Miami Knocks Off Syracuse, Causing Big East Logjam

Ryan Clement threw for three touchdowns and Tremain Mack scored on a 95-yard kickoff return in the first half as No. 23 Miami raced to an early lead and held off No. 16 Syracuse, 38-31, on Saturday at Syracuse, N.Y.

The victory gave the Hurricanes, 8-3 overall and 6-1 in the Big East, a share of the league title with Syracuse (8-3, 6-1) and Virginia Tech (10-1, 6-1). The Hokies probably will go to the Orange Bowl instead of Syracuse, which has never won a Big East championship outright.

Miami dominated the first half, outgaining the Orangemen, 222-118, and taking a 28-10 lead on touchdown passes from Clement to Magic Benton, Yatil Green and Tony Gaiter.

Then Syracuse, outscored 69-0 by Miami in the second half of the last three meetings, stormed back. McNabb, ineffective in the first half (three for nine for 38 yards), combined with Darryl Daniel on a 70-yard touchdown pass play late in the third quarter and then he teamed with Kevin Johnson on a 15-yard scoring pass play with 9:55 left to make the score 35-24.

The Orangemen appeared set to pull off a miraculous comeback, but Deon Maddox fumbled just inside the Miami 45 with 6:36 left, and Duane Starks recovered for Miami. Trent Jones then ripped off a 58-yard run to set up Andy Crosland’s 25-yard field goal.

Still, the Orangemen didn’t give in. McNabb passed to Daniel for a five-yard touchdown with 54 seconds left, but Miami recovered the onside kick.

Pittsburgh 24, Rutgers 9--Johnny Majors went out a winner in the final game of his 29-year coaching career as Dwayne Schulters’ two second-quarter touchdown runs led the Panthers (4-7, 3-4) over the Scarlet Knights (2-9, 1-6) in a Big East game at Pittsburgh.

It was only the 12th victory in the four seasons of Majors’ second stint at Pitt, which won a national championship under Majors 20 years ago.

Majors, 61, will serve out the final year of his five-year contract in an advisory position. Majors, who took 16 teams to bowl games, finished 45-45-1 in eight seasons at Pitt and 185-137-10 overall at Iowa State, Pitt and Tennessee.

Mississippi State 17, Mississippi 0--Eric Brown returned an interception 13 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter and Kevin Sluder returned a fumble 60 yards for a touchdown in the final minute of this Southeastern Conference game at Oxford, Miss., as both the Bulldogs and Rebels finished 5-6 overall.

Mississippi State, 3-5 in the SEC, took home the 69-year-old “Golden Egg Trophy” for the third time in four years. Mississippi finished 2-6 in the SEC.

Georgia 19, Georgia Tech 10--Mike Bobo completed 12 of 22 passes for 190 yards and connected with Juan Daniels for a 47-yard touchdown pass play as the Bulldogs (5-6) beat the Yellow Jackets (5-6) at Athens, Ga.

It was Georgia’s sixth win in a row over Tech, which closed out the season by losing five of six.

East Carolina 50, North Carolina State 29--Scott Harley rushed for 351 yards and three touchdowns in 42 carries for the Pirates at Charlotte, N.C., in the resumption of a series that was ended by a postgame brawl in 1987.

The game at Ericsson Stadium, the home of the Carolina Panthers, drew 66,347, the most for a college game in North Carolina.

Harley, a sophomore fullback, scored on runs of 75, 60 and three yards and broke his own school single-game record of 291 yards and finished the season with a school-record 1,745.

The Pirates finished 8-3, but a postseason bowl invitation is unlikely because the school has no conference tie-in. North Carolina State finished 3-8.

Southern 17, Grambling State 12--Marcus Jacoby and Steve Wofford each threw touchdown passes in the second half to rally the Jaguars (7-4, 5-2) to a Southwestern Atlantic Conference victory over the Tigers (3-8, 2-5) in the annual Bayou Classic at New Orleans. It was Southern’s fourth consecutive victory over Grambling, which finished with its worst record of 77-year-old Eddie Robinson’s 53 seasons as coach.