Pitt Upset Costs Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech probably lost a conference championship and a $7-million bowl paycheck. Pittsburgh couldn’t estimate the value of the kind of uplifting victory that had eluded it for six years and three coaches.

Pete Gonzalez, having the best season by a Pittsburgh quarterback since Dan Marino in 1981, threw four touchdown passes Saturday at Pittsburgh to lead a 30-23 upset that probably cost No. 19 Virginia Tech a major bowl bid.

Virginia Tech, 7-3 overall and 5-2 in the Big East, could have clinched at least a tie for the conference title. The Hokies previously beat Syracuse, which can win the Big East by beating Miami next Saturday.

“We’re not back yet, but we’ve proved we can play with good people and fight them,” Coach Walt Harris said of Pittsburgh (5-5, 3-3), which hadn’t won more than four games since 1991.

Pittsburgh outgained Virginia Tech, 492 yards to 307, as Billy West replaced the injured Dwayne Schulters to run for 130 yards--only 50 fewer yards than he had all season. West, the 1994 Big East player of the year, lost his starting job in part because he missed two practices a week to attend classes.

Gonzalez was 15 for 24 for 314 yards, giving him 25 touchdown passes with only five interceptions. Marino had a Pitt-record 37 touchdown passes in 1981.

*

Matt Hasselbeck threw his third touchdown pass of the game, an eight-yarder to Todd Pollack midway in the fourth quarter, to lift Boston College (4-7) to a 24-20 victory over Army (4-6) at Boston. . . . Chris McCoy rushed for 268 yards and three touchdowns as Navy (6-4) sailed to a 62-29 victory over Kent (3-8) at Annapolis, Md. . . . Harvard (9-1, 7-0) won the Ivy League title and concluded its first undefeated league season with a 17-7 victory over Yale (1-9, 0-7) at New Haven, Conn. . . . Receiver Sean Morey caught 10 passes for 152 yards and three touchdowns to lead Brown (6-4, 3-4) to a 42-11 Ivy League victory over Columbia (3-7, 2-5) at Providence, R.I. . . . Joe Piela returned a punt and an interception for touchdowns as Pennsylvania (6-4, 5-2) recorded a 33-20 Ivy League victory over Cornell (5-5, 3-4) at Philadelphia. . . . Dave Regula’s longest field goal of the season, from 42 yards, on the opening possession of overtime gave Dartmouth (8-2, 2-5) a 12-9 snowy Ivy League victory over Princeton (5-5, 2-5) at Hanover, N.H.

MIDWEST: Paul Miranda scored on an 88-yard kickoff return and Daunte Culpepper accounted for two touchdowns to help Central Florida (5-6) to a 34-17 nonconference victory over Toledo (9-2) at Orlando, Fla. Culpepper completed 22 of 31 passes for 219 yards and set a school record for yards passing in a season (3,086) in what may have been his last game as a Golden Knight.

SOUTH: Harold Shaw rushed for 188 yards and three touchdowns to lead Southern Mississippi (8-3, 6-0) to a 42-18 victory over host Memphis (4-7, 2-4) and the Conference USA’s berth in the Liberty Bowl on New Year’s Eve. . . . Shaun King passed for two touchdowns and ran for two more as Tulane (7-4, 5-1) scored 28 second-quarter points to wrap up its best season in 17 years with a 44-10 pounding of Houston (3-8, 2-4). . . . After a wild final 1 1/2 minutes at Denton, Texas, North Texas (4-7, 2-3) claimed a 51-48 Big West victory over Utah State (6-5, 4-1). Jason Mills passed for 377 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Eagles.

WEST: Aaron Flowers completed 28 of 42 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns as Cal State Northridge (6-6, 4-4) recorded a 21-13 Big Sky victory over visiting Northern Arizona (6-5, 4-4).