College Football Notebook | Ga. Tech runs over Miami 41-23

ATLANTA — This is the way they draw up the triple option.

Ruining Miami's return to national prominence, Georgia Tech ran for a staggering 472 yards — the second-most ever allowed by the Hurricanes — and romped to a 41-23 victory Thursday night that gives the Yellow Jackets a chance to pull out an Atlantic Coast Conference divisional title that no one seems eager to win.

Jonathan Dwyer ran for 128 yards despite playing only one half, two other players came up just short of 100 yards, and the Yellow Jackets left No. 23 Miami dazed and confused.

"We executed at a high level," said Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson, architect of the scheme that hearkens back to an era when offenses such as the wishbone were all the rage. "When you do those things right, you can have some big plays. It's just the nature of the beast."

Dwyer ripped off a 58-yard touchdown against a Miami defense that looked as though it had never even seen film of Georgia Tech's unique attack. Two linebackers got caught out of position, and Dwyer was off to the end zone.

By the end, the Hurricanes (7-4, 4-3) could do little more than huddle around heaters on a chilly night in Atlanta, totally outclassed in their first game as a ranked team in more than two years.

"That's option football," coach Randy Shannon said. "It's assignment football, and when you don't play assignment football, bad things can happen."

The five-time national champs, who came into the game with five straight wins, could have clinched at least a tie for first in the Coastal Division with a win. Now, the race is more confusing than ever.

Georgia Tech (8-3, 5-3) takes over first in the convoluted Coastal, but the Yellow Jackets will need some help because three other contenders would win on a tiebreaker. Still, it was an impressive display by the triple-option offense, which piled up the most rushing yards ever on the Hurricanes other than a 536-yard effort by Auburn in 1944.

Raiders getting defensive

LUBBOCK, Texas — Texas Tech coach Mike Leach knew something had to change when the Red Raiders rolled up 718 yards last year against Oklahoma State — and lost.

The offensive wizard's days of merely tolerating defense were over. It turned out that all he had to do to fix things was walk a few doors down the hall to the office of a coach who came with him to Lubbock seven years earlier.

Ruffin McNeill's promotion to defensive coordinator after that deflating 49-45 defeat transformed the Texas Tech defense perhaps more than Leach could have imagined. The No. 2 Red Raiders won't be confused with the defensive stalwarts of the Southeastern Conference, but they don't have to be when they pass for 400-plus yards and score at least 40 points nearly every week.

Across-the-board improvement by the defense under McNeill played a major role in positioning Texas Tech (10-0) for a run at the national championship, the next step coming Saturday night at No. 5 Oklahoma (9-1).

McNeill's plan wasn't complicated. In fact, it was simple — as in simplifying schemes, defensive lineman Jake Ratliff said.

"He wanted us to quit thinking and go play football," Ratliff said. "That's the way it should be: When in doubt, just go attack. There's no thinking involved."

Rutgers rapped

in report

Rutgers failed to provide proper oversight of its athletic department as it tried to build its football program over the past five years, according to an independent panel.

A 35-page report detailing the study, which was requested in July by school president Richard McCormick, found that he and the school's board of governors failed to adequately oversee the athletic department's contractual agreements with football coach Greg Schiano and its dealings with the firm Nelligan Sports Marketing.

Schiano, whose contract this year is worth $1.6 million, gets an additional $250,000 per year from the sports marketing firm, which employed the son of athletic director Robert Mulcahy. The payment is guaranteed by Rutgers if sponsorships don't cover it.

While the nine-member committee found no evidence of wrongdoing or actual conflict of interest, it did conclude that Mulcahy "pursued his charge with vigor but also in an increasingly insulated and ultimately counterproductive manner."

Pac-10 picks

Washington 27, WSU 13: If anybody can get a running game going, it ought to be Huskies

Oregon State 27, Arizona 23: Some 'Zona upset history in November, but Beavers just look like the better team

Stanford 24, California 20: Simply a vote for which team needs it more

Last week: 5-0. Season: 42-14.

Bud Withers

By Bud Withers, Seattle Times college football reporter