Alabama holds off Georgia, advances to southeast final
Kansas State earns trip to Fiesta Bowl
ATLANTA, Dec 2, (AP): Alabama is heading back to college football’s championship game after a thrilling 32-28 win over Georgia in the Southeast Conference championship game on Saturday.
Quarterback A.J. McCarron threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper with 3:15 remaining to put Alabama ahead, and the No. 2-ranked Crimson Tide just held on.
After an apparent game-clinching interception by Alabama was overturned on a video review, Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray completed a 15-yard pass to Arthur Lynch, a 23-yarder to Tavarres King and a 26yarder to Lynch, who was hauled down at the Alabama 8-yard line as the clock continued to run.
The Bulldogs were out of timeouts. Instead of spiking the ball to stop the clock and gathering themselves, the Bulldog snapped the ball with 9 seconds to go.
Murray’s attempted pass into the corner of the endzone was deflected at the line but wound up in the arms of Chris Conley. Surprised to get the ball, he slipped down at the 5-yard line and the No.3-ranked Bulldogs did not have time to get off another play.
Alabama celebrated as confetti fell from the Georgia Dome roof. The Bulldogs collapsed on the field, stunned they had come so close to knocking off the team that has won two of the past three national titles.
The Tide will get a chance to make it three out of four when they face top-ranked Notre Dame for the BCS crown on Jan. 7 in Miami.
“I’m ready to have heart attack here,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “They played a tremendous game out there. That was a great football game, by both teams. It came right down to the last play.”
For the Bulldogs (11-2), the consolation prize will likely be a spot in the Capital One Bowl, though they certainly looked like a team fully deserving of a BCS bid. Georgia coach Mark Richt said his team had the play it wanted at the end, but Alabama ruined it by getting a hand on the ball.
“I told the guys I was disappointed, but I’m not disappointed in them,” Richt said. “They’re warriors. We had a chance at the end. We just didn’t get it done.”
In a back-and-forth second half that looked nothing like a game in the defensive-minded SEC, Georgia looked like winners when they went up 21-10 as Alec Ogletree returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown in the third quarter.
Alabama rallied behind a punishing running game, finishing with 350 yards on the ground, an SEC championship game record. Eddie Lacy rumbled for 181 yards on 20 carries, including two TDs. Freshman T.J. Yeldon added 153 yards on 25 carries, also scoring a TD.
But the Tide won it through the air. With Georgia stacking the line, McCarron fooled the Bulldogs with play action and delivered a perfectly thrown pass to Cooper, who beat Damian Swann in single coverage down the left side.
The Bulldogs punted the ball back to Alabama with 2:25 left, relying on their defense to finally stop the Tide. Georgia used up its final two timeouts, forced a punt and got the ball back at its 15 with 1:16 remaining.
Alabama broke into a celebration when a pass down the middle for Conley was deflected and Dee Milliner appeared to make a diving interception. But the replay showed the ball hit the ground, so Murray and the Georgia offense trotted back on the field for their last drive, which fell agonizingly short.
Todd Gurley led Georgia with 122 yards rushing, including a couple of TDs. Murray was 18 of 33 for 265 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
McCarron was 12 of 21 for 162 yards with an interception, just his third of the season.
Kansas State 42, Texas 24 In Manhattan, Kan, Collin Klein threw a touchdown pass and ran for two scores and Kansas won its third conference title in 117 years and earned a trip to the Fiesta Bowl.
In front of their sixth sellout in seven home games, the Wildcats (11-1, 8-1 Big 12) tied their team record for victories in a season and matched Oklahoma’s Big 12 record.
Kansas State has beaten Texas (84, 5-4) five in a row.
Klein wound up hitting 8 of 14 passes for 184 yards and added 108 yards rushing on 23 carries. John Hubert scored three touchdowns.
Case McCoy hit 26-of-34 passes for 314 yards, with two TDs and interceptions.
Oklahoma 24, TCU 17 In Fort Worth, Texas, Landry Jones threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns, Damien Williams ran untouched 66 yards for a score and Oklahoma earned at least a share of the Big 12 title.
TCU’s fourth-down pass to the goal-line in the final minute was well-defended and fell incomplete.
The Sooners (10-2, 8-1 Big 12) won their eighth consecutive Big 12 game since a late-September loss to Kansas State, which played it regular-season finale at home Saturday night against No. 23 Texas. Oklahoma would have the outright title and guaranteed BCS spot if the seventh-ranked Wildcats lose.
Oklahoma, whose only other loss was to No. 1 Notre Dame, is in good shape for the final at-large BCS berth even if K-State wins.
TCU (7-5, 4-5) lost all four of its Big 12 games at home despite winning four on the road. Florida State 21, Georgia Tech 15 In Charlotte, NC, James Wilder Jr ran two touchdowns as Florida State captured its first Atlantic Coast Conference championship since 2005 and earn a trip to the Orange Bowl.
It was Florida State’s 13th ACC title.
The heavily favored Seminoles (11-2) built a 21-6 lead at the half and held on to win, helping to erase some of the sting from last week’s 37-26 loss to their bitter rival, No. 4 Florida.
Despite its record, Georgia Tech (6-7) is bowl eligible after receiving a waiver from the NCAA on Thursday.
It looked like Georgia Tech, a two-touchdown underdog, might get blown out, but the game wasn’t decided until Karlos Williams intercepted Tevin Washington with less than a minute remaining.
The Yellow Jackets slowed down the Seminoles in the second half and forced two turnovers by quarterback EJ Manuel to get back in the game.
Wisconsin 70, Nebraska 31 In Indianapolis, Montee Ball ran for 201 yards and three touchdowns, and Wisconsin rushed for the 539 yards to win the Big Ten title game.
The Badgers (8-5, 4-4 Big Ten) are the first team to reach the Rose Bowl with five losses, are the first Big Ten team to make it in three straight years since Michigan in the late 1970s.
They also tied Texas’ record for most points in a conference championship game.
It was a fitting end to a wacky Big Ten season that pitted the Cornhuskers (10-3, 7-1), the Legends Division champ, against the third-place team from the Leaders Division.
But Nebraska never had a chance with Ball and his teammates running wild.
Melvin Gordon ran for 217 yards and one TD, while James White had 108 yards, four TDs and one TD pass.
Taylor Martinez had a 76-yard touchdown run for the Huskers, and was 17 for 33 for 184 yards and two interceptions. Oregon State 77, Nicholls Sstate 3 In Corvallis, Ore, Storm Woods ran for two touchdowns in the first quarter and Oregon State put up its highest point total ever.
Oregon State (9-3) started playing its substitutes against the lower-division Colonels in taking a 35-0 halftime lead. Markus Wheaton caught 12 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown and sat out the second half.
Officials from both schools decided to put off the Sept. 1 opener when the storm bore down on the Colonels’ campus in Thibodeaux, La.
The Beavers had a complete turnaround from their 3-9 finish last year. Oregon State is possibly headed to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on Dec. 27, and representatives from that bowl and the Alamo Bowl were in attendance. The team will learn its destination on Sunday. Baylor 41, Oklahoma State 34 In Waco, Texas, Lache Seastrunk rushed for 178 yards, including a 76yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, and Nick Florence passed for 296 yards for Baylor.
Baylor (7-5, 4-5 Big 12) has won at least seven games in three straight seasons — the first time the Bears have done that since 1949-51.
Seastrunk’s long scoring run gave Baylor a 41-27 lead with 5:11 left in the game.
The sophomore burst through the middle and slowed down about 25 yards shy of the end zone. Seastrunk stumbled into the end zone and was down on the turf before limping off with an apparent right leg injury.
J.W. Walsh rushed for two touchdowns for Oklahoma State (7-5, 54).
Boise State 27, Nevada 21 In Reno, Nev, Joe Southwick threw two touchdown passes to lead Boise State to a share of the Mountain West Conference title.
The Broncos and ensuring their nation’s best seventh consecutive 10-win season.
D.J. Harper ran for 130 yards for Boise State (10-2, 7-1) and the Broncos’ defense put the clamps on a Nevada offense that was averaging 38 points per game.
Stefphon Jefferson ran for 139 yards and a touchdown and Cody Fajardo passed for 203 yards and ran for 81 for the Wolf Pack (7-5, 4-4), who lost four of their last five games after starting the season 6-1.
Matt Miller caught seven passes for 127 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown from Southwick that put Boise ahead late 24-7.