2B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - December 1, 2003 Georgia gets rematch with Tigers for title Bowl picture begins to take shape as Virginia Tech falls to Insight Bowl after loss to Virginia Ule Lkbtganalg ATHLETE OF THE WEEK ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia secured its spot in the Southeastern Conference championship game yesterday, setting up a rematch with LSU next weekend. The fifth-ranked Bulldogs tied for first in the East Division with Ten- riessee and Florida, bringing in the SEC's convoluted tiebreaker system. It's based on a com- bination of the BCS standings and leaving the Big East Conference just the way it entered it 11 years ago - on top, with everybody else playing catchup. Tyrone Moss and Jarrett Payton became the latest running backs to exploit Pittsburgh's weak rush defense, running for more than 100 yards each, and Miami locked up a share of its eighth Big East title and a BCS bowl by winning 28-14 Sat- urday night. Miami (10-2, 6-1) shares the con- ference title with West Virginia (8- 4, 6-1), but it's the Hurricanes that are heading to a big bowl - almost certainly the hometown Orange Bowl, where they last played during the 1994 season. The opponent might be Ohio State in a rematch of last season's national title game. "That's our fourth Big East cham- pionship in a row and our seniors have won four in a row." coach Larry Coker said. "That's exciting" BLACKSBURG, Va. - Virginia Tech accepted a bid yesterday to play in the Insight Bowl, the Hokies' 11th lead-to-head meetings. The league announced yesterday afternoon that Georgia got the nod for the title game. The Gators had an outside chance to sneak in, but that ended when they lost to Florida State 38-34 Saturday. The Bulldogs (10-2) completed their regular season with a 34-17 victory over Georgia Tech, their third straight in the series. No. 3 LSU (11-1) beat Georgia 17-10 in September. PITTSBURGH - Miami is consecutive bowl appearance. The Hokies (8-4) will play a Pac- 10 team to be determined in the Dec. 26 game in Phoenix. Virginia Tech has never played a game in Arizona. The Hokies, ranked as high as No. 3 after a 6-0 start, lost four of their last six games - including a 35-21 loss at Virginia on Saturday - to drop out of the top 25 for the first time in the last 85 weeks of the Associated Press poll. LAWRENCE, Kan. - Kansas accepted a bid Saturday to the Tan- gerine Bowl, the Jayhawks' first post- season appearance in eight years. The Jayhawks finished the'regu- lar season 6-6 under second-year head coach Mark Mangino after going 2-10 a year ago. They will play North Carolina State (7-5) on Dec. 22 at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando, Fla. Kansas opened the year 5-2 but then lost four in a row before becoming bowl eligible with fast week's 36-7 vic- tory over Iowa State. BowL noun. Though many of the bowl gae matchups will not e deeided uzntiI after n week's games, se have already begunmto develop. New Orleans Bowl; Dec. 46 North Texas vs4 ConfereteUSA N ., GlMAC Bowl; Dect. 1$ Miami (O hio Conference-USA Mazda Tangerine Bowl; Dec 22 NornhCaron State vsK Kaeo Las Vegas Bowl; Dec.24 New Mexco vs. Pac lO0 No5 insight Bowl; .ec. 26. Wgenta1ech vs.Pac 1014e. 4 Co...nen.al TiRe Bowh; Dec:27 fittsbturgh v Wginia EVt.net Houston Bowl; flec 30' NavyvsBi N 6 DPaoW utanrcscBowlDe.3 Colorado~taeves.gEastNo34,5 Gator Bowl MavElN BgEatooro N tre ame Chick-fiAPachfBowM 1 Cie aon vs. EC N 5> Who: Michael White Hometown: Livonia Sport:Men's soccer Year: Senior Why: Facing No. 3 Notre Dame, the Wolverines needed some sort of spark in the third round of the NCAA Tournament without offensive star Knox Cameron. White provided it, giving Michigan its only goal and the game-winning shootout goal to give the Wolverines the win. M SCHEDULE Tomorrow M Basketball vs. North Carolina State 7:30 p.m. I White Wednesday, Dec. 3 W Basketball vs. Charlotte Thursday, Dec. 4 W Swim/Diving M Swim/Diving Friday, Dec. 5 W Swim/Diving M Swim/Diving W Swim/Diving W Track/Field Hockey W Basketball Volleyball Wrestling 4. U. U. 7 p.m. Noon Noon U.S. Open - Federal Way, U.S. Open - Federal Way, Wash. Wash. U.S. Open - Federal Way, Wash. Texas Invitational - Austin, Texas Eastern Michigan Invitational - Ypsilanti Intrasquad Meet vs. Michigan State at Drake - Des Moines, Iowa vs. Colorado Cliff Keen Invitational No Vick-tory in quarterback's return to field HOUSTON (AP) - Michael Vick's return was less than triumphant. Domanick Davis ran for two quick touchdowns early in the third quarter and David Carr made his own unplanned appearance yesterday, rallying the Texans to a 17-13 victory over the Falcons. It was Vick's first game since fracturing his right leg in the second week of preseason. "I think I've got my elusiveness back," Vick said. "I have to take my hat off to their defense. They gave me some looks I hadn't seen in a long time. They did their homework and it was just their day." Vick, the top overall draft choice in 2001 who set an NFL rushing mark for quarterbacks with 1,066 yards over his first two seasons, made his debut with 2:14 remaining in the third quarter. He completed a nine-yard pass to Justin Griffith on his first play, though the drive ended with a punt. Vick relieved Doug Johnson, who started eight times in Vick's absence. Johnson was 12-of-27 for 116 yards and threw an interception that cost the Falcons (2-10), who have lost three straight and 10 of 11. Texans linebacker Jay Foreman was miffed the Falcons didn't start their best quarterback. "At the start we thought he was hurt, then we could see he was throwing on the sidelines and wasn't hurt," Foreman said. "They took the Tex- ans like it was a warmup game, and we took it personal." Cornerback Marcus Coleman had a slightly different take. "Apparently he could have started. We're just glad he didn't," Coleman said. Vick was 8-of-11 for 60 yards and ran three times for 16 yards in just over a quarter of action. Before Vick came back, it was last year's top draft pick making the first unscheduled appear- ance. Carr was supposed to miss the game after spraining his right shoulder two weeks ago. But he was pressed into action when Tony Banks broke his right hand on another player's helmet near the end of the first half. Carr, playing in obvious pain, led a 63-yard drive on the Texans' first possession of the sec- ond half, getting 36 yards himself with a Vick- like run to the Atlanta 22. Davis ran untouched for a 7-yard touchdown and a 10-7 lead for the Texans (5-7). Johnson's next play was an interception thrown right to Coleman, who ran it back 22 yards to the Atlanta 13. Davis took it from there, punching it in from 2 yards for his second score in less than three minutes. Davis, the Texans' standout rookie, ran for 101. yards on 24 carries. It was his fourth 100-yard performance. Carr, who slumped in discomfort after some of his five pass attempts, completed two for 25 yards and an interception. Vick also showed he wasn't himself when linebacker Shantee Orr caught him and forced an intentional grounding penalty that led to Jay Feely's 42-yard field goal with 1:24 left. Coleman covered the ensuing onside kickoff and the Texans exhausted the clock. "We knew we had to raise the level of our play, because we know what type of player he is," said Orr, promoted from the practice squad three games ago. "When he rolled out on the second or third play, you could see he was ready to play. It was an awesome accomplishment to stop him." Carr downplayed his injury, which appeared worse when he was tackled after the long run. "I don't think I reinjured it, just aggravated it, so it made it a little difficult to throw," Carr said. Texans offensive coordinator Chris Palmer said the Texans considered substituting rookie Dave Ragone, who has not played yet, had the situation called for more passing. T.J. Duckett, getting the start after Warrick Dunn suffered a season-ending left foot injury last week, had a 1-yard TD run in the second quarter. He finished with just 31 yards on 12 car- ries against a notoriously soft Houston run defense. Kris Brown hit a 40-yard field goal later in the quarter for Houston. The Falcons, who led 7-3 at halftime, fell to 0-6 when leading at the break. Saturday, Dec. 6 W. W; W' M; M; W Swim/Diving Swim/Diving Track/Field Swim/Diving Swim/Diving Gymnastics Hockey M Basketball Wrestling Volleyball M Soccer Sunday, Dec. 7 M Swim/Diving W Basketball W Soccer U.S. Open - Federal Way, Wash. Eastern Michigan Invitational - Ypsilanti Intrasquad Meet Texas Invitational - Austin, Texas U.S. Open - Federal Way, Wash. Maize and Blue Intrasquad at Michigan State Vanderbilt - Nashville, Tenn. Cliff Keen Invitational vs. California or St. Mary's at Santa Clara Texas Invitational - Austin, Texas at Creighton - Omaha, Neb. College Cup - NCAA Tournament Noon 10 a.m. 9 a.m. 4 p.m. 7:35 p.m. 8 p.m. TBA Las Vegas 9 a.m. 9 a.m. 9 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 7 p.m. 7:05 p.m. 9 p.m. Las Vegas TBA 10 p.m. A 10 4:05 Cary, a.m. p.m. N.C. I 'J AP PHOTO Making his first appearance this season, Michael Vick - shown being tackled by former Michigan player, and current Houston Texan, Shantee Orr - fell short in leading Atlanta back from a 17-10 deficit against Houston. DAVID TUMAN/Daily The Michigan wrestling team, which struggled in its last dual meet against Central Michigan and Lehigh, heads to Las Vegas for the Cliff Keen invitational. Solich out in Nebraska as Arizona sits on a Stoops for the future NBA STANDINGS NHL STANDINGS NFL STANDINGS AMERICAN CONFERENCE East LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska fired football coach Frank Solich because Athletic Director Steve Peder- son believed the pro- gram was slipping in stature compared to its Big 12 rivals. "I refuse to let the program gravitate into mediocrity," Pederson said Sunday when he officially 10 years. That ultimately is how I arrived at the decision our program needed new leadership." TUCSON, Ariz. - Mike Stoops, the younger brother of Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, was introduced Saturday as the new head coach at Arizona and promised a return to the glory days of bowl games and all-out defense. "We're going to be ready to play when we start in September," he said. "We're going to have a defense that attacks people from a bunch of different ways, and we're going to have an offense that's going to spread people out and make them defend the whole field." The younger Stoops, the top- ranked Sooners' co-defensive coor- dinator, inherits a team that went 2-10 and finished last in the Pac-10 for the first time. EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division Philadelphia New Jersey Boston New York Washington Miami Orlando Central Division Indiana Detroit New Orleans Milwaukee Toronto Atlanta Chicago Cleveland WESTERN CONFERENCE Midwest Division Dallas Denver Utah Houston Minnesota San Antonio Memphis Pacific Division L.A. Lakers Sacramento Seattle Golden State Portland Phoenix LA. Clippers NBA GAMES announced the firing. "We won't surren- der the Big 12 to Oklahoma and Texas." Despite firing a coach with a 9-3 record this season and a 58-19 career mark, Pederson said he is not running a "win at all costs" program. He said he did not like the direction the program was taking. Since starting 11-0 in 2001, the Cornhuskers have been a mediocre 16-12. Pederson named defensive coordina- tor Bo Pelini interim head coach for Nebraska's bowl game. The Huskers' bowl destination has not been deter- mined. Pederson said he would open a nationwide search for a head coach and hoped to have a successor to Solich named quickly Pelini said he would be a candidate for the permanent position. About a dozen players stood in the back of the room as Pederson spoke to the media. W L Pct. GB 9 9 .500 - 7 8 .467 .5 7 9 .438 1 7 10 .412 1.5 6 10 .375 2 5 12 .294 3.5 1 15 .063 7 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W Philadelphia 14 New Jersey 12 N.Y. Rangers 9 N.Y. Islanders 9 Pittsburgh 5 Northeast Division L 2 4 7 11 12 Pct. .875 .667 .647 .500 .500 .333 .250 .235 Pct. .647 .625 .600 .563 .529 .529 .467 Pct. .813 .733 .571 .533 .533 .467 .333 GB 3 3.5 6 6 9 10 10.5 GB .5 1 1.5 2 2 3 GB 1.5 4 4.5 4.5 5.5 7 Boston Toronto Buffalo Ottawa Montreal Southeast Division Atlanta Tampa Bay Florida Carolina Washington T 5 5 5 2 4 W 11 11 11 9 10 W 12 11 9 7 7 WESTERN CONFERENCE Central Division W Detroit 14 St. Louis 13 Nashville 12 Chicago 6 Columbus 7 L T 4 3 6 5 11 2 8 2 11 2 L T 9 3 4 4 13 4 10 7 15 1 OTL 1 0 2 0 1 OL 4 2 1 3 1 OL 1 1 0 0 1 OL 0 1 0 3 1 OL1 2 1 0 3 0 OL 0 1 5 2 1 Pts 34 29 25 20 15 Pts 29 29 25 23 23 Pts 28 27 22 21 16 Pts 30 28 25 19 18 Pts 33 30 23 22 19 Pts 25 24 24 24 20 GF 70 53 62 59 41 GF 60 59 57 68 52 GF 71 50 57 49 62 GF 81 55 60 47 49 GF 81 74 66 48 51 GF 57 57 52 58 55 GA 40 35 56 59 76 GA 50 62 65 54 58 GA 69 35 70 60 74 GA 58 47 59 71 64 GA 58 58 73 54 56 GA 59 52 61 58 70 New England Miami Buffalo N.Y. Jets South Tennessee Indianapolis Houston Jacksonville North Baltimore Cincinnati Cleveland Pittsburgh West Kansas City Denver Oakland San Diego w 10 8 5 4 W 9 9 5 2 w 7 7 4 4 w 11 7 3 2 T Pot PF PA O .818 303 208. 0 .750 343 254 0 .417 211 290 0 .182 185 254 NATIONAL CONFERENCE East Northwest Division Vancouver Colorado Edmonton Calgary Minnesota Pacific Division T 0 0 0 0 W 14 14 10 9 8 L 9 6 10 12 12 L 6 7 10 8 12 L 10 9 7 6 9 Philadelphia Dallas N.Y. Giants Washington South Carolina New Orleans Tampa Bay Atlanta North Minnesota Green Bay Chicago Detroit West St. Louis Seattle San Francisco Arizona Pct PF PA .833 257 209 .667 241 191 .417 197 194 .364 210 221 W 9 8 4 4 W 8 6 5 2 W 7 6 5 4 W 9 8 5 3 Pct PF PA .583 300 238 .583 268 266 .333 192 224 .333 223 277 Pot PF PA .917 361 222 .583 279 206 .250 222 278 .167 233 342 Pct PF PA .750 245 212 .667 226 208 .333 202 266 .333 236 280 Pct PF PA .667 234 229 .500 256 278 .455 220 174 .167 221 328 Pct PF PA .583 310 295 .500 298 255 .417 219 247 .333 202 280 Dallas 11 Los Angeles 11 Anaheim 8 San Jose 7 Phoenix 7 NHL GAMES Pct .750 .667 .417 .250 PF PA 347 246 323 239 248 230 166 337 NFL GAMES Friday's Games Atlanta 95, Miami 83 Boston 106, Milwaukee 96 Toronto 87, Orlando 86 Minnesota 102, Memphis 98 Indiana 90, Philadelphia 77 Detroit 92, Cleveland 88 Utah 98, Seattle 81 Denver 113, Dallas 103 Golden State 92, Phoenix 83 Sacramento 103, Houston 74 Portland 97, New Jersey 93 L.A. Lakers 103, San Antonio 87 Saturday's Games New York 79, New Orleans 74 Detroit 80. Washington 69 Friday's Games Nashville 2, Boston 1 Philadelphia 4, Carolina 2 San Jose 2, Minnesota 1 Anaheim 4, Chicago 3 Montreal 5, Washington 3 St. Louis 2, Tampa Bay 2, tie N.Y. Rangers 4, Pittsburgh 1 Detroit 6, N.Y. Islanders 0 Buffalo 4, Florida 3 Dallas 2, New Jersey 0 Colorado 4, Edmonton 1 Saturday's Games Los Angeles 3, Chicago 1 Florida 1, Montreal 1, tie Trnntn .Otawa 1 Last Thursday's games DETROIT 22, Green Bay 14 Miami 40, DALLAS 21 Yesterday's games Cincinnati 24, PIrrSBURGH 20 Buffalo 24, N.Y. GIANTS 7 HoUSToN 17, Atlanta 13 St. Louis 48, Minnesota 17 BALTIMORE 44, San Francisco 6 New England 38, INDIANAPOLiS 34 Philadelphia 25, CAROLINA 16 CHICAGO 28, Arizona 3 New Orleans 24, WASHINGTON 20 Kansas City 28, SAN DIEGO 24 Denver 22, OAKLAND 8 SEATTLE 34, Cleveland 7 Tampa Bay at JACKSONVILLE, 8:30 p.m. 0 EMIEAM T a