Utah keeps BCS hopes alive

Brian Johnson threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Freddie Brown with 47 seconds left to cap an 80-yard drive that kept No. 10 Utah’s Bowl Championship Series hopes alive with a 13-10 victory over No. 11 Texas Christian in a Mountain West Conference game at Salt Lake City on Thursday.

The Utes (10-0, 6-0) were swarmed by the fans who made Rice-Eccles Stadium shake when Johnson rallied Utah to its first touchdown and saved the Utes’ BCS hopes.

The Horned Frogs (9-2, 6-1) missed two field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter, either of which would have put them up by seven.

Ross Evans bounced one kick off the left upright, then with 2:48 left he was wide right on a 35-yard attempt. Utah got the ball back on the 20 and drove for the winning score.

TCU nearly had the drive stopped, but on fourth and five Johnson completed an 11-yard pass to Brown to the Horned Frogs’ 15. Two plays later, Johnson found Brown.

Elsewhere

Darren Evans ran for a school-record 253 yards and a touchdown and Virginia Tech (6-3, 2-2) held on for a 23-13 victory over Maryland (6-3, 3-2) in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Blacksburg, Va.