Campus Confidential

BY MIKE ROSE

Really interesting rivalry Saturday thus far:

-- What a great job by Paul Johnson at Georgia Tech. The No. 22 Yellow Jackets went into Athens and beat No. 11 Georgia 45-42 in a classic. Georgia Tech snaps a seven-game losing streak to Georgia. Give Johnson the ACC coach of the year award now. Georgia Tech, now 9-3, got 214 yards and touchdowns on just 13 carries by Roddy Jones. Georgia Tech also scored 26 unanswered points in the third quarter, after trailing 28-12 at halftime. What a disappointing end to the regular season for Georgia, which is 9-3 after being a preseason No. 1. But a young offensive line and shaky defense were too much to overcome, even with Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno.

-- Virginia Tech clinched the ACC's Coastal Division title and a trip to Orlando for the ACC championship game with a 17-14 win over archrival Virginia. We'll see if Boston College is the Atlantic Division representative a bit later. Virginia would've been bowl eligible with a win.

-- Cincinnati had already clinched the Big East title and BCS automatic bid with the loss by West Virginia on Friday. The Bearcats notched 10 wins (10-2 record to be exact) with a 30-10 win over Syracuse.

-- It's been a disappointing year at Clemson, especially with the Tigers a preseason top 10 team and head coach Tommy Bowden stepping down. But Clemson ended on a positive by beating rival South Carolina 31-14. Clemson, at 7-5, will play in a bowl. South Carolina, also finishing 7-5, probably could have had a New Year's Day bowl bid with a win -- probably the Outback Bowl -- but it's unlikely the Gamecocks now play on Jan. 1 with that record. Chris Smelley threw four interceptions for South Carolina.

-- Not a rivalry or anything, but kudos to Tom O'Brien and North Carolina State. The Wolfpack beat Miami 38-28 today. North Carolina State finished the regular season with four consecutive wins -- over Duke, No. 24 Wake Forest, No. 22 North Carolina and a Miami team that some thought could win the ACC. Not bad. Also, the win made North Carolina State bowl eligible at 6-6. Meanwhile, Miami really fell apart late, losing two straight to end at 7-5.

-- Bad loss for No. 13 Missouri, falling 40-37 to rival Kansas at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing hit Kerry Meier for a 26-yard touchdown on a 4th-and-7 play with 33 seconds left. Missouri, now 9-3, had already clinched the Big 12 North Division. But it would've been nice to head into the Big 12 title game with a win. Kansas is 7-5.