Pitt’s 27-Point Rally for Naught as Syracuse Wins

It was one of the greatest comebacks in Pittsburgh’s 107-year football history--27 points in less than a quarter--but Syracuse put on a rally of its own as Donovan McNabb threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Quint Spotwood with 28 seconds left for a 32-27 Big East victory Saturday at Pittsburgh.

For Syracuse, 8-3 overall and 5-1 in the Big East Conference, it was the seventh consecutive victory since a 31-3 loss to Virginia Tech on Sept. 13 dropped them to 1-3. Pitt is 4-5, 2-3.

Syracuse nearly lost to a team it beat, 55-7, last season as Pete Gonzalez threw two touchdown passes and led four scoring drives after Pittsburgh began the fourth quarter trailing, 19-0. Gonzalez, a fifth-year senior, was 20 for 37 for 274 yards and has 21 touchdown passes and only five interceptions.

West Virginia 41, Temple 21--With Amos Zereoue, the nation’s fifth leading rusher, on the bench because of a turf-toe injury, Curtis Keaton ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns as the Mountaineers (7-2, 4-2) beat the Owls (3-8, 3-4) at Morgantown, W.Va.

Temple’s season finale may have been the last game for Coach Ron Dickerson, who has an 8-47 mark in five seasons. Despite being blown out in four of its final five games, the Owls had their best finish in the conference since the league’s inception in 1991.

Miami 51, Rutgers 23--Edgerrin James ran 80 yards for a touchdown on the second play of the game for the Hurricanes (5-5, 3-3) at Miami as the Scarlet Knights (0-11, 0-7) became the fifth Division I-A team in the 1990s to fail to win a game.

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Chris McCoy threw three touchdown passes to Pat McGrew and ran for two scores as Navy (5-4) recorded a 52-24 victory over Colgate (6-4) at Annapolis, Md. . . . Rod Richardson ran 56 yards for a touchdown and set up another score with a long kickoff return to lead Army (4-5) over North Texas (3-7), 25-14, at West Point, N.Y. . . . Rich Linden ran for one touchdown and passed for two others as Harvard (8-1, 6-0) clinched at least a tie for its first Ivy League championship since 1987 with a 33-0 victory over Penn (5-4, 4-2) at Boston. Harvard, which ended a string of five consecutive losses to Penn, can complete its first unbeaten season in the Ivy ranks by defeating Yale next Saturday. . . . Quarterback Harry Nakielny, who failed to start for the first time this season, came off the bench to throw a fourth quarter touchdown pass that helped Princeton (5-4, 2-4) to a 9-0 Ivy League victory over Yale (1-8, 0-6) before 6,503 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. . . . Brad Kiesendahl ran for three touchdowns as Cornell (5-4, 3-3) scored 30 unanswered points in a 33-22 Ivy League victory over Columbia (3-6, 2-4) at Ithaca, N.Y. . . . Peter Sellers threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Zach Ellis with 20 seconds left to give Dartmouth (7-2, 5-1) a 13-7 Ivy League victory over Brown (5-4, 2-4) and keep alive its hopes for an Ivy League title.

MIDWEST

Chad Pennington passed for two touchdowns and ran for another and Randy Moss tied the Division I-A season record for touchdown receptions with 22 as Marshall (9-2, 7-1) recorded a 27-0 victory over Ohio at Huntington, W.Va., to claim the Mid-American Conference’s East Division title. Marshall will play Toledo in Huntington on Dec. 5 for the conference championship. . . . Chris Wallace passed for 210 yards and three touchdowns and Justin Wooley ran for two scores as Toledo (9-1, 7-1) rolled to a 42-10 MAC victory over Akron (2-9, 2-6) at Toledo, Ohio. . . . Travis Prentice rushed for a career-high 239 yards and four touchdowns in leading Miami of Ohio (8-3, 6-2) to a 42-0 MAC victory over Northern Illinois (0-11, 0-8) at Oxford, Ohio.

SOUTH

At Hattiesburg, Miss., Eric Booth ran for 119 yards and returned a kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown as Southern Mississippi (7-3, 5-0 in Conference USA) defeated Houston (3-7, 2-3), 33-0, and will represent the conference in the Dec. 31 Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn. . . . Jim Cande kicked a 35-yard extra point with 3 1/2 minutes to play to give Memphis (4-6, 2-3 Conference USA) a 21-20 victory over Louisville (1-10, 0-6) at Memphis, Tenn. . . . Quarterback Tim Rattay threw for five touchdowns in guiding Louisiana Tech (9-2) to a 63-24 victory over Southwestern Louisiana (1-10) at Lafayette, La.

WEST

Matt Sauk passed for two touchdowns and ran for another at Reno as Utah State (6-4, 4-0) recorded a 38-19 victory over Nevada (5-6, 4-1) to gain at least a share of the Big West Conference title and a berth in the Humanitarian Bowl Dec. 29 at Boise, Ida. Utah State can wrap up its first-ever outright championship in any conference by winning at North Texas on Saturday. . . . Eastern Washington (10-1, 7-1) clinched its first outright Big Sky Conference title with a 39-32 victory over Cal State Northridge (5-6, 3-4) at Cheney, Wash. . . . Craig Young rushed for 218 yards and four touchdowns in 19 carries as Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (9-1) handed Dayton (9-1) a 44-24 loss at San Luis Obispo and ended the Flyers’ winning streak at 20 games. . . . Brian Brennan threw for three touchdowns on to spark Idaho (5-5, 2-2 Big West Conference) to a 35-18 victory over New Mexico State (2-9, 0-5) at Las Cruces, N.M.