Gator Bowl

Maryland accepted an invitation yesterday to play in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., for the first time since 1975. Colorado State, meanwhile, accepted an invitation to play in the San Francisco Bowl. Both teams will face opponents to be determined from the Big East Conference. Colorado State (7-5) had expected to get the bid after its 24-23 win Saturday night at Nevada-Las Vegas. The worst Maryland (8-3) can do is tie for second with Clemson in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Virginia Tech gets another chance at Florida State in a bowl game, but the stakes won't be as high as they were in the Sugar Bowl two years ago. The Hokies and Seminoles agreed yesterday to play in the Gator Bowl on Jan. 1, a far cry from the '99 Sugar Bowl, when Florida State won the national title with a 46-29 win over Virginia Tech. Florida State, 6-4 and unranked entering Saturday's game against Georgia Tech, has played in the last three title games. No. 14 Virginia Tech is 8-2 entering Saturday's game against No. 1 Miami.

The Gator Bowl, bolstered by a deal with CBS, submitted the apparent top bid of $25 million to host a national championship game under the new bowl alliance. Several bowls offered more than $100 million for a six-year package, including the Gator Bowl's proposal of $103 million. The bid could vault the Gator from second-tier status into the ranks of major bowls. "Obviously it's a very aggressive bid," Gator Bowl executive director Rick Catlett said yesterday. "We're very excited about the possibility of being involved with the alliance.

Wendell Davis caught nine passes for 132 yards and three touchdowns yesterday, leading Louisiana State to a 30-13 Gator Bowl victory over South Carolina. The seventh-ranked Tigers, runners-up in the Southeastern Conference, improved to 10-1-1, their first 10-victory season since 1961. LSU had not won a bowl game in four previous attempts this decade. Their last postseason victory came in the 1979 Tangerine Bowl against Wake Forest. Ninth-ranked South Carolina, winless in all seven of its bowl appearances, finished 8-4. Davis and quarterback Tommy Hodson, who completed 20 of 32 passes for 224 yards, carved up the Gamecocks' defense, which entered the game ranked second in the nation in points allowed (10.1 per game)

Take a look at the Big Ten standings and you'll find that Penn State defeated four teams that finished below it. Take another look and you'll find the Nittany Lions lost to four teams that finished above them or tied with them. That adds up to a 4-4 conference record and a shot at a bowl in Florida, perhaps the Gator on New Year's Day, a date on which Joe Paterno has coached 24 times, compiling a 17-7 record. Bowl bids will be announced Sunday. The Lions finished the regular season at 7-5 after Saturday's 28-22 loss to No. 11 Michigan State at wind-chilled Beaver Stadium.

It appears that Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden, the two winningest active coaches in college football, will at long last get the chance to match wits. And if they do, it will be while inaugurating a bowl game. A Penn State-Florida State matchup is likely in the Blockbuster Bowl on Dec. 28 at Joe Robbie Stadium near Miami, an official from that game said yesterday. "It's our dream game, Joe Paterno against Bobby Bowden, and there's no other way to say it except that we're very optimistic," Bruce Keller of the Blockbuster Bowl selection committee said yesterday before the Nittany Lions defeated Maryland at Beaver Stadium.

Florida coach Steve Spurrier declined to name who will start at quarterback Saturday against the Georgia Bulldogs, but players say he told them it will be Danny Wuerffel. Spurrier told the team yesterday that Wuerffel, a sophomore, will replace senior Terry Dean, who was considered one of the early frontrunners for the Heisman Trophy before being benched two weeks ago in a 36-33 home loss to Auburn, players said. Dean threw four interceptions in the game and was replaced early in the third quarter by Wuerffel, who promptly threw three touchdown passes for the fifth-ranked Gators (5-1)

The grumbling among the dissidents in Nittany Nation may persist against Joe Paterno, but they have to agree on one thing: The soon-to-be-84-year-old Penn State head coach has still got it. Although the Nittany Lions finished 7-5 and lost to the two teams - Iowa and Illinois - that tied with them for fourth place in the Big Ten, they received the nod from the Outback Bowl and will take on Florida on Jan. 1 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla....

A pair of rare rematches from Januarys gone by. Florida State (1-0), ranked 17th under first-year coach Jimbo Fisher, is at No. 10 Oklahoma (1-0). Those teams met in the 2000 national-title game in the Orange Bowl. The underdog Sooners and second-year coach Bob Stoops beat the defending champions, 13-2. FSU's Chris Weinke had won the Heisman Trophy, and OU's Josh Heupel finished runner-up (Purdue's Drew Brees and TCU's LaDainian Tomlinson were third and fourth). The programs went in opposite directions after that, which eventually led to Bobby Bowden's departure.

A win over Pitt today would go a long way toward salvaging this atypical season for Penn State, but it might also place Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno smack in the middle of a dilemma. A win might result in matching Paterno The Practician against Paterno The Idealist. Knocking off the Panthers would assure Penn State of at least a 6-5 season, which could get the Nittany Lions an invitation to the Sun Bowl, which finds even a mediocre State team attractive because of the large Eastern television market and the team's huge following.

Steve Spurrier's plan to use two quarterbacks in the Outback Bowl worked so well that Dylan Thompson and Connor Shaw both earned game balls in Tampa, Fla. That's a first for the Head Ball Coach, who has a well-known penchant for benching struggling QBs. Except in this case, the Gamecocks' winningest coach used his talented pair of passers by design. Shaw began Tuesday's 33-28 victory over Michigan (8-5) with a 56-yard touchdown pass to Damiere Byrd. Thompson closed it out by throwing a 32-yard TD strike to Bruce Ellington in the final minute.

The grumbling among the dissidents in Nittany Nation may persist against Joe Paterno, but they have to agree on one thing: The soon-to-be-84-year-old Penn State head coach has still got it. Although the Nittany Lions finished 7-5 and lost to the two teams - Iowa and Illinois - that tied with them for fourth place in the Big Ten, they received the nod from the Outback Bowl and will take on Florida on Jan. 1 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla....

For many of those who enjoyed their Thanksgiving feast, the idea of holiday leftovers isn't really unappetizing. It depends on how comparatively fresh the turkey remnants and refrigerated stuffing are after the choicest morsels go first. It's like that for college football's bowl selection process, which takes place Sunday evening as 70 teams are assigned their postseason destinations. The five BCS bowls - the Rose, Sugar, Orange, Fiesta and, of course, the National Championship Game - hoard the 10 most prestigious selections, after which the non-BCS bowls begin grabbing the best of the rest, on a weighted scale.

Take a look at the Big Ten standings and you'll find that Penn State defeated four teams that finished below it. Take another look and you'll find the Nittany Lions lost to four teams that finished above them or tied with them. That adds up to a 4-4 conference record and a shot at a bowl in Florida, perhaps the Gator on New Year's Day, a date on which Joe Paterno has coached 24 times, compiling a 17-7 record. Bowl bids will be announced Sunday. The Lions finished the regular season at 7-5 after Saturday's 28-22 loss to No. 11 Michigan State at wind-chilled Beaver Stadium.

A pair of rare rematches from Januarys gone by. Florida State (1-0), ranked 17th under first-year coach Jimbo Fisher, is at No. 10 Oklahoma (1-0). Those teams met in the 2000 national-title game in the Orange Bowl. The underdog Sooners and second-year coach Bob Stoops beat the defending champions, 13-2. FSU's Chris Weinke had won the Heisman Trophy, and OU's Josh Heupel finished runner-up (Purdue's Drew Brees and TCU's LaDainian Tomlinson were third and fourth). The programs went in opposite directions after that, which eventually led to Bobby Bowden's departure.

Virginia Tech officials said they would review and deal with Marcus Vick's apparent stomp on the leg of a Louisville player just before halftime of the Gator Bowl. Athletic director Jim Weaver said yesterday that the school was embarassed by Vick's behavior, calling his step on the left calf of NCAA sacks leader Elvis Dumervil after a tackle "unacceptable" and "not reflective of Virginia Tech football nor of the values we hold at Virginia Tech. " A message left at the phone number listed for Vick in Virginia Tech's online student directory was not immediately returned.

Maryland accepted an invitation yesterday to play in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., for the first time since 1975. Colorado State, meanwhile, accepted an invitation to play in the San Francisco Bowl. Both teams will face opponents to be determined from the Big East Conference. Colorado State (7-5) had expected to get the bid after its 24-23 win Saturday night at Nevada-Las Vegas. The worst Maryland (8-3) can do is tie for second with Clemson in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

This Rose Bowl was one to remember for the Sooners. And it was one Mike Price would sooner forget. Price chose to coach seventh-ranked Washington State in the bowl game after accepting the Alabama coaching job 2 weeks ago. But Oklahoma gave him a rude send-off, winning 34-14 yesterday in Pasadena, Calif. "It's not the way we wanted to end it, by any means," said Price, leaving after 14 years on the job. "It's a disappointing way to finish. " The Cougars (10-3) were held to a season-low 243 yards - just 4 on the ground - and didn't score until the final 6 minutes, by which time Oklahoma had a 27-0 lead.

Chris Rix raced onto the field as the players filed off at the end of the Gator Bowl, looking for the man whose faith had helped him weather a difficult season at quarterback. When he got to coach Bobby Bowden, the two embraced. "I gave him a hug and said, 'That was for you,' " the freshman said yesterday after leading the No. 24 Seminoles to a 30-17 victory against No. 15 Virginia Tech, at Jacksonville, Fla. "We told each other we loved each other. It was very important to get that win for him. He deserves it. " The victory moved Bowden into a tie with Bear Bryant for second on the NCAA Division I-A wins list with 323, four behind Penn State's Joe Paterno.

Virginia Tech gets another chance at Florida State in a bowl game, but the stakes won't be as high as they were in the Sugar Bowl two years ago. The Hokies and Seminoles agreed yesterday to play in the Gator Bowl on Jan. 1, a far cry from the '99 Sugar Bowl, when Florida State won the national title with a 46-29 win over Virginia Tech. Florida State, 6-4 and unranked entering Saturday's game against Georgia Tech, has played in the last three title games. No. 14 Virginia Tech is 8-2 entering Saturday's game against No. 1 Miami.