No. 3 Virginia Tech Wins by a Foot

Shayne Graham’s 44-yard field goal as time expired lifted No. 3 Virginia Tech to a 22-20 Big East Conference victory over West Virginia on Saturday at Morgantown, W.Va., and kept the Hokies’ hopes alive for a national title.

“I was on the sidelines saying, ‘Give me a chance, give me a chance,’ ” Graham said. “I had an opportunity like that last year against Miami and I didn’t convert. I had the confidence in myself this time that I would.”

Coupled with Minnesota’s 24-23 upset of No. 2 Penn State, Virginia Tech’s lackluster victory could throw the Bowl Championship Series standings into a free-for-all. The standings determine which teams will meet for the national championship in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4.

The loss eliminated West Virginia (3-6, 2-3) from bowl consideration for the first time since 1995.

The Hokies (8-0, 4-0) struggled against a 19-point underdog but appeared to have the game in hand after Shyrone Stith scored on a six-yard run with five minutes left for a 19-7 lead.

Backup Brad Lewis, who took over after Marc Bulger hurt his thumb and sat out the second half, threw two touchdown passes in the final three minutes to put the Mountaineers ahead.

The Hokies got the ball back at their 16 and quarterback Michael Vick directed a seven-play, 58-yard drive to set up the winning kick.

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Kenny Kelly ran for a touchdown and threw for one and No. 22 Miami (5-3, 3-0 Big East) pulled away with a 23-point fourth quarter in a 33-3 victory at Pittsburgh (4-5, 2-4). . . . Syracuse (6-3, 3-2 Big East) won an emotional game against Temple, 27-10, at Syracuse, N.Y. With three Orangemen recovering from a knife attack in a melee outside a bar after last week’s loss to Boston College, the Orangemen appeared flat despite an emotional appearance before the game by the most seriously injured player, defensive back David Byrd. Temple (2-7, 2-3) has lost 14 in a row to Syracuse. . . . Quarterback Brian Madden rushed for 167 yards and two touchdowns as Navy (3-6) ended a three-game losing streak and defeated Rutgers, 34-7, at Piscataway, N.J. Rutgers (0-9) needs a win over Syracuse or Miami to avoid its second 0-11 season in three years.

SOUTH

No. 25 Southern Mississippi clinched at least a share of the Conference USA title with a 20-5 victory over Memphis (3-6, 2-2) at Memphis, Tenn. It is the third time the Golden Eagles (6-3, 5-0) have either tied or won the title in the conference’s four-year history. . . . Alabama Birmingham (4-5, 3-2) got its first win over a ranked opponent with a 36-17 victory over No. 18 East Carolina at Birmingham, Ala. The Pirates (7-2, 3-2), who averaged 172 yards a game rushing, managed only nine in 32 attempts against the Blazers. . . . Chris Redman surpassed 1,000 completions and 12,000 yards passing for his career and helped Louisville (7-3, 4-1) to a 23-13 victory over Cincinnati (3-6, 0-4) at Cincinnati. . . . Ketric Sanford set a Houston (5-4, 2-3) rushing record with 212 yards to help the Cougars defeat Tulane (3-6, 1-4), 36-31, at Houston. . . . Tim Rattay threw for 383 yards and six touchdowns in Louisiana Tech’s 58-17 rout of Louisiana-Monroe (4-6) at Ruston, La. Louisiana Tech, which plays USC on Nov. 26, is 7-2.

MIDWEST

Chad Pennington threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score as No. 13 Marshall (9-0, 6-0) extended the nation’s longest major-college winning streak to 13 with a 28-16 Mid-American Conference victory over Kent (2-5, 2-8) at Kent, Ohio. . . Travis Prentice scored three times to set NCAA records for points and touchdowns and rushed for a school-record 376 yards in Miami of Ohio’s 32-23 victory over Akron (6-4, 4-3) at Oxford, Ohio. Prentice scored on runs of 75, two and 72 yards to give him 76 career touchdowns and 456 points. Prentice’s career total of 5,364 yards rushing is fifth best in Division I-A. Miami is 6-3 and 5-1. . . . Chester Taylor ran for 218 yards and two touchdowns as Toledo (4-5, 3-3) defeated Central Michigan (2-7, 1-5), 32-13, at Mount Pleasant, Mich. . . . Eastern Michigan (4-5, 4-2) extended Ball State’s losing streak to 15 games with a 31-21 victory over the Cardinals (0-9, 0-6) at Ypsilanti, Mich.

WEST

Defensive tackle Hans Olsen returned a fumble 24 yards for a touchdown to help No. 15 Brigham Young defeat San Diego State (3-6, 1-4), 30-7, at San Diego. The Cougars (8-1, 5-0) lead the Mountain West Conference. . . . Matt Newton threw touchdown passes of 58 and 66 yards to Frank Rice to help Colorado State (6-3, 3-2) rally for a 36-22 victory over New Mexico (3-5, 2-2) at Albuquerque. . . . Utah (6-3, 3-2) quarterback Darnell Arceneaux suffered what team officials called “a massive concussion” in the Utes’ 43-29 loss to Wyoming (5-3, 2-2) at Salt Lake City. . . . Dan Robinson threw for four touchdowns and ran for another to lead Hawaii (6-3, 4-2) to its third consecutive road victory, a 62-41 win over San Jose State (3-9, 1-5) in a Western Athletic Conference game. . . . Billy Volek threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score to lead Fresno State (7-3, 4-1) to a 47-18 rout of Rice (5-5, 4-2) at Fresno. . . . Tulsa (2-7, 1-5) had five interceptions in a 43-19 victory over Texas El Paso (4-6, 2-3) at El Paso, Texas. . . . Air Force defeated Army (3-5), 28-0, at Air Force Academy, Colo., and won its third consecutive Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy.