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Georgia Tech run over by Bulldogs

Georgia did its part. And everything else went the Bulldogs way, sending them back to the Southeastern Conference championship game.

Freshman center Nick Jones fell on a fumble in the end zone, Bryan McClendon blocked a punt to set up another touchdown and No. 5 Georgia defeated Georgia Tech for the third year in a row, 34-17 Saturday.

The Bulldogs (10-2) came into the day needing two things to happen. They had to beat Georgia Tech, which they did convincingly, and Tennessee had to knock off Kentucky to force a three-way tie for the SEC East title with Georgia and Florida.

Tennessee won 20-7 and when Florida lost 38-34 to Florida State that wrapped up the title for the Bulldogs. The matchup against LSU will be made official today.

Georgia Tech (6-6) trailed 20-3 at halftime, their hopes of a comeback essentially snuffed out when freshman quarterback Reggie Ball trotted to the locker room with a possible concussion.

No. 7 Tennessee 20, Kentucky 7

In Lexington, Kentucky, Cedric Houston ran for 87 yards and a touchdown, and Tennessee (10-2, 6-2) used a dominating defense to hold Kentucky to 187 yards and clinch a share of the SEC East division title with Georgia and Florida.

Kentucky (4-8, 1-7) led 7-3 at halftime but recorded only five first downs in the second half in the final game of its first season under coach Rich Brooks. Four of Tennessee's last five opponents have scored seven points or fewer.

Tennessee finished with 270 yards of offense in cold, windy conditions. But the offense turned in a 13-play, 66-yard touchdown drive in the final minutes to seal the win on Houston's 10-yard run with 1:27 left.

No. 9 Florida St. 38,

No. 11 Florida 34

In Gainesville, Florida, P.K. Sam ran a twisting, whirling, falling-down pass route for a 52-yard touchdown that lifted Florida State over Florida, a spectacular game that was marred by a brawl at midfield after the game ended.

Sam's catch with 55 seconds remaining pushed No. 9 Florida State (10-2) to the 10-win plateau for the first time since 2000. No. 11 Florida (8-4) had its five-game winning streak halted, along with any hopes of sneaking into the SEC title game.

The last touchdown, the third TD throw of the day for Chris Rix, was a thrilling climax to a game that had it all -- great plays, terrible officiating and back-and-forth scoring.

The emotion, however, caught up with the teams: When the Seminoles went to midfield to celebrate, they were greeted by the Gators, who didn't want them jumping up and down on their "F" at midfield. Punches were thrown, helmets went flying.

No. 10 Miami 28,

No. 20 Pittsburgh 14

In Pittsburgh, Tyrone Moss and Jarrett Payton became the latest running backs to exploit Pitt's weak rush defense, running for more than 100 yards each, and Miami locked up a share of its eighth Big East title and a BCS bowl.

Miami (10-2, 6-1) exited the Big East for the ACC the same dominating way it entered in 1992 -- on top, with everybody else playing catchup. The Hurricanes officially share the conference title with West Virginia (8-4, 6-1), but it's Miami that's heading to a big bowl -- almost certainly the hometown Orange Bowl, where they last played during the 1994 season.

Moss ran for touchdowns of 30 and 6 yards and Payton had a 1-yard touchdown run as Miami scored on three consecutive first-half possessions to turn a 7-0 deficit into a 21-7 lead.

Larry Fitzgerald was limited to three catches for 26 yards for Pittsburgh (8-4, 5-2).

No. 19 TCU 20, SMU 13

In Dallas, Robert Merrill ran for 98 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown with 7:18 left, and TCU rebounded from its BCS dream-shattering loss by beating SMU.

The Horned Frogs (11-1) have their most wins since 1938, but won't get to play in a Bowl Championship Series game.

Merrill's game-clinching run came on the last of his 15 carries when he took a handoff to the right, sidestepped into an opening and ran untouched into the end zone. His 1,081 rushing yards are a TCU freshman record.

Virginia 35, Virginia Tech 21

In Charlottesville, Virginia, Wali Lundy ran for three touchdowns and caught a pass for another, helping Virginia end its four-year losing streak against Virginia Tech.

The Cavaliers (7-5) scored 21 straight points in the second half, twice converting on fourth down from the 1. Lundy caught a 1-yard pass for the tying touchdown, and ran for a score to make it 28-14.

Virginia Tech (8-4) got two touchdown runs from Kevin Jones and a 43-yard scoring pass from Bryan Randall to Mike Imoh.

Bowling Green 31, Toledo 23

In Bowling Green, Ohio, Josh Harris threw for three touchdowns and caught another one, leading Bowling Green to a spot in the Mid-American Conference title game.

The Falcons scored on their first four possessions in the second half after trailing 14-7 after two quarters. Harris did it all, accounting for 379 of Bowling Green's 433 offensive yards against Toledo (8-4, 6-2 MAC).

Bowling Green (10-2, 7-1) will host No. 15 Miami of Ohio on Thursday for the conference title.

West Virginia 45, Temple 28

In Morgantown, West Virginia, Jason Colson rushed for two touchdowns in his first career start and West Virginia clinched a share of its first Big East title since 1993.

Lance Frazier returned a punt for a touchdown and set up another score with an interception for West Virginia (8-4, 6-1 Big East), which won its seventh straight game and is expected to head to the Gator Bowl to play Maryland. Quarterback Walter Washington ran for 117 yards and four scores for Temple (1-11, 0-7).
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