NCAA Football

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Scott Smith, a Notre Dame team captain, crouched at the 25-yard line in mortal sadness, his face a shade of crimson, his eyes welling with tears. Zach Frazer, a former classmate of Smith's who had just taken the snap that ended the game and, effectively, Charlie Weis' Notre Dame career, accepted hugs from teammates past and present. A dispassionate Jimmy Clausen jogged over to the edge of the stands to pose for a photo with his two brothers and his mom.

Connecticut 33, Notre Dame 30. Fire away, Jack Swarbrick. Fire away.

Even Charlie Weis, who begins every press conference with that two-word salutation to the media, would concede that it is time.

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Here's hoping SEC fans stayed up to watch Oregon beat Arizona Saturday night. They got to see a few things their league hasn't had enough of this season.

Drama, bedlam, theatrics, tension, hilarity and near-riotous fun. And that just begins to describe the Ducks' 44-41 double overtime win.

It finally ended as the clock struck midnight back East. Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli slithered into the end zone to crash what would have been the biggest football party Tucson ever threw.

All of which settled one thing. The Pac-10 is the best conference in America.

Oregon delivered the knockout blow to Arizona, but the Wildcats gave themselves a black eye Saturday night when a bottle thrown by someone in the crowd sent Ducks cheerleader Katelynn Johnson to the hospital in the chaotic aftermath of Oregon's 44-41 double-overtime win.

According to OregonLive.com, Johnson, a senior, was struck in the head by a water bottle thrown from the stands and was taken to an area hospital after collapsing on the field shortly thereafter. She is expected to be fine, according to the Web site's report.

The incident came on the heels of a dramatic reversal of fortunes for the Wildcats. Students from the "Zona Zoo" had gathered around the field in the final minutes of regulation, expecting to storm the field when Arizona won. But Ducks quarterback Jeremiah Masoli hit Ed Dickson with six seconds left for the game-tying touchdown. Two overtimes later, Masoli ran in a one-yard score to stun the host Wildcats and the students dispersed.

AUSTIN, Texas --- Embattled Kansas coach Mark Mangino's week got off to a rocky start and it didn't get any better as the Jayhawks rolled to their sixth straight defeat Saturday night, falling 51-20 to the second-ranked Texas Longhorns on the road.

On Monday, Mangino found out athletic director Lew Perkins has launched an investigation into allegations the eight-year head coach has been verbally and physically abusive to some of his players after linebacker Arist Wright reported Mangino for poking him in the chest last Friday. Several former players have come forth to discuss the often mean-spirited abuse Mangino often fired their way.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Usually one the most straight-laced and reserved of the Texas Longhorns, senior quarterback Colt McCoy finally stopped to take it all in late Saturday night.

It was arguably the game of the year in college football. It was certainly further evidence that the Pac-10 is back as a national conference.

After two overtimes and a touchdown with six seconds left in regulation, the Oregon Ducks outlasted Arizona 44-41 to take control of the Pac-10.

For a while, the stars seemed to align for Arizona. California upset Stanford during the the third quarter of the Wildcats' game, bumping one Pac-10 peer from Rose Bowl contention. Meanwhile, Arizona shrugged off a 14-0 deficit to take a 24-14 lead early in the fourth quarter.

However, Oregon then rallied with 17 points in the final frame, including a highlight-worthy touchdown pass from Jeremiah Masoli to Ed Dickson with six seconds left that deflated the home crowd and dispersed the students, who had emerged nearby to storm the field.

AUSTIN, Texas -- For 21 University of Texas seniors, Saturday night was their last time playing at Texas Memorial Stadium. So they made it a night to remember.

The second-ranked Longhorns overpowered Kansas en route to a 51-20 victory that cemented them as the Big 12 South division champions and sealed senior quarterback Colt McCoy's place as college football's all-time winningest quarterback with 43 career wins.

But the Texas Longhorns, who are well positioned for their first BCS national championship game bid since 2005, still have quite a bit of business to finish. They will have to get past rival Texas A&M on Thanksgiving night and then North division champ Nebraska in the Big 12 title game.

STANFORD, Calif. -- Jim Harbaugh talked a little bit about hubris early this week, the danger of thinking you are more than you are.

Did Stanford think that putting up 106 points in consecutive upset victories over Oregon and USC would guarantee another flurry of points and touchdown celebrations?

Did they think that being ranked nationally and favored in the 112th Big Game – unheard of occurrences since Tyrone Willingham left The Farm for Notre Dame after the 2001 season – gave them an advantage against California's Bears?

Did they think that throwing the ball on 2nd down at the Cal 13-yard line with 1:36 to go was a better option that giving it to Toby Gerhart?

AUSTIN, Texas -- Okay, so let the debate began.

Vince Young or Colt McCoy.

Which is the greatest Texas Longhorns quarterback of all time? Young led the Texas Longhorns to a season of perfection and the BCS national title in 2005 as a junior. McCoy, a four-year starter at Texas, has a chance tonight to become college football's all-time winningest quarterback with 43 wins should the second-ranked Longhorns make it past Kansas here at Texas Memorial Stadium.

There are two kinds of odds in the world. There are those that most of us live by -- the 50-50 chance Jon or Kate are on any random television channel at any given time, or the 100 percent certainty that it will rain any day you're without an umbrella -- then there are those that Les Miles lives by.

For the LSU coach, whose seemingly never failed to convert a fourth down, there's a certainty to things.

Miles could play Russian Roulette with a cannon and still walk away in one piece. He could fall from an airplane and somehow land unscathed in Angelina Jolie's bedroom. And if the house always wins, that's only because the LSU coach decided not to play.

We're not sure how it's scientifically possible, but every bone in his body is in fact made from a rabbit's foot.

And yet then there was Saturday, when Miles' improbable good fortune turned into inexplicable confusion and a whole lot of standing around wondering what just happened in the Tigers' 25-23 loss to Ole Miss.

And that was just the players and coaching staff. Those who watched were even more stupefied.

(Video of the now most infamous finish of 2009 after the jump.)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- When Bobby Bowden finally decides to slip quietly into retirement, he believes Florida State fans will remember the good times -- and not the program's recent slide -- that happened during his storied coaching career. One question: Does his career have any chance at a storybook ending?

FSU's dramatic 29-26 home victory over Maryland Saturday helped an already wounded Seminole Nation avoid further grief, if not slow a potentially uncomfortable showdown with its iconic coach. Instead, the Seminoles (6-5) breathed a collective sigh of relief and became bowl eligible for the 28th straight year.

Another streak is on the line at top-ranked Florida next Saturday.