Last-second kick keeps Texas alive

Colt McCoy and No. 3 Texas are headed for the BCS championship game. Hunter Lawrence nailed a 46-yard field goal as time expired, giving McCoy and the Longhorns a 13-12 victory over No. 21 Nebraska in the Big 12 championship on Saturday night in Arlington, Texas. McCoy was hit, hurried and hassled by waves of Cornhuskers, dazing the winningest quarterback in college football history into a guy who made a bunch of freshman mistakes - including the nearly costly flub of letting time run out on his chance of reaching the title game. Officials put 1 second back on the clock and Lawrence converted to keep the Longhorns undefeated. Texas players flung helmets and rushed the field to celebrate this agonizingly close conference championship. The Cornhuskers slunked off, unable to believe they weren't going away with the upset. Southeastern Conference -No. 2 Alabama 32, No. 1 Florida 13: The move was so unlike Nick Saban. The Alabama coach put away all that boardroom talk for a leaping shoulder bump with star running back Mark Ingram. The Crimson Tide was back on top. Across the way, Tim Tebow couldn't do a thing, and tears streamed down his cheeks as he watched the clock wind down on an ending that wasn't in his farewell plan. With Ingram and Greg McElroy leading an emphatic 32-13 chomping of top-ranked Florida on Saturday, No. 2 Alabama again stands supreme in the Southeastern Conference. More important, the Tide is just one win away from an even bigger title - its first national crown since 1992. "Everyone had to buy into not to be denied in this game,'' Saban said, getting back to business after a raucous celebration at the Georgia Dome. "To be a champion, that's what you had to do. I've never been prouder of a group of players.'' The no-nonsense coach, who talks of "The Process'' instead of the houndstooth, needed only three years to bring Alabama back from a grim era to a place it was accustomed to under Paul "Bear'' Bryant. "They seemed like they wanted it a whole lot,'' Florida cornerback Joe Haden said. Ingram, making a strong bid to claim the school's first Heisman Trophy, rushed for 113 yards and three touchdowns. McElroy threw for 239 yards and a touchdown to claim the MVP award, showing he's no weak link. The Alabama defense held Tebow in check and left him crying at the end. "It's tough. You know it's not how you want to go out,'' Tebow said. "They were just better than us today.'' Alabama (13-0) moves on to Pasadena for the BCS championship game, an accomplishment they noted by passing out roses in the locker room. In fact, the school fight song, "Yea Alabama,'' refers to a long-ago Rose Bowl appearance. Conference USA -East Carolina 38, No. 18 Houston 32: In Greenville, N.C., Dominique Lindsay and Giavanni Ruffin each ran for two touchdowns, and East Carolina's defense hung in against Houston's powerful offense to help the Pirates beat the No. 18 Cougars 38-32 in the Conference USA championship game. Dwayne Harris also had a big day with 123 yards receiving and a 22-yard touchdown catch. He also had a 69-yard kickoff return to set up East Carolina's first touchdown to earn MVP honors, helping the Pirates (9-4) beat the mistake-prone Cougars (10-3) for their second straight league title that will send them back to the Liberty Bowl. East Carolina is the first team to win consecutive C-USA titles since the league went to divisional play in 2005. Case Keenum had a big day for Houston, completing 56-of-75 passes for title game-record 527 yards and five touchdowns. Most of those went to James Cleveland, who had 19 catches for another game-record of 241 yards to go with three scores. Regular season -No. 5 Cincinnati 45, No. 14 Pittsburgh 44: In Pittsburgh, Tony Pike's 29-yard touchdown pass to Armon Binns with 33 seconds left completed No. 5 Cincinnati's comeback from a 21-point deficit, and the Bearcats beat No. 14 Pittsburgh to secure a BCS berth and their second straight Big East title. The first de facto Big East championship game since the conference began playing football in 1991 was a high-scoring classic. Freshman Dion Lewis' three touchdowns and 194 yards rushing on 47 carries in a Tony Dorsett-like performance carried Pitt (9-3, 5-2) to leads of 31-10, 38-24 and 44-38, only to have the Mardy Gilyard-led Bearcats (12-0, 7-0) rally each time. Gilyard gave the Bearcats a much-needed jolt with a 99-yard kickoff return only 70 seconds before halftime after Pitt had opened its 21-point lead, and he made it 31-24 in the third quarter with a 68-yard scoring catch. Gilyard's 49-yard kickoff return also led to Pike's 8-yard scoring pass to D.J. Woods that cut Pitt's lead to 38-30 early in the fourth quarter. -No. 6 Boise State 42, New Mexico State 7: In Boise, Idaho, Doug Martin had four touchdown runs and No. 6 Boise State Broncos beat New Mexico State to finish unbeaten for the second consecutive season. Kellen Moore threw for 272 yards and a score for Boise State (13-0, 8-0 Western Athletic), which finished 12-0 last year but was left out of the Bowl Championship Series. The Broncos will have to wait until Sunday night to see if they made it into one of the big-money bowls this season. Boise State's defense held the Aggies (3-10, 1-7) to just 49 yards passing and 191 yards overall. -Arizona 21, No. 20 USC 17: In Los Angeles, Juron Criner stumbled into the end zone with a 36-yard touchdown pass from Nick Foles with 3:14 to play, and Arizona wrapped up its best regular season in a decade with a victory over No. 20 Southern California. Foles passed for 239 yards for the Wildcats (8-4, 6-3 PAC-10), who finally beat No. 20 USC for the first time in coach Mike Stoops' tenure by scoring the final touchdown in a defense-dominated game. After Jordan Congdon made a 37-yard field goal with 7:13 left to put the Trojans (8-4, 5-4) ahead, Arizona converted three straight third downs on the decisive drive. - The Associated Press riner then caught a long fade pass and fought through a tackle into the end zone, silencing the half-empty Coliseum crowd watching USC's second home loss in three games. - the associated press