College football roundup

USC was not penciled in to play Ohio State in the national championship; it was more like a permanent marker.

Eric McNeal intercepted a John David Booty pass with 1:10 left to seal a UCLA 13-9 upset win over the No. 2 Trojans last Saturday, ending USC's title hopes and spoiling anxious LSU fans' hopes for a trip to the Rose Bowl.

The Trojans (10-2) had beaten their cross-town rival in the last seven meetings dating back to 1998, and last year USC throttled the Bruins 66-19.

The UCLA defense stymied the potent Trojan defense all night and the Bruins (7-5) broke USC's NCAA-record 63-game streak of scoring 20 points or more.

The Trojans gathered just 55 yards rushing and were stuffed for a four-yard loss on a critical fourth-and-two in the third quarter.

Sophomore quarterback Patrick Cowan, three days removed from hearing he would start over Ben Olson, threw for 114 yards and ran for 55, including the game's first score. Kicker Justin Medlock recorded the second half's only scores with two short field goals.

USC will face Michigan in the Rose Bowl in January, while UCLA will play Florida State in the Emerald Bowl.

[HTML_REMOVED][HTML_REMOVED]#4 Florida 38, #8 Arkansas 28[HTML_REMOVED]

A breakout game for the offense, and opportunistic play for the special teams earned Florida its first conference title since 2000.

Freshman sensation Percy Harvin rushed for a touchdown and caught another as the No. 4 Gators beat the eighth-ranked Razorbacks 38-28 in Atlanta on Saturday [HTML_REMOVED] stamping their ticket to the national-title game in the process.

Taking advantage of USC's loss earlier in the day, Florida (12-1) gathered 396 total yards of offense and forced four turnovers to hand Arkansas (10-3) its second loss in as many games.

Florida took a 17-0 lead in the first half behind scores from Harvin and quarterback Chris Leak. The Razorbacks, however, would score 21 points to take a short-lived lead in the SEC championship game.

A muffed kickoff return in the end zone gave the Gators the go-ahead score. Urban Meyer's squad built upon their lead and earned their sixth straight win.

Darren McFadden totaled 100 yards on the day, and Felix Jones caught two touchdowns to lead an Arkansas team that will face Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1.

[HTML_REMOVED][HTML_REMOVED]#15 West Virginia 41, #13 Rutgers 39[HTML_REMOVED]

In a wild conference that once saw three different teams in BCS bowl contention, it seemed fitting that the Big East's bid would come down to a triple overtime game.

Jarrett Brown threw for the go-ahead score, and West Virginia knocked down the game-tying 2-point conversion attempt to preserve a 41-39 win for the No. 15 Mountaineers over 13th-ranked Rutgers on Saturday.

The win gave Louisville a trip to the Orange Bowl.

Rutgers (10-2) was in control of its own destiny but failed to earn its first BCS berth. The Scarlet Knights, however, did finish with their best record in 30 years.

West Virginia quarterback Pat White was unable to play due to injury, but Brown filled in admirably in his first extensive play of the year. He threw for 244 yards and a score while running for another touchdown.

The game featured two of football's great running backs. Rutgers' Ray Rice ran for 129 yards and two scores and Steve Slaton led WVU (10-2) with 112 yards and two touchdowns.

Rutgers will play in the Texas Bowl against Kansas State, while West Virginia will face Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl.

Reporter Joshua Mayers: joshuamayers@thedaily.washington.edu