A wild new year
Friday, January 2, 2009 10:02 AM PST
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| Mark J. Terrill | Associated Press
Southern California quarterback Mark Sanchez (6) holds up the trophy as he celebrates with teammates Kaluka Maiava (left) and Damian Williams (18) after USC beat Penn State 38-24 in the Rose Bowl NCAA college football game in Pasadena, Calif., Thursday. |
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Southern California made a strong case of its own to be No. 1.
JoePa certainly recognized what a talented team the Trojans were — and that was before they beat up Penn State in the Rose Bowl.
Mark Sanchez passed for 413 yards and four touchdowns, USC dominated on defense and the fifth-ranked Trojans defeated the No. 6 Nittany Lions 38-24 Thursday.
Penn State coach Joe Paterno watched from the press box, where he’s been for most of the season because of hip problems. He couldn’t have liked what he saw — at one point in the first half, the TV camera caught him shaking his head as USC (12-1) rolled to a 31-7 lead.
Out of the BCS championship mix, the Trojans could only wonder what might have been had they not lost at Oregon State 27-21 on Sept. 25.
What was thought to be a weak Pac-10 hurt the Trojans’ chances to reach the national championship game in Miami — where Florida and Oklahoma will play next week. But the Pac-10 finished the postseason 5-0.
‘‘With all do respect, those are two great programs, I don’t think anybody can beat the Trojans,’’ USC coach Pete Carroll said.
USC scored four touchdowns and a field goal on consecutive first-half possessions for a 31-7 halftime lead against a team that allowed only 12.4 points per game during the regular season.
Orange Bowl
No. 21 Virginia Tech 20, No. 12 Cincinnati 7
MIAMI (AP) — Darren Evans had 28 carries for 153 yards and a touchdown, Tyrod Taylor rushed for a score and Virginia Tech joined Southern California and Texas as the only schools to win 10 games in each of the past five seasons.
The Hokies (10-4) forced Cincinnati quarterback Tony Pike into a season-high four interceptions. Pike — who wasn’t even on Cincinnati’s depth chart at the start of the season before blossoming into an all-Big East quarterback — threw for 239 yards and a touchdown, but had his night marred mightily by the picks and getting stopped on a fourth-and-goal in the fourth quarter.
Mardy Gilyard had 255 all-purpose yards (158 receiving , 97 returning) and a touchdown catch for Cincinnati, which saw its six-game winning streak snapped. The Bearcats (11-3) came in as slight favorites over the Hokies, who lost this game to Kansas a year ago.
So this one was especially sweet for Virginia Tech.
Really, for the entire Atlantic Coast Conference, too.
The Hokies became the first ACC team to win a BCS game since Florida State to close the 1999 season.
Capital One Bowl
No. 16 Georgia 24, No. 19 Michigan State 12
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Matthew Stafford threw three touchdown passes in the second half.
Ranked No. 1 early this season, the Bulldogs (10-3) gave coach Mark Richt his sixth bowl win in eight tries.
Stafford was just 6-for-14 and an interception in the first half. After that, he looked more like the quarterback that NFL teams covet — if he decides to pass up his senior season — in going 14-for-17 and the three scores in a span of 18 minutes.
Stafford was picked as the game’s MVP, completing his performance by showing a nice touch in threading a 21-yard TD pass to Moreno late in the fourth quarter. Stafford set a single-season school record with 25 touchdown passes.
The expected showdown between star running backs Javon Ringer and Moreno never materialized. Moreno ran for 62 yards on 23 carries; Ringer had 47 yards and a TD on 20 carries for Michigan State (9-4).
Outback Bowl
Iowa 31, South Carolina 10
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Shonn Greene rushed for 121 yards and three touchdowns, helping the Hawkeyes trounce South Carolina.
Greene, who sat out the 2007 season because of academic problems, ran for more than 100 yards in all 13 of Iowa’s games and scored in all but one. He finished with school single-season records of 1,850 yards and 20 TDs.
The 235-pound junior said he will pass up his senior season and enter the NFL draft.
Iowa (9-4) won for the sixth time in seven games since losing three straight to fall to 3-3. South Carolina (7-6) lost three straight down the stretch while being outscored 118-30.
South Carolina’s Stephen Garcia turned the ball over four times in the first half and went 9-for-18 for 79 yards before being replaced.
Gator Bowl
Nebraska 26, Clemson 21
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Joe Ganz threw for two touchdowns, Alex Henery kicked four field goals and Nebraska beat Clemson.
Nebraska (9-4) ended the season with a four-game winning streak, including a victory against rival Colorado, won six of its final seven games and had success in a January bowl game for the first time in nine years.
It capped quite a turnaround for the Cornhuskers, who hired Pelini to replace fired coach Bill Callahan after missing the postseason in 2007. The former defensive coordinator at LSU, Oklahoma and Nebraska led the Huskers to their fourth New Year’s Day bowl in 11 seasons.
Clemson (7-6) was hoping to maintain its late-season momentum under new coach Dabo Swinney. The Tigers had won four of their last five games after a 3-3 start that prompted longtime coach Tommy Bowden to resign.ꈀ
