Week 6 » AP Top 25 College Football Capsules

Two weeks after suffering a concussion, Tebow and the Gators’ swarming defense silenced the largest crowd in the history of Tiger Stadium with a 13-3 victory Saturday night.

The day began with Tebow’s status uncertain for what looked like the defending national champions’ toughest regular-season test.

By the time it was over, Tebow had thrown a touchdown pass and Brandon Spikes had a led Florida defense that sacked Jordan Jefferson five times.

Most of the record crowd of 93,129 fans who partied all day and roared like a jet engine after kickoff were heading for the exits with 2½ minutes left to play.

No. 2 Texas 38, Colorado 14

AUSTIN, Texas — Earl Thomas returned an interception 92 yards for a touchdown and Ben Wells recovered a blocked punt for another score to help Texas pull away from Colorado in the second half.

Jordan Shipley returned a punt for a touchdown in the fourth quarter for the Longhorns (5-0, 2-0 Big 12), who can now look ahead to next weekend’s showdown with No. 19 Oklahoma.

Colorado (1-4, 0-1) led 14-3 behind tough defense and two first-half touchdown passes by Cody Hawkins that quieted the home crowd and even drew some boos.

Shipley caught a 39-yard TD with 46 seconds left in the first half and Wells’ touchdown on the punt block by Marquise Goodwin put Texas up 17-14 in the third before Thomas’ interception return.

No. 3 Alabama 22, No. 20 Mississippi 3

OXFORD, Miss. — Mark Ingram rushed for 172 yards and a touchdown and No. 3 Alabama stuffed No. 20 Mississippi 22-3 on Saturday.

Jevan Snead threw four interceptions for Ole Miss (3-2, 1-2 SEC), tying a career high, and the Crimson Tide (6-0, 4-0) scored after a blocked punt and a fumble recovery on a punt return.

Leigh Tiffin hit five short field goals, passing his father Van Tiffin on the Crimson Tide career list for third place in career scoring.

Snead completed 11 of 34 passes for 140 yards. Twice Alabama defenders ripped the ball away from Ole Miss receivers who were bobbling it.

The Crimson Tide held the Rebels to 19 yards and one first down in the first half on the way to a 16-0 lead and allowed them past the 50 just four times overall.

No. 5 Virginia Tech 48, Boston College 14

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Tyrod Taylor, Ryan Williams and Virginia Tech’s swarming defense made sure the Hokies’ regular season losing streak against Boston College ended.

Taylor threw two early touchdown passes, and Williams ran for 159 yards and a TD.

The victory ended a three-game regular season skid by Virginia Tech (5-1, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) against Boston College (4-2, 2-2).

The Eagles’ 25-year-old freshman quarterback, David Shinskie, had said he welcomed the chance to play at sold-out Lane Stadium, but that didn’t last long. He was hit the second time he dropped back and finished the first half 0-for-9 with two interceptions and his team trailing 34-0.

At halftime, Virginia Tech had 293 yards, and the Eagles had 3.

No. 9 Ohio State 31, Wisconsin 13

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Kurt Coleman and Jermale Hines returned interceptions for touchdowns and Ray Small brought a kickoff back 96 yards, dealing the self-destructive Badgers their first loss of the season.

Coleman, playing his first game since a Big Ten-mandated suspension for a late hit, was the only person near Scott Tolzien’s pass in the first quarter and returned it 89 yards. After Wisconsin (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) made it 14-10 early in the third quarter, the Buckeyes (5-1, 3-0) padded their lead when Hines tipped a pass, pulled it in and followed a glut of blockers on a 32-yard return.

No. 10 TCU 20, Air Force 17

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — Andy Dalton and TCU slid their way through the icy mist, the freezing cold and the Air Force defense to keep their BCS hopes alive with a dicey win over the Falcons.

With temperatures in the teens and a frozen mist and drizzle falling, Dalton threw for 198 yards, receiver Jeremy Kerley had a rushing touchdown and a 52-yard kickoff return and the Horned Frogs (5-0, 1-0 Mountain West) finished with 393 yards, all but 22 of them in the first three quarters.

But TCU had to fight for four quarters for this win, in large thanks to three turnovers, including two after driving inside the Air Force 10.

No. 11 Miami 48, Florida A&M 16

MIAMI — Already trailing the Miami Hurricanes by three touchdowns, Florida A&M tried lining up on defense with 13 players.

That didn’t work either.

The referee threw a flag and sent two Rattlers to the sideline, and four plays later the Hurricanes scored another touchdown en route to a victory.

Jacory Harris led No. 11 Miami to 31 points playing only the first half, and the Hurricanes (4-1) made the most of the mismatch facing an unranked team for the first time this season. Florida A&M (4-1) lost to Miami for the seventh time in a row.

No. 12 Iowa 30, Michigan 28

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Ricky Stanzi threw for 284 yards and two touchdowns and Iowa survived yet another close call, beating Michigan for its best start since 1985.

Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez pulled quarterback Tate Forcier in the fourth quarter. Fellow freshman Denard Robinson led a touchdown drive capped by his own 3-yard run, and Michigan got the ball back with 1:30 left. But Robinson was intercepted by Brett Greenwood with 46 seconds left, keeping the Hawkeyes (6-0, 2-0), the only unbeaten team left in the Big Ten.

Michigan (4-2, 0-2) had a season-worst five turnovers. Forcier was 8 of 19 for 94 yards and an interception.

Michigan’s Donovan Warren ran back an interception for a touchdown in the game’s first minute and Brandon Minor scored twice for the Wolverines.

Tony Moeaki had two wide-open TD catches for Iowa.

No. 13 Oregon 24, UCLA 10

PASADENA, Calif. — Kenjon Barner returned the second-half kickoff for a 100-yard touchdown, and Talmadge Jackson returned an interception 32 yards for another score just 13 seconds later.

Jeff Maehl took a short reception 20 yards for the Ducks’ third touchdown in less than four minutes during a spectacular opening to the second half of their fifth straight win.

Oregon’s big plays on special teams and defense covered for an offense that was shut out in the first half, struggling without injured quarterback Jeremiah Masoli.

Nate Costa passed for just 82 yards in his first career start as the Ducks (5-1, 3-0 Pac-10) trailed 3-0 at halftime to the Bruins (3-2, 0-2), whose offense also flailed. Oregon stayed out of trouble late by running the ball on its final 19 plays.

No. 14 Penn State 52, Eastern Illinois 3

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Daryll Clark threw for three touchdowns and ran for another, Jared Odrick led a menacing defense with two sacks and linebacker Navorro Bowman returned a fumble 91 yards for a touchdown in the Nittany Lions’ most complete performance of the season against lower-division Eastern Illinois.

The game was well in hand in the first half, when Penn State (5-1) scored 28 points the final 7:27 of the second quarter. Clark threw his TDs on three straight drives, including a 51-yarder to Chaz Powell down the right seam, to give Penn State a 24-0 lead with 4:33 left in the half.

Later, Eastern Illinois (4-2) pieced together a nice drive deep into Penn State territory, but Ollie Ogbu sacked Jake Christensen and forced a fumble. The loose ball bounced into Bowman’s hands at the 9, and he rumbled untouched down the right sideline into the end zone — nearly slipping at the 25 — for a 38-0 lead at halftime.

No. 15 Oklahoma State 36, Texas A&M 31

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Zac Robinson threw two touchdown passes and Oklahoma State overcame the absence of its top two playmakers.

The Cowboys (4-1, 1-0 Big 12) played without All-America receiver Dez Bryant, who was ruled ineligible by the school this week for lying to the NCAA about contact he made with a former NFL player. Oklahoma State was also missing Kendall Hunter, the Big 12’s leading rusher in 2008, who sat out with an ankle injury.

Robinson completed 14 of 25 passes for 279 yards, Keith Toston ran for 130 yards and Beau Johnson ran for two scores as the Cowboys won at Kyle Field for only the second time since 1983.

Jerrod Johnson threw three touchdown passes for the Aggies (3-2, 0-1) and set a Big 12 record by extending his streak of consecutive passes without an interception to 228. But Johnson faced constant pressure and the Aggies, who came in with the nation’s second-ranked offense, were held to 382 yards.

No. 16 Kansas 41, Iowa State 36

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Todd Reesing threw for 442 yards and four touchdowns and Kerry Meier set two school receiving records in a game filled with big plays and missed extra points.

Iowa State’s Austen Arnaud, scrambling on fourth-and-9, had Darius Darks in the open in the end zone but overthrew him with a minute left and the Jayhawks (5-0, 1-0 in the Big 12) held on.

Reesing was 37 for 49 and tied his own school record for completions. The Jayhawks scored twice in the fourth quarter after the Cyclones (3-3, 0-2) took a 30-27 lead behind Arnaud and Alexander Robinson, who ran for 152 yards and two TDs. Arnaud passed for 293 yards and two scores.

Arkansas 44, No. 17 Auburn 23

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Michael Smith rushed for 145 yards and a touchdown, and Arkansas held off a late Auburn rally to hand the Tigers their first loss.

Arkansas jumped out to a 34-3 lead before Auburn (5-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) responded with a three-touchdown flurry toward the end of the third quarter. Dennis Johnson helped the Razorbacks (3-2, 1-2) regain momentum with a 70-yard kickoff return, and Arkansas shut out the Tigers in the fourth.

Ryan Mallett threw for 274 yards and two touchdowns for the Razorbacks. Ben Tate ran for 184 yards and two TDs for Auburn.

No. 19 Oklahoma 33, Baylor 7

NORMAN, Okla. — Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford threw for 389 yards and a touchdown in his return from a shoulder injury and Chris Brown had two short scoring runs.

Bradford broke former Heisman runner-up Josh Heupel’s school record with the 14th game of his career with at least 300 yards passing, and he could have had even bigger numbers if the Sooners’ receivers didn’t have trouble handling his passes.

Bradford had been out for a month with a sprained AC joint in his right, throwing shoulder and had hoped to return this week so he’d have a game under his belt before next week’s rivalry game against No. 2 Texas.

Brown’s touchdown runs of 1 and 4 yards in the second quarter put Oklahoma up 14-0 over Baylor (3-2, 0-1). But the Sooners (3-2, 1-0 Big 12) couldn’t get into the end zone on their first four trips inside the 20-yard line in the second half.

No. 25 South Carolina 28, Kentucky 26

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Stephen Garcia threw for three touchdowns and ran for another and South Carolina stopped a potential tying two-point conversion in the fourth quarter, keeping coach Steve Spurrier a perfect 17-0 against the Wildcats.

The Gamecocks (5-1, 2-1 SEC) won their 10th straight over Kentucky (2-3, 0-3).

Wildcats quarterback Mike Hartline left the game with a sprained left knee early in the third quarter after leading Kentucky to a 17-14 halftime lead.

Garcia had touchdown passes of 10, 28 and 22 yards to freshman Alshon Jeffery. Garcia added what proved to be the winning margin with his leap from the 1 with 8:22 remaining to give South Carolina a 28-20 lead.