Big Win Is Costly for Seminoles

Florida State has another Atlantic Coast Conference title -- its 11th in 12 years -- and will play in a bowl championship series game. But the bad news is that standout wide receiver Craphonso Thorpe will be sidelined the rest of the season.

Thorpe, a junior, broke his right leg while blocking on the next-to-last play Saturday against North Carolina State. He caught his 10th and 11th touchdown passes of the season in the 50-44 double-overtime victory.

Thorpe had five catches for 76 yards, finishing his season eight yards short of becoming the eighth player in school history with 1,000 receiving yards.

Coach Bobby Bowden visited him in the hospital and said it is too soon to assess the long-term effects of the injury. Thorpe is also the ACC’s 100- and 200-meter sprint champion.

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Oklahoma remained No. 1 in the Associated Press poll for the 13th consecutive week, the third-longest run ever to begin the season.

The Sooners (10-0) received all 65 first-place votes in balloting by the panel of sportswriters and broadcasters Sunday. They received the maximum 1,625 points. Second-place USC had 1,559.

The only teams to be No. 1 in more consecutive polls to start the season are Florida State, which went wire to wire in 1999, and Nebraska, which had a run of 15 straight No. 1 rankings in 1983 until losing to Miami in the Orange Bowl.

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Miami Coach Larry Coker said Brock Berlin could regain his starting quarterback job for Saturday’s game against Rutgers.

“We’ll start the player we feel like is going to give us the best chance to win the game,” he said Sunday. “It’s not sewed up for anybody right now.”

Berlin started the first nine games for the 13th-ranked Hurricanes, throwing 14 interceptions and fumbling three times. He was benched Saturday against Syracuse. The Hurricanes won, 17-10.

Derrick Crudup, the backup the previous 34 games, completed only five of 13 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown. But he threw an interception and fumbled once.