Associated Press
The Top 25 roundup …
BLACKSBURG, Va. ó Tyrod Taylor, Ryan Williams and No. 5 Virginia Tech’s swarming defense made sure the Hokies’ regular season losing streak against Boston College ended.
Taylor threw two early touchdown passes, Williams ran for 159 yards and a TD and the Hokies rolled 48-14 against the Eagles.
The victory ended a three-game regular season skid by Virginia Tech (5-1, 3-0 ACC) against Boston College (4-2, 2-2).No. 2 Texas 38, Colorado 14AUSTIN, Texas ó 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.
No. 3 Alabama 22, No. 20 Mississippi 3OXFORD, Miss. ó Mark Ingram rushed for 172 yards and a touchdown and Alabama stuffed Mississippi.
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.
Arkansas 44, No. 17 Auburn 23FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. ó 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 SEC) responded with a three-touchdown flurry toward the end of the third quarter.
Ryan Mallett threw for 274 yards and two touchdowns for the Razorbacks.
No. 9 Ohio State 31, Wisconsin 13COLUMBUS, Ohio ó 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.
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 17AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. ó 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.
No. 11 Miami 48, Florida A&M 16MIAMI ó 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.
No. 12 Iowa 30, Michigan 28
IOWA CITY, Iowa ó Ricky Stanzi threw for 284 yards and two touchdowns and No. 12 Iowa survived yet another close call, beating Michigan 30-28 for its best start since 1985.
Michigan pulled quarterback Tate Forcier in the fourth quarter. Fellow freshman Denard Robinson led a touchdown drive and Michigan got the ball back with 1:30 left. But Robinson was intercepted, keeping the Hawkeyes (6-0, 2-0), the only unbeaten team left in the Big Ten. Michigan fell to 4-2, 1-2.No. 13 Oregon 24, UCLA 10PASADENA, Calif. ó 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.
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.
No. 14 Penn State 52, Eastern Illinois 3STATE COLLEGE, Pa. ó 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.
No. 15 Oklahoma State 36, Texas A&M 31COLLEGE STATION, Texasó 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.
No. 16 Kansas 41, Iowa State 36LAWRENCE, Kan. ó 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. The Jayhawks (5-0, 1-0 in the Big 12) held on.
No. 19 Oklahoma 33, Baylor 7NORMAN, Okla. ó 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.
No. 25 South Carolina 28, Kentucky 26COLUMBIA, S.C. ó 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).
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.