No. 1 Florida 24, South Carolina 14
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Tim Tebow tied the Southeastern Conference touchdown record and No. 1 Florida gained its first perfect league season in 13 years with a 24-14 victory over South Carolina on Saturday.
The Gators (10-0, 8-0) remained on track for a third national title in four years. They again called on their SEC-leading defense to save things against former coach Steve Spurrier.
Down 17-14, South Carolina (6-5, 3-5) drove 48 yards to the Florida 22. But defensive lineman Justin Trattou intercepted Stephen Garcia and brought it back 53 yards. Tebow cashed in the touchdown four plays later, a 1-yard burst that was the 53rd of his SEC career to match LSU great Kevin Faulk.
Florida hadn’t gone undefeated in the SEC regular season since Spurrier’s 1996 national champions.
Tebow ended 14 of 25 for 199 yards passing, including a 68-yard touchdown throw to Riley Cooper.
No. 2 Texas 47, Baylor 14
WACO, Texas — Colt McCoy tied the NCAA record for career victories by a starting quarterback, throwing two touchdown passes to help No. 2 Texas beat Baylor 47-14 Saturday.
McCoy is 42-7 in his career, tying the wins record set by former Georgia quarterback David Greene.
Texas led 40-0 by halftime with McCoy throwing touchdown passes of 3 and 7 yards to Jordan Shipley. Cody Johnson ran for 109 yards and two short touchdowns and Tre’ Newton added a 45-yard scoring run.
Texas (10-0, 6-0 Big 12) reached 10 wins for the ninth straight season, second only to Florida State’s run of 14 consecutive 10-win seasons from 1987-2000.
Baylor (4-6, 1-5) absorbed its fifth loss in six games.
McCoy left the game midway through the third quarter with 181 yards on 23 of 34 passing.
Freshman quarterback Nick Florence, who set a Baylor record with 427 yards last week, finished with 240 yards passing and three interceptions.
No. 3 Alabama 31, Mississippi State 3
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Mark Ingram rushed for 149 yards and two touchdowns, Greg McElroy threw two long scoring passes and Alabama improved to 10-0 for the second straight year.
Mark Barron made his fifth and six interceptions of the season, most in the Southeastern Conference, and helped the Crimson Tide (7-0 SEC) smother the Bulldogs (4-6, 2-4).
Ingram had a workmanlike night until midway through the fourth quarter when he ripped off a 70-yard scoring run untouched. That one-play drive came after McElroy hit Julio Jones with a 48-yard touchdown pass on the previous drive, which also went for one play.
No. 4 TCU 55, No. 16 Utah 28
FORT WORTH, Texas — In likely its last significant hurdle to an undefeated regular season, TCU scored three touchdowns in a 2½-minute span early in the second quarter and went on to rout Utah.
The Horned Frogs (10-0, 6-0 Mountain West) stretched their winning streak to 12 games since a last-minute loss last November at Utah (8-2, 5-1) in front of a record crowd of 50,307.
Matthew Tucker had the first and last touchdowns (runs of 41 and 9 yards) for TCU, with five teammates getting into the end zone in between. The 55 points were the most allowed by Utah since 1996.
The Frogs are fourth in the BCS standings, the highest a team from a conference without an automatic bid has reached. They trail only Florida, Alabama and Texas — all winners Saturday.
Ed Wesley ran for 137 yards and a touchdown and Andy Dalton threw for 207 yards and a score. TCU had 549 yards overall, its third straight game with at least 500.
No. 6 Boise St. 63, Idaho 25
BOISE, Idaho — Kellen Moore threw four touchdown passes to Austin Pettis and tied a career high with five overall, leading Boise State to the victory.
Titus Young had a 100-yard kickoff return that was actually longer and Kyle Wilson returned an interception 71 yards for another score for the big-play Broncos (10-0, 5-0 WAC), who beat their rivals for the 11th consecutive time.
Moore, the nation’s passing efficiency leader with 32 touchdowns and just three interceptions, passed Steve Young for 19th place on the Western Athletic Conference’s list for career touchdown passes. His 57th in two seasons was to Pettis early in the fourth quarter.
Idaho (7-4, 4-3) committed seven turnovers, six by fill-in quarterback Brian Reader.
No. 7 Georgia Tech 49, Duke 10
DURHAM, N.C. — Jonathan Dwyer rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns, Josh Nesbitt accounted for three scores and Georgia Tech clinched a spot in the ACC championship game.
Orwin Smith returned a kickoff 83 yards to spark the slow-starting Yellow Jackets (10-1, 7-1). Their offense took over after that, scoring touchdowns on five of the following six possessions, rushing for 306 yards and shutting out the Blue Devils in the final three quarters.
Nesbitt was 6 for 10 for 195 yards with touchdown passes covering 32 yards to Stephen Hill and 75 yards to Demaryius Thomas, and had a 2-yard touchdown run.
The Blue Devils (5-5, 3-3) had minus-1 yard rushing through three quarters and finished with 25.
No. 8 Pittsburgh 27, Notre Dame 22
PITTSBURGH — Jonathan Baldwin made two exceptional catches that allowed No. 8 Pittsburgh to open up an 18-point lead and the Panthers held on for a victory that may raise more cries for Fighting Irish coach Charlie Weis’ ouster.
Notre Dame (6-4) trailed 27-9 with 12:44 remaining after Dion Lewis’ 50-yard touchdown run, then came back behind two touchdowns by Golden Tate.
But Pitt’s pass rush caused Jimmy Clausen to fumble away Notre Dame’s last chance with just over two minutes remaining.
The Irish lost their eighth consecutive game to a Top 10 team — the longest streak in school history. Weis is 1-10 against ranked teams since 2006, and has the same record (35-25) as former coach Bob Davie and the same winning percentage (.583) as former coach Tyrone Willingham, both of whom were fired.
Pitt is 9-1 for the first time since 1982.
No. 9 LSU 24, Louisiana Tech 16
BATON ROUGE, La. — Keiland Williams ran for 116 yards and two second-half touchdowns, helping fend off upset-minded Louisiana Tech.
Williams’ first score, on a powerful 3-yard run that moved the pile, gave LSU (8-2) a 17-13 lead midway through third quarter. His 9-yard TD in the fourth quarter made it a two-score game with a little over seven minutes to go.
Louisiana Tech (3-7) hasn’t beaten LSU since 1904, but led 13-10 at halftime after running back Daniel Porter took a direct snap on a fourth-down play and lobbed a 1-yard jump pass to tight end Dennis Morris as time expired in the second quarter.
LSU quarterback Jarrett Lee started for the hobbled Jordan Jefferson.
No. 10 Ohio St. 27, No. 15 Iowa 24, OT
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Backup Devin Barclay kicked a 39-yard field goal in overtime to send Ohio State to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 13 years.
The Buckeyes (9-2, 6-1) clinched at least a share of their fifth consecutive Big Ten title and the conference’s automatic BCS bid.
Iowa (9-2, 5-2), which overcame a 24-10 deficit with just over 11 minutes left, lost its second in a row. Redshirt freshman quarterback James Vandenberg was solid for the Hawkeyes in his first college start. But filling in for the injured Ricky Stanzi, Vandenberg was intercepted three times, the final time to end Iowa’s only possession in overtime.
Brandon Saine rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns and Dan Herron added another score for the Buckeyes.
No. 25 Stanford 55, No. 11 USC 21
LOS ANGELES — Toby Gerhart rushed for 178 yards and three touchdowns and Stanford emphatically followed up its 2007 upset at the Coliseum with the most points ever allowed by the Trojans.
The loss was the Trojans’ worst since a 51-0 defeat at home against Notre Dame in 1966 and essentially ended USC’s seven-year run as Pac-10 champions.
Andrew Luck threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score for the Cardinal (7-3, 6-2), who followed up their surprising rout of Oregon last week with a strong start and a big finish at the Coliseum, where the Trojans (7-3, 4-3) haven’t lost to any other opponent since 2001, going 47-2.
Stanford’s 24-23 victory as a 41-point underdog in 2007 was a major shocker, yet this win barely even qualified as an upset — which might be the most incredible thing of all about the Trojans’ downward slide.
North Carolina 33, No. 12 Miami 24
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Kendric Burney returned one of his three interceptions for a 77-yard touchdown and his third pick resulted in a bizarre fourth-quarter score that helped North Carolina get the win.
Burney fumbled his third interception on what looked to be a forward pass, but Melvin Williams picked up the loose ball and ran the last 44 yards for a score. The touchdown held up on review after replays showed the ball slipping from Burney’s hand, confirming a play that gave the Tar Heels a 30-17 lead with about 9½ minutes left.
North Carolina (7-3, 3-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) became bowl eligible for the second straight year and gave Butch Davis yet another win against his former program.
Jacory Harris threw four interceptions for the Hurricanes (7-3, 4-3), who have lost all three meetings against Davis since he took over in Chapel Hill in 2007.
Central Florida 37, No. 13 Houston 32
ORLANDO, Fla. — Central Florida slowed down Case Keenum and stopped the nation’s most prolific passer from pulling off another improbable comeback.
Brett Hodges outplayed the Cougars quarterback and Brynn Harvey rushed for 139 yards and three touchdowns, helping UCF stop Houston’s five-game winning streak that featured Keenum putting together a pair of last-minute rallies.
Harvey scored on runs of 1, 41 and 7 yards, the last set up by an interception that ended Keenum’s streak of consecutive passing attempts without a pick at 123. Hodges completed 21 of 25 passes for 141 yards and one TD.
Keenum threw for two TDs in the closing minutes, cutting into a 17-point deficit. He finished 33 of 56 for 377 yards and three scores. He had more than 500 yards in each of the previous two games.
No. 17 Oklahoma State 24, Texas Tech 17
STILLWATER, Okla. — Patrick Lavine scored on a 21-yard interception return, and Oklahoma State came up with a final defensive stand to keep its slim hopes for a Big 12 championship alive.
After allowing some rare pressure against quarterback Zac Robinson in the first half, the Cowboys (8-2, 5-1) relied on their Big 12-leading rushing attack to drain the clock in the second half. Oklahoma State piled up 207 yards on the ground after halftime and controlled the ball for 22 minutes.
Tech (6-4, 3-3) got one last chance after Robinson fumbled with 98 seconds left on a play that left both him and defender Jamar Wall shaken up. Tramain Swindall dropped Taylor Potts’ fourth-down pass to end the final drive by the Red Raiders.
California 24, No. 18 Arizona 16
BERKELEY, Calif. — Shane Vereen scored on a 61-yard run after an odd penalty thwarted a potential go-ahead drive for Arizona and California went on to a victory.
Giorgio Tavecchio kicked four field goals, giving Cal (7-3, 4-3) an 18-16 lead with a 22-yarder with 4:46 remaining. But Arizona wasn’t done.
After Tavecchio made a key tackle on the ensuing kickoff, the Wildcats (6-3, 4-2) drove the ball down to the Cal 25. On third-and-3, Nick Foles’ pass was batted at the line. Foles caught the ricochet and tried to throw it again. That was a penalty for an illegal forward pass and the ball moved back to the 39 and Arizona lost the down.
Foles threw an incompletion on the next play.
The Wildcats can still clinch a Rose Bowl berth by winning their final three games against Oregon, Arizona State and USC.
No. 19 Penn St. 31, Indiana 20
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Linebacker Navorro Bowman had a 73-yard interception return for a touchdown and Evan Royster scored twice to help Penn State overcame four first-half turnovers.
Senior quarterback Daryll Clark threw for one score and ran for another in his last game at Beaver Stadium, but also threw two interceptions.
The Hoosiers have made a habit this season of hanging tough early in road games before letting leads slip away, and it happened again against the Nittany Lions.
Penn State (9-2, 5-2 Big Ten) tried to help Indiana (4-7, 1-6) by fumbling away two punt returns in the first half. Ben Chappell’s 26-yard touchdown pass gave Indiana a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.
Bowman’s return put the Nittany Lions ahead 17-10 in the third quarter.
No. 20 Virginia Tech 36, Maryland 9
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Tyrod Taylor threw for 268 yards and a career-high three touchdowns, and Virginia Tech built an early 24-point lead before coasting to the victory.
Taylor threw each of his TD passes in the opening 23 minutes to help Virginia Tech (7-3, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) go up 27-3.
Freshman Ryan Williams ran for 126 yards and scored his 12th touchdown, a single-season record for a Virginia Tech freshman.
Wearing black and desert camouflage uniforms as a tribute to Army veterans, Maryland (2-8, 1-5) lost its fifth straight — its longest skid since 1998. Sophomore quarterback Jamarr Robinson ran for 129 yards on 24 carries and completed 12 of 32 passes for 104 yards.
No. 21 Wisconsin 45, Michigan 24
MADISON, Wis. — Scott Tolzien tied a career high with four touchdown passes and scored on a sneak to lead Wisconsin to the victory.
Nick Toon caught two of Tolzien’s touchdown throws for the Badgers (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten), who went to the air after putting together monster rushing performances in their previous two games.
It was the third consecutive win for the Badgers — and sweet payback on Senior Day for a team that struggled after blowing a lead to Michigan last year.
Tate Forcier was a solid 20 of 26 for 188 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, but it wasn’t enough to spare the Wolverines from their sixth consecutive conference loss. The Wolverines (5-6, 1-6) are reeling heading into next Saturday’s matchup with rival Ohio State.
No. 22 BYU 24, New Mexico 19
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Max Hall passed for two touchdowns and got his 29th win at BYU to match Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer’s school record.
The Cougars (8-2, 5-1 Mountain West) held off a focused effort by the Lobos (0-10, 0-6), who were desperate to give fans something good to talk about after a tough season that has been worsened by first-year coach Mike Locksley’s problems off the field.
New Mexico made a game of it with 4:07 remaining when Donovan Porterie’s 20-yard TD pass to Victor James finished a drive that started in BYU territory after an ugly 30-yard punt by Riley Stephenson. Bryan Kariya fumbled on BYU’s next possession, but the Lobos turned it over on downs at midfield.
New Mexico dropped its 14th in a row, the second longest losing streak in school history.
No. 24 Clemson 43, NC State 23
RALEIGH, N.C. — C.J. Spiller became the first player in Clemson history to record a touchdown passing, rushing and receiving in the same game.
Spiller, who broke Derrick Hamilton’s single-season school record for all-purpose yards on his 16-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, rushed for 97 yards on 18 carries. He finished with three receptions for 48 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown catch early in the fourth.
Jamie Harper added a 69-yard touchdown run for the Tigers (7-3, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their fifth consecutive game.
Russell Wilson was 12 of 32 for 183 yards and two touchdowns for the Wolfpack (4-6, 1-5).
