...And Then There Was One
Entering this weekend, three undefeated teams sat atop the BCS Standings. But after the smoke cleared on Saturday, only one of them emerged undefeated (the Tennessee Volunteers) as Championship Weekend gave us one of the most entertaining days in college football history.
The first to fall was UCLA, who fell in a wild 49-45 game against Miami. Edgerrin James scored on a one-yard touchdown run with 50 seconds to give the Hurricanes the upset win. The Bruins, plagued all year by a horrific defense, had staged several comebacks this season to keep their perfect season going. But they simply ran out of magic, losing their 20-game winning streak and most likely their national title hopes in one fail swoop.
After James, who ran for 299 yards and three touchdowns on 39 carries, gave the Hurricanes the lead, Cade McNown has one last chance to pull out the win. The Heisman trophy candidate, who had thrown for five touchdowns and a school-record 515 yards, drove UCLA to the Miami 29 with four seconds left. His last gasp effort into the end zone fell incomplete, almost certainly sending the Bruins to a Rose Bowl matchup with Wisconsin.
Next came Texas A&M's stunning 36-33 upset of Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship.
Branndon Stewart connected with running back Sirr Parker on a 32-yard touchdown pass in double overtime, crushing K-State's dreams of a national championship and possibly elimiating the Wildcats from the BCS mix altogether.
Martin Gramatica hit a 25-yard field goal to begin the second overtime, giving Kansas State a 33-30 lead. The Aggies proceeded to lose two yards on their first play of the ensuing possession. But faced with a 3rd-and-17 following a penalty, Stewart threw a screen pass to Parker, who shook off a K-State tackler and dashed toward the right corner of the end zone, barely crossing the goal line for the winning score.
Stewart also threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes for Texas A&M, which rallied from a 15-point deficit in the final 10:00 of regulation to force the extra periods. For the Aggies, it is their first league championship of any kind since 1993, when they won the old Southwest Conference title. The loss also snapped K-State's 19-game winning streak.
The only one of the top three to survive was Tennessee. Trailing by four late in the game, the Volunteers received two touchdown passes from Tee Martin in less than :30 to hold off upset-minded Mississippi State 24-14. Martin connected with Peerless Price for a 41-yard score with 6:15 left in the game. Then after a turnover, Martin hit Cedrick Wilson from 26-yards out to ensure the Vols a place in the Fiesta Bowl and a shot at the National Championship.
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