TCU ends No. 9 BYU's hopes for BCS Bowl
Advertiser News Services
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BYU can stop worrying about reaching the BCS. TCU made sure of that in an ironic twist of revenge.
Andy Dalton threw for two touchdowns, receiver Jeremy Kerley became a running threat and TCU beat the ninth-ranked Cougars, 32-7, last night at Fort Worth, Texas, snapping their 16-game winning streak that was the longest in major college football.
"Nobody has been able to do that to BYU for a couple of years," TCU coach Gary Patterson said. "No way I could have seen it coming."
When the Cougars were last in Fort Worth two years ago, they snapped TCU's 13-game winning streak that was then the nation's longest.
BYU (6-1, 2-1 Mountain West) never had a chance against the the Frogs (7-1, 4-0) and their top-ranked defense.
Max Hall, who had been sacked only twice over the first six games, was sacked four times before halftime, and three more after that. His fumble set up TCU's first touchdown and he threw an interception that led to another score by the Frogs — all in the first quarter. He finished 22-of-42 for 274 yards with two interceptions.
With the first Bowl Championship Series standings coming out Sunday, the only undefeated team left in the Mountain West is No. 14 Utah (7-0), whose eight-game winning streak is now tied with No. 3 Penn State and No. 7 Texas Tech for the longest in the country.
FLORIDA ST. WINS, 26-17
Christian Ponder threw for the go-ahead touchdown and Antone Smith ran for a score to help Florida State beat North Carolina State last night at Raleigh, N.C.
Smith finished with 89 yards rushing for the Seminoles (5-1, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who trailed by four points early in the final quarter before scoring 13 straight to end the game. Bert Reed caught the 17-yard TD pass for the lead and Graham Gano kicked four field goals — including a 53-yarder with 1:53 left to seal the win.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
NEVADA SUSPENDS THREE
Nevada starting guard Brandon Fields and two incoming freshman have been suspended from the Wolf Pack basketball team indefinitely after being cited for misdemeanor petty larceny, Wolf Pack coach Mark Fox said yesterday.
London Giles, a 6-foot-3 guard from Dallas, and Ahyaro Phillips, a 6-foot-8 forward from New Orleans, were suspended along with Fields after their release by Sparks police following an undisclosed incident Wednesday, Fox said in a statement.
GOLF
TWO TIED AT 62 IN VEGAS
Coming off an unexpected victory last week in the Texas Open, 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson shot a 10-under 62 yesterday for a share of the first-round lead with Marc Turnesa in the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas.
Michael Allen, Nick Watney, Matt Kuchar and Ken Duke opened with 63s at the TPC Summerlin. Hawai'i's Parker McLachlin, a Punahou alum, opened with a 67 and is tied for 30th, while Castle High alum Dean Wilson shot a 69 and was tied for 58th.
SOCCER
FIRST DOPE CASE IN MLS
New York Red Bulls goalkeeper Jon Conway and defender Jeff Parke yesterday became the first players in the history of Major League Soccer to be suspended for using performance-enhancing drugs.
THE TWO PLAYERS WERE BANNED FOR 10 LEAGUE GAMES
They tested positive for androstatriendione and boldenone metabolites after purchasing and using an over-the-counter nutritional supplement from a vitamin store that is part of a national chain, the league said.
TENNIS
NO. 1 JANKOVIC FALLS
Top-ranked Jelena Jankovic's 12-match winning streak ended yesterday in a second-round match that left her bruised and bleeding, a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 loss to Italy's Flavia Pennetta at the Zurich Open in Switzerland.
Jankovic said she was tired after winning titles the past three weeks in Tokyo; Stuttgart, Germany; and Moscow.
"I didn't have any gas in the tank," Jankovic said. "I am not a machine."
Olympic champion Vera Zvonareva quit her match because of illness and fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska also lost, leaving only two seeded players in the quarterfinals— second-seeded Ana Ivanovic and third-seeded Venus Williams.
NADAL, FEDERER ADVANCE
Former champions Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer powered into the quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters yesterday in Spain.
The top-ranked Nadal moved closer to clinching the season-ending No. 1 ranking by beating Richard Gasquet, 6-4, 6-2, while second-ranked Federer eased past Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-4, 6-1.
AND WHAT'S MORE ...
Seve Ballesteros was stable but still in intensive care after he developed a complication following brain tumor surgery Tuesday, requiring doctors to remove a piece of the golf star's skull to relieve pressure yesterday at La Paz Hospital in Madrid. ... Eight-time major golf champion Tom Watson had hip replacement surgery Oct. 2 at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., and is currently rehabilitating at home in Kansas City, Mo. ... Washington Wizards starting center Brendan Haywood could miss the entire season while recovering from surgery yesterday to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist. He averaged career highs of 10.6 points and 7.2 rebounds last season for the Wizards.