Associated Press
The Top 25 roundup …
NASHVILLE, Tenn. ó Josh Nesbitt scored four touchdowns, and Jonathan Dwyer ran for a career-high 186 yards rushing with three TDs, and No. 11 Georgia Tech rallied to beat Vanderbilt 56-31 Saturday night.
The Yellow Jackets (8-1) improved on their best start since winning a national title in 1990 by winning their sixth straight for their longest winning streak since 2000. They also won a fourth road game this season, which they hadn’t done since 2000.
No. 3 Texas 41, Oklahoma State 14
STILLWATER, Okla. ó A greedy Texas defense is making Colt McCoy’s life so much easier.
Curtis Brown and Earl Thomas each returned interceptions for touchdowns, and Cody Johnson had two short TD runs as the No. 3 Longhorns routed No. 13 Oklahoma State 41-14 to establish themselves as the clear frontrunner in the Big 12 South.
McCoy had an efficient 171-yard performance and threw his 100th career touchdown pass, and the Longhorns avoided the kind of letdown on Halloween weekend that cost them a chance to play for the Big 12 and national championships a year ago.
Texas (8-0, 5-0) came in with the nation’s toughest defense against the run, then played havoc with Zac Robinson and the Oklahoma State (6-2, 3-1) passing attack. Robinson came in as the conference’s top-rated passer after breaking the Cowboys’ record for accuracy in a game last week, but threw a career-high four picks.
No. 10 Oregon 47, No. 4 USC 20
EUGENE, Ore ó Jeremiah Masoli threw for 222 yards and a touchdown and ran for 164 more yards with another score and the No. 10 Oregon Ducks ran past No. 4 USC 47-20 for the Trojans’ worst loss since 1997.
Redshirt freshman LaMichael James ran for 184 yards and a score as the Ducks (7-1, 5-0 Pacific-10) racked up 391 yards on the ground against the Trojans, who came into the game with the fifth-best rush defense in the nation, allowing an average of just 79.9 yards a game.
Southern California (6-2, 3-2) had not lost a game by more than a touchdown since a 27-16 loss to Notre Dame in 2001, Pete Carroll’s first season as coach. It was USC’s worst lost since a 35-7 defeat to Arizona State on Oct. 11, 1997.
Oregon remained undefeated in the Pac-10, threatening USC’s hold on the league championship for the past seven years.
No. 5 Cincinnati 28, Syracuse 7SYRACUSE, N.Y. ó Zach Collaros threw four touchdown passes to get the Bearcats within a win of the best start in school history.
Cincinnati’s 1951 team won nine straight to begin the season.
No. 6 Boise State 45, San Jose State 7BOISE, Idaho ó Kellen Moore threw for 278 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another to get the Broncos their eighth straight win.
Boise State (8-0, 3-0 Western Athletic Conference) also got plenty of help from its defense, which held the Spartans (1-6, 0-3) to 223 total yards.
No. 7 Iowa 42, Indiana 24IOWA CITY, Iowa ó Ricky Stanzi overcame a career-high five interceptions to throw two long touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, helping No. 7 Iowa (9-0, 5-0 Big Ten) rally for a 42-24 victory over Indiana.
No. 8 TCU 41, UNLV 0FORT WORTH, Texas ó Andy Dalton threw three touchdown passes, Ed Wesley scored running and catching the ball and the TCU defense smothered UNLV to get its first shutout of the season.
It was another dominating performance for the eighth-ranked Horned Frogs (8-0, 4-0 Mountain West), who probably did enough to stay in position to be this season’s BCS buster.
No. 9 LSU 42, Tulane 0BATON ROUGE, La. ó Brandon LaFell caught two touchdown passes, moving him into second on LSU’s career list, and the ninth-ranked Tigers shut out Tulane for the first time since 1969.
No. 12 Penn State 34, Northwestern 13EVANSTON, Ill. ó No. 12 Penn State shut out Northwestern in the second half and the Nittany Lions scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns in less than four minutes. Penn State (8-1 4-1 in the Big Ten) trailed 10-3 in the second quarter.
No. 15 Houston 50, Southern Miss 43HOUSTON ó Case Keenum threw for a career-high 559 yards and had five touchdowns, his last coming with 21 seconds remaining.
The Cougars are 7-1, 3-1 Conference USA.
No. 17 Ohio St. 45, New Mexico St. 0COLUMBUS, Ohio ó Dane Sanzenbacher caught two touchdown passes and Terrelle Pryor threw for one and ran for another.
The game was a respite for Ohio State (7-2), which closes the regular season with pivotal Big Ten games at Penn State, against Iowa and at Michigan.
No. 19 Utah 22, Wyoming 10SALT LAKE CITY ó Utah freshman Jordan Wynn passed for 82 yards and a touchdown in his college debut, replacing starter Terrance Cain in the second half.
Eddie Wide tied a school record with his fifth straight 100-yard rushing game and added a late touchdown to seal the win for Utah (7-1, 4-0 Mountain West), which trailed 10-3 at halftime.
No. 22 Oklahoma 42, Kansas State 30NORMAN, Okla.ó Landry Jones passed for 294 yards and four touchdowns and DeMarco Murray scored three times for Oklahoma (5-3, 3-1 Big 12).
Auburn 33, No. 24 Mississippi 20AUBURN, Ala. ó Chris Todd passed for 212 yards, Ben Tate ran for 144 yards and Walt McFadden returned an interception for a touchdown.
The Tigers (6-3, 3-3 SEC) scored 23 points in the third quarter and turned away Jevan Snead and the Rebels (5-3, 2-3) seven times on drives to midfield or beyond.