Number one seed in the country, the Miami Hurricanes, came to the northeast to face unranked Big East Conference rival, the Boston College Eagles. Miami won, barely, and lost its spot atop the Coaches Poll.
Miami could manage only four field goals throughout most of the game mainly because of quarterback Ken Dorsey's four interceptions. The Hurricanes led 12-7 with four minutes to play but BC orchestrated a beautiful drive as time ran down. With the Eagles inside the Miami ten-yard line with only two minutes left, it looked as though BC might pull off the upset. Then an ill-advised pass from quarterback Brian St. Pierre led to an 80 yard interception return giving Miami an 18-7 win.
Though Miami escaped with a narrow win, it was not so lucky in the rankings as it lost its number one position in the Coaches' Poll. Fortunately for the Hurricanes, Nebraska did not have a good showing in its game either, enabling Miami to retain its number one place in the AP Poll. Now the two teams have split the polls, showing one more time why the Bowl Championship Series exists.
As Miami struggled, the number two Nebraska Cornhuskers had their own difficulties with a conference rival of their own. They beat the Kansas State Wildcats 31-21, but the game should not have been this close. Kansas drops to a 4-5 record (2-5 Big 12), as Nebraska remains one of three unbeatens in the nation.
Nebraska jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the second quarter, but then two scores in under three minutes left the score 14-13 in Kansas' favor at halftime. In the second half, Nebraska again took the lead with 18 unanswered points. A late touchdown by Kansas was not enough, and Nebraska came away with the victory.
In this match, both passing games were anemic at best. Nebraska quarterback and Heisman hopeful, Eric Crouch, threw for 60 yards and had two interceptions. Kansas quarterbacks were limited to 32 yards passing and three interceptions. As a result the game was played on the ground and Nebraska out-rushed Kansas 324-276.
The BCS rankings came out yesterday and with the move into number one in the Coaches Poll, Nebraska was able to extend their BCS lead over Miami. The drop to second in this poll hurt the Hurricanes greatly this week. They remained number two, but by a narrow margin over Oklahoma University, who convincingly beat Texas A&M 31-10 this weekend.
Though Oklahoma has one loss - to Nebraska - it has a much tougher schedule than does Miami. Oklahoma is ranked 18th in the nation, while the Hurricanes are 66th. If the Hurricanes continue on their current track, the strength of schedule component of the BCS could help Oklahoma finish ahead of Miami and play in the National Championship Game.
Other Contenders...
The most exiting game of the weekend was the Oregon Ducks' one point victory over the UCLA Bruins. UCLA kicker Chris Griffith missed a 50 yard field goal as time expired to give Oregon the victory.
Oregon entered the matchup number seven in the nation with an 8-1 record (5-1 Pacific10). UCLA was 16th in the nation and 6-2 (3-2). The game was critical for Oregon which was looking to maintain pace with Washington State in the Pac-10.
Oregon QB, Joey Harrington, led the way with 195 yards passing, one touchdown, and zero interceptions. The last part of those statistics, the zero interceptions, was the key factor in Harrington's play. Harrington didn't make any mistakes in the game, especially on the final scoring drive as he lead his team eight plays and 70 yards for the winning score. This was Harrington's 9th career fourth quarter, come-from-behind win.
UCLA did not play poorly either, as the team bounced back from two interceptions to stay close. Had Griffith made the last second kick, Oregon's title hopes would have been shattered. But as it played out, Oregon held onto its hopes, moving to number four in the BCS.
The rest of the top contenders had easy wins, many blowing out their counterparts. The Florida Gators continued their big win trend, beating South Carolina 54-17. Despite Florida's high scores, they remain fifth in the BCS. But, they are only 0.01 points behind BCS number four, Oregon. . . The Texas Longhorns blanked the Kansas Jayhawks 59-0. They are sixth in the BCS rankings, a little over a point and a half behind Florida. . .The BCS was created to ensure that the top two teams in the country play each other in a bowl game. The top two BCS teams face of Jan. 3 in the Rose Bowl.
