November 2005 in Sports - 5 November 2005 (Saturday)

5 November 2005 (Saturday)

• NFL: The Philadelphia Eagles suspend their superstar wide receiver Terrell Owens indefinitely for "conduct detrimental to the team." This came after an Owens interview with ESPN in which he criticized the Eagles for not publicly recognizing his 100th career receiving touchdown two weeks ago, and also said the Eagles would be undefeated if Brett Favre were their quarterback instead of Donovan McNabb. (AP/Yahoo!) For an update, see listing for 7 November.
• NCAA football AP Top 25:
  • (1) Southern California 51, Stanford 21 The Trojans score on each of their first seven possessions in the first half, with Matt Leinart throwing for four touchdowns.
  • (2) Texas 62, Baylor 0 Ramonce Taylor rushes for three touchdowns and catches a TD pass, and Vince Young has 351 yards of total offense in a Longhorns rout.
  • (5) Miami (Florida) 27, (3) Virginia Tech 7 The Hurricanes defense forced Marcus Vick into throwing two interceptions and forced a total of six turnovers in an easy win in Blacksburg, taking the lead in the ACC Coastal Division. The loss drops the Hokies to 8–1 and leaves Southern California, Texas and Alabama as the only undefeated teams in Division I-A.
  • (4) Alabama 17, Mississippi State 0 The Tide return a fumbled kickoff and an interception for TDs, and their defense holds the Bulldogs to 103 total yards.
  • (6) LSU 24, Appalachian State 0: JaMarcus Russell threw for 208 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Bayou Bengals past the Division I-AA Mountaineers.
  • Arizona 52, (7) UCLA 14: The Bruins are humiliated in Tucson by the Wildcats, who score the first 28 points and never look back. Arizona rushed for 320 yards, with Mike Bell and Gilbert Harris combining to rush for 269 yards.
  • (8) Notre Dame 41, Tennessee 21 The Fighting Irish become bowl-eligible thanks to three Brady Quinn TD passes and two Tom Zbikowski return TDs (a punt and an interception).
  • NC State 20, (9) Florida State 15 The Wolfpack are paced to the road upset by Andre Brown's 179 rushing yards and a defense that intercepts three FSU passes. Nonetheless, the Seminoles clinch the ACC Atlantic Division due to Boston College's loss to North Carolina, and will play in the conference championship on December 3 in Jacksonville, Florida.
  • (10) Penn State 35, (14) Wisconsin 14: The Nittany Lions all but clinch the Big Ten Conference BCS bowl bid, routing the Badgers in University Park as Badgers' QB John Stocco was sacked nine times by the Penn State defense. The reason that it is the "BCS" berth is because the Rose Bowl serves as the BCS National Championship game this year.
  • (12) Ohio State 40, Illinois 2: Troy Smith threw for three touchdowns and Antonio Pittman ran for the other two n a rout of the Fighting Illini.
  • (13) Florida 49, Vanderbilt 42 (2 OT) Although Vandy quarterback Jay Cutler made a fourth-quarter comeback to tie the game at 35–35, he was intercepted by Reggie Lewis in the second overtime as the Gators pulled one out at home.
  • (15) Oregon 27, (23) Cal Berkeley 20 (OT): Brady Leaf's four-yard TD pass to James Finley in overtime was the difference for the Ducks.
  • (16) Texas Tech 52, Texas A&M 17 Cody Hodges passes for 409 yards as the Red Raiders and their run-and-shoot offense dominate the Aggies at home.
  • (17) Auburn 49, Kentucky 27 The Tigers rush for 384 yards and five TDs in a rout of the homestanding Wildcats.
  • North Carolina 16, (19) Boston College 14: Wallace Wright returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a TD and Connor Barth kicked three field goals, propelling the home team to an upset of the Eagles.
  • (20) TCU 33, Colorado State 6: The Horned Frogs wrapped up their first outright conference championship since 1958 as a member of the late Southwest Conference with the Mountain West Conference title in a thrashing of the Rams.
  • (21) Fresno State 45, San Jose State 7 The Bulldogs roll thanks to a great performance from quarterback Paul Pinegar who threw for 374 yards and 3 TD passes.
  • (25) Colorado 41, Missouri 12 Lawrence Vickers rushed for four TDs as the Buffaloes and Mason Crosby kicked a pair of field goals including a 56 yarder. They have all but clinched the Big 12 North.
• Rugby union November Tests:
  • Argentina 23–34 South Africa
  • France 26–16 Australia Les Bleus send the Wallabies crashing to their sixth consecutive Test defeat, their worst streak since 1969. Wallabies captain George Gregan takes sole possession of the all-time lead for national team caps in the sport's history with his 115th appearance. (BBC)
  • Wales 3–41 New Zealand Rico Gear scores a hat trick of tries; Daniel Carter scores all the other points, including two tries of his own; and a stifling All Blacks defence frustrates the Welsh. (BBC)
• Soccer: MLS Cup 2005 Playoffs: Conference Finals
  • Western Conference Final: Los Angeles Galaxy 2, Colorado Rapids 0: The Galaxy, fourth in the West at the start of this postseason, reaches their fifth MLS Cup Final in franchise history, winning once in 2002. Landon Donovan scores both of L.A.'s goals. What would've been Colorado's only goal of the match in the 34th minute was taken away after referee Brian Hall blew the whistle while the ball was in the air to deal with pushing and shoving in the box.