Oklahoma won’t be making a return trip to the Rose Bowl this season.
Not after Drew Olson and UCLA piled on the struggling Sooners, with a 41-24 victory Saturday that sent No. 21 Oklahoma to its first 1-2 start since 1997.
The Sooners have played in the last two Bowl Championship Series title games, but they can forget about playing in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 4, when this season’s championship will be decided.
Oklahoma sputtered again on offense, with quarterback Rhett Bomar having four of the team’s six fumbles. Adrian Peterson was held to 58 yards on 23 carries.
UCLA, which makes its home in the Rose Bowl, recovered three fumbles, including one by Peterson, and turned them into 17 points.
“It’s just poor football,” Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. “Until we can be responsible with the ball, it’s impossible to win.”
“I think we’re still better than the way we played.”
Olson threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns.
Oklahoma won the first three meetings with UCLA by lopsided scores, including a 59-24 victory in Norman in 2003.
Another coach seeing red
First-year South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier fell to 0-2 in the SEC for the first time with a 37-14 loss to Alabama. The Crimson Tide finished with 489 yards of total offense — their biggest total since coach Mike Shula took over in 2003. In Spurrier’s 12 years at Florida, he only lost more than two SEC games once (in 1992).
Poor Wanny
Adam Ickes blocked Josh Cummings’ 46-yard field goal attempt as time ran out, allowing Nebraska to hang on for a 7-6 victory over Pitt that kept coach Dave Wannstedt’s Panthers winless.
Pittsburgh dropped to 0-3 for the first time since 1984.
“I think we are growing,” Wannstedt said. “We are not walking yet, we’re crawling. We have a long ways to go before we’re running. But we’re crawling right now.”
Gamblin’ Groh
Every time the Syracuse defense seemed to have Marques Hagans cornered, he slithered away. Eventually, he carried Virginia to another win over the Orange.
Hagans ran for 110 yards, including a 26-yarder on third-and-6 to help set up Connor Hughes’ game-winning field goal, and the Cavaliers beat Syracuse 27-24.
“He was pretty spectacular,” said Virginia coach Al Groh, who elected to run down the clock, gambling on a fourth-and-1 at the Syracuse 9 with just over a minute left. “All the teams that accomplish anything during a season have a quarterback that picks his team up and carries it, and he surely did that.”
Hughes connected on a 26-yarder as time expired after fullback Jason Snelling’s crucial fourth-down 4-yard run.
“Are you familiar with the movie `Risky Business?’ What the heck!” Groh said of his gamble, significantly cleaning up the film’s signature line.
Hodgepodge
Quarterback Reggie McNeal set a school record with 449 total yards, throwing for 349 yards and running for 100 in just three quarters to lead Texas A&M to a 66-8 win over SMU. He also threw five touchdown passes and ran for another score.
Louisville’s Elvis Dumervil set an NCAA record with his ninth sack in consecutive games to eclipse the record set by Georgia Tech’s Pat Swilling in 1995. The senior defensive end had six sacks in the Cardinals’ season-opening win over Kentucky.
Georgia Tech quarterback Reggie Ball, coming off a career-best 320 yards passing last week, was hospitalized Saturday after becoming ill and missed the No. 16 Yellow Jackets’ 28-13 defeat of Connecticut. Redshirt freshman Taylor Bennett stepped in and threw a touchdown on his first college pass.
The Southeastern Conference’s perennial losers now have reasons to celebrate. Jay Cutler threw for 314 yards in Vanderbilt’s 31-23 win over Mississippi, making the Commodores 3-0 for the first time since 1984. It’s also the first time Vanderbilt has started 2-0 in the SEC since 1956.
Michigan delivered a 55-0 beating in the battle of Washtenaw County, Eastern Michigan’s biggest loss since a 56-0 setback at Wisconsin in 1994. The Eagles did, however, have to travel just 11 miles to make about $430,000.
Harvard beat Holy Cross 31-21 for its 12th consecutive win, the longest active streak in Division I-AA.
Local corner
Princeton senior Jay McCareins returned an interception 75 yards for a score in the Tigers’ 23-21 season-opening defeat of Lafayette.
The returning first-team All-Ivy defensive back is the younger brother of Jets receiver Justin McCareins. Both attended Naperville North High School.
