Mountaineers Outlast Bulldogs

West Virginia 38, Georgia 35

ATLANTA, Jan. 2 -- Enough with those jokes about the Big East. West Virginia clearly deserved its place in the Bowl Championship Series.

Steve Slaton rushed for a record 204 yards and three touchdowns to lead the No. 11 Mountaineers to a 38-35 victory over eighth-ranked Georgia, which couldn't take advantage of the home-field edge Monday night in the first Sugar Bowl ever played outside of New Orleans.

West Virginia (11-1) stunned all those red-clad fans at the Georgia Dome by jumping to a 28-0 lead by the opening minute of the second quarter. The Bulldogs (10-3) rallied, twice closing within a field goal in the second half, but they couldn't finish one of the greatest comebacks in bowl history.

Give most of the credit to Slaton, who wasn't even the Mountaineers' best freshman runner in fall camp and didn't crack the starting lineup until the sixth game of the season. Georgia certainly had no answer for the speedy back, who squirted through big holes and left defenders such as all-American safety Greg Blue in the dust on a pair of 52-yard touchdown runs.

Slaton eclipsed the previous Sugar Bowl rushing record, a 202-yard performance by Pitt's Tony Dorsett in a national championship-clinching victory over Georgia in 1977.

But the Mountaineers saved their biggest surprise for the end. Georgia was poised to get the ball back when West Virginia dropped back to punt on fourth and six at the Bulldogs 48. Phil Brady hauled in the long snap but took off running, gaining 10 yards on the fake and a game-clinching first down.

The last of Slaton's touchdowns gave the Mountaineers a seemingly comfortable 38-28 lead with 8 1/2 minutes to go. D.J. Shockley brought Georgia back with his third touchdown pass, a 34-yarder to Bryan McClendon with 5 minutes 33 seconds left, but never got his hands on the ball again.

The teams combined for 1,003 yards, much of it coming in a wild first half that ended with West Virginia holding a 31-21 lead.

The 72nd Sugar Bowl was shifted to Atlanta after Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans.

West Virginia was up 28-0 by the opening minute of the second quarter, with Slaton and Darius Reynaud scoring two touchdowns apiece.

But Georgia didn't fold. Kregg Lumpkin got the Bulldogs on the scoreboard with a 34-yard touchdown run, and Thomas Brown added a 52-yard scoring run.

West Virginia kept the big plays rolling when Owen Schmitt rumbled for 54 yards on a third-and-one play. But the Georgia defense finally arrived, stuffing Slaton for a three-yard loss on another short-yardage play at the 7 and forcing the Mountaineers to settle for Pat McAfee's 27-yard field goal.

Georgia reclaimed the momentum before halftime with an 11-play, 80-yard drive. The Bulldogs converted on fourth and one at their 42, then Shockley bailed them out on third and 10 by scrambling and delivering a 32-yard pass to Mario Raley.

Shockley followed with a 15-yard run, then hit Leonard Pope for a four-yard touchdown pass with 58 seconds left in the half.

With 62 points by halftime, the teams set both Sugar Bowl and BCS records for one half. Georgia piled up 311 yards and West Virginia had 200 of its 294 yards on the ground.

The only thing separating the teams was turnovers. Shockley and Danny Ware both fumbled the ball away, and the Mountaineers capitalized each time with touchdowns.

Late in the third quarter, Shockley tossed a 34-yard touchdown to A.J. Bryant, pulling the Bulldogs to 31-28. They never got any closer.

Shockley completed 20 of 33 passes for 277 yards and also rushed for 71 yards.

West Virginia finished with 382 yards rushing.