[Batpuff]

ATLANTA (AP) -- 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 Nokia 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-6 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 8½ minutes to go. D.J. Shockley brought Georgia back with his third touchdown pass, a 34-yarder to Bryan McClendon with 5:33 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.