Tremaine Mack blocked Brian West's punt with 29 seconds left and Nathaniel Brooks returned it 20 yards for a touchdown as No. 25 Miami stunned 12th-ranked and previously unbeaten West Virginia 10-7 Saturday night.
Miami (5-2, 3-0 Big East) seemingly was only seconds away from a third straight loss and a likely fall out of the top 25. Instead, West Virginia (7-1, 3-1) lost for the first time in nine games and surrendered its lead in the race for the conference's berth in one of the alliance bowls.Miami took advantage of West Virginia's one glaring weakness this season, the kicking game. Amazingly, the Mountaineers have had five punts blocked this season.
The Hurricanes looked like a battered prize fighter before the blocked kick, with starting running back Danyell Ferguson in a Morgantown hospital with a dislocated hip and quarterback Ryan Clement playing despite a shoulder separation to his non-throwing arm.
West Virginia held Miami to just 58 yards rushing and 104 yards passing, and got its only TD after Mike Logan's 32-yard interception return to the Miami 3 early in the third quarter.
After a scoreless first half played in a driving rain before a crowd of 66,948, fourth-largest in Mountaineer Field history, Miami took advantage of West Virginia's kicking game to take the lead. West got off a punt of only 24 yards and Miami took over at the 39. Miami drove to the 14 before stalling and Andy Crosland kicked a 31-yard field goal with 10:35 left in the third quarter.
Only 2:05 later, Alvin Swoope went two yards to give the Mountaineers a 7-3 lead that stood up until the final seconds.
No. 2 Ohio St. 38, No. 20 Iowa 26
At Iowa City, Stanley Jackson threw two TD passes and Damon Moore intercepted three passes as the Buckeyes (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) built a 38-6 lead and then held on.
Tim Dwight scored on a 19-yard reverse and returned a punt 86 yards for a TD as Iowa (5-2, 3-1) fought back.
No. 3 FSU 31, No. 14 Virginia 24
At Tallahassee, Fla., Thad Busby was 25-of-36 for 316 yards and two TDs, Warrick Dunn scored on a 65-yard run and the Seminoles (6-0, 5-0 ACC) avenged their only conference loss.
Last season, the Cavaliers (5-2, 3-2) beat Florida State 33-28, ending the Seminoles' 29-game ACC winning streak.
No. 4 Arizona St. 41, Stanford 9
At Stanford, Calif., Jake Plummer threw two first-quarter TDs and ran for another as the Sun Devils (8-0, 5-0 Pac-10) raced to a 21-point first-quarter lead and breezed past the Cardinal (2-5, 1-3).
Plummer, 21-of-34 for 316 yards, had scoring passes of 31 yards to J.R Redmond and 17 yards to Lenzie Jackson. A crowd of just 32,550 showed up at 85,500-seat Stanford Stadium.
No. 5 Nebraska 63, Kansas 7
At Lincoln, Neb., Scott Frost threw for three TDs and ran for two more as the Cornhuskers (6-1, 3-0 Big 12) routed the Jayhawks (4-2, 1-2), who played without the suspended June Henley. Frost was 11-of-15 for 220 yards.
The win was Nebraska's 34th in a row at home, breaking a school record that stood for 90 years. The Huskers tied a school record with 35 second-half points.
No. 8 Colorado 28, Texas 24
At Boulder, Colo., John Hessler, subbing for an injured Koy Detmer, led two second-half TD drives and safety Steve Rosga intercepted a pass with 1:35 left as the Buffaloes (6-1, 4-0 Big 12) rallied to beat the Longhorns (3-4, 2-2). Detmer left late in the first half with a concussion after he was sacked by defensive end Gray Mosier.
No. 9 N.C. 42, Houston 14
At Houston, Chris Keldorf was 25-of-36 for 322 yards and four TDs as the Tar Heels' (6-1) top-ranked defense allowed just 226 yards to the Cougars.
The Tar Heels have been allowing just 199 yards a game, while Houston (4-4) had been averaging 414 yards and 31 points a game.
No. 10 Michigan 44, Minnesota 10
At Minneapolis, Chris Howard ran for two TDs, including an 86-yarder, as the Wolverines (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) won the Little Brown Jug for the 10th straight year. Howard had 127 yards on 12 carries. Minnesota is 3-3, 3-4.
No. 11 Northwestern 27, Illinois 24
At Evanston, Ill., Adrian Autry's second 1-yard TD run with 62 seconds left lifted the Wildcats (7-1, 5-0 Big Ten) to another nail-biting win. Autry, who had 128 yards, was subbing for the injured Darnell Autry, no relation to Adrian.
No. 13 LSU 28, Mississippi St. 20
At Baton Rouge, La., Kevin Faulk ran for 170 yards and two TDs and passed for a third as the Tigers (6-1, 4-1 SEC) rushed for 246 yards against the Bulldogs (2-4, 1-3).
No. 16 Kansas St. 42, Oklahoma 35
At Manhattan, Kan., Brian Kavanagh (27-of-38 for 342 yards) tied a school record with four TD passes as the Wildcats (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) held off the Sooners (2-5, 2-2). Kevin Lockett had a career-best 12 catches for 157 yards and a TD.
No. 17 Penn St. 48, Indiana 26
At Bloomington, Ind., backup quarterback Mike McQueary replaced an ineffective Wally Richardson and sparked the Nittany Lions (7-2, 3-2 Big Ten) to 38 second-half points.
McQueary was 9-of-19 for 184 yards and two TDs, including a 57-yard score to Joe Jurevicius, who had four catches for 156 yards.
No. 23 Washington 33, Oregon 14
At Eugene, Ore., Corey Dillon ran for 259 yards - second-best in school history - and three TDs as the Huskies (5-2, 4-1 Pac-10) took a 21-0 lead and were never threatened.
Oregon (3-5) lost its fifth straight to fall to 0-5 in the Pac-10 for the first time since 1986.
No. 24 Southern Miss 31, Tulane 28
At New Orleans, Kendrick Lee's 29-yard punt return set up Eric Booth's 1-yard TD run with 6:04 left and Southern Miss avoided an upset with a victory over Tulane.
The Golden Eagles (7-1, 3-0 Conference USA) won their sixth straight game while Tulane (2-5, 1-2) dropped its third straight.