Six teams out of the AP’s top 25 can attest to how painful road games are: They were all upset during the week 13 game of college football, and 2 of the 6 will meet in the AFC championship game. Atlantic Coast this week.

The six teams with goals on their backs included seventh-ranked Georgia Tech, 15th-ranked Clemson, 8th-ranked Pittsburgh, 11th-ranked Oklahoma State, 20th-ranked Mississippi and 23rd-ranked North Carolina. , except for Pittsburgh, were not only on the road, but also faced an in-state rival.

Georgia (7-5) beat the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (10-2), 30-24, as the Bulldogs’ Washaun Ealey rushed 20 times for 183 yards (9.15 yards per carry) and Caleb King rushed 18 times for 166 yards (9.22 ypc)-349 yards between them. Ealey and King sound like a comedy team, but the Georgia Tech players were too busy drinking water from the Louisiana pond to laugh.

Georgia and its coach Mark Richt have taken their lumps this year with losses to Oklahoma State, LSU, Tennessee, Florida and Kentucky, but few can match Richt’s 9-year record against in-state rival Georgia Tech. Richt has a record of 8-1 against their main rival, a fact that may save their job as their 5 losses this year are the most they’ve had in any year in Georgia.

South Carolina (7-5) stunned the Clemson Tigers (8-4), 34-17, when the Gamecocks’ Stephen Garcia threw 3 touchdown passes. Clemson started well when CJ Spiller led off the game with an 88-yard kickoff return for a TD, the NCAA record seventh of his career, but that was all the Tigers could bring to the table.

South Carolina’s 24th ranked scoring defense held Clemson’s 24th ranked scoring offense in control defense again out-scoring the offense in an even matchup.

The upset losses to Georgia Tech and Clemson put a real damper on the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game that both will play this Saturday; the winner will covet a spot in a BCS game and win a big payday.

West Virginia (8-3) handed Pittsburgh (9-2) its second loss of the season, 19-16, when Mountaineer redshirt freshman Tyler Bitancurt ended the annual Backyard Brawl by kicking successfully a 43-yard field goal as time expired. It was Bitancurt’s fourth field goal of the night, for which he personally accounted for 63% of West Virginia’s 19 points. West Virginia’s defense stood tall, keeping the Panthers out of the end zone on 5 Pittsburgh drives inside the Mountaineers 30-yard line.

Oklahoma (7-5) took a break from its pedestrian season to remind Oklahoma State (9-3) who really rules the Big 12 in Oklahoma by shutting out the Cowboys, 27-0. The Sooners’ DeMarco Murray scored two touchdowns and Ryan Broyles returned a punt 88 yards for another score. The loss was hard for Oklahoma State to swallow as the Cowboys sought their first BCS bowl appearance.

Mississippi State (now 5-7) not only upset Mississippi (8-4), but pummeled Ole Miss, 41-27, in an upset. A backup quarterback, Chris Relf, ​​scored 3 touchdowns and Anthony Dixon rushed for 133 yards and another TD as the Mississippi Rebels looked on in disbelief. Known as the annual Egg Bowl, Mississippi surely put one on.

The 41 points scored by Mississippi State were the most by the Bulldogs in the 106-year series since a 41-14 victory in 1917, and the most Ole Miss has given up this season.

North Carolina State (5-7) stunned North Carolina (8-4), 28-27, when the Wolfpack’s Russell Wilson connected with Owen Spencer on a 38-yard TD pass, two plays in the 4th quarter. Wilson threw 4 TD passes in the game and Alan-Michael Cash blocked a field goal attempt with about 5 minutes remaining to seal the Tar Heels’ comeback attempt. The win was the Wolfpack’s third straight against the in-state rival North Carolina Tar Heels.

Four other Top 25 teams didn’t miss a beat by beating their in-state rivals in road games.

2-ranked Alabama (12-0) remained undefeated as it slipped to Auburn (7-5), 26-21. Texas (12-0), ranked No. 3, remained undefeated by beating Texas A&M (6-6), 49-39. 14th-ranked Virginia Tech (9-3) defeated Virginia (3-9), 42-13; and Miami Florida (9-3), number 19 in the ranking, defeated South Florida (7-4), 31-10.

Eight other Top 25 teams won home games, with 4 of the 8 also winning against in-state rivals: Florida, Brigham Young, Southern California, and Houston.

Florida (12-0), ranked No. 1, remained undefeated in defeating Florida State (6-6), 37-10, as the Gators’ Tim Tebow threw for 3 touchdowns and rushed for 2 more. Wins by undefeated Florida and Alabama set up a clash for the SEC title game this Saturday, with the winner earning the right to play in the final season-ending National Championship game.

Brigham Young (10-2), ranked No. 18, defeated No. 22-ranked Utah (now 9-3), 26-23, when senior quarterback Max Hall found Andrew George on a pass from 25-yard touchdown in overtime. The Cougars’ win was their third in 4 years over the cocky Utah Utes, who intercepted Hall 5 times last year in a 48-24 blowout on their home field.

Max Hall sought revenge and redemption, creating enough buzz after BYU’s victory to fill a bulletin board in Utah’s Salt Lake City locker room. Here’s Mad Max in the Utah Utes:

“I don’t like Utah. In fact, I hate them. I hate everything about them. I hate their program, their fans. I hate everything. It felt really good to send those guys home. I think the whole university and their fans and the organization they don’t have school. They threw beer at my family and stuff last year and did a bunch of nasty things. I don’t respect them and they deserved to lose.”

Well, thanks, Max, for letting us know how you feel.

24th-ranked Southern Cal (8-3) defeated UCLA (6-6), 28-7; and Houston (10-2), world No. 25, just decimated Rice (2-10), 73-14, when Case Kellum passed for 323 yards and 2 touchdowns and rushed for another score. The Houston Cougars have the highest scoring offense in the nation, amassing an average of 45 points per game.

Ranked No. 4 Texas Christian (12-0) remained undefeated at home by defeating New Mexico (1-11), 51-10, while Andy Dalton matched a career-high 4 TD assists, two of them for Antoine Hicks in a span of 12 seconds. The win capped TCU’s first undefeated regular season in 71 years, that’s a long time between rains in the dusty Texas desert.

No. 5-ranked Cincinnati (11-0) remained undefeated by beating a really lousy Illinois team 3-8, 49-36. The win was a sad statement for the Bearcats. Cincinnati has the 19th-best scoring defense in the nation, but apparently the Bearcats had too many studs going into this game.

Boise State (12-0), ranked No. 6, went undefeated in an offensive display by outscoring Nevada (8-4) 44-33 as Kellen Moore tied his career-high 5 touchdown passes. career. Nevada was a worthy opponent as the Wolf Pack averaged 52 points per game and won 8 in a row. Boise State ranks second nationally in offensive scoring, and Navada is fifth.

LSU (9-3), ranked No. 17, had a busy time beating Arkansas (7-5), 33-30, when Tiger Josh Jasper made a 41-yard field goal with 4 seconds remaining to force overtime. , and then made a 36-yard jumper for the game-winner.

Two more unranked teams became bowl eligible. Wyoming (6-6) just passed Colorado State (3-9), 17-16, and Connecticut (6-6) easily beat Syracuse (4-8), 56-31.

There were two candidates for the defenseless game of the week. Stanford (8-4) outscored Notre Dame (6-6), 45-38. Stanford ranks 65th nationally in scoring defense and Notre Dame is 64th. Utah State (4-8) upsets Idaho (7-5), 52-49. Utah State ranks 107th nationally in scoring defense and Idaho 111th.

It is unknown how many more games the Idaho Vandals would have won with a decent defense, their offense had no problem scoring points as they ranked 23rd in scoring offense.

Central Michigan (10-2) won its 10th game of the season by beating Northern Illinois (7-5), 45-31. Ohio (9-3) handed Temple (9-3) its first loss after 9 straight wins, beating the Owls 35-17.

In the short game of the week, UCF (8-4) defeated UAB (5-7) by touchdown, 34-27. It reminded me of the old George Carlin comedy routine where, as a sportscaster, he said, “And now some scores… 5-2, 6-5, 7-3, 2-1 and in a shutout, 1-0. “If you’re wondering, that was the University of Central Florida over the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Southern Methodist (7-5) continues to improve, going 26-21 against Tulane (3-9). SMU led 20-14 after 3 quarters and then did what many teams can’t do: wrap up the win without blowing it.

Navy (now 8-4) traveled to Hawaii (6-6) and quickly made the Warriors bowl eligible by losing, 24-17. There is an unconfirmed rumor that the Samoan section of the Warriors, after a 17-17 halftime tie, ate more coconuts during halftime, thus refueling to keep the Midshipmen scoreless in the second half.

It is worth noting one more game. Washington (4-7) shuts out in-state rival Washington State (1-11), 30-0, in the Apple Cup. The Huskies began the season losing by 8 points to 11th-ranked LSU, then beat Idaho, defeated to southern California in third place, they lost road games to Stanford and Notre Dame, beat Arizona, then suffered 4 more losses before shutting out the Washington State Cougars. .

The game was significant for several reasons:

1) It was Washington’s first shutout of Washington state in 45 years; the last came during a 14-0 victory in 1964.

2) The Husky’s defensive shutout was their first since a 27-0 win over Southern California in 1997, a span of 143 games.

3) Freshman Chris Polk rushed for 130 yards, pushing his season rushing total to 1,019, breaking quarterback Jake Locker’s freshman record of 986 rushing yards, making Polk the first freshman in the school history to pass 1,000 rushing yards, and marking the fourth straight game Polk has passed 100 rushing yards. And, yes, the Huskies are very excited about their freshman running back.

4) Washington State’s 11 losses this season are the most in Cougar history.

5) Washington State’s 22 losses in two seasons are the most in Pac-10 history. The Cougars went 2-11 last season.

Six Top 25 teams were inactive this week: Ohio State (10-2) in ninth place, Oregon (9-2) in 10th place, Penn State in 12th place (10-2), Iowa in 13th place ( 10-2), Oregon State at 16th (8-3) and California at 21st (8-3). Ohio State, Penn State, and Iowa have all completed their season play.

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley