College Top 25 Football Capsules: No. 1 Florida showing fledgling FIU respect

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida coach Urban Meyer believes Florida International will be in a bowl game in the next two years.

It might help if the Golden Panthers stopped playing powerhouse programs like Alabama and Florida.

The top-ranked Gators (10-0) take a break from the rugged Southeastern Conference on Saturday to play fledgling FIU (3-7), a 45-point underdog still looking for a signature win.

Meyer insists his players won’t overlook FIU, even though they have rival Florida State next Saturday and a potential national championship elimination game looming against No. 2 Crimson Tide a week later in the SEC title game.

"I probably have a little more respect for the Florida athletes and South Florida athletes than (others)," Meyer said. "I think it’s going to be a good football game. I think this is going to be a team that’s going to be a bowl team in the next couple years.

"We have great respect for them and we’re going to give the very best we can and try to get 11 wins."

The Golden Panthers joined the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2005, but are winless in 16 games against teams from the Bowl Championship Series conferences. Most of those games haven’t even been close, including a 40-14 loss at Alabama to open the season.

This one could get ugly, too.

The defending national champions have the nation’s longest winning streak at 20 games, rank 14th in scoring offense, eighth in rushing offense, second in total defense and first in scoring defense. The Gators also are playing at The Swamp, where they are 30-2 under Meyer.

Florida went unbeaten in the SEC regular season for the first time since 1996, clinching it with a 24-14 victory at South Carolina last week.

"The bottom line is we’re 10-0, we’ve won 20 straight and our guys know that and they feel very honored right now," receivers coach Billy Gonzales said. "They deserve it. They’ve done a heck of a job. It’s a tough deal to go through the SEC conference and win every game. That’s tough, and a lot people sometimes take it for granted.

"We preach to our players every time, ‘Don’t ever take it for granted. Take every snap and understand how precious it is."’

The Gators have gotten the message.

"We’re playing FIU, but believe it or not, we’ve been practicing hard like we practiced for previous games — South Carolina, Georgia," linebacker Ryan Stamper said. "The players are probably like, ‘Man, we’re still out here practicing hard for FIU?’ But that’s what it takes for us to come out there and be productive like we have been in the past."

Stamper and his teammates know what’s ahead, and with the finish line and maybe a shot at another national title in sight, they insist there’s no chance of a letdown now.

"We know what’s on the line," Stamper said. "We pretty much know what it takes to win and we’re going hard."

FIU hardly looks primed to pull an upset.

The Golden Panthers are giving up nearly 500 yards and 34 points a game this season. And their best player, receiver/return man T.Y. Hilton, has been slowed by injuries.

Coach Mario Cristobal even said this week he might consider using two quarterbacks against the Gators, sharing snaps between starter Paul McCall and backup Wayne Younger.

"Each quarterback does good things," Cristobal said. "We’ll see how Florida comes out and plays us, but they’re both ready to play and both capable of playing."

Although the Gators declined to talk about plans for playing backups, there’s little doubt they would like to get quarterback Tim Tebow, linebacker Brandon Spikes and other starters out of the game early and turn things over to the backups.

"Never breathe easy," safety Ahmad Black said. "You never know. Anything can happen."

No. 2 Bama hosts Chattanooga before big finales

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Javier Arenas isn’t worried that No. 2 Alabama will try to sleepwalk through Saturday’s Chattanooga game.

The Crimson Tide cornerback doesn’t think he and his fellow seniors will allow it. Not in their home finale. Not even with arch rival Auburn and No. 1 Florida waiting, followed perhaps by the BCS national championship game.

"We take a lot of pride in letting this be a game to remember," Arenas said. "That’s a very, very high benefit for us, the seniors that we have. If we didn’t have seniors that cared, we’d go through this game nonchalant. Just sail through it. But it’s not like that. We’ve got guys who want this last game to be one to remember.

"We won’t falter in any way."

At this point, it seems hard to imagine that even a sloppy performance or surprisingly close victory would impact Alabama’s national title hopes. A loss? Now, that would be memorable.

"Every game has significance," Tide coach Nick Saban said. "There won’t be one thing that anybody ever remembers about this season if we didn’t have success against a team like this."

Still, the game with the Football Championship Subdivision’s Mocs (6-4) seems like such a mismatch that the big question facing Saban and Alabama (10-0) might be: Do you let tailback Mark Ingram try to rack up big numbers to impress Heisman Trophy voters or rest him for the two bigger games?

The coach said that’s not an issue for either him or Ingram.

"We don’t really worry about stats," Saban said. "We’re going to make all the decisions based on winning and what’s best for our team. The most important thing for me is that our team has success and that he does all the things he needs to do to help our team be successful.

"I think he understands if he does that, he’s going to enhance his chance for having success better than anything else."

Besides, he’s just a sophomore. This game is more about the 26 seniors in their finale at Bryant-Denny Stadium, including 10 starters. They’re trying to complete a second-straight perfect regular season. That came after the Tide lost 13 games in the first two seasons for the fourth-year seniors.

"Hopefully, we can just go out with a bang," senior left tackle Mike Johnson said. "I couldn’t be happier with where we’re leaving this program and where this team stands."

Arenas’ ambition for the game: "Of course, the win. But I wouldn’t mind scoring a touchdown or two."

That might be a worthy goal for the Mocs, too. They are going against the No. 2 scoring and rushing defense in the Football Bowl Subdivision, a group that is allowing just 10.9 points and 72.8 rushing yards a game.

Alabama has shut out Chattanooga in five of the previous 10 meetings. All were Tide victories but the teams haven’t met since 1994.

Chattanooga is led by quarterback B.J. Coleman, a sophomore who transferred from Tide rival Tennessee. Coleman has 17 touchdown passes and his 220 completions are two shy of the school single-season record.

"This is a very well-coached team," Saban said. "We always have the proper respect and we need to do a good job in what we do to execute and take care of our own business."

The Mocs have already had the biggest turnaround in program history under first-year coach Russ Huesman, who has directed them to six wins after the team went 1-11 in 2008.

Huesman calls Alabama "probably the best team in the country."

He cites the exposure the game brings his program, even down to mentions on TV of Chattanooga as the team that Alabama plays before Auburn and Florida.

"Hopefully we’ll do OK and people will say, ‘That’s a feisty bunch and I like the way they play football no matter what the final score is,"’ Huesman said.

-- John Zenor

Ohio State-Michigan series has slipped in stature

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Game has lost a lot of luster.

Ohio State has beaten Michigan five straight times, its best winning streak and the longest in the series since the 1920s.

The ninth-ranked Buckeyes (9-2, 6-2 Big Ten) have already clinched at least a share of their fifth straight conference title and a spot in the Rose Bowl.

Michigan (5-6, 1-6) is mired in another miserable year — coming off a school-record nine-loss season — and is nearly a two-touchdown underdog to lose Saturday at home to guarantee consecutive losing records for the first time since 1962-63.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, though, insisted those factors haven’t diminished the rivalry.

"That would never occur to the participants," Tressel said. "Perhaps to someone from the outside, someone from Utah or something, might not maybe jump on it because neither team is being talked about every day in the national scheme of things."

Michigan has stayed in the news lately for unwanted reasons.

An internal audit was released Monday in untimely fashion with details about the football program failing to file the school’s forms that track how much players work out and practice. The forms are used as a tool to help comply with NCAA rules.

The office of university audits sent Rodriguez a memo on July 24 stating that forms from the 2008 regular season had not been submitted.

The Detroit Free Press, citing anonymous players, reported a month later that Michigan exceeded NCAA limits regarding practices and workouts. That triggered a school investigation and later an NCAA letter of inquiry that has the school, program and fans bracing for bad news for the once-proud program.

Rodriguez said Wednesday the process of filing forms was corrected as soon as he learned it wasn’t happening, but said the investigation prevented him from further comment.

An upset against Ohio State would take some heat off Rodriguez for his on-the-field woes and would give a lot of young players some much-needed practices and upperclassmen who were recruited by Lloyd Carr a chance to experience the postseason again.

But Rodriguez said all will not be lost if Michigan loses to Ohio State — again.

"It’s not like we’re going to say we’re doomed without a bowl game this year," Rodriguez said in an interview with The Associated Press in his office. "But I really want it for our seniors."

While speculation swirls about Rodriguez’s future, he is confident the school will stay committed to him.

"The administration has been very supportive," Rodriguez said. "I’ve heard from many alumni and former players and they’ve all been very supportive."

One former player was anything but supportive when he left Ann Arbor.

Justin Boren played for Carr for two years, then did the unthinkable and transferred to Ohio State after Rodriguez arrived because he said "family values have eroded" in a parting shot.

"That was just like a slap in the face," Michigan defensive end Brandon Graham said.

Tressel wouldn’t let Boren speak with reporters this week, but his teammates said he’ll be fired up to play in the Big House in scarlet and gray.

"This is his week," Ohio State offensive tackle Jim Cordle said. "I remember when he first came here and all the talk and everything like that, and all the messages he was showing me, and then he went off to the media and said some things about Michigan.

"That’s probably why he’s not out here (talking to reporters) right now. But he’s pumped up for this one and I know those guys are going to be going after him."

The Wolverines will be going after Terrelle Pryor, too, if their struggling defenders can catch him.

Pryor considered attending Michigan when Rodriguez left West Virginia to coach college football’s winningest team, but chose to be a Buckeye.

Rodriguez acknowledged it would be difficult to prepare his defense for Pryor.

"You find a guy 6-6 that runs a 4.3," Rodriguez said. "If I had him, he probably wouldn’t be on the scout team."

Ohio State seems set up to roll to another easy victory in the rivalry, perhaps like its 42-7 win against Michigan last season.

The Buckeyes have won two straight — against Iowa and Penn State — while the Wolverines’ only win since September was against Delaware State.

Michigan’s defense has been bad enough to give up at least 35 points in the last four games. Its offense will be without one of its best players, running back Brandon Minor, because of an injured shoulder.

But Tressel knows the rivalry well enough to realize the best team doesn’t always win The Game.

"You have to be a little bit careful," Tressel said. "Very seldom do you go into this game and study the statistics sheet. That’s just not the way it works."

-- Larry Lage

No. 10 LSU, Ole Miss meet with so much at stake

JACKSON, Miss. — Things are looking awfully familiar for No. 10 LSU and Mississippi.

There are two games left in the season and the traditional rivals are again fighting for second place in the Southeastern Conference Western Division and the postseason plums that come with it — just like last year.

The Rebels are on a hot streak, while the Tigers are coming off a surprisingly narrow victory against a nonconference foe and a second straight loss to Alabama in the de facto division title game — just like last year.

LSU went on to finish a fairly irrelevant 8-5 in ‘09, while Ole Miss went from 0-for-the-SEC in 2007 to Cotton Bowl champions thanks to that win in Baton Rouge.

"It was insane going down to Death Valley where a lot of people go in and don’t come out with a W," Ole Miss defensive end Kentrell Lockett said. "It was exciting to go down there and hear the crowd rock the stadium and for us to quiet the crowd. That was something amazing. That was an experience."

An experience no one in purple and gold wants to see again. A loss to the Rebels (7-3, 3-3) on Saturday in Oxford would essentially create the same season-ending scenario, and the painful memories have LSU (8-2, 4-2) players ready to write a different ending.

"My brother (Curtis) was a senior last year," safety Brandon Taylor said. "I saw what he went through when we lost to Ole Miss last year. He was real down. That was not LSU football."

The idea that longtime also-ran Ole Miss under second-year coach Houston Nutt might now be good enough to challenge LSU every season is as repellent to players as it is fans.

"Ole Miss is not drawing even with us," Tigers defensive end Pep Levingston said. "The loss last year hurt us."

It also brought into question coach Les Miles’ job future by fans who expect more than late-season collapses, single-digit victory totals and second-tier bowl games.

The Tigers have had a better season, though. They started 2009 with five straight wins and their only losses have come to No. 1 Florida and No. 3 Alabama in close contests.

A loss to Ole Miss, though, could wipe all that away.

That’s a topic of discussion around Baton Rouge.

"The last two games are our season," linebacker Perry Riley said. "We can either end 10-2 or 8-4. We want to go in the direction of 10-2. It starts with Ole Miss."

The Rebels came out of the LSU game last season as if flung by catapult, creaming Mississippi State, thumping Texas Tech in Dallas and entering the season as everybody’s darling. Ole Miss rose to as high as fourth in the poll before falling completely out.

Like 2008, when it finished on a six-win run, Ole Miss has righted itself and won four of its last five. November is Nutt’s favorite month and games against LSU are why.

"This is always an exciting time," Nutt said. "We always play them towards the end of November. This place is going to be rocking Saturday, CBS, it doesn’t get any better than that. If you can’t get excited about this, something is wrong."

-- Chris Talbott

Control of Pac-10 at stake for Oregon, Arizona

TUCSON, Ariz. — Oregon linebacker Casey Matthews has a vivid memory from the Ducks’ last trip to Arizona Stadium — a 34-24 loss to Arizona in 2007.

"Their fans rushing the field," Matthews said this week. "We were ranked No. 2 in the nation and we came out on the losing side and it was tough. ... It crushed us as a team."

The Ducks were contending for a berth in the Bowl Championship Series title game when they came to the desert. With a national TV audience watching on a Thursday night, the 4-6 Wildcats seemed to pose little threat, especially after Oregon star quarterback Dennis Dixon scored on a 39-yard run early in the first quarter.

But Dixon left with a knee injury, and the Ducks never recovered. They dropped their last three regular-season games and tumbled all the way to the Sun Bowl.

No. 11 Oregon isn’t in the national title picture this time as it prepares to face Arizona again on Saturday. But the Ducks are in the hunt for a Rose Bowl berth — and so are the Wildcats, who were picked to finish eighth in a preseason poll of media assigned to the conference.

It’s a rare spot for Arizona, the only Pac-10 team that has not played in the Rose Bowl game. In the Wildcats’ first 31 years as a conference member, they split one football title — with USC and UCLA in 1993.

"I’m sure it’s in the back of our head that it would be something special for us to take this team to the first Rose Bowl," Arizona wide receiver Bug Wright said.

The winner of this game will control the race, but it shouldn’t book rooms in Pasadena just yet.

The Ducks (8-2, 6-1 Pac-10) still have to play Oregon State in the Civil War on Dec. 3, and the Beavers will be alive if they can beat woeful Washington State this weekend.

If Arizona (6-3, 4-2) wins on Saturday, it would own tiebreakers with Oregon, Oregon State and Stanford, which is also still in the chase. The Wildcats’ final two regular season games are against rival Arizona State in Tempe on Nov. 28 and No. 22 Southern California in Los Angeles on Dec. 5.

"Our margin for error is very narrow," Arizona coach Mike Stoops said.

The pressure is mounting, and the Wildcats seemed a bit fazed by it in a 24-16 loss to California in Berkeley last weekend. Arizona’s once-potent attack sputtered, and the Wildcats committed two turnovers and were flagged eight times.

They’ll probably have to produce more points to have any chance against an Oregon team averaging 37.1 points per game, most in the Pac-10.

The Ducks are led by quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, whose deft play-fakes often freeze opposing defenders.

Masoli ran wild against Arizona last fall, running for three scores and throwing for two more in a 55-45 victory over the Wildcats at Autzen Stadium. It was the most points allowed in Stoops’ six seasons at Arizona.

The scary part for Arizona: Oregon coach Chip Kelly said Masoli is playing better this year.

"I think he’s just doing a better job in his decision-making," Kelly said. "His physical skill set is ideal for what this offense is all about, but he seems not to be forcing the issue as much as he was kind of early in the year."

Masoli has plenty of help, and more may be on the way.

Tailback LeGarrette Blount, originally suspended for the season after punching a Boise State player in September, has been reinstated. Blount suited up last week but did not play in the Ducks’ 44-21 victory over Arizona State in Autzen Stadium. He’s expected to make the trip to Tucson.

Oregon’s rushing attack, ranked sixth in the nation, hasn’t missed a beat without Blount. Freshman LaMichael James has run for an Oregon freshman-record 1,193 yards, including more than 100 in five straight games.

Arizona defensive coordinator Mark Stoops said it doesn’t matter if Blount plays.

"Their offense does not change," Mark Stoops said. "The young kid, the freshman that’s playing for them, has done a great job."

The Wildcats have turned in some of their best performances against elite opponents in recent years, with seven victories over Top 25 teams since Stoops took over in 2004.

The Ducks remember one of those games too well, and they’d like to erase the memory with a victory on Saturday night.

"Anytime you lose to someone like that in that type of situation you want revenge, you know, payback," Oregon wide receiver Jeff Maehl said. "But we’re just focusing on what we need to do to get a win."

-- Andrew Bagnato

No. 14 Stanford flying high into Big Game vs. Cal

STANFORD, Calif. — When Toby Gerhart arrived at Stanford in 2006 there was more talk about whether the Cardinal should field a major college football team than about the farfetched possibility of going to the Rose Bowl.

Stanford went 1-11 in Gerhart’s freshman year under coach Walt Harris, losing eight games by at least 21 points.

"People laughed at us on campus," Gerhart said. "We were the laughingstock of the sports program. Now the student section is full each week and they’re fighting to get seats. There are a lot of people believing in Stanford football. It’s a complete 180 from where it was. Stanford football is on the rise."

So much so that even Tiger Woods will even be on the sideline Saturday as an honorary captain for the biggest Big Game in years.

Led by the running of Gerhart and freshman quarterback Andrew Luck, coach Jim Harbaugh’s 14th-ranked Cardinal (7-3, 6-2 Pac-10) are playing for a chance at the conference title when they host California (7-3, 4-3).

This is the first time since 1991 that both teams enter the rivalry game with at least seven wins.

"You want both opponents to be very high-skilled, highly ranked, you want it to be THE Big Game and I think we’re going to get that this year," Cal sixth-year offensive lineman Mike Tepper said. "They’re a great opponent so I’m excited."

Cal struggled for much of the 1990s, as Stanford went to a Rose Bowl following the 1999 season under coach Tyrone Willingham. The tides turned when Willingham left for Notre Dame and Jeff Tedford arrived at Cal.

The Golden Bears have dominated their rivals this decade, winning six of seven since Tedford took over in 2002.

The one loss still haunts the Bears, who lost six of their final seven regular-season games in 2007, including the rivalry game to Stanford in Harbaugh’s first season.

"Losing in ‘06 to USC was pretty bad, but losing the Axe in ‘07 was the worst feeling I ever had in my life," Tepper said. "It tears you apart and tears the community apart."

While Cal is playing for the Axe, Stanford has much more at stake. With a win Saturday and losses down the stretch by Oregon, Arizona and Oregon State, the Cardinal would clinch a Rose Bowl bid.

To get a share of the conference title Stanford just needs to win and hope the Ducks lose one of their final two games to Arizona or Oregon State.

"All I know is that for us to have any chance, we have to beat Cal this week," Luck said. "That’s all I’m focused on. I haven’t figured everything else out."

Harbaugh has talked about winning a Pac-10 title and going to a Rose Bowl since the day he arrived on campus, but until the Cardinal beat Oregon and Southern California in back-to-back weeks, there were few believers outside the program.

This week is the third step in what was supposed to be a brutal November stretch that ends with a home game next week against Notre Dame.

"Our mindset has been like an NFL playoff mentality with this game being the championship game," Harbaugh said. "It’s kind of put up or shut up time. We talked about that last week. It’s that way this week too. If we win, we stay in the hunt for the Pac-10 championship. If we don’t we’re out of it. We haven’t left ourselves any exit strategy."

Stanford put itself in this position by scoring 106 points in the wins over the Ducks and Trojans. First came a 51-42 victory over then-No. 7 Oregon that put the Cardinal into the Top 25 for the first time in eight years.

They followed that by scoring the most points ever against USC in a 55-21 victory over the then-No. 11 Trojans.

"Those games are no fluke," Tedford said. "There wasn’t anything fluky about those games. Those were dominating performances. We have our hands full without a doubt."

One of the biggest problems facing the Cardinal this week seemed unfathomable just a couple years ago: overconfidence.

Harbaugh saw signs of it on Sunday when the players seemed too pleased with themselves after the big win over USC. That started to disappear by the next day and Harbaugh planned to spend the entire week making sure cockiness would not derail Stanford.

For the first time in years, the Cardinal are actually expected to beat the Bears, a welcome change from past years when they could only play spoiler.

"We look forward to that kind of pressure," Gerhart said. "The season just wouldn’t be a success in a lot of people’s eyes if we don’t win the Big Game. This game is special for the seniors to go out with the Axe and possibly go to the Rose Bowl. This would be big for this program."

-- Josh Dubow

No. 15 Iowa looks to end slide, faces Gophers

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa is in danger of being remembered more for its finish than its fantastic start.

The 15th-ranked Hawkeyes have dropped two straight after opening 9-0 for the first time, and last week’s 27-24 overtime loss at Ohio State crushed their hopes of a trip to the Rose Bowl.

Though Iowa (9-2, 5-2 Big Ten) has gone from national title contention to simply hoping for an at-large BCS bowl bid, there’s still a lot on the line for the Hawkeyes entering Saturday’s finale against Minnesota (6-5, 3-4).

Standing in the way of Iowa’s hopes for their first 10-win season since 2004 and a bronze pig named Floyd are the Gophers, who still can’t forget what the Hawkeyes did to them in their final game in the Metrodome last season.

Iowa retained the "Floyd of Rosedale" hog trophy given to the winner in this border rivalry with a stunning 55-0 blowout victory. It was the largest-ever win by the Hawkeyes over Minnesota, and it has stuck with many of the Gophers.

"Something like that, you’re never going to forget," Minnesota tight end Nick Tow-Arnett said. "We’re going to do everything we can this year to not let that happen."

Iowa’s slide has coincided with quarterback Ricky Stanzi’s sprained ankle, which ended his regular season in the second quarter of a 17-10 loss to Northwestern back on Nov. 7.

Redshirt freshman quarterback James Vandenberg, who’ll make his second career start on Saturday, opened eyes with a confident performance against the Buckeyes.

Facing one of the nation’s top defenses in one of the toughest venues in college football, Vandenberg was 20 of 33 passing for 233 yards and two touchdowns. He threw three interceptions, but he also drove the Hawkeyes to a game-tying score late in the fourth quarter.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz praised Vandenberg’s arm, his grasp of the offense and, most important, they way he handled such a tough environment.

"I’m impressed with the fact that he took a couple shots in the head and that’s the stuff you don’t let guys do in practice. We can’t simulate 110,000 people, and we’re not going to let guys come in and whack him, either, during most conditions. That’s the stuff that you really find out about a guy," Ferentz said. "He just showed a lot of mental and physical toughness. Quarterbacks better have that."

Minnesota is skidding to the finish as well, like it was a year ago when the Hawkeyes closed out the Gophers run in the Metrodome.

Minnesota has dropped three of its last five, and last week’s 16-13 home win over FCS school South Dakota State was hardly a cause for celebration. The Gophers had just 231 yards of offense, settling for Eric Ellestad field goals of 23, 25 and 26 yards and a D.L. Wilhite fumble recovery for a touchdown to sneak past the Jackrabbits.

The Gophers are taking a bus to Iowa City instead of flying to save money, when they’ll have plenty of time to mull over the challenge of facing Iowa’s defense.

The Hawkeyes are allowing just 16.9 points per game this season, and Minnesota scored just seven points in road losses to the Big Ten’s two other premier defenses, the Buckeyes and Penn State.

"It’s a tremendous challenge for us. We know that we’re a big underdog in the football game, and rightfully so," Minnesota coach Tim Brewster said.

Save for a 34-24 loss in Minneapolis in 2006 that capped a dreadful late-season skid for Iowa, the Hawkeyes have dominated the series since Ferentz got Iowa back on track in 2001.

Iowa has won seven of the last eight meetings with the Gophers, and the Hawkeyes will likely need to make it eight of nine to have any shot of landing an at-large BCS bid.

"It’s a pig. Hopefully we can keep it here, and maybe we could kind of roast it for the Thanksgiving break," Iowa defensive lineman Broderick Binns said.

-- Luke Meredith

No. 16 Hokies ‘feeling good’ for NC State visit

Virginia Tech is focusing on what it can do, not what it can’t.

The No. 16 Hokies can’t win a third consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference championship. They won’t get another national title shot.

What they can do is have a sixth consecutive 10-win season.

That means not looking past defense-challenged North Carolina State when the Wolfpack arrives at Lane Stadium Saturday for the final home game for Virginia Tech’s seniors.

"That’s a tradition we have around here," wide receiver Jarrett Boykin said of the 10-win plateau. "We’re going to do everything we can to get to 10 wins. We want to feel good about ourselves at the end."

The Hokies (7-3, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) have won two in a row in impressive fashion, and need to also win at Virginia and in their bowl game to hit the mark for the sixth season in a row. Only Southern California and Texas have also done it the past five years, and USC (7-3) also needs to win its last two and a bowl game to get to 10 this year.

The visit from the struggling Wolfpack (4-6, 1-5) also falls on the day that 21 seniors will play their final game at home.

"We’ve had a good run," coach Frank Beamer said of the class that has played in two Bowl Championship Series games and won the last two ACC championships before falling short this season.

"I like our leadership. I like what they’ve been all about. I think that’s come through in these last two weeks, the way we’ve played after some real disappointment," he said.

The team has adjusted to its lowered expectations, and is rallying.

"We’re not content, but we’re feeling good," Boykin said. "We’re going to keep practicing hard so we can finish this season off right, and feel good about ourselves at the end."

The Wolfpack is trying to do the same thing, but even a strong finish won’t land them a bowl appearance. Two of their victories — against Murray State and Gardner-Webb — came against lower division schools, so they needed seven victories to reach the postseason.

The goal now?

"Respect in the conference," wide receiver Owen Spencer said. "We know a bowl game is not in sight right now, but we can show a lot of character and how much heart and fight we have left by going out and winning our last two games. That would be real big for our program."

Defensive end Willie Young said they owe it to each other to keep playing hard.

"As long as we’re breathing, we’ve got something to play for," he said.

N.C. State could help its chances if its defense shows up. The Wolfpack’s last seven opponents have all scored at least 30 points, and four of the last five have had at least 43.

Still, Beamer cautions that it’s a "scary team" heading into Blacksburg, one led by sophomore quarterback Russell Wilson, a Richmond native that the Hokies looked at hard.

They eventually opted to go harder after similarly skilled Tyrod Taylor.

"Wilson is outstanding with 26 touchdown passes and a 58 percent completion percentage, 2,500 yards and averaging 253 yards passing per game," Beamer said of the quarterback who last season became the first freshman QB ever named to the All-ACC first team.

Wilson leads the ACC in touchdown passes, but has also thrown 10 interceptions. He’s third in the league in passing efficiency, which leaves him two spots behind Taylor.

And Taylor has more help because Ryan Williams leads the league in rushing with an average of 123.5 yards, has scored 12 touchdowns and is a dangerous receiver as well.

He also needs just 31 rushing yards to break teammate Darren Evans’ ACC record of 1,265 rushing yards by a freshman. Evans was sidelined before the season by a knee injury.

-- Hank Kurz Jr.

Wildcats try to stop Clay in Big 10 finale

EVANSTON, Ill. — It seemed Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald was talking about the same player as he analyzed first his own quarterback, Mike Kafka, and then the one the Wildcats must contain Saturday — No. 17 Wisconsin’s Scott Tolzien.

"He’s very accurate. He puts the ball where it belongs. He doesn’t make a lot of bad decisions and he’s done a really good job," Fitzgerald said of Tolzien, who cut up Michigan with four TD passes last week.

Kafka? He had his fourth 300-yard passing game of the season in a victory over Illinois a week ago. Fitzgerald offered this assessment of his quarterback.

"He makes everyone around him that much better," Fitzgerald said. "He’s done a tremendous job taking care of the ball, leading our offense and making the plays he’s capable of without doing too much."

Which QB plays better might decide Saturday’s game between the Badgers (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten) and the Wildcats (7-4, 4-3) in the schools’ first meeting since 2006.

Then again, it could boil down to Northwestern’s defense — led by coordinator Mike Hankwitz, who held the same position at Wisconsin from 2006-07 before he was not retained by coach Bret Bielema — against the Big Ten’s best running attack and leading rusher in John Clay.

The Badgers are averaging 208 yards per game rushing and Northwestern’s defense, behind linebackers Quentin Davie and Nate Williams, is giving up only 125 yards per game on the ground. Wisconsin’s been even stingier against the run, yielding just under 100 yards per game.

"I think in this league, even though the spread (offense) is the pretty thing to do, if you’re able to run the football effectively, and if you’re able to stop the run, you’re going to have a good chance to win football games," Bielema said. "That’s what we’ve been able to do."

The Badgers, who play Hawaii in the season finale, have put themselves in position for a 10-win season and an attractive bowl bid. And they’ve done it with a balanced offense featuring Clay, Tolzien and wide receiver Nick Toon, son of former Wisconsin and NFL receiver Al Toon.

Clay is averaging 112 yards rushing per game and gained 151 yards against Michigan last week to go over 1,000 for the season. Bielema said his running back should be in any conversation about the Big Ten’s offensive player of the year.

Kafka will be playing his final regular-season game and showed improved mobility after hurting his hamstring and missing the second half of a loss to Penn State two weeks ago.

Since that setback, the Wildcats have won back-to-back road games at Iowa, ruining the Hawkeyes’ undefeated season, and Illinois to put themselves in position for a New Year’s Day bowl game.

The Wildcats haven’t been to consecutive bowls since going to the Rose and Citrus following the 1995 and 1996 seasons with Fitzgerald as their star linebacker.

Kafka is No. 2 in the Big Ten in total offense — he’s been a running threat all season when healthy — at 256 yards per game.

The last time the teams met — a 41-9 Wisconsin victory at Camp Randall Stadium in 2006 — the Wildcats’ starting quarterback was Andrew Brewer, who has since changed positions. Brewer, at 6-foot-3, 215, is now one of Kafka’s top targets and is averaging 16 yards per catch. Former walk-on Zeke Markshausen has 76 catches, second most in the Big Ten.

"Northwestern, even though they’re in a spread-it-out league, they like ball control," Bielema said. "They like the underneath passing game."

-- Rick Gano

Spiller to light up Death Valley one last time

CLEMSON, S.C. — When C.J. Spiller stands beside Howard’s Rock for his solo, Senior Day run down Clemson’s famed hill on Saturday, he won’t think about the friends he’s made, the highlight reels he’s filled or the nearly four miles he’s run since picking the Tigers four seasons ago.

He’ll focus, as he always has, on the 60 minutes ahead and guaranteeing his Tigers come out on top.

"It might be emotional, it might not," Spiller said. "Once the game starts, I’ll block all that out. My objective will be to position myself to help my team win Saturday."

The 18th-ranked Tigers (7-3, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) are heavily favored to do just that against Virginia (3-7, 2-4). A win would wrap up the ACC’s Atlantic Division and send Clemson to Tampa, Fla., in two weeks to face Coastal champ Georgia Tech for the conference title.

The Tigers have been this close to the top before, two years ago when all they needed was a victory at home over Boston College. But Matt Ryan’s 43-yard touchdown pass with less than two minutes left sent the Eagles on and kept Clemson waiting for success.

That was a disheartening time, Spiller recalled. Yet the Tigers haven’t spent one second considering anything else than the Cavaliers this week. Clemson has traveled too far the past two seasons to throw it away now.

"That’s what we’ve been preaching this week," Spiller said.

Still, it figures to be one of Death Valley’s rowdiest days in quite some time. Fans who fled the team when it returned from a Maryland loss at 2-3, have packed the place during Clemson’s five-game win streak. There’s a chance the Tigers could wrap things up before kickoff since those Eagles, at 4-2 the only division team that could catch Clemson, play North Carolina at noon with the results known before Clemson’s 3:30 p.m. start.

The Tigers hold the tiebreaker over Boston College because of a 25-7 win in September.

Coach Dabo Swinney says that won’t matter. He won’t talk about the result to his players or let them discuss it before the game.

"Let’s line up and play," he said. "I don’t want anything given to us. Let’s go to work and earn what we get."

A victory over Virginia would also earn Swinney a huge contractual bonus. The former receivers coach signed a five-year deal this spring for $800,000 a year, at the bottom among ACC football coaches. However, an escalator guarantees that if his team makes the ACC title game, Swinney’s 2010 salary could be no less than the median of the league’s 12 coaches — meaning a raise of about $1 million that would more than double this year’s paycheck.

What a birthday present for Swinney, who turned 40 this week.

First things first, though, and that’s solving Virginia’s 3-4, prostyle scheme the Tigers haven’t come up against this year.

It helps to have Spiller, a rising Heisman Trophy contender, on your side.

He seemingly sets a "first time ever" feat each time he touches the ball, Swinney said.

Spiller put up a school record 310 all-purpose yards in Clemson’s eye-opening, 40-37 OT win over then eighth-ranked Miami. He broke it two games later with 312, including a career high 165 yards rushing, to beat Florida State 40-24. Last week, he rushed, caught and threw for a touchdown in the Tigers’ 43-23 victory over North Carolina State.

Spiller needs just 140 yards to become the NCAA’s fifth player to surpass 7,000 all-purpose yards.

Plus, there are Spiller’s unforgettable YouTube moments. His sideline juke of two Georgia Tech defenders on a 50-yard TD pass as a freshman, losing a shoe while streaking down the sidelines for a 92-yard kickoff return at Maryland, and breaking out what Spiller called a "mini" Heisman pose after his clinching touchdown run against the Seminoles.

Virginia coach Al Groh echoed what most opposing coaches have said about Spiller. "You need about 14 guys to stop him," Groh said.

The Cavaliers only used 11 last year in holding Spiller in check. Clemson’s star managed only 18 yards rushing on 14 carries, although he did throw a TD pass in the Tigers’ 13-3 win last fall.

Spiller’s ready for a difficult, hard-hitting contest. Emotions about his final time at Death Valley? He’ll save those for the end of the game when he hopes to celebrate a long-sought goal finally achieved.

"I still got a job to do and that’s to try and win this division," he said.

-- Pete Iacobelli

Hall tries for BYU record vs. Air Force

Max Hall has a school record within his reach while knowing another milestone is probably not going to happen.

With the Mountain West Conference championship all but decided, Hall will have to settle for trying to become the winningest quarterback in BYU history Saturday when the No. 19 Cougars host Air Force in Provo, Utah.

As much as Hall would rather be playing with a conference title on the line Saturday, he knows what a 30th win as BYU’s starting quarterback would mean.

"It’s not a distraction at all. It’s a big deal. It’s going to be quite an accomplishment if I can get that," said Hall, who tied Ty Detmer’s school record last week with his 29th win as the starter. "I put it back of my mind though. It’s not like I want to win the game for the record. I want to win it for our guys and for the season. If we do win, after the game it’s going to be something kind of special to think about."

What Hall wants as much is to finish his career with another conference championship at BYU (8-2, 5-1). The chances of that pretty much ended with a blowout loss to TCU at home on Oct. 24. Once the No. 4 Horned Frogs routed Utah last week, the Mountain West was pretty much won.

TCU would have to lose its final two games for BYU to be able to win the title. Considering the Frogs’ 10-0 start, upsets at Wyoming on Saturday or at home next week against winless New Mexico are extremely unlikely.

"Every year we want to be the conference champions. That’s our goal and obviously that goal is going to be pretty tough to reach now," Hall said. "But you just keep playing. I think we still can have a successful season."

Hall did win a conference championship as a sophomore, his first year playing for the Cougars, and will still be high in the record book of a school known for producing quarterbacks. Only Detmer, the 1990 Heisman Trophy winner, and John Beck have passed for more career yards than Hall’s 10,662.

Hall still has three games to improve on his standing: Saturday against the Falcons (7-4, 5-2), next week at home against rival Utah and then whatever bowl the Cougars end up playing in.

It will be a good career once he’s willing to look back on it. But it won’t be the dream senior season he was hoping for, especially after the Cougars’ upset of Oklahoma in the season opener.

Now BYU is relegated to playing for second place.

"I know what the expectations here are, I would love to finish at the top of the league every year and I think we have a very good team," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "I think we’ll play very well the next two weeks and in postseason, so I’ll just leave it at that."

Air Force is closing out the regular season Saturday and is trying to extend a three-game winning streak.

"They’re a great football team. They’re coached well. They’re disciplined and they’ve got good guys," Hall said. "I think they’re playing with a different swagger and confidence than they have in years past."

November has been a good month for the Falcons under coach Troy Calhoun, who is the first coach in school history to win seven or more games in his first three seasons.

The Falcons are 7-2 in November during Calhoun’s tenure and have won four of their last five games.

"You have to play like a seasoned football team, which we are later in the year," Calhoun said. "Because of it, I expect us to play well."

-- Doug Alden

Oregon State seeks to keep Rose Bowl hopes alive

SPOKANE, Wash. — While others may focus on the prospect of No. 20 Oregon State making the Rose Bowl, coach Mike Riley wants his team to pay attention to Saturday’s opponent, Washington State.

The Cougars (1-9, 0-7 Pac-10) are having a woeful season, but that is no reason to take them lightly, Riley said.

"To lose focus and not get ready in every way to play our best game this week would be disappointing," Riley said. "You have to learn about your opponent and respect them and get ready to play your best."

"Washington State is what we need to get by, and that’s all we’re thinking about," added guard Gregg Peat.

Riley noted it wasn’t so long ago that Oregon State (7-3, 5-2) was in a major rebuilding mode. He said Washington State coach Paul Wulff seems to have the Cougars improving.

"We just don’t want this week to be their breakthrough week," Riley said.

That doesn’t seem likely as Oregon State’s Jacquizz and James Rodgers and quarterback Sean Canfield will likely be too explosive for WSU’s porous defense to contain.

Canfield leads the Pac-10 in passing with an average of 256.6 yards per game. He has 17 touchdown passes and is fourth in the nation in completion percentage (69.8).

Jacquizz Rodgers has rushed for 1,148 yards and 17 touchdowns, and is averaging 114.8 yards per game. He’s also caught 62 passes for 397 yards. His brother, James, a receiver, leads the Pac-10 with 179.5 all-purpose yards per game.

"They are 80 percent of the offense almost," Wulff said. "They are tough to defend."

While Oregon State is heading to the postseason, the Cougars will be playing their final home game in Pullman and looking mostly for a sign that the team is turning around after two dismal seasons.

"If you are a competitor you want to compete as hard as you can," Wulff said.

Senior Kevin Lopina will start at quarterback for WSU in place of injured Jeff Tuel. Lopina, who was the starter at the beginning of the season, was benched after the second game, and ended up running the scout team. But he came in in relief of Marshall Lobbestael in last weekend’s loss to UCLA and led the Cougars to their only touchdown.

The Cougars average 13.4 points and 262 yards per game, while giving up 39 points and 511 yards.

The defense took a new hit this week when starting linebacker Jason Stripling and defensive lineman Toby Turpin were both suspended for off-field violations.

Oregon State is third in the Pac-10 and has already beaten second-place Arizona. They’ll close the season at Oregon on Dec. 3, with the game possibly deciding the Pac-10 champion and representative in the Rose Bowl.

"If Arizona loses a game and we beat Oregon we go to the Rose Bowl right?" said OSU linebacker Keaton Kristick. "Just the possibility, I think that’s really neat."

-- Nicholas K. Geranios

Miami, Duke QBs have some personal history

MIAMI — Growing up on the same football fields in South Florida, Thaddeus Lewis was the mentor, Jacory Harris the pupil.

Years later, the relationship between the quarterbacks hasn’t changed.

"Me and Thad, we talk every now and then on the phone," Harris said. "He’ll give me a couple of pointers, things to do, things to look at."

On Saturday, the student will try to show the teacher what he’s learned, when they share a field for quite possibly the last time.

Harris and No. 21 Miami (7-3, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) close league play and the home schedule against Lewis and Duke (5-5, 3-3), which is in contention for its first bowl bid since 1995. It’s a big game for Miami, which still could have its first 10-win season since 2003. And for Lewis, it’s particularly significant — his high school, Hialeah-Miami Lakes, is only 8 miles from where the game will be played.

"It’s going to be exciting, a chance to play in front of your home crowd in your last college season," Lewis said.

Exciting for Harris, too.

His best game as a collegian was last year against Duke, when he came off the Miami bench to throw for four touchdowns and run for another score, helping the Hurricanes easily erase a 24-14 third-quarter deficit and post a 49-31 victory. Lewis being on the other sideline was a clear motivating factor, Harris said.

"I know it was a lot of fun," Harris said. "It’s a lot of fun going against somebody that you grew up with and grew up admiring, when you were at the Optimist level, the Little League level ... now being able to play at the same level with him, it’s like competition. You want to see if you can do better than him, see how he reacts in different situations and try to be just like him."

Of course, this game is much more than Harris vs. Lewis.

There’s no titles at stake, but it’s still critical for both teams.

Harris was talked about in some circles as a Heisman candidate earlier this season, and he’s now No. 1 — in interceptions nationally. The sophomore has been picked off 16 times this year, four of those coming in last week’s loss to North Carolina, and he plans to play this week with some sort of brace protecting his sore right hand.

He still has the full support of his team, and many of them rushed to his defense when he took responsibility for the Carolina loss.

"I’ve always had a lot of respect for Jacory Harris," left tackle Jason Fox said. "I have more now. It’s definitely not all on him."

The Duke game last year was the one where Harris, in some eyes anyway, started to separate himself from Robert Marve as Miami’s No. 1 quarterback.

With the interceptions and injuries taking a toll, Miami’s hope is that facing Duke gives Harris a boost again.

"He looks up to Thaddeus, starting when they were little," Miami coach Randy Shannon said. "It’s going to be a deal where Thaddeus is coming back home, a guy that Jacory has looked up to, so it’s going to be a game for him to prove that he really is the University of Miami quarterback — but he won’t put that sort of pressure on himself, either."

From the Duke perspective, coach David Cutcliffe sounds less than satisfied with just having the Blue Devils’ best record since 1995.

He had 28 names on his internal Sunday injury report, about twice as many as usual. Duke has lost its last 18 games played in November, the last win coming Nov. 13, 2004 against Clemson. And even with a 3-2 road record this season, the Blue Devils have still dropped 66 of their last 77 on the road.

"I don’t like the people that just raise the obstacles," Cutcliffe said. "I can tell you 5,000 reasons (why) we won’t win. If I tell you 5,000 reasons (why) we won’t win, then I have to tell you 5,000 things we are going to do about it. I’ve talked about the challenges, what they are and what we are going to do about them."

One of those 5,000 things Duke can do Saturday — get a big game from Lewis in his hometown.

"I don’t expect anything but his best," Harris said. "But I also told him, he can’t expect to come in and get their bowl-appearance win against us."

-- Tim Reynolds

No. 23 Utah tries to recover against San Diego St.

SALT LAKE CITY — Banged and bruised, Utah quarterback Jordan Wynn is ready for another shot.

Wynn and the No. 23 Utes host San Diego State on Saturday, pitting Wynn against his hometown team one week after a humbling loss in his second career start.

Wynn took hit after hit last week in a 55-28 loss to No. 4 TCU, which put the Horned Frogs alone in first place in the Mountain West Conference with two games to go.

"I’m fine. Just ready to hurry up and get back on the field and get this taste out of my mouth," said Wynn, who was 16-for-32 for 219 yards with one interception and one touchdown.

The Utes (8-2, 5-1) know they aren’t going to catch the Frogs and repeat as Mountain West champions, so they’re focusing on closing the season with wins over the Aztecs (4-6, 2-4) and then next week at rival BYU.

Utah’s conference title hopes unraveled quickly last week when TCU scored four straight touchdowns in the first half, including an interception return on a pass by Wynn deep in Utah territory.

It was only Wynn’s second start in college and was a painful way to learn.

"They were exactly what I expected. They were fast and they were a team that you had to play a pretty solid game in order to hang with and we didn’t do that," Wynn said. "That’s in the past. We’ve just got to move on and all our focus is with San Diego State."

Wynn grew up in the San Diego area, was recruited by the Aztecs and has friends on the team. Although he took the loss last week, he has still established himself as Utah’s quarterback of the future.

In his brief career, Wynn has completed 43 of 74 passes for 598 yards with four touchdowns to two interceptions.

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham expects Wynn to continue to improve, especially after what he went through last week against the top defense in the Mountain West.

"Going against that caliber of competition only makes you better. The thing I was really impressed with, he got hit quite often in that game and kept picking himself back up. He hung in there the entire time, never lost his poise, never got flustered," Whittingham said. "He’s a competitive kid. He’s got the kind of attitude and demeanor you want in a quarterback."

Saturday is Utah’s final home game and the Utes plan the honor the 24 seniors in a pregame ceremony before trying to extend a 16-game winning streak at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Utah has won its last three against San Diego State, but the Aztecs have improved this season under first-year coach Brady Hoke and defensive coordinator Rocky Long, the former New Mexico coach who has given Utah trouble in the past.

"From a fundamental standpoint, from a technique standpoint, just across the board, I think they’re doing much better," Whittingham said.

San Diego State has already doubled last year’s win total and still has two games to play. The Aztecs could easily be at .500 right now, but couldn’t hang on to a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost to Wyoming 30-27.

Hoke is less concerned with hearing about improvement than he is with winning.

"It’s still a loss. It doesn’t change anything," Hoke said. "To me, it’s another learning experience and what we have to do as a football team and as a staff is take the good things that we did and learn things we didn’t do as well."

-- Doug Alden