoming 38, Fresno State 10: At Laramie, Wyo., Len Sexton’s 102 yards and two touchdowns led a strong rushing attack that helped the Cowboys (5-5, 3-4 WAC) defeat the Bulldogs (5-6, 2-5).

(8) Notre Dame 44, Air Force 14: At Air Force Academy, Colo., Randy Kinder and Autry Denson each ran for more than 100 yards as the Fighting Irish (9-2) locked up a New Year’s Day bowl bid with a win over the Falcons (7-4).

The Irish, who won their eighth straight over Air Force, will finish the season ranked in the Top 10 to earn a trip to either the Orange Bowl or Sugar Bowl as an at-large selection in the bowl coalition.

Air Force had its Copper Bowl hopes diminished and were eliminated from the Holiday Bowl race earlier in the day.

Utah 34, BYU 17: At Provo, Utah, Mike Fouts passed for two touchdowns and Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala ran for two scores to lead the Utes to a win over the Cougars, giving Utah a share of the Western Athletic Conference title.

Utah (7-4, 6-2 WAC), a league champion for the first time in 31 years, might have as many as four teams join it atop the league standings, including BYU (6-4, 5-2), which must beat Fresno State next week.

Utah State 38, Pacific 22: At Logan, Utah, Abu Wilson ran for two touchdowns and Patrick Mullins passed for two as the Aggies (4-7, 4-2 Big West) rolled to a season-ending victory over the Tigers (3-8, 2-4).

Nevada 45, San Jose St. 28: At Reno, Nev., Alex Van Dyke set an NCAA record for most receiving yards in a season, catching 13 passes for 314 yards as the Wolf Pack (9-2, 6-0 Big West) beat the Spartans (3-8, 2-4).

New Mexico St. 58, UNLV 34: At Las Vegas, Cody Ledbetter passed for a season-high 546 yards and four touchdowns as the Aggies (4-7, 3-3 Big West) routed the Rebels (2-8, 1-5).

San Diego St. 49, Hawaii 10: At Honolulu, the Aztecs (8-3, 5-2 WAC) stomped the Rainbows (4-6, 2-5).