No. 24 West Virginia 45, Temple 28

No. 24 West Virginia 45, Temple 28
By JOHN RABY
AP Sports Writer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- Jason Colson rushed for two touchdowns in his first career start Saturday to lead No. 24 West Virginia to a 45-28 win over Temple and a share of its first Big East title since 1993.
Lance Frazier returned a punt for a touchdown and set up another score with an interception for West Virginia (8-4, 6-1 Big East), which won its seventh straight game and is expected to head to the Gator Bowl to play Maryland.
West Virginia likely won't finish high enough in the BCS rankings to get the league's automatic bid. That will go to either No. 10 Miami or No. 20 Pittsburgh, which played Saturday night.
West Virginia hopes to have a better offensive showing on New Year's Day. For much of Saturday, the Mountaineers struggled against Temple (1-11, 0-7), which got 117 yards rushing and four scores 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, and sat out the game with a sore right ankle. His backup, Kay-Jay Harris, has a broken finger on his left hand and played sparingly but still had a 46-yard scoring run with time winding down.
Standout play on defense and special teams gave the Mountaineers an early double-digit lead it never relinquished.
On Temple's second offensive series, Makonnen Fenton fumbled and West Virginia's Adam Jones returned it 47 yards for a touchdown.
Frazier took a punt 64 yards for a score two minutes later, then intercepted Washington on Temple's next series to set up a short scoring drive, capped by the first of Colson's 2-yard TD runs for a 21-0 lead.
Colson, a redshirt freshman, finished with 104 yards on 28 carries in his most extensive playing time this season. His helped make up for a lackluster performance by Rasheed Marshall.
Marshall was just 7-of-17 for 91 yards, including a 42-yard TD toss to Chris Henry in the third quarter for a 35-14 lead. But Marshall threw an interception and his second-quarter fumble set up an 8-yard TD run by Washington.
Washington, a midseason replacement for the injured Mike McGann, led Temple in rushing for the fifth straight game.