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News Nuggets, 11.14.05
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

College Football Headliners: Stars & Storylines

   ***   Chansi Stuckey, Clemson, had 11 catches for 156 yards and two TDs and the Tigers beat Florida State 35-14.

   ***   Andre Hall, South Florida, rushed for 222 yards and three touchdowns in the Bulls' 27-0 win over Syracuse.

   ***   Kyle Wright, Miami (FL), finished 17-for-27 for 319 yards and tied a school record with five touchdown passes, leading the third-ranked Hurricanes to a 47-17 win over Wake Forest. Wright's fifth TD pass matched the mark set by Ken Dorsey, Steve Walsh, Bernie Kosar and Brock Berlin.

   ***   Vince Young, Texas, threw for 281 yards and a career-high four touchdowns and became the second-ranked Longhorns' career total offense leader in a 66-14 rout of Kansas. Young's 8,269 total career yards breaks the school mark of 8,059, set by Major Applewhite from 1998-2001.

   ***   JaMarcus Russell, Louisiana State, threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Bowe in overtime to give the Tigers a 16-13 victory over previously unbeaten Alabama.

   ***   Drew Olson, UCLA, threw for 510 yards and five touchdowns and the No. 14 Bruins defeated Arizona State 45-35.

   ***   Justin Luettgerodt, Brigham Young, recovered three fumbles and also intercepted a pass to help lead the cougars to a 35-21 win over Wyoming.

WINNING SIDE

Coach Steve Spurrier guided South Carolina to a 30-22 win over 12th-ranked Florida in his first meeting against the school where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1966 as a quarterback and a national championship in 1996 as coach. The victory broke the Gators' 14-game winning streak in the series — a run Spurrier contributed to by going 10-0 vs. the Gamecocks.

SORRY, POP

Charlie Whitehurst threw for 269 yards and three touchdowns to lead Clemson to a 35-14 win over No. 17 Florida State, the second time in three meetings that Tigers coach Tommy Bowden has beaten father Bobby in the Bowden Bowl.

TOP TWO

Top-ranked Southern California extended its winning streak to 32 games, beating California 35-10 at the site of its last failure. The Trojans, who haven't lost since their 34-31 triple-overtime defeat at Memorial Stadium in 2003, have the sixth-longest winning streak in Division I history, matching Miami's 32-game run from 2000-03 and an identical streak by a 19th-century Pennsylvania team. ... Texas ran its winning streak to 17 games and earned its first berth in the Big 12 championship game since 2001 with a 66-14 rout of Kansas. Texas scored at least 50 points for the sixth time this season and had outscored opponents 152-0 over eight quarters before Kansas scored on the first possession of the third quarter.

RIVALS

Quarterback Troy Smith ran for two touchdowns and linebacker A.J. Hawk returned a blocked punt for another score to lead 10th-ranked Ohio State to a 48-7 rout of No. 25 Northwestern. It was the Buckeyes' fifth straight win and fifth straight game with at least 35 points. Ohio State needs to win next week's annual showdown with rival Michigan to clinch at least a share of the Big Ten title. ... Chad Henne had three touchdown passes to lead No. 21 Michigan to its fifth straight victory, 41-14 over Indiana. The Wolverines scored all 41 points by halftime for their highest-scoring first half since scoring 45 against Indiana in 2000. ... Devin Aromashodu turned a fourth-down pass into a 62-yard gain, setting up John Vaughn's 20-yard field goal with six seconds remaining that gave No. 15 Auburn a thrilling 31-30 victory over ninth-ranked Georgia.

MIGHTY QUINN

Brady Quinn completed 22 of 31 passes for 284 yards and four touchdowns — extending his school record of games with TD passes to 14 straight — in No. 7 Notre Dame's 41-21 rout of Navy. Quinn now has 2,931 yards passing for the season and 52 career TD passes, tying the school mark set by Ron Powlus. He needs 254 yards passing in the Irish's final two games to pass the school career mark of 7,602 set by Powlus from 1994-97.

FANTASTIC 44

A half-century after Jim Brown made it famous, Syracuse officially retired jersey No. 44 at halftime of the Orange's 27-0 loss to South Florida. Brown, who led the NFL in rushing eight times in his nine-year career with the Cleveland Browns, and Marie Fleming, mother of the late Ernie Davis, were among those present when a giant replica of the jersey was unveiled at the Carrier Dome. Davis inherited the number from Brown and led Syracuse to the 1959 national championship.

BYE, BARRY

Barry Alvarez, who will step down at the end of the season as the Badgers' head coach but remain on as athletic director, was honored with a ceremony after No. 19 Wisconsin's 20-10 loss to Iowa, his final home game. The tribute included a video montage showing the highlights of his 16 seasons at the school.

L.T. RETURNS

Returning to Texas Christian's campus for the first time since his senior season five years ago, San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson was honored at halftime of the No. 18 Horned Frogs' 51-3 drubbing of Nevada-Las Vegas. Tomlinson, the school's career rushing leader with 5,263 yards and 54 touchdowns, received his general studies degree on Friday, the fulfillment of a promise made to his mother.

UPSETS

No. 13 Texas Tech's hopes of its first 10-win season since 1976 were spoiled with a 24-17 loss to Oklahoma State. The Red Raiders (8-2) tied the game when Chris Hudler jumped on Bobby Reid's fumble in the end zone, but Al Pena scored on a 1-yard run with 23 seconds remaining to stave off the rally. ... Virginia became bowl eligible by beating No. 24 Georgia Tech for the fourth consecutive season, 27-17.

BIDDING FOR BOWLS

Vanderbilt, attempting to become bowl eligible for the first time since 1982, fell short with a 48-43 loss to Kentucky. The Commodores trailed 34-10 at halftime, but three touchdown catches by Earl Bennett in the fourth quarter — he had five for the game — got them within five points. ... After missing postseason play last year for the first time since 1968, Nebraska became bowl eligible by beating Kansas State 27-25. Jordan Congdon kicked a 40-yard field goal with 1:05 left to snap the Cornhuskers' three-game losing streak. ... BYU became bowl eligible after beating Wyoming 35-21. Wyoming's fifth-consecutive loss eliminated any hope that the Cowboys would play in a Bowl game.

MILESTONES

Despite being held to just 18 yards on 15 carries in a 20-10 loss to Iowa, Wisconsin running back Brian Calhoun became just the second player in Big Ten history to register 1,000 yards rushing and 500 yards receiving in the same season. Iowa's Ronnie Harmon was the other. ... Missouri quarterback Brad Smith ran for three touchdowns in the Tigers' 31-16 victory over Baylor, setting school career records for points and rushing touchdowns (19). Smith also became the first player in NCAA history to pass for 8,000 yards and rush for 4,000. He has 260 career points, breaking the school mark of 252 set by running back Zack Abron from 2000-03. ... Kent Smith attempted a Mid-American Conference-record 70 passes and completed a school-record 46 in Central Michigan's 31-24 loss to Western Michigan. Smith threw for 460 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

SHUTOUT

Pittsburgh finished its home schedule with five consecutive victories, beating Connecticut 24-0. The Panthers must upset No. 16 West Virginia on Thanksgiving to avoid their first losing season since 1999 and to play in a sixth consecutive bowl game.

STREAKING

No. 18 TCU won its ninth straight game, a 51-3 rout of UNLV. Only top-ranked Southern Cal (32 games) and second-ranked Texas (17) have longer active winning streaks. ... Illinois dropped its eighth straight game in a 37-3 loss to Purdue, clinching at least a tie for last place in the Big Ten. The Illini avoided being shut out when Jason Reda kicked a 30-yard field goal with 7:37 left. ... Army beat Massachusetts 34-27 for its first three-game winning streak since 1996. The victory against the Division I-AA Minutemen also gave the Black Knights their first win at home this season and more victories than they managed last year. ... Coastal Carolina extended its winning streak at home to 12 games in a 71-8 drubbing of Mansfield. ... Buffalo beat Kent State 10-6 to snap a 10-game losing streak dating to last season and get its first conference win on the road since it joined the Mid-American Conference in 1999. ... Rice ended the nation's longest losing streak at 14 games with a 42-34 victory against Tulane. The Owls' last win was Oct. 9, 2004, when they beat SMU 44-10 in Houston. ... James Sims rushed for a career-high 200 yards and a score to help Washington end a 14-game Pac-10 losing streak with a 38-14 victory over Arizona.

SPEAKING

"You never let them think you're happy because if they think you are happy then they start to loosen up. You just keep your foot on their throat the whole time. It was not a good week for them." — Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, who said he was hard on his team all week in practice to make sure they wouldn't let up against Navy. The seventh-ranked Fighting Irish extended their NCAA-record winning streak over the Midshipmen to 42 with a 42-21 victory.

"We came in to win the SEC and win the national championship. That's what everybody signs at Alabama to do. The fact that we're not going be able to do either one unless something crazy happens and we had it right in front of us, it's a tough pill to swallow." — Alabama quarterback Brodie Croyle, after the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide's surprising run at perfection was spoiled by a 16-13 overtime loss to fifth-ranked LSU.

C-USA Football Standings, Scores & Schedule

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from Associated Press and other sources. Copyright 2005 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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