Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. ó Sam Bradford and Oklahoma wanted to drive home one point: They belong in the BCS championship game.
The No. 4 Sooners did that with a 62-21 blowout of No. 19 Missouri for the Big 12 title Saturday night.
Taking advantage of an opportunity many felt it didn’t deserve, the highest-scoring team in major college football history romped to a third straight conference crown and became the first to reach 60 points in five consecutive games.
If all goes accordingly today, Oklahoma (12-1) will be in the top two of the Bowl Championship Series standings, looking at a title game matchup against No. 2 Florida on Jan. 8 in Miami
No. 23 Pittsburgh 34, Connecticut 10EAST HARTFORD, Conn. ó Bill Stull threw for two touchdowns and LeSean McCoy ran for another to help Pittsburgh beat Connecticut, giving the Panthers their first nine-win regular season since 1982 and a bid to the Sun Bowl.
Pittsburgh (9-3, 5-2 Big East) scored 24 points in the third quarter to blow open a close game in front bowl officials, who said they would offer the Panthers a bid to play in the New Year’s Eve game.
Connecticut (7-5, 3-4) could be headed to the Motor City Bowl.
UConn’s Donald Brown ran for 189 yards on 34 carries, assuring he will end the regular season as the nation’s leading rusher. His 57-yard run with 4:29 left in the third quarter brought the Huskies to 13-10.
Navy 34, Army 0PHILADELPHIA ó With President George W. Bush in attendance, Shun White ran for 148 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead bowl-bound Navy over Army for its seventh straight win in the storied rivalry between service academies.
Army (3-9) debuted camouflage helmets, pants and uniform numbers, and the backs of their jerseys had the words “Duty. Honor. Country.”
The Black Knights’ makeover was sharper than their play. Navy (8-4) got a 65-yard TD run from White on the third play of the game and improved to 53-49-7 overall against Army for its biggest lead in a series that began in 1890.
Navy has won 13 straight times against Air Force and Army since 2002, outscoring the programs 441-205 during the streak. The Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy remains docked with Navy.
California 48, Washington 7BERKELEY, Calif. ó Tyrone Willingham’s final hours as Washington’s football coach resembled all too many sorry Saturdays during his four years at the school.
With just one chance left to avoid the humiliation of being part of an 0-12 team, his Huskies struggled with the simplest tasks while falling behind 31-0 at halftime to a California team playing for nothing but fun. The defense barely put a hand Jahvid Best, who glided a school-record 311 yards and four touchdowns.
By the time Washington concluded the first winless season in school history with a 48-7 defeat, the taciturn Willingham seemed both sad and angry ó and the veteran coach looked like he couldn’t wait to remove his purple polo shirt with the “W” crest for the last time.
“You hurt for your kids,” said Willingham, a lame duck since his dismissal in late October. “You hate to see them have to deal with anything of this nature. … I’m just disappointed that we didn’t get done what we set out to do.”
After a downbeat coda to this dirge of a season, Washington (0-12, 0-9 Pac-10) staggered back to Seattle as the nation’s only winless school and the first 0-12 team in conference history. The Huskies have lost 14 straight since their last victory, over Cal late last season.
Albany 28, Jacksonville 0
ALBANY, N.Y. ó David McCarty rushed for 271 yards and four touchdowns as Albany, N.Y., beat Jacksonville 28-0 in the third annual Gridiron Classic. The Dolphins (9-4), who carried a seven-game winning streak Saturday’s game, were shut out for the first time since 2003.
The Great Danes (9-3) are the Northeast Conference champions.FCS
HARRISONBURG, Va. ó Rodney Landers and James Madison beat Villanova again, and this time they didn’t need a last play Hail Mary.Landers threw for three touchdowns and ran for the go-ahead score with 1:38 to play Saturday as top-seeded James Madison rallied to beat Villanova 31-27 in the Football Championship Subdivision quarterfinals.
The Dukes (12-1) trailed only once, after Matthew Szczur’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Stephen Pimm.
The Wildcats finished 10-3.
The Dukes advance to play Montana, the team they beat to win the 2004 national championship, next weekend.
Montana 24, Weber St. 13
MISSOULA, Mont ó Chase Reynolds ran for 185 yards and two touchdowns Saturday and No. 5 Montana (13-1) avenged its only loss of the season with a 24-13 win over Weber State.
DIVISION II
MARYVILLE, Mo. ó LaRon Council rushed for 139 yards and four touchdowns Saturday as Northwest Missouri State (13-1) beat North Alabama 41-7 to advance to the NCAA Division II national championship game for the fourth straight season.
The Bearcats will play Minnesota-Duluth (14-0), a 45-7 winner in its semifinal game, on Saturday in Florence, Ala. Northwest Missouri has lost the last three championship games by a combined total of 12 points.