Pitt stuns No. 2 Miami
Miami spent the better part of 13 months putting together the nation’s longest winning streak behind a series of comebacks that returned the swagger to “The U” in all of its “Turnover Chain” glory.
Sluggish throughout the first half against Pittsburgh yesterday, the Hurricanes figured they’d come out for the third quarter, hit the gas and survive just the way they’ve done time and again during their rebirth under secondyear coach Mark Richt. Nope.
Miami’s perfect season is over. The second-ranked Hurricanes can only hope their shot at a College Football Playoff berth isn’t gone, too.
Freshman quarterback Kenny Pickett ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as the Panthers pulled out a decisive 24-14 stunner in Pittsburgh that sent Miami reeling into next week’s ACC title game showdown with defending national champion Clemson.
“I still think there’s an awful lot to play for,” Richt said. “We have no idea what’s going to happen in the big picture, how many teams lost a game on a Friday and came back and got in the top four? How many teams lost one game and won a conference championship and got right back in it? Who knows? So we don’t know.”
A chance to put together the program’s first unbeaten regular season since 2002 vanished at chilly but hardly cold Heinz Field. Malik Rosier completed just 15-of-34 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns and was briefly pulled in the fourth quarter. The Hurricanes (10-1, 7-1, CFP No. 2) managed just 232 yards, a season-low, and spotted Pitt a 10-7 halftime lead.
The Panthers (5-7, 3-5) put together a pair of long touchdown drives engineered by Pickett and the emphatic response from Miami never materialized.
TCU 45, Baylor 22 — Kenny Hill threw touchdown passes to three receivers and ran 3 yards for another score to help the No. 10 Horned Frogs (10-2, 7-2, CFP No.12) wrap up a spot in the Big 12 championship game with a win over the Bears (1-11, 1-8) in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Horned Frogs play No. 3 Oklahoma for the Big 12 title on Dec.2. That comes three weeks after TCU’s 38-20 loss to the Sooners.
Central Florida 49, South Florida 42 — Mike Hughes returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown with 1:28 remaining and the No. 12 Knights (11-0, 8-0, CFP No. 15) completed the first unbeaten regular season in program history to wrap up the American Athletic Conference’s East Division title with this win over the No. 19 Bulls (9-2, 6-2) in Orlando, Fla.
The Knights host Memphis in the conference title game Dec. 2.
Hughes’ touchdown capped a crazy 53-second span where the Knights took an eight-point lead, South Florida tied it and then the Knights took the lead for good.
The Bulls tied it at 42 when Quinton Flowers connected with Darnel Salomon for an 83-yard touchdown strike, and then found D’Ernest Johnson for a 2-point play.
Virginia Tech 10, Virginia 0 — In Charlottesville, Va., Josh Jackson threw a touchdown pass and the No. 24 Hokies (9-3, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat the Cavaliers (6-6, 3-5) for the 14th consecutive time.
The Hokies limited the Cavaliers to 5 rushing yards and 191 overall in posting their third shutout of the season.
Virginia had two golden opportunities for touchdowns, but Juan Thornhill slipped after intercepting a pass with nothing but green grass in front of him, and speedy wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus caught a slant pattern that looked like it might go 89 yards, but he was caught from behind by Deon Newsome after just 28.
Elsewhere in college football
— Arkansas has fired coach Bret Bielema after five disappointing seasons, moments after a seasonending 48-45 loss to Missouri yesterday.
The loss left Arkansas with a 4-8 record, capping only the second losing season of Bielema’s 12year career. It also left him with a 29-34 record in his five seasons with the Razorbacks, including 11-29 in the SEC.