The number of unbeaten Division I-A teams was cut in half Saturday, ripping some of the magic from the college football season.
Notre Dame fumbled away its chance for a national title, putting a major dent in what had been the best story in the college football ranks. Virginia Tech, Georgia and North Carolina State all suffered their first loss of the season as well.
And while Bowling Green remained one of the four undefeated teams remaining in major college football, the Falcons have virtually no hope of being a factor in the race for the top two positions in the Bowl Championship Series.
The two teams at the top of the BCS heap will play for the national crown and as of Saturday night, the three teams battling for those two spots were Oklahoma, Miami and Ohio State. If all three should suffer a loss, the BCS will be in a mess.
Oklahoma improved its record to 8-0 Saturday by taking advantage of Colorado's mistakes for a 27-11 victory. Miami (8-0) found itself trailing going into the fourth quarter before turning it on to beat Rutgers, 42-17. And Ohio State (10-0) whipped Minnesota, 34-3.
The losses, however, were the big news of the day and the biggest of them all was suffered by Notre Dame.
For the second time in less than a decade, Boston College ended Notre Dame's hopes for an unbeaten season. The Fighting Irish fumbled eight times and lost three of them in falling to the Eagles, 14-7.
Notre Dame had earned the brightest spotlight of the season by winning its first eight games, doing so with a strudy defense and a very suspect offense.
That offense could do virtually nothing against Boston College. Eagles linebacker Josh Ott recovered Ryan Grant's fumble that led to Derrick McKnight's three-yard touchdown run with 2:39 remaining in the first quarter, then returned an interception 71 yards for a score with 4:03 left in the first half.
Notre Dame wore green jerseys for the first time in 19 years, but the Irish came up empty on its first five trips inside the red zone. They gave up the ball on downs twice, botched a field goal, fumbled and threw an interception.
The Irish went into the game ranked sixth in the coaches poll, but were third in the BCS standings. Also falling from the ranks of the unbeatens were third-ranked Virginia Tech, a 28-21 loser at home to Pittsburgh; No. 5 Georgia, which suffered a 20-13 setback at Florida; and No. 8 North Carolina State, which lost to Georgia Tech, 24-17.
With the carnage within the top 10, the possibility arose that two teams from the same conference might wind up playing for the national title. Texas went into the weekend ranked seventh and ended Nebraska's 26-game home winning streak with a 27-24 victory.
The Longhorns could easily move up to fourth and if both Miami and Ohio State should lose a game, Texas could conceivably move up to second behind Oklahoma in the BCS rankings.
Nate Hybl threw three touchdown passes, including two to Mark Clayton, and Oklahoma took advantage of five Colorado turnovers in the Sooners' victory.
The game began in heavy rain and Colorado had trouble holding onto the ball as the Sooners turned the Buffaloes' miscues into 24 points.
Quentin Griffin carried 21 times for 128 yards for Oklahoma (8-0, 4-0 Big 12 South), which again played well following a bye week. The Sooners are 11-1 under coach Bob Stoops when they have more than the standard six days to prepare.
In Piscataway, N.J., Willis McGahee ran for 187 yards and two scores and Ken Dorsey threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter as the top-ranked Hurricanes rallied late and then poured it on against Rutgers.
It was Miami's school record 30th straight victory.
Miami (8-0, 4-0 Big East) scored 28 points in the fourth quarter to break the school mark for wins set from 1990 to 1993. The Hurricanes won their 16th straight road game and for the 21st straight time in conference play. It was also the 500th victory in the history of the school.
The Hurricanes, however, could lose some style points in the next coaches and media poll since they trailed, 17-14, after three quarters against a team that has won just once all season.
