No. 1 Oregon 15, California 13
BERKELEY, Calif. — Jeff Maehl caught a 29-yard pass for the only touchdown by No. 1 Oregon’s usually high-powered offense, but the Ducks’ defense shut down California in a 15-13 victory over the Golden Bears on Saturday night.
Cliff Harris returned a punt 64 yards for the only touchdown in the first half by the Ducks (10-0, 7-0 Pac-10), who wobbled on their path to the BCS title game.
Darron Thomas passed for 155 yards, but led a final drive that chewed up the last 9:32 after a stellar defensive effort by the Bears, who held the nation’s most potent offense to a season-low 317 yards.
Derrick Hill forced a fumble and recovered it in the end zone for the Bears (5-5, 3-4), who lost in Strawberry Canyon for the first time all season — but only after putting a mighty scare into their first top-ranked opponent in five years.
Giorgio Tavecchio missed a 29-yard field goal in the fourth quarter for Cal.
No. 2 Auburn 49, Georgia 31
AUBURN, Ala. — Cam Newton responded to allegations of wrongdoing with another brilliant performance Saturday, passing for two touchdowns and running for two more to lead No. 2 Auburn into the Southeastern Conference championship game with a 49-31 victory over Georgia.
The Tigers (11-0, 7-0 SEC) will face either Florida or South Carolina for the conference title Dec. 4 in Atlanta, and have their eyes on a national championship.
Newton carried 30 times for 151 yards and completed 12 of 15 passes for 148 yards. He finished off the Bulldogs in the fourth quarter with a touchdown pass that made it 42-31, then dove over for the final score.
Georgia (5-6, 3-5) had won four straight in the Deep South’s oldest rivalry and jumped ahead 21-7. But the Bulldogs couldn’t hold on, despite A.J. Green’s nine receptions for 160 yards.
No. 3 TCU 40, San Diego State 35
FORT WORTH, Texas — Andy Dalton threw three touchdown passes to Jeremy Kerley as third-ranked TCU rallied from an early two-touchdown deficit, then held on for a 40-35 victory over San Diego State on Saturday.
The Horned Frogs (11-0, 7-0 Mountain West) won their 20th consecutive home game and clinched at least a share of the conference title. They kept alive their chance to reach the BCS national championship game, but it’ll be interesting to see how poll voters react to the Horned Frogs’ closest game of the season.
San Diego State (7-3, 4-2) led 14-0 less than 6 minutes into the game.
But TCU then scored touchdowns on five of its last six drives before halftime, including TD passes of 38, 9 and 4 yards to Kerley, for a 34-14 lead. The Aztecs didn’t have a first down in that stretch, but three TDs in the final 16 minutes of the game made it close.
No. 4 Boise State 52, Idaho 14 (Friday)
MOSCOW, Idaho — Kellen Moore holds a soft spot for Idaho because the Vandals were the only other Football Bowl Subdivision team to offer the Boise State star a scholarship.
That doesn’t mean he, or his fourth-ranked Broncos, gave the Vandals any breaks on Friday night.
Moore threw two touchdown passes in the first half, Chris Potter broke three tackles on his way to a 76-yard punt return for a score the first time Boise State touched the ball, and the Broncos routed rival Idaho 52-14.
Boise State coach Chris Petersen always preaches fast starts. But this was a blitz that impressed even him and kept the nation’s longest win streak going at 23 games.
The future between the Vandals (4-6, 1-4 WAC) and Broncos (9-0, 5-0) is in doubt because of the Broncos’ pending move to the Mountain West Conference and their desire not to make the trip every other year to Moscow. Boise State president Bob Kustra, who did not attend Friday’s game, only fueled the disconnect between the schools by calling the culture in Moscow “nasty” and “inebriated” last summer.
No. 5 LSU 51, Louisiana-Monroe 0
BATON ROUGE, La. — Ron Brooks returned an interception for a score, Lavar Edwards brought back a fumble for another, and LSU’s defense dominated throughout the fifth-ranked Tigers’ 51-0 blowout of Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday night.
It was an anticlimactic victory for the Tigers (9-1), who were eliminated from contention in the SEC’s Western Division with Auburn’s victory over Georgia. LSU still can finish its regular season 11-1 and earn an at-large bid to a BCS bowl.
LSU’s defense produced five turnovers in all, leading to 31 points, and LSU built a 44-0 lead by the third quarter.
Stevan Ridley rushed for two touchdowns, the first set up by Patrick Peterson’s 85-yard interception return.
No. 6 Wisconsin 83, Indiana 20
MADISON, Wis. — Montee Ball ran for three touchdowns in his first career start, replacing injured running back John Clay, and Scott Tolzien threw for three more as No. 6 Wisconsin routed Indiana 83-20 on Saturday.
Wisconsin (9-1, 5-1) put up the most points by an FBS school this season and matched the highest scoring total by a team in a Big Ten conference game since Ohio State’s 83-21 victory over Iowa in 1950.
Ball ran for 167 yards and freshman James White added 144 yards and two scores in place of Clay, who missed the first game of his career after spraining his right knee in last Saturday’s win at Purdue.
Indiana (4-6, 0-6) kept it close for a quarter, but quarterback Ben Chappell left late in the first half favoring his left knee and hip.
No. 7 Stanford 17, Arizona State 13
TEMPE, Ariz. — Andrew Luck threw for 292 yards and engineered a long fourth-quarter scoring drive to set up Owen Marecic’s second 1-yard touchdown dive, lifting No. 7 Stanford to a defensive-dominated 17-13 win over Arizona State Saturday night.
Stanford (9-1, 6-1 Pac-10) labored against Arizona State’s gang-tackling most of the night before moving 85 yards in 10 plays to set up Marecic’s bulldozing TD run with just over 5 minutes left.
The Cardinal made up for their offensive struggles with hard-nosed defense, holding the Sun Devils (4-6, 2-5) to 268 total yards to win in Tempe for the first time since 1999.
Arizona State played another good team tough, again failing to come up with big plays down the stretch.
No. 8 Ohio State 38, Penn State 14
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Devon Torrence tipped and snagged an interception and returned it 34 yards for the go-ahead touchdown to turn the tide in No. 8 Ohio State’s 38-14 win over Penn State on Saturday.
The Buckeyes added scores when a long pass into double coverage ricocheted off a defender to Dane Sanzenbacher for a 58-yard score and Travis Howard picked off a pass and brought it back 30 yards, also in the fourth quarter.
The two defensive scores were nothing new in the series. Penn State (6-4, 3-3 Big Ten) has had six interceptions returned for TDs in the last seven meetings.
The victory sends the Buckeyes (9-1, 5-1) into a critical showdown at Iowa next week tied for first place with Michigan State and Wisconsin.
No. 9 Nebraska 20, Kansas 3
LINCOLN, Neb. — Rex Burkhead and Roy Helu Jr. ran for touchdowns and ninth-ranked Nebraska’s defense held Kansas to 87 total yards in a 20-3 victory on Saturday night.
Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez was limited by design after missing all but one play of last week’s game at Iowa State with a right ankle sprain. He clearly wasn’t at his best, but he showed glimpses of his dynamic running ability, gaining 71 yards on 11 carries.
Martinez was 14 of 26 passing for 167 yards, with one interception.
Helu had 85 yards and Burkhead 77 yards.
The Jayhawks, who gained 453 yards and rallied from a 28-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Colorado last week, generated five first downs and had nine drives that lasted four plays or less.
Nebraska led 17-0 at half after Burkhead scored from 4 yards and Helu from 20.
Kansas’ only points came on Jacob Branstetter’s 42-yard field goal after Martinez fumbled.
No. 10 Michigan State – bye week
No. 11 Alabama 30, No. 17 Mississippi State 10
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Greg McElroy passed for 227 yards, including a 78-yard touchdown to Mark Ingram, and No. 11 Alabama rolled to a 30-10 win over No. 17 Mississippi State on Saturday night.
The Crimson Tide (8-2, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) showed it can still dominate even the improved version of the Bulldogs (7-3, 3-3) after its title hopes evaporated.
The Tide used big plays to punch up the offense after the Bulldogs kept Ingram and the short-handed running game from producing much. Instead, Alabama had scores of 45, 78 and 56 yards on three consecutive offensive plays starting in the second quarter to run away with it.
It didn’t matter that the game kicked off around the time rival Auburn was clinching the SEC West championship with a win over Georgia, ending Alabama’s two-year run on top.
No. 12 Oklahoma State 33, Texas 16
AUSTIN, Texas — Brandon Weeden passed for 409 yards and Kendall Hunter had two rushing touchdowns as No. 12 Oklahoma State ended a 12-year losing streak to Texas with a 33-16 victory Saturday night.
The win keeps surging Oklahoma State (9-1, 5-1) in first place in the Big 12 South with two games to play. The Cowboys have never won the division.
Hunter ran for 116 yards. Justin Blackmon had 145 yards receiving for the Cowboys, including a 67-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter, his 16th of the season, the most in the nation.
The loss is just the latest home defeat for the reeling Longhorns (4-6, 2-5) who have lost six of their last seven games — four straight at home — just one season after playing for the national championship.
Texas must win its last two games to avoid its first losing season since 1997 and qualify for a bowl game.
No. 13 Iowa 21, Northwestern 17
EVANSTON, Ill. — Dan Persa threw for 318 yards and two late touchdowns before being helped off the field, and Northwestern handed No. 13 Iowa another devastating loss, beating the Hawkeyes 21-17 on Saturday.
Iowa (7-3, 4-2 Big Ten) can just about forget about a BCS berth. Its game against Ohio State next week just lost much of its luster, and once again, Northwestern (7-3, 3-3) spoiled the Hawkeyes’ season, beating Iowa for the fifth time in six games.
Northwestern was trailing 17-7 after Ricky Stanzi threw for two touchdowns early in the third, but an interception near the goal line by Brian Peters got the comeback started.
Persa led the Wildcats on an 85-yard TD drive, completing 7 of 8 passes and capping it with a 6-yard pass to Jeremy Ebert that made it a three-point game with 6:21 remaining. Iowa then punted and the Wildcats struck again.
A scrambling Persa capped a 91-yard drive with a perfect pass to Arby Fields, who beat Micah Hyde in the left corner of the end zone for a 20-yard TD. That made it 21-17 with 1:22 left, but while the Wildcats were celebrating, Persa was on the ground clutching his right calf even though he wasn’t hit on the play.
Iowa had one more chance, reaching the Northwestern 39 with 26 seconds left after Ricky Stanzi hit Marvin McNutt with a 23-yard pass on fourth-and-15. Vince Brown sacked Stanzi for a 7-yard loss on second down, and after an incompletion, Peters and Hunter Bates broke up a Hail Mary in the end zone.
No. 14 Arkansas 58, UTEP 21
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Ryan Mallett threw for a school-record five touchdowns and ran for another as Arkansas defeated Texas-El Paso 58-21 on Saturday.
Knile Davis added a career-best 182 yards rushing on just 11 carries for the No. 14 Razorbacks (8-2, 4-2 Southeastern Conference), including a 70-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Arkansas ran for a season-best 321 yards in the win.
In what could be his final home game at Razorback Stadium, Mallett tied the school record for touchdown passes for the fourth time in his career. The junior has now set or tied 35 school or stadium records at Arkansas in less than two full seasons at the school.
The Miners (6-5, 3-4 Conference USA) took a 14-7 lead early in the first quarter after Marlon McClure’s 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The Razorbacks then took control, scoring 45 unanswered to take a 52-14 lead.
Notre Dame 28, No. 15 Utah 3
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Freshman Tommy Rees threw three touchdown passes in his first collegiate start and Notre Dame used two Utah special teams mistakes Saturday to rout the slumping, 15th-ranked Utes 28-3.
Returning from a week off, Notre Dame (5-5) played like a fresh team and moved within one win of becoming eligible for a bowl. Utah (8-2), meanwhile, looked like a team still reeling from its 47-7 loss to TCU a week earlier.
The victory was Notre Dame’s first over a team ranked in the AP top 25 since 2006, when the Irish defeated Penn State.
Robert Blanton blocked a Utah punt, picked up the ball and ran in for a TD late in the opening period. And a fumble on the second-half kickoff by star Utah returner Shaky Smithson was quickly turned into the first of two Rees-to-Duval Kamara TD passes.
Rees, who replaced injured starter Dayne Crist during a loss to Tulsa two weeks ago, got better as the game progressed and finished 13 of 20 for 129 yards.
Notre Dame’s maligned defense bottled up Utah — which came in averaging 41 points per game — and stopped the Utes from scoring in the second half after they reached the 6 and 12 on separate drives.
Utah quarterback Jordan Wynn completed 24 of 39 for 195 yards and was shaken up with just more than five minutes left after taking a hard hit after delivering a pass. He returned to the game two plays later.
No. 16 Virginia Tech 26, North Carolina 10
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Tyrod Taylor hit Marcus Davis with a pair of third-quarter touchdown passes to help No. 16 Virginia Tech beat North Carolina 26-10 on Saturday.
Taylor threw for 249 yards while the defense locked down the Tar Heels after halftime, helping the Hokies (8-2, 6-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) improve to 4-0 in Chapel Hill since joining the league in 2004.
Virginia Tech entered Saturday with a chance to wrap up the ACC’s Coastal Division title for the fourth time in six seasons, but Miami’s easy win at Georgia Tech earlier in the day delayed the Hokies’ coronation. Virginia Tech travels to Miami next weekend and needs to win one of its final two games to wrap up a berth in the league championship game in Charlotte on Dec. 4.
As for the Tar Heels (6-4, 3-3), their slim chances of winning the division evaporated in a mash of miscues and missed chances.
Southern Cal 24, No. 18 Arizona 21
TUCSON, Ariz. — Marc Tyler ran for a career-high 160 yards and Southern California climbed into a tie with Arizona for third in the Pac-10 with a 24-21 victory over the 18th-ranked Wildcats on Saturday night.
Matt Barkley passed for one touchdown and sneaked for another as the Trojans (7-3, 4-3 Pac-10) jumped ahead 14-0 and never relinquished the lead.
The Wildcats’ Nick Foles threw for 353 yards and three touchdowns, the last an 11-yarder to David Douglas with 1:01 to play. But USC recovered the subsequent onside kick to preserve the victory.
Arizona (7-3, 4-3) lost its second in a row. The Wildcats were blown out at Stanford 42-17 last weekend.
No. 19 Oklahoma 45, Texas Tech 7
NORMAN, Okla. — Ryan Broyles caught three of Landry Jones’ five touchdown passes and broke a few more Oklahoma records, leading the 19th-ranked Sooners to a 45-7 victory against Texas Tech on Saturday.
Broyles caught eight passes for 119 yards and broke Mark Clayton’s career records for receptions and touchdown catches at Oklahoma (8-2, 4-2 Big 12). He also eclipsed his own mark for catches in a season and now holds almost every significant receiving record at the school.
Broyles tumbled backward into the end zone after an acrobatic 29-yard catch in the second quarter and later added an 18-yard touchdown catch and a leaping 8-yard TD grab on a fade route.
Texas Tech (5-5, 3-5) scored on Detron Lewis’ touchdown pass to fellow receiver Darrin Moore out of the wildcat formation but then gave up 38 unanswered points.
No. 20 Missouri 38, Kansas State 28
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Blaine Gabbert accounted for three touchdown in a strong bounceback effort and No. 20 Missouri made just as many big plays on defense in a 38-28 victory over error-prone Kansas State in its home finale Saturday.
The Tigers (8-2, 4-2 Big 12) capitalized on three fumble recoveries, two of them huge swing plays, and scored 17 straight points to put away the Wildcats (6-3, 3-4).
Missouri finished 6-0 at home, beat Kansas State for the fifth straight time and won for the sixth straight time in the Tigers’ home finale, recovering from consecutive losses to Nebraska and Texas Tech that derailed a 7-0 start.
Kansas State had four turnovers, one of them wasting an opportunity to tie it in the final minute of the half when quarterback Carson Coffman fumbled the center snap at the Missouri 1.
No. 21 Nevada 35, Fresno State 34
FRESNO, Calif. — Colin Kaepernick set a school record with his 55th career rushing TD, and Vai Taua’s third score of the night gave No. 21 Nevada a 35-34 win over Fresno State on Saturday night.
Kaepernick ran for 152 yards and two touchdowns, but Taua’s 24-yard scamper up the middle with 4:51 remaining gave the Wolf Pack (9-1, 4-1 WAC) its first lead since midway through the third quarter.
Robbie Rouse rushed for 217 yards and scored three touchdowns for Fresno State (6-3, 4-2) in a game with six lead changes.
The Bulldogs drove to midfield before turning the ball over on downs with 1:26 left.
No. 22 South Carolina 36, No. 24 Florida 14
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Ol’ Ball Coach notched a huge win at his ol’ stomping grounds.
After years of being the top Gator, Steve Spurrier led South Carolina to its most significant victory in the stadium he nicknamed The Swamp.
Marcus Lattimore ran 40 times for a career-high 212 yards and three touchdowns, Stephen Garcia played turnover-free and the 22nd-ranked Gamecocks upset No. 24 Florida 36-14 Saturday night to clinch the Southeastern Conference’s Eastern Division for the first time in school history.
The Gamecocks won for the second time in 19 tries against Florida, snapped an 0-for-12 streak in Gainesville and earned a spot in the league title game. South Carolina (7-3, 5-3 SEC) will play second-ranked Auburn on Dec. 4, with the winner advancing to the Bowl Championship Series.
The Gators (6-4, 4-4) lost to a division opponent for the first time in 17 games.
No. 23 Texas 42, Baylor 30
WACO, Texas — Cyrus Gray ran for 137 yards and scored three of his career-high four touchdowns in the second half as No. 23 Texas A&M rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit for a 42-30 win over Baylor on Saturday night.
The win is Texas A&M’s fourth straight victory and the seventh win of the season, surpassing last year’s six-win finish.
The Aggies (7-3, 4-2 Big 12) trailed 30-21 at halftime before Gray scored on runs of 13 and 10 yards in the third quarter to give Texas A&M its first lead at 35-30. Baylor (7-4, 4-3) had been up 30-14 midway through the second quarter after Jay Finley’s third touchdown.
Gray’s fourth score came on a 1-yard run with about 6 minutes remaining that was set up when Baylor turned the ball over on downs. His first score came in the second quarter.
The Bears were foiled by problems in the kicking game. Aaron Jones missed field-goal attempts from 27 and 39 yards in the second half, had a third one blocked just before halftime and missed an extra point.
Southern Miss 31, No. 25 UCF 21
ORLANDO, Fla. — Austin Davis threw for 264 yards and four touchdowns Saturday, helping Southern Mississippi rally to ruin No. 25 Central Florida’s first national ranking with a 31-21 victory that also keeps the Eagles in the race for Conference USA’s East Division title.
Davis overcame an early two-touchdown deficit with scoring passes of 5 yards to Johdrick Morris and 23 yards to Kelvin Bolden that put Southern Miss (7-3, 4-2) up 17-14 at halftime. Bolden’s second TD reception broke the game open early in the fourth quarter.
Freshman Jeff Godfrey threw for 190 yards and two TDs for UCF (7-3, 5-1), which had averaged 41.4 points during a five-game winning streak that vaulted the Knights into the Top 25 for the first time in the school’s 31-year football history.
