Big East: Strong finish and share of title for West Virginia
By Wire services
Published November 30, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia is making plans for a Florida bowl.
Jason Colson rushed for two touchdowns in his first career start Saturday to lead the Mountaineers to a 45-28 win over Temple and a share of the Big East title.
They won't be going to the Orange Bowl, which can count out the Mountaineers because they won't finish high enough in the BCS rankings to get the conference's automatic bid. Instead, a trip is imminent to the Gator Bowl on New Year's Day. A bowl official told the Mountaineers after the game to get ready for an invitation this week.
For now, West Virginia is savoring its first league title since 1993, something the team considers more important than where it plays in a bowl.
"It's an indescribable feeling. I was just running around hugging my teammates," said Lance Frazier, who returned a punt for a touchdown and set up another TD with an interception.
West Virginia has a seven-game winning streak, its longest since the 1996 season when it also went to the Gator Bowl.
"When I first got this job I had no idea what it took to be Big East champs, but through a lot of hard work we've achieved one of our goals," said coach Rich Rodriguez, who earned a $75,000 bonus for the league title.
West Virginia hopes for a better offensive showing on New Year's Day. The Mountaineers often struggled against Temple, which got 117 yards rushing and four TDs from quarterback Walter Washington.
West Virginia was outgained 347-299 in 31-degree weather without its biggest weapon.
Quincy Wilson, the nation's 11th-leading rusher, sat out with a sore right ankle. Backup Kay-Jay Harris has a broken finger and played sparingly but had a 46-yard TD run with the clock winding down. Standout play on defense and special teams gave the Mountaineers an early double-digit lead they never relinquished.
RUTGERS 24, SYRACUSE 7: Ryan Hart threw a 19-yard touchdown and ran 3 yards for another, helping the host Scarlet Knights all but end Syracuse's bowl hopes. Brian Leonard also ran for 138 yards and a touchdown as the Scarlet Knights took advantage of three Syracuse mistakes to score three times in a 4:57 span in capping their best season under third-year coach Greg Schiano. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak and gave Rutgers its most wins (five) since 1998. The loss was the third in a row and fourth in five games for Syracuse.
With five seven-win teams in the Big East, the only way the Orangemen can get a bowl bid is if they beat Notre Dame next week, another conference can't fulfill its tie-ins and there is no eligible seven-win team in all of Division I-A.
