COLLEGE FOOTBALL : REGIONAL ROUNDUP : Virginia Tech Clinches Share of Big East Title

No. 21 Virginia Tech clinched at least a share of the Big East Conference title with a 38-16 rout of Temple on Saturday at RFK Stadium in Washington.

Virginia Tech’s defense, which came into the game ranked No. 1 in the nation against the run, scored two second-quarter touchdowns within 48 seconds as the Hokies, 8-2 overall and 6-1 in the Big East, won their eighth in a row.

Miami or Syracuse, which meet Nov. 25, can tie for the conference title even though the Hokies beat both. Virginia Tech’s only Big East loss was to Boston College in its season opener.

Virginia Tech last won a conference championship in 1963, when it was in the Southern Conference.

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Danyell Ferguson scored on an 85-yard run and Dane Prewitt kicked a 24-yard field goal with 49 seconds left to give Miami (6-3, 4-1) a 17-14 Big East victory over Boston College (3-7, 3-2) at Boston. Boston College flubbed four field-goal attempts, including a 46-yarder into a gusting 40 m.p.h. wind as time expired.

Syracuse and Pittsburgh continued one of the East’s oldest rivalries, with the No. 23-ranked Orangeman routing the Panthers, 42-10, at Pittsburgh. Redshirt freshman quarterback Donovan McNabb, who won’t turn 19 until next month, was 12 for 15 for 157 yards and two touchdowns and Rob Konrad scored three touchdowns as the Orangemen (7-2, 4-1) rebounded from a 24-point loss at Virginia Tech. Pitt (2-8, 0-6) has lost a half-dozen starters to injuries and eight games in a row since a 2-0 start.

Quarterback Ben Fay scored on a 73-yard run on the second play of the second half and backup Chris McCoy, who entered the game with 9:30 left, broke several tackles on a 33-yard touchdown run as Navy (4-5) rolled to a 31-7 victory over Delaware (10-1) at Annapolis. The Hens, ranked No. 4 in Division I-AA, were averaging 311 yards rushing but were held to 58.

All Princeton had to do to earn its first outright Ivy League title since 1964 and finish the season undefeated was beat lowly Yale and then Dartmouth in its season finale. But Yale (3-6, 2-4) upset the Tigers, 21-13, at Princeton, N.J. Princeton (8-1, 5-1) is now tied with Cornell for first place in the Ivy League. . . . Tailback Chad Levitt ran for 170 yards and two touchdowns in 33 carries to lead Cornell (6-3, 5-1) to a 35-14 Ivy League victory over Columbia (3-5-1, 3-3) at Ithaca, N.Y. . . . Jasen Scott rushed for 134 yards and one touchdown in 23 carries, and Aman Abye had 133 yards and a touchdown in 18 carries as Penn (6-3, 4-2) notched a 38-21 Ivy League victory over Harvard (1-8, 0-6) at Boston. . . . Stephen Smith of Brown caught five passes for 180 yards and a touchdown, but Dartmouth (7-2, 4-2) managed a 10-7 Ivy League victory over the Bears (4-5, 1-5) at Hanover, N.H.

SOUTH

Marcus Crandell helped East Carolina (7-3) earn a berth in the Liberty Bowl for the second year in a row, running for two touchdowns and passing for one in a 28-7 victory over Tulsa (4-6) at Greenville, N.C. . . . Derrick Harvey scrambled 15 yards with an interception for a touchdown as Southern Mississippi (5-5) recorded a 17-9 victory over Memphis (3-7) at Memphis. Southern Mississippi lost five fumbles and Memphis lost four of five. . . . Freshman Frank Moreau rushed 28 times for a career-best 140 yards and two touchdowns as Louisville (6-4) rolled to a 39-0 victory over Northeast Louisiana (2-9) at Louisville. . . . Ray Lucas threw for three touchdowns and ran for another as Rutgers (3-6) held on for a 45-40 victory over Tulane (2-8) at New Orleans. The Green Wave recovered an on-side kick after scoring with 39 seconds left but Rutgers’ Kevin Williams intercepted a desperation pass to end it.

WEST

Oscar Galloway had three short touchdown runs and Alex Van Dyke caught two scoring passes as Nevada (8-2, 5-0) rolled to a 45-29 victory over Pacific (3-7, 2-3) at Stockton to clinch the Big West Conference title and an automatic bid to the Las Vegas Bowl, where it will face Toledo, the winner of the Mid-American Conference, on Dec. 14. . . . The Wolf Pack clinched the title when Northern Illinois (3-7, 3-2) lost, 28-21, to Arkansas State (5-5, 3-3) at DeKalb, Ill. . . . Carl Dean scored on a five-yard run with 35 seconds to play as San Jose State (3-7, 2-3) rallied for a 38-37 Big West victory New Mexico State (3-7, 2-3) at Las Cruces, N.M. . . . Abu Wilson rushed for 251 yards, third-highest in school history, and scored three touchdowns in 29 carries as Utah State (3-7, 3-2) breezed to a 42-0 Big West victory over Nevada Las Vegas (2-8, 1-4) at Las Vegas.