MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia is making plans to head to a Florida bowl.

Jason Colson rushed for two touchdowns in his first career start Saturday to lead No. 24 West Virginia to a 45-28 win over Temple and a share of the Big East title.

They won’t be going to the Orange Bowl, which can count out the Mountaineers because they won’t finish high enough in the BCS rankings to get the Big East’s automatic bid. That will go to the winner of Saturday night’s game between No. 10 Miami and No. 20 Pittsburgh. Instead, a trip is imminent to the Gator Bowl on New Year’s Day. A bowl official told the Mountaineers after the game to get ready for an invitation this week.

For now, West Virginia (8-4, 6-1 Big East) is savoring its first league title since 1993, something the team considers more important than where it will play in a bowl.

“It’s an indescribable feeling. I was just running around hugging my teammates,” said West Virginia’s Lance Frazier, who returned a punt for a touchdown and set up another score with an interception.

West Virginia has a seven-game winning streak, its longest since the 1996 season, when it also went to the Gator Bowl. “When I first got this job I had no idea what it took to be Big East champs, but through a lot of hard work we’ve achieved one of our goals,” said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez, who earned a $75,000 bonus for the league title.

West Virginia hopes to have a better offensive showing on New Year’s Day. For much of Saturday, the Mountaineers struggled against Temple (1-11, 0-7), which got 117 yards rushing and four scores from quarterback Walter Washington.

West Virginia was outgained 347-299 in 31-degree weather without its biggest weapon.

Quincy Wilson, the nation’s 11th-leading rusher, sat out the game with a sore right ankle. His backup, Kay-Jay Harris, has a broken finger on his left hand and played sparingly but still had a 46-yard scoring run with time winding down.

Standout play on defense and special teams gave the Mountaineers an early double-digit lead it never relinquished.

On Temple’s second offensive series, Makonnen Fenton fumbled and West Virginia’s Adam Jones returned it 47 yards for a touchdown.

Frazier took a punt 64 yards for a score two minutes later, then intercepted Washington on Temple’s next series to set up a short scoring drive, capped by the first of Colson’s 2-yard TD runs for a 21-0 lead.

Colson, a redshirt freshman, finished with 104 yards on 28 carries in his most extensive playing time this season.

“I have to prepare myself for any situation the coaches put me in,” Colson said. “I had a couple of good games before today and I think it carried over.”

He helped make up for a lackluster performance by Rasheed Marshall.

Marshall was just 7-of-17 for 91 yards, including a 42-yard TD toss to Chris Henry in the third quarter for a 35-14 lead. But Marshall threw an interception and his second-quarter fumble set up an 8-yard TD run by Washington.

Washington, a midseason replacement for the injured Mike McGann, led Temple in rushing for the fifth straight game.

“I’m not going to lie. The weather played a big factor for me today,” said Washington, a transfer from Dodge City (Kan.) Community College. “I adapted by the second half, but I haven’t played a game in that cold of weather in years.”

AP-ES-11-29-03 1821EST