ACC CHAMPIONSHIP

Seminoles return to top of conference

— Florida State has regained its perch atop the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Now Jimbo Fisher plans to stay there.

The third-year coach talked all season about re-establishing a “winning culture” at Florida State and his team took a big step toward that Saturday night.

The 13th-ranked Seminoles opened with a flurry on offense and rode a strong defensive performance the rest of the way to hold off unranked Georgia Tech 21-15 to capture its first Atlantic Coast Conference championship since 2005 and earn a trip to the Orange Bowl.

It was Florida State’s 13th ACC title.

“I think you got to understand, you have to win one before you can ever say, ‘I’m back,’ ” Fisher said. “And everybody wants you to win the national championship. You got to win a conference championship before you win the national championship and keep getting in that hunt.

“Now our kids understand what it takes, how hard it is. But you know they’re champions and I’m going to tell you it means something. You think different. You act different. You become different. Hopefully it will translate into the offseason with our young guys and we can keep that culture around here like it used to be.”

Although he had a rough outing Saturday night, quarterback EJ Manuel finishes up ACC play having brought a title back to what was once considered a prestigious program but one that had certainly fallen off in recent years.

“You know, I only see greatness from here on out,” Manuel said. “They got a lot of great players, a lot of great young players. Guys understand what it takes to get to this point, you know, so I don’t see us going back to where we used to be. You know, I think Florida State is back in the conversation.”

James Wilder Jr. ran for two touchdowns as the heavily favored Seminoles (11-2) built a 21-6 lead at the half and held on to win, easing some of the sting from last week’s 37-26 loss to their bitter rival, No. 4 Florida.

Georgia Tech came in as a two-touchdown underdog and it looked like they might get blown out, but the game wasn’t decided until defensive back Karlos Williams intercepted Yellow Jackets quarterback Tevin Washington with less than a minute remaining.

“Luckily it got tipped up in the air and I just tried to catch the ball,” Williams said of his first career interception.

“We knew the road was going to be hard anytime you win the championship,” Fisher said. “Our offense played a great first half and our defense played a great game overall.”

Despite its record, Georgia Tech (6-7) is bowl eligible after receiving a waiver from the NCAA on Thursday.

The Yellow Jackets earned the right to play in the ACC Championship Game after Miami, which tied for the same record in the Coastal Division, placed sanctions against themselves and elected not to participate in the game.

“Everybody has told them they’re not very good and they don’t belong and I think they wanted to show that they did, that they did belong,” Georgia Tech Coach Paul Johnson said of his team. “And, like I said, they came out and played their tail off. They played with some effort and some heart.”

Georgia Tech played without its leading rusher Orwin Smith, who sat out with an ankle injury. Smith came in averaging 9 yards per carry.

Prior to the game, a 22-year-old man fell off fourthfloor ramp leading to the upper level at Bank of America Stadium and was taken to an area hospital with what authorities called “life-threatening” injuries.

CONFERENCE USA

Tulsa wins in OT

TULSA, Okla. — Alex Singleton ran for 100 yards and plunged over the top for a 1-yard scoring run in overtime to lift Tulsa to a 33-27 victory over Central Florida on Saturday in the Conference USA championship game.

Tulsa won the Conference USA championship for the first time since 2005 and is off to the Liberty Bowl.

Singleton came up with just the second 100-yard game of his career, breaking the school record for touchdowns in the process. He also had a 7-yard score in the second quarter to break Tarrion Adams’ mark with his 40th overall touchdown and 39 on the ground.

After Cory Dorris blocked Shawn Moff itt’s 38-yard field-goal attempt on Central Florida’s possession to start overtime, Tulsa (10-3) kept the ball on the ground on five consecutive plays. Singleton was initially given a touchdown on second-and-goal, but officials ruled on replay that he was down inside the 1.

That was no problem for the burly back whose specialty is short yardage.

Central Florida quarterback Blake Bortles accounted for three touchdowns for Central Florida (9-4).

Sports, Pages 34 on 12/02/2012

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