Miami ? Blitzing on almost every play, Georgia Tech was in Kyle Wright’s face all night. And when he threw the ball up for grabs with the game on the line, the Yellow Jackets were there, too.

They sacked Wright seven times and made two late defensive stands, intercepting his final pass to defeat third-ranked Miami, 14-10, Saturday night.

“Not anyone believed it could happen,” Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey said.

KaMichael Hall had two sacks and made a fourth-down stop to end a Miami threat midway through the fourth quarter. Wright moved the Hurricanes 62 yards to the Georgia Tech 27 with 1:46 left before he was intercepted by Dennis Davis, and the Yellow Jackets ran out the clock.

“With any quarterback, if we keep pressuring him, he’s eventually going to fold,” defensive end Eric Henderson said. “He can’t keep getting hit like that all night. No quarterback can.”

The Hurricanes (8-2 overall, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) were eliminated from contention for a berth in the national-championship game. They lost for the first time since their season opener at Florida State.

“We played about as bad as we could have played,” said Wright, who threw for five scores a week ago at Wake Forest but managed just one touchdown pass against the Yellow Jackets’ relentless blitzing. “They were doing things we prepared for. They just did a good job of doing it.”

Georgia Tech quarterback Reggie Ball, left, is congratulated by tight end George Cooper after Ball ran for a touchdown against Miami. Georgia Tech won, 14-10, Saturday in Miami.

The Yellow Jackets (7-3, 5-3) bounced back from a loss a week ago to Virginia. They also shook off an NCAA decision this week to place the school on two years’ probation for using 17 academically ineligible athletes in four sports, including 11 in football.

“These guys have a tremendous ability to compartmentalize – put all the junk to the side and play the game,” Gailey said. “All the other stuff they can’t control. What we can control is what happened out there.”

Georgia Tech mounted touchdown marches of 68 and 61 yards against the nation’s No. 1-ranked defense, and Miami penalties contributed to both drives.

Interference on Marcus Maxey negated an interception in the end zone three plays before Tashard Choice scored the game’s first points on a two-yard touchdown run. A penalty for excessive celebration led to the Yellow Jackets’ other score on a 16-yard keeper by Reggie Ball.

Ball went only 11-for-30 for 159 yards, but in key situations he repeatedly found Calvin Johnson, who had six receptions for 89 yards.

Georgia Tech hardly looked like the same team that gave up 51 points to Virginia Tech in September, shutting out Miami in the second half. The Hurricanes converted one of 14 third-down situations and totaled 30 yards rushing.

Wright went 14-for-31 for 207 yards and netted minus-35 yards rushing.

“It’s pretty obvious tonight we got it handed to us,” Miami coach Larry Coker said.

No. 4 LSU 40, Mississippi 7

Oxford, Miss. – JaMarcus Russell threw two touchdown passes, and LSU’s defense smothered Mississippi to move the fourth-ranked Tigers one step closer to the SEC championship game.

LSU (9-1, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) held Ole Miss to seven yards rushing and gave the Rebels their worst loss in Oxford in 56 years. Now, only Arkansas stands in the Tigers’ path to Atlanta. LSU can clinch its third title-game berth in five seasons by beating the Razorbacks next week.

No. 5 Penn State 31, Michigan State 22

East Lansing, Mich. – Joe Paterno and No. 5 Penn State locked up their first Bowl Championship Series bid after the Nittany Lions defeated Michigan State to win their first Big Ten title in 11 years.

Michael Robinson ran for 90 yards and a touchdown and passed for another, and Alan Zemaitis had three interceptions for Penn State (10-1, 6-1).

Coming off a 4-7 season, Penn State tied Ohio State for the Big Ten lead but will get the league’s automatic BCS bid because the Lions beat the Buckeyes in October.

Michigan State (5-6, 2-6), which began the season 4-0, finished it with six losses in seven games to post consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 1991-92.

Zemaitis’ second pick came in the third quarter, and he returned it 17 yards to the Michigan State four. Robinson threw a three-yard TD pass to Deon Butler moments later for a 24-7 third-quarter lead.

No. 6 Notre Dame 34, Syracuse 10

South Bend, Ind. – Brady Quinn threw two touchdown passes, and Leo Ferrine returned an interception for a touchdown, giving sixth-ranked Notre Dame a victory over Syracuse. Darius Walker, who rushed for 123 yards on 26 carries, added a three-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.

No. 7 Virginia Tech 52, Virginia 14

Charlottesville, Va. – Virginia Tech dominated archrival Virginia to keep alive its hopes of gaining a spot in the Bowl Championship Series. Two long weeks after getting beaten convincingly by No. 3 Miami, Cedric Humes ran for 113 yards and three touchdowns, and Marcus Vick threw for two more scores as the Hokies beat Virginia for the sixth time in the last seven meetings.

No. 11 Auburn 28, No. 8 Alabama 18

Auburn, Ala. – Unleashing a relentless pass rush, No. 11 Auburn upstaged one of the nation’s stingiest defenses to remain dominant in the Iron Bowl. Brandon Cox passed for two first-half touchdowns, and the Tigers sacked Alabama quarterback Brodie Croyle 11 times.

No. 9 Ohio State 25, No. 17 Michigan 21

Ann Arbor, Mich. – Ohio State overcame a slew of mistakes just in time to clinch at least a share of the Big Ten title. Antonio Pittman’s three-yard run with 24 seconds left capped an 88-yard drive and gave the ninth-ranked Buckeyes a victory over No. 17 Michigan.

Ohio State (9-2, 7-1) closed the regular season with six straight victories and gave coach Jim Tressel his fourth win in five games against Michigan (7-4, 5-3).

The Buckeyes rallied for the victory despite two turnovers and a shanked punt that led to scores, a missed extra point and field goal, mishandled punt returns and two pass-interference penalties in the end zone.

No. 10 Oregon 56, Oregon State 14

Eugene, Ore. – Freshman Jonathan Stewart had a pair of touchdowns, including a 97-yard kickoff return to open the second half, and 10th-ranked Oregon dominated rival Oregon State.

No. 14 Georgia 45, Kentucky 13

Athens, Ga. – D.J. Shockley threw four touchdown passes, Danny Ware scored on a 52-yard run, and Georgia wrapped up the SEC East with a rout of Kentucky.

Georgia squandered a pair of chances to wrap up the division title, losing to Florida and Auburn for only the second two-game losing streak since Mark Richt took over as coach in 2001. But the Bulldogs (8-2, 6-2) rarely lose to Kentucky, winning their ninth straight in the lopsided series.

Clemson 13, No. 19 South Carolina 9

Columbia, S.C. – James Davis rushed for 145 yards, and his two-yard touchdown run lifted Clemson to its eighth victory in the last nine tries against 19th-ranked South Carolina.

Trailing 9-6 and facing first-and-35 after two penalties, quarterback Charlie Whitehurst completed consecutive passes of nine yards to Davis, 14 yards to Chansi Stuckey and 28 yards to Curtis Baham to South Carolina’s 27. Davis took over from there. He burst through for a 23-yard gain and, two plays later, bulled into the end zone for the game’s only touchdown.

No. 23 Boston College 31, Maryland 16

College Park, Md. – Jolonn Dunbar scored on a 94-yard fumble return, and Ray Henderson took an interception 35 yards for a touchdown, leading Boston College.

Andre Callender had 121 yards rushing and a score for the Eagles, who never trailed in their regular-season finale. Both teams had four turnovers.

Alabama-Birmingham 35, No. 24 UTEP 23

El Paso, Texas – Darrell Hackney threw four touchdown passes to support teammate Sam Williamson’s midweek guarantee of a road victory, and Alabama-Birmingham beat No. 24 UTEP.