Thu, Dec 29, 2005 - Page 19 News List

Arizona St., Rutgers show off offense

NCAA DIVISION I-A In only the second bowl game in Rutgers' history, the Scarlet Knights fell to the Arizona State Sun Devils in a wild display that lasted four hours

NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE AND AP , PHOENIX, ARIZONA AND ORLANDO, FLORIDA

The stadium has a retractable roof that was open at kickoff but closed during the first few plays on a cool evening. That caused a rise in sound as cheers and band music reverberated.

Most of the seats were filled, and a capacity crowd of 43,536 was announced. A majority of the fans cheered for Arizona State, which is located nearby in Tempe, but the Rutgers contingent was a vocal minority.

This bowl began as the Copper Bowl in Tucson on Dec. 31, 1989, when Arizona beat North Carolina State, 17-10.

It became the Insight.com Bowl in 1997 and the Insight Bowl in 2002.

This was the sixth and final year for the game at this venue. Next season, it will move to Tempe's Sun Devil Stadium and will begin a six-year alignment with the Big 12 and the Big Ten. This year's teams represented the Big East and the Pac-10.

Both the Insight and the Fiesta Bowls are operated by the Arizona Sports Foundation, and the Fiesta is the more prominent of the two. That game, to be played on Jan. 2, will feature Notre Dame and Ohio State.

No. 23 Clemson 19, Colorado 10

James Davis ran for 150 yards and a touchdown, Charlie Whitehurst scrambled for a score and No. 23 Clemson beat Colorado 19-10 in the Champs Sports Bowl, handing the Buffaloes their fourth consecutive loss.

Davis' 6-yard TD run with 1:38 remaining sealed a fourth straight victory for Clemson (8-4) and capped a disappointing season for Colorado (7-6).

The Buffaloes made it close, though, something they didn't do in their previous two games -- losses to the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Texas Longhorns by a combined score of 100-6.

Backup quarterback Brian White replaced starter James Cox midway through the fourth quarter and led Colorado on a 69-yard scoring drive that made it 13-10. His 2-yard TD pass to Quinn Sypniewski ended a streak of 14 quarters without a touchdown and gave the Buffs a chance.

White rolled right on third down, then threw left to Sypniewski, who was wide open in the end zone.

But Davis and Whitehurst answered, moving the Tigers 61 yards in 4:07 to put the game away.

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