West Virginia holds off Rutgers
Jarrett Brown threw a 22-yard touchdown pass in the third overtime and West Virginia knocked down Mike Teel’s 2-point conversion pass to preserve a 41-39 win over Rutgers on Saturday night in Morgantown, W. Va., denying the Scarlet Knights their first BCS berth and allowing Louisville to gain the automatic bid.
Brown ran for one touchdown and threw for another in his first career start to help No. 15 West Virginia (10-2, 5-2 Big East) cap its second straight 10-win season. Brown started for Pat White, who sat out the game with a sore ankle suffered in a loss to South Florida a week ago.
Starting with the third overtime, teams are required to go for 2-point conversions following touchdowns. Brown hit Brandon Myles across the middle for the go-ahead score against No. 13 Rutgers (10-2, 5-2), then found Dorrell Jalloh with the 2-point conversion pass for a 41-33 lead.
(6) Louisville 48, Connecticut 17: At Louisville, Ky., Brian Brohm threw for 341 yards and four touchdowns and the Cardinals (11-1, 6-1) won the Big East championship with a 48-17 win over Connecticut. Harry Douglas caught five passes for 149 yards and two scores and Anthony Allen added two touchdowns on the ground as Louisville took control early and made quick work of the Huskies (4-8, 1-6).
Brohm was nearly flawless, completing 20 of 28 passes and leading the Cardinals to scores on all but two drives before exiting following his final touchdown pass, a 32-yard strike to Gary Barnidge midway through the fourth quarter.
The victory extended Louisville’s home winning streak to 18 straight, the second-longest in the country, and it looked a lot like the 17 that came before it. The Cardinals rolled up 570 yards of offense, only punted once and never really let the Huskies into the game.
Navy 26, Army 14: At Philadelphia, with a pair of rushing touchdowns, and a defense that produced two scores, the Midshipmen sent their seniors out with another win over Army and a career sweep of the service academies.
Jason Tomlinson and Reggie Campbell each ran for scores to lead Navy to a win over the Black Knights (3-9) in the 107th meeting of one the most storied rivalries in college sports.
Keenan Little returned an interception 40 yards for a TD late in the fourth for bowl-bound Navy (9-3).
TCU 38, Air Force 14: At Waco, Texas, Jeff Ballard completed all 12 of his passes and ran for a touchdown in the first quarter and the Horned Frogs (11-2, 6-2 MWC) dominated throughout for their seventh straight victory, over Air Force to reach 10 victories for the fifth time in seven seasons.
The Falcons (4-8, 3-5), who haven’t been shut out in 168 games since a 13-0 loss to Mississippi in the 1992 Liberty Bowl, didn’t score until Hunter Altman returned a blocked punt 15 yards for a touchdown with 12:28 left.
Troy 26, Florida International 13: At Miami, Omar Haugabook threw two touchdown passes as the Trojans (7-5, 6-1) defeated the Golden Panthers (0-12, 0-7) to win the Sun Belt Conference and a bowl berth.
The victory gave Troy its first Sun Belt Conference title and a berth to the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl on Dec. 22. where the Trojans will play the Rice Owls (Conference USA).
Troy got its second bowl berth since moving to Division I in 2001. FIU finished the year, along with Duke, one of two winless NCAA Division I teams.
FIU head coach Don Strock coached his last game for the Golden Panthers, finishing his five-year career at FIU with a 15-41 record.
Louisiana-Monroe 39, Louisiana-Lafayette 20: At Lafayette, La., Calvin Dawson had a pair of rushing touchdowns and Cole Wilson scored four field goals to lead the Warhawks (4-8, 3-4 SBC) to a win over the Ragin’ Cajuns (6-6, 3-4).
Dawson finished the game with 129 yards rushing, besting Tyrell Fenroy’s 118 yards for the Ragin’ Cajuns to win the Sun Belt’s rushing title by 13 yards.
San Diego State 17, Colorado State 6: At San Diego, Atiyyah Henderson and Kevin O’Connell each ran for a touchdown to lead the Aztecs (3-9, 3-5 MWC) to a victory over the Rams (4-4, 1-7).
Henderson scored on a 2-yard run early in the second quarter to give the Aztecs a 7-0 lead.
O’Connell, who struggled throwing the ball, iced the win on a 14-yard TD run with 7:05 left in the game to put the Aztecs ahead 17-6.
San Diego State averted setting a dubious school record under first-year head coach Chuck Long. With a defeat, the Aztecs would have become the first team in the school’s 86-year football history with 10 losses.