Disaster struck for the first time in tourney play, although it seems to pertain to just two men known in certain circles as "The Puppet Masters" and the true nature of this catastrophe is known only to them. Rampant speculation surmises that the issue revolved around gambling. We will probably never know what really happened.
USC 31 West Virginia 17. For most of the first half, it looked like West Virginia was on its way to another surprise victory. The Mountaineers led 17-10 and were driving in for another score when star tailback Steve Slaton fumbled the ball through the back of the end zone for a touchback. USC promptly scored at the end of the half to tie the score before taking over in the second to run away with the game. John David Booty had his best game of the tournament going 16-for-22 with 377 yards and three touchdowns and wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett dominated the smaller WVU defenders to the tune of 236 yards receiving and three touchdowns. USC's star freshman back C.J. Gable was finally hemmed in (12 carries for 24 yards) but he still managed to find the end zone for the third straight game. Slaton carried 16 times for 152 yards and two scores in a losing effort, but still wore the goat horns for West Virginia thanks to his costly fumble. Mountaineers head coach Rich Rodriguez was heard after the game mumbling about "letting down the whole tournament." When a sympathetic Pat Forde of ESPN heard this and told Rodriguez not to be so hard on himself, the WVU coach exploded with a profanity-laced tirade, saying that "Nobody understands! We've ruined everything the Master has worked so hard for. Now Virginia Tech has to upset Oklahoma to maintain order!" Not one person at the press conference could make sense of any of this.
Oklahoma 24 Virginia Tech 16. The Hokies defense came in feeling very confident in its ability to stop any offense and any quarterback after demolishing Brady Quinn in the previous round. But Rhett Bomar had other ideas. The troubled Sooner quarterback struck early and often (14-of-19 for 195 yards and three touchdowns) before turning things over to Adrian Peterson, who had his best game of the tournament with 191 total yards and two scores. The game wasn't even as close as the score made it seem and the result had Rich Rodriguez in tears. People are now suspecting that Rodriguez is in debt to a gambling kingpin or perhaps in love with Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer.
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