TOP 25 Auburn tops rival, keeps pressure on BCS
Auburn kept alive its chance to play for the national championship.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Auburn's stars rescued the Tigers' national championship hopes with a stellar second half.
Jason Campbell passed for 224 yards and Ronnie Brown and Carnell Williams ran for second-half touchdowns, leading No. 2 Auburn to a 21-13 victory over Alabama on Saturday.
Now the question is will an impressive final 30 minutes be enough to cancel out a 6-0 halftime deficit and lackluster start when this game is figured into the Bowl Championship Series standings?
The Tigers (11-0, 8-0 Southeastern Conference) were third in the BCS behind second-place Oklahoma, which beat Baylor 35-0, and Southern California.
Even the nation's top scoring defense ran into a little trouble late. Alabama (6-5, 3-5) drove 84 yards on 11 plays in the final minutes, scoring on Spencer Pennington's 18-yard pass to D.J. Hall with 1:26 left.
Courtney Taylor recovered the onside kick for the Tigers, who ran out the clock and left their archrivals stadium with a hard-fought, if not aesthetically pleasing, victory.
They completed their first perfect regular season since 1993, when the team was on probation.
No. 4 California 41, Stanford 6
BERKELEY, Calif. -- J.J. Arrington ran for 169 yards to set California's single-season rushing record and the Golden Bears beat Stanford for their biggest victory in the Big Game since 1930.
Freshman Marshawn Lynch added 122 yards on just nine carries, including a spectacular 55-yard touchdown run. Lynch also threw a TD pass as the Bears racked up 474 total yards in coach Jeff Tedford's third straight victory over Stanford in the 107th edition of the rivalry.
No. 12 Miami 52, Wake Forest 7
MIAMI -- Brock Berlin threw for a career-best 361 yards and four touchdowns in just over a half and Miami stayed in contention for the Atlantic Coast Conference title.
Frank Gore rushed for 83 yards and a touchdown for Miami (8-2, 5-2), and Rashaun Jones recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for another Hurricanes score. Miami outgained Wake Forest 579-193.
No. 13 Boise State 55,Louisiana Tech 14
BOISE, Idaho -- Jon Helmandollar rushed for a school-record five touchdowns, and No. 13 Boise State clinched at least a share of its third straight Western Athletic Conference title.
Jared Zabransky threw for 317 yards and a touchdown for Boise State, who racked up 629 total yards and scored 38 second half points.
No. 15 Tennessee 38,Vanderbilt 33
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Cedric Houston ran for three touchdowns and No. 15 Tennessee clinched the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division title with its 22nd straight victory over Vanderbilt.
Tennessee (8-2, 6-1) will play No. 2 Auburn in the SEC championship game in Atlanta on Dec. 4 regardless of what happens in the Vols' game next week against Kentucky. It will be Tennessee's fourth trip to the title game since 1997.
No. 18 Virginia 30,Georgia Tech 10
ATLANTA -- Alvin Pearman scored two touchdowns and Virginia came up with four key turnovers.
Virginia kept alive its hopes of at least sharing the Atlantic Coast Conference title, though the Cavaliers (8-2, 5-2) are still a longshot to claim the league's spot in the Bowl Championship Series.
No. 19 Boston College 34,Temple 17
PHILADELPHIA -- L.V. Whitworth ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns, and Boston College took another step closer to its first BCS berth in Temple's final game before being booted from the Big East.
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