Miami fires coach Al Golden after his team's worst game in history

Miami fired coach Al Golden on Sunday, midway through his fifth season and one day after the Hurricanes endured the worst loss in the program's 90-year history.

Golden went 32-25 with the Hurricanes and 17-18 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, his entire stint marred by an NCAA investigation and subsequent fallout caused by issues from before he arrived in Coral Gables. His last game with Miami was a 58-0 loss to then-No. 6 Clemson.

When Miami (4-3, 1-2 ACC) plays at Duke on Saturday night, Larry Scott will serve as Miami's interim head coach.

Golden, who did not return a call seeking comment, is 59-59 in parts of 10 seasons as a head coach. He helped revitalize Temple's program in his first opportunity as a head coach, then replaced Randy Shannon at Miami. The Hurricanes climbed to No. 7 in the AP Top 25 for a stretch in 2013 but have not finished a season in the national rankings since the 2009 season.

Golden was hired in December 2010. Before he coached a single game with the Hurricanes, Miami was hit with an NCAA investigation sparked by the actions of a former booster who was associated with the school long before Golden's arrival.

Miami is still dealing with the effects of that scandal. This year's team had 80 scholarship players, five fewer than the maximum allowed.

Golden talked after Saturday's loss about the season not being lost. "We have to move on," he said.

Utah dropped from the ranks of the unbeaten, and so did Florida State, and both dropped in the Associated Press Top 25 released Sunday.

Utah had been gaining on top-ranked Ohio State, receiving 16 first-place votes last week while moving up to No. 3, its highest regular-season ranking. But Utah was no match for unranked Southern California, losing 42-24 late Saturday and falling to No. 13.

Florida State didn't last long in the top 10, falling eight spots to No. 17 after losing to Georgia Tech 22-16 when a blocked field goal was returned 78 yards for a touchdown on the game's final play.

Ohio State (8-0) strengthened its season-long hold on the top spot, adding 11 first-place votes. Baylor (7-0) remained at No. 2, and Clemson (7-0) climbed three spots to No. 3.

Stanford, which beat Washington 31-14 late Saturday night, moved up two spots to No. 8.

It came a day after the Knights dropped to 0-8 with a 59-10 loss to Houston. Quarterbacks coach Danny Barrett was made interim coach.

O'Leary, 69, leaves UCF with an 81-68 record. He went 0-11 in his first season at UCF in 2004, after two seasons with the Vikings, the second as defensive coordinator. He took the Knights to their first bowl appearance in 2005.

• Baylor quarterback Seth Russell will see a specialist early this week about a fractured bone in his neck and to consider a timetable for his return.