Purdue headed to Pasadena; Seminoles make case for Orange

WEST LAFAYETTE (AP) - Purdue hadn't witnessed such a rosy scene in 34 years.

Players putting flowers in their mouths, fans carrying Heisman Trophy signs across the field and a Big Ten trophy presentation in the end zone.

But on Saturday, the Boilermakers earned it.

Drew Brees threw for one touchdown and rushed for another, while Montrell Lowe ran for 208 yards and four touchdowns as the Boilermakers beat Indiana 41-13 and booked their first trip to Pasadena since 1966. Purdue will meet Washington, which made it to the Rose Bowl by beating Washington State 51-3.

"Boilermaker fans, had you ever thought we could go to the Rose Bowl?" Brees shouted to the fans as he accepted the Big Ten trophy. "This is, by far, the greatest moment of my life so far."

And why not?

All Brees did was complete 20-of-29 passes for 216 yards and run 10 times for 85 yards, while becoming the first quarterback to lead the Boilermakers (6-2 Big Ten, 8-3 overall) to Pasadena since Bob Griese.

Northwestern 61, Illinois 23: They danced and celebrated on the field and donned their Big Ten champion shirts and hats. Northwestern routed on Saturday to earn a share of the conference title.

Happy as they were, these Wildcats won't be taking their party to Pasadena.

Buoyed by Michigan's 38-26 win over Ohio State, Northwestern needed one more variable for a trip to California - an Indiana win over Purdue.

The Wildcats didn't get it as the Boilermakers beat Indiana to win the berth in the Rose Bowl.

The Wildcats (6-2, 8-3) are still contenders for the Citrus, Outback and Alamo bowls, who are expected to make their selections next week.

"We know we're going to a bowl game. We've achieved one of our goals of winning the Big Ten. It's great to be part of history," Damien Anderson said after running for four touchdowns and becoming the school's single-season rushing leader.

Minnesota 27, Iowa 24: Jermaine Mays caught an 81-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to lead Minnesota to a 27-24 victory over Iowa on Saturday.

The victory gives the Gophers (4-4, 6-5) a bowl bid, probably to the Micronpc.com Bowl, Dec. 28 in Miami, as well as Floyd of Rosedale, the trophy given annually to the winner.

Mays caught the long pass from Travis Cole in stride for the winning touchdown with 6:13 remaining. Cole ran for the 2-point conversion. Mays also beat the Hawkeyes' secondary for a 57-yard reception in the third quarter, but that touchdown was called back because of a holding penalty.

Minnesota's Ron Johnson had two touchdown catches. He was initially ruled out of bounds on the first touchdown pass, a 13-yarder from Cole in the third quarter. Johnson also caught a 15-yard lob pass from Cole in the fourth quarter.

Cole passed for 299 yards, completing nine of his last 12 passes. Mays caught six passes for 119 yards. The Gophers sacked Iowa quarterback Kyle McCann eight times.

Penn State 42, Michigan State 23: Rashard Casey threw three touchdown passes and ran for two scores as Penn State beat Michigan State 42-23 on a Saturday when everything finally went right for the Nittany Lions.

Penn State coach Joe Paterno recorded his 322nd career victory in the season-ending game to move within one of the major college record held by former Alabama coach Bear Bryant.

Proof of Penn State's good fortune came in the first quarter, when Kenny Watson caught a deflected pass and ran it 40 yards into the end zone. Casey's pass was meant for Eddie Drummond but went off Drummond's fingers, over a defender and right to Watson, who sprinted untouched for the score that put Penn State (4-4, 5-7) up 21-0.

Casey, who finished with 218 passing yards and no interceptions, had a 3-yard touchdown run on the next possession that gave Penn State a 28-0 lead at the end of the quarter.

Michigan State quarterback Jeff Smoker was sacked six times, and reserve Ryan Van Dyke was sacked twice. The loss makes the Spartans (2-6, 5-6) ineligible for bowl consideration. Penn State's 42 points were the most Michigan State has given up all year.

Florida State 30, Florida 7: Florida State made a strong case for a chance to defend its national championship, beating Florida in the game that usually gives the winner a title shot.

Chris Weinke fought off the flu and threw for 353 yards and three touchdowns - two to Marvin Minnis - as Florida State had a surprisingly easy time beating its bitter state rival 30-7 on Saturday night.

"This is the best football team in the country right now and I think we proved it," Weinke said. "Beating the No. 4 team by 23 points should be convincing enough for people to realize the kind of football team this is."

The Seminoles (10-1) completed their regular season by beating the Gators (9-2) for the third year in a row, but now have to wait two weeks to find out if they'll play for the Bowl Championship Series' title in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 3.

Florida, the SEC East champion, still has a chance to play in the Sugar Bowl if it beats Auburn in the league title game Dec. 2.

The Seminoles can feel good about their chances because the winner of the Florida-Florida State game has gone on to play for the title five of the last seven years.

"We got beat thoroughly," Florida coach Steve Spurrier said after his record fell to 0-5-1at Doak Campbell Stadium. "Give credit to Florida State because they played well. We had to play our very best to beat them in this game."

When the game ended, fans rushed the field to congratulate the players, and oranges were tossed onto the field.

Oregon State 23, Oregon 13: With almost cruel quickness, Oregon State crushed its intrastate rival's Rose Bowl hopes. Then, the Beavers watched as their own dreams of Pasadena came to an end.

Jonathan Smith threw two first-quarter touchdown passes to Robert Prescott, and Jake Cookus had three of his team's five interceptions as Oregon State reached 10 victories for the first time in school history by dominating Oregon 23-13 on Saturday in the 104th Civil War.

Two pass-interference calls against the defense - both on third and long - kept drives going for the Beavers and led to 10 first-half points.

Oregon quarterback, Joey Harrington couldn't seem to find his receivers, falling into his habit of overthrowing them and trying to guide passes into double-coverage.

Harrington, who had been 13-1 as the Ducks' starting quarterback, completed 24 of 46 passes for 333 yards. He entered the game with just seven interceptions.

The Ducks also committed 12 penalties for a season-high 132 yards.

One setback cost the Beavers (10-1, 7-1) their first trip to the Rose Bowl since the 1964 season.

Washington beat Oregon State 33-30 in Seattle on Oct. 7, and clinched a Rose Bowl berth by defeating Washington State 51-3 on Saturday night.

Rose Bowl or not, the Beavers finished their best season ever, topping their 9-1-1 mark in 1939. It was just last year that they stopped an NCAA-record streak of 28 straight losing seasons. In his second season, coach Dennis Erickson might have pulled off the biggest achievement of his career, taking a woeful program to a possible berth in a BCS bowl.

- Compiled by Daily Sports Writer

Steve Jackson

AP PHOTO

Roses were waved in West Lafayette after the Boilermakers earned their first Rose Bowl berth in 34 years with a 41-13 victory over Indiana.