Associated Press
The top 25 roundup …
COLUMBUS, Ohio ó An eerie silence descended on Ohio Stadium when Ohio State’s Heisman Trophy prospect Chris “Beanie” Wells went down with a foot injury in the third quarter.
The star tailback was hurt in the third quarter after taking a handoff from Todd Boeckman on first and goal at the Youngstown State 2. His feet slipped underneath him as he planted to make a cut, with the ball rolling free as he hit the turf.
Wells was helped off the field, and later returned to the bench in the fourth quarter wearing a boot on his right foot. X-rays showed no broken bones, the team said.
Before the injury, Wells ran for 111 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown run. Boeckman tossed two touchdown passes and freshman quarterback phenom Terrelle Pryor looked solid in his college debut.
Boeckman completed 14-of-19 passes for 187 yards and touchdown passes of 31 yards to Brian Robiskie and 25 yards to DeVier Posey.
The Penguins rushed 21 times for minus-11 yards. Youngstown State has never scored a touchdown in four games against teams from Bowl Championship Series conferences.
No. 3 USC 52, Virginia 7
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. ó Mark Sanchez threw three touchdown passes in his first game as Southern California’s true No. 1 quarterback and Trojans rolled.
The Trojans lead 21-0 after just 11 minutes and weren’t tested, allowing coach Pete Carroll to keep things simple in advance of a home game against No. 2 Ohio State in two weeks.
Sanchez, just more than three weeks removed from a dislocated kneecap that kept him out of practice until this week, showed no ill effects. He was 26-for-35 for 338 yards.
The Cavaliers had minus 15 yards on their first three offensive series.
No. 4 Oklahoma 57, Chattanooga 2NORMAN, Okla. ó Sam Bradford threw for 183 yards and two touchdowns, Chris Brown ran for three scores and only an hourlong rainstorm could slow down the Sooners.
The Sooners converted their first seven possessions into touchdowns and led 50-0 before a thunderstorm caused a lightning delay that extended halftime by 1 hour and 12 minutes.
No. 5 Florida 56, Hawaii 10
GAINESVILLE, Fla. ó Even without injured speedster Percy Harvin (heel) and linebacker Brandon Spikes (toe), Florida dominated every aspect of this one and handed Greg McMackin a lopsided loss in his debut as Hawaii’s head coach.
Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow was 9-of-14 passing for 137 yards and a touchdown.
No. 6 Missouri 52, No. 20 Illinois 42
ST. LOUIS ó Sean Weatherspoon bailed out a leaky Missouri defense with two takeaways late and Jeremy Maclin had a 99-yard kickoff return and 45-yard punt return before leaving in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury in a the Tigers’ 52-42 victory over No. 20 Illinois.
No. 8 West Virginia 48, Villanova 21
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. ó Pat White threw a career-high five touchdown passes and West Virginia beat Villanova, giving Rich Rodriguez’s replacement, Bill Stewart, a successful regular-season debut.
The Mountaineers built a 34-7 lead midway through the third quarter and didn’t need a big day from their vaunted rushing attack, which averaged 297 yards per game a year ago.
No. 10 Auburn 34, Louisiana-Monroe 0AUBURN, Ala. ó Ben Tate ran for 115 yards on 13 carries and Auburn scored touchdowns on defense and special teams in a 34-0 opening win.
The Tigers scarcely needed to pass in debuting Tony Franklin’s new spread offense, resorting to a still punishing ground game (321 yards rushing) and defense while alternating quarterbacks on every series for much of the game.
No. 11 Texas 52, Florida Atlantic 10AUSTIN, Texas ó On a night when Texas retired the No. 10 jersey of Vince Young, Coly McCoy passed for three touchdowns, ran for another and the Longhorns coasted to a win that got testy at times. McCoy’s third touchdown pass made it 42-10 and he left early in the fourth quarter with 222 yards on 24-of-29 passing.
No. 12 Texas Tech 49, Eastern Washington 24LUBBOCK, Texas ó Graham Harrell threw for 536 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for a score to lead Texas Tech.
The pass-happy offense of Texas Tech was in midseason form against an overmatched opponent. Harrell was 43-of-58 with an interception.
No. 13 Wisconsin 38, Akron 17MADISON, Wis. ó P.J. Hill ran for 210 yards and two touchdowns, but Wisconsin needed a pair of third-quarter scores to shake free from pesky Akron.
No. 14 Kansas 40, Florida International 10LAWRENCE, Kan. ó Todd Reesing threw three touchdown passes to Dezmon Briscoe and Kansas, coming off the greatest season in its history, opened with a victory before a record-breaking home crowd. Reesing was 37-for-52 for 256 yards.
No. 16 BYU 41, Northern Iowa 17PROVO, Utah ó Max Hall threw for 486 yards and two touchdowns and BYU overcame four turnovers in the second half.
No. 19 South Florida 56, Tennessee-Martin 7TAMPA, Fla. ó Matt Grothe threw for two first-half touchdowns and South Florida scored on its first four possessions and routed Tennessee-Martin.Bowling Green 27, No. 25 Pitt 17
PITTSBURGH ó The Falcons, with their second win over a BCS conference school in as many season openers, bounced back from a 14-0 deficit for the first victory by a Mid-American Conference school in Pittsburgh.