Hazel Urbanski: First losing year for Michigan since '67

Forty straight winning seasons. Thirty-three straight bowl appearances.

Those streaks are over for Michigan after Purdue's Justin Siller and Greg Orton helped the Boilermakers edge the Wolverines 48-42 in West Lafayette, Ind.

The seventh loss for Michigan (2-7, 1-4 Big Ten) and fifth in a row officially eliminated it from postseason eligibility.

"I'm going to keep going back to work. What do you want me to say?" first-year coach Rich Rodriguez said. "We're going to get up, go through the same routine. We're going to get up, work tomorrow, try to get better."

Siller passed for three touchdowns and ran for another in his first career start, and Orton lateraled to Desmond Tardy for the final score with 26 seconds left to lift Purdue (3-6, 1-4).

Michigan tied the game 42-42 with 1:20 to go on the third touchdown run by Brandon Minor. But Siller passed 18 yards to Keith Smith and 20 yards to Tardy, taking Purdue to the Michigan 35. After a 3-yard run by Siller, he passed 4 yards to Orton, who flipped the ball to Tardy.

Pittsburgh 36, Notre Dame 33: Conor Lee kicked a 22-yard field goal in the fourth overtime to give the Panthers (6-2), who are bowl eligible for the first time since 2004, a victory in South Bend, Ind.

LeSean McCoy, who rushed for a season-high 169 yards on 32 carries, set up the game-winner with an 18-yard run after a 38-yard field goal attempt by Notre Dame's Brandon Walker was wide left.

Neither team managed a touchdown in the overtime and Pitt's only lead was the final score.

For the Irish (5-3) it was their third loss to teams with winning records this season. Jimmy Clausen threw three touchdown passes, including a 6-yard score to Golden Tate with 5:38 left and two touchdowns to Michael Floyd. He was 23-of-44 passing for 271 yards with no interceptions.

Pitt forced overtime when the Panthers tied the score 24-24 with 2:22 left on a 10-yard TD pass from Bostick to Jonathan Baldwin on 4th-and-6.

Louisiana Tech 38, Fresno St. 35: Daniel Porter rushed for 189 yards and two touchdowns for host Louisiana Tech (4-4, 2-2 WAC). Tom Brandstater was 23-for-38 for 296 yards and four touchdowns for Fresno State (5-3, 2-2).

Clemson 27, Boston College 21: C.J. Spiller caught six passes for 105 yards - the most for a running back in Clemson history - and set up another touchdown with a 57-yard run to give interim coach Dabo Swinney his first victory. The Tigers (4-4, 2-3 ACC) had not beaten the Eagles (5-3, 2-3) in six tries since 1958.

Miami 24, Virginia 17: Jacory Harris threw a touchdown pass to tie the game in the final minute and another one in overtime to put the visiting Hurricanes (6-3, 3-2) into the race for the ACC title game.

The Cavaliers (5-4, 3-2) had their four-game winning streak end just after tailback Cedric Peerman was stripped of the ball on Virginia's first play of overtime.

Illinois 27, Iowa 24: The host Illini (5-4, 3-3 Big Ten) won on a 46-yard field goal by Matt Eller with 24 seconds left.

For the Hawkeyes (5-4, 2-3), quarterback Ricky Stanzi was sacked six times, one yielding a touchdown when defensive back Dere Hicks forced a fumble, scooped up the ball and ran it in for 24-9 third-quarter lead.

Kansas 52, Kansas St. 21: Jake Sharp had 257 total yards and tied a school record with four touchdowns, and the host Jayhawks (6-3, 3-2 Big 12) had a season-best 280 yards rushing to overwhelm the Wildcats (4-5, 1-4).

Mississippi 17, Auburn 7: Jevan Snead threw two touchdown passes, Cordera Eason rushed for 104 yards and Ole Miss (5-4, 3-3 SEC) capitalized on a series of fourth-quarter mistakes by the visiting Tigers (4-5, 2-4), including three penalties on Mississippi's game-clinching touchdown drive.

sfgate.com

Sunday, November 2, 2008

First losing year for Michigan since '67

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