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BYU can forget the BCS

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From the Associated Press

Brigham Young can stop thinking about reaching the Bowl Championship Series. Texas Christian made sure of that in an ironic twist of revenge.

Andy Dalton threw two touchdown passes, receiver Jeremy Kerley became a running threat and TCU beat the ninth-ranked Cougars, 32-7, in a Mountain West Conference game on Thursday night, ending their 16-game winning streak, which was the longest in major-college football.

When the Cougars were last in Fort Worth two years ago, they ended TCU’s 13-game winning streak, which was then the nation’s longest.

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BYU (6-1, 2-1) never had a chance this time, not with Kerley, a former high school quarterback, taking direct snaps and running all over the place for the Horned Frogs (7-1, 4-0) and their smothering top-ranked defense.

Max Hall, who had been sacked only twice over the first six games, was sacked four times before halftime, and three more after that. His fumble set up TCU’s first touchdown and he threw an interception that led to another score by the Frogs -- all in the first quarter. He finished 22 of 42 for 274 yards with two interceptions.

With the first BCS standings coming out Sunday, the only undefeated team left in the Mountain West is No. 14 Utah (7-0), whose eight-game winning streak is now tied with No. 3 Penn State and No. 7 Texas Tech for the longest in the country.

The Utes obviously have the best chance to get into one of the major bowls since no BCS buster has ever lost in the regular season.

But they still have to play TCU, which certainly can’t be eliminated from that conversation since its only loss was at No. 4 Oklahoma.

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Christian Ponder threw for the go-ahead touchdown and Antone Smith ran for a score to help Florida State beat North Carolina State, 26-17, in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Raleigh, N.C.

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Smith finished with 89 yards rushing for the Seminoles (5-1, 2-1), who trailed by four points early in the final quarter before scoring 13 straight to end the game. Bert Reed had the 17-yard catch for the lead and Graham Gano kicked four field goals -- including a 53-yarder with 1:53 left to secure the win.

Russell Wilson threw for 181 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Wolfpack (2-5, 0-3).

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Clemson running back C.J. Spiller won’t play against Georgia Tech because of a pulled hamstring, and demoted quarterback Cullen Harper says he needs surgery for a fracture in his left shoulder.

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