Associated Press
COLUMBIA, S.C. ó The yards were tough to come by and the points even tougher for Georgia ó as usual when the Bulldogs play South Carolina.
But these Dawgs play big-time defense, too, and that’s what kept them undefeated on Saturday.
Knowshon Moreno’s sliding 4-yard touchdown run in the third quarter put the No. 2 Bulldogs ahead and the defense kept turning the Gamecocks back for a 14-7 victory.
Georgia (3-0, 1-0 SEC forced two turnovers by South Carolina (1-2, 0-2) in the fourth quarter.
“That shows us we can play when it’s on the line,” defensive tackle Corvey Irvin said. “When adversity strikes, who’s going to step up and be the leader, be the man. Our team stepped up today.”
The first time came with about eight minutes left and South Carolina on Georgia 2. Tailback Mike Davis tried to leap the pile when linebacker Rennie Curran jarred the ball loose and into the arms of cornerback Asher Allen.
“I tell you, it looked real big,” Allen said, smiling.
South Carolina got a final chance and drove to the Georgia 17. That’s when Reshad Jones sealed things, intercepting Chris Smelley’s pass with 13 seconds left at the 3.
No. 3 Oklahoma 55, Washington 14SEATTLE ó Sam Bradford completed 18 of 21 passes for 304 yards, matched his career high with five touchdowns and ran for a sixth score to help the Sooners beat Washington.
Ryan Broyles caught two of Bradford’s touchdown throws for Oklahoma (3-0), which went home for an off week feeling much better than it did on its last trip to the West Coast two years ago.
Washington (0-3) was handed its largest margin of defeat at home since 1929, when it lost 48-0 to Southern California.
No. 6 Missouri 69, Nevada 17COLUMBIA, Mo. ó Chase Daniel threw for 405 yards and four touchdowns and Missouri scored on its first 10 possessions in routing Nevada.
Daniel was 23-for-28 and led Missouri (3-0) to seven touchdowns and a field goal before exiting in the third quarter. The Tigers gained 651 total yards and averaged 10 yards per play. The 69 points tied a team record set against Kansas in 1969, and they’ve scored 173 points in three games.
No. 7 LSU 41, North Texas 3BATON ROUGE, La. ó Charles Scott ran for touchdowns f 39 and 43 yards, Trindon Holliday scored on a 92-yard punt return, and LSU cruised.
Andrew Hatch, who started and got most of the snaps, finished 10-of-17 for 145 and threw his first career interception. Scott wound up with 102 yards on seven carries for the Tigers (2-0).
No. 9 Auburn 3, Mississippi State 2STARKVILLE, Miss. ó Wes Byrum kicked a 36-yard field goal in the second quarter and that was all Auburn needed to defeat Mississippi State.
The Tigers (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) committed three turnovers, missed two field goals and handed the Bulldogs their only points with a safety.
But Auburn allowed only 116 yards to Mississippi State (1-2, 0-1).
No. 11 Alabama 41, W. Kentucky 7TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ó John Parker Wilson passed for 215 yards and two touchdowns and freshman Mark Ingram ran for two scores, leading No. 11 Alabama to a 41-7 win over Western Kentucky Saturday night.
Alabama (3-0) rolled to 557 yards a week after getting held to 172 by Tulane to enter Southeastern Conference play on a high note. Glen Coffee rushed for 97 yards on 11 carries before sitting out the second half. His career-long 51-yarder set up a touchdown. Freshman Julio Jones caught five passes for 66 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown.
No. 12 Texas Tech 43, SMU 7LUBBOCK, Texas ó Graham Harrell threw for 418 yards and five touchdowns, three to Michael Crabtree, to help Texas Tech rout SMU.
The Mustangs (1-2) and first-year coach June Jones were overmatched from the outset and turnovers.
Harrell, coming off his worst game in two years in last week’s 35-19 win over Nevada, completed 31 of 48 passes. He threw TD passes of 23, 47, 50, 7 and 44.
Crabtree had his best game of the season, catching eight passes for 164 yards.
Bo Levi Mitchell was 13-of-24 for 155 yards for SMU.
No. 16 Oregon 32, Purdue 26, 2OTWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. ó LaGarrette Blount ran 3 yards for a touchdown in the second overtime to give Oregon the come-from-behind win over Purdue.
Oregon (3-0) trailed 20-3 early in the second quarter, but tied the game late in the third, and Purdue’s Chris Summers missed a 44-yard field goal as time expired in regulation.
Kory Sheets ran 29 times for 180 yards and two touchdowns for Purdue (1-1).
No. 17 Penn State 55, Syracuse 13SYRACUSE, N.Y. ó Jordan Norwood and Deon Butler each caught a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the Nittany Lions humbled the Orange in the first game between the old rivals in 18 years.
The victory was the 375th for Penn State coach Joe Paterno, keeping pace with Florida State’s Bobby Bowden, whose Seminoles beat Chattanooga. Fourth-year Syracuse coach Greg Robinson, his job on the line, had his record drop to 7-31.
No. 18 BYU 59, UCLA 0PROVO, Utah ó Max Hall tied a BYU record with seven touchdown passes against UCLA and the Cougars extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 13 games.
BYU improved to 3-0 for the first time in seven seasons and grabbed control of this one with four touchdowns in the first 5:18 of the second quarter.
No. 22 Utah 58, Utah State 10LOGAN, Utah ó Matt Asiata scored three touchdowns rushing and Brian Johnson threw for two more and Utah defeated Utah State for the 11th consecutive time.
No. 24 Illinois 20, Louisiana-Lafayette 17CHAMPAIGN, Ill. ó Daniel Dufrene had a career-high 126 yards rushing and Matt Eller’s late field goal helped Illinois hold off Louisiana-Lafayette.