Published: October 18, 2009 01:25 am      

NCAA Top 25 Results

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Tim Tebow kept Florida's perfect season intact.

Tebow directed a 69-yard drive in the final minutes, setting up Caleb Sturgis' 27-yard field goal with 9 seconds remaining that gave the top-ranked Gators a 23-20 win against Arkansas on Saturday.

Was it Tebow's Heisman moment?

Regardless, it kept Florida unbeaten and likely No. 1 in the country. And maybe even the Gators' chances to repeat as national champions.

On a day when little went right for the Gators, Tebow took over down the stretch. He threw for 255 yards and a touchdown, ran for 69 more and saved his best plays for when Florida needed him most.

He threw for 30 yards and ran for 22 on the final drive. Three plays stood out: His 12-yard pass to Riley Cooper on third down and consecutive runs that gained 16 yards and got Sturgis well within his comfort zone.



No. 2 Alabama 20, South Carolina 6

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Mark Ingram rushed for a career-high 246 yards and a game-clinching touchdown, powering Alabama past South Carolina.

Ingram's tackle-breaking, defender-dragging runs and a punishing defense helped the Crimson Tide (7-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) overcome four turnovers — doubling their season total. It also helped 'Bama avoid the down-to-the-wire scares No. 1 Florida and No. 3 Texas had — or an upset defeat like No. 4 Virginia Tech endured.

Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks (5-2, 2-2) had never beaten a team ranked higher than No. 3 and were hoping for their second win over a top-five team this season.

Ingram didn't let it happen. He took the direct snap on the decisive drive for five consecutive runs — including a 24-yarder and 22-yarder — and then took a pitch in from 4 yards out with 4:54 left.



No. 19 Georgia Tech 28, No. 4 Virginia Tech 23

ATLANTA (AP) — Virginia Tech might have lost its shot at a national championship on another doomed trip to Atlanta.

Josh Nesbitt rushed for 122 yards and three touchdowns — the last of them tiptoeing down the sideline to finish off the Hokies with 3 minutes left — as Georgia Tech ran to a win that threw the Atlantic Coast Conference race up for grabs while perhaps finishing off the league's top contender in the national race.

Georgia Tech (6-1, 4-1 ACC) completed just one pass but ran for 309 yards out of its spread option offense — all but 37 of those yards coming in the second half.

Excuse Virginia Tech (5-2, 3-1) if it passes on any more trips to Atlanta for a while. The Hokies opened the season with a 34-24 loss to Alabama in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game, about a mile away at the Georgia Dome.



No. 6 Southern California 34, No. 25 Notre Dame 27

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Jimmy Clausen threw three incomplete passes into the end zone in the closing seconds as Southern California held on for a victory and its eighth straight win against Notre Dame.

Notre Dame's streak of last-minute victories ended at three, but the Fighting Irish at least showed they could compete with their longtime rivals this season.

The Irish rallied back from a 34-14 deficit, but couldn't score into the same end zone where the Trojans famously scored four years ago on the Bush Push. On Clausen's first pass into the end zone, Kyle Rudolph made juggling catch but was out of bounds. The second was knocked down by Josh Pinkard and the Trojans started celebrating thinking the game was over.

But the officials ruled there was 1 second left. Clausen fired to Duval Kamara, who slipped and couldn't get a hand on it.



Purdue 26, No. 7 Ohio State 18

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Joey Elliott and Purdue shocked mistake-prone Ohio State.

Elliott threw for 281 yards and two touchdowns, and the Boilermakers snapped a five-game losing streak by beating No. 7 Ohio State to effectively end what national-title chances remained for the Buckeyes.

Purdue dominated the first three quarters, then held on as Ohio State tried to mount a comeback behind Terrelle Pryor, who threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles.

The Boilermakers (2-5, 1-2) had lost five in a row since beating Toledo to start Danny Hope's first season as coach, and fans were starting to get uneasy. But when the clock ran out, joyous students poured onto the field to celebrate a major upset.

It was Purdue's first win over a ranked team since 2003 and its first win over the Buckeyes since 2004. Ohio State (5-2, 3-1) failed to tie the Big Ten record of 17 straight conference road wins.

The Buckeyes lost to an unranked team for the first time since Illinois upset Ohio State at home in 2007. But that Illinois team went on to play in the Rose Bowl. Purdue will have to scramble to become bowl eligible.



No. 9 Miami 27, UCF 7

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Jacory Harris completed 20 of 26 passes for 293 yards and a touchdown, Javarris James rushed for another score on the way to topping the 2,000-yard mark for his career at Miami.

Damien Berry added a fourth-quarter touchdown run for the Hurricanes (5-1), who matched their best start since 2005.

Brett Hodges threw for 163 yards for UCF (3-3), but the team's top rusher — Brynn Harvey, who was coming off a 219-yard effort against Memphis — was held to 25 yards on 12 carries.

UCF is now 0-20 against teams in the AP Top 25 since moving to Division I-A in 1996.



No. 11 Iowa 20, Wisconsin 10

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — No. 11 Iowa needed a second-half road rally to keep its perfect season alive.

Trailing by a touchdown at halftime, the Hawkeyes (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten) began the third quarter by turning an interception into a tying touchdown pass from quarterback Ricky Stanzi to tight end Tony Moeaki.

Iowa took the lead on a 10-yard touchdown run by Adam Robinson early in the fourth quarter, and the Hawkeyes' defense kept the Badgers scoreless in the second half.

After appearing vulnerable to the run early on, Iowa's defense clamped down on Wisconsin (5-2, 2-2) and running back John Clay, who might have been slowed by a second-quarter leg injury after a big first quarter. Clay finished with 75 yards rushing and Scott Tolzien threw three interceptions.

Iowa cornerback Amari Spievey had two interceptions.



No. 12 TCU 44, Colorado State 6

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Jeremy Kerley tiptoed the sideline, then came to a near stop before finding an open lane to the end zone for his second punt return for a touchdown in three games and TCU remained undefeated with a victory over Colorado State.

Kerley's electrifying 69-yard return just before halftime made it 17-6, and came less than 2½ minutes after TCU (6-0, 2-0 Mountain West) had finally taken the lead on Joseph Turner's 2-yard touchdown run.

The BCS buster hopeful Horned Frogs carried the momentum after halftime, scoring touchdowns on their first four drives after the break. That included two TD passes by Andy Dalton.

Colorado State (3-4, 0-3) lost its fourth straight game.



No. 14 Penn State 20, Minnesota 0

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Navorro Bowman led a stifling defense, Evan Royster ran for 137 yards and Derek Moye had a disputed touchdown catch in Penn State's easy win over Minnesota.

Moye's 12-yard reception in the end zone was initially ruled incomplete, then overturned after an official review for a TD on a drive that gave the Nittany Lions (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten) a 13-0 lead late in the first half.

The offense moved the ball well despite being mired by penalties. Royster and Moye still gave the defense more than enough cushion over the struggling Gophers (4-3, 2-2) on a chilly homecoming game at Beaver Stadium.

Bowman led the defense with several big hits, and Penn State held a foe without a first-half touchdown for the seventh straight game.



Texas Tech 31, No. 15 Nebraska 10

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Steven Sheffield passed for a touchdown and ran for another in his first road start, and Texas Tech jumped out fast to upset Nebraska.

Sheffield, who passed for 490 yards passing and seven touchdowns in his debut as the starter against Kansas State last week, was nearly perfect early, completing 14 of his first 16 passes against the Cornhuskers. Playing for the injured Taylor Potts, Sheffield went 9-for-16 in the second half and finished with 234 yards.

Texas Tech (5-2, 2-1) won for the first time in four road games since last October. Nebraska (4-2, 1-1) held the Raiders to 259 yards — 263 under their average.



No. 16 Oklahoma State 33, Missouri 17

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Hubert Anyiam filled in for ineligible All-American Dez Bryant with 10 catches, a career-high 119 yards and the go-ahead touchdown for Oklahoma State.

Zac Robinson threw for 227 yards and Lucien Antoine added an interception return for a touchdown as the Cowboys (5-1, 2-0 Big 12) snapped a four-game losing streak on their home field against the Tigers (4-2, 0-2).

Oklahoma State started Big 12 play with back-to-back wins despite being without Bryant and top running back Kendall Hunter, who missed his fourth straight game with a sprained ankle.

Anyiam had only nine career catches coming into the game, but had a breakout performance as Bryant watched from the sidelines in a black hooded sweatshirt.

Blaine Gabbert threw for 325 yards on 22 for 44 passing but also had a career-high three interceptions for Missouri.



Colorado 34, No. 17 Kansas 30

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Tyler Hansen, who replaced Cody Hawkins — the coach's son — in the starting lineup, ran for a touchdown and threw a TD pass to lead Colorado to an upset.

Providing a spark both through the air and on the ground, Hansen threw for 175 yards and ran for 34 yards. Colorado (2-4, 1-1 Big 12) handed Todd Reesing and the Jayhawks (5-1, 1-1) their first loss.

Reesing was 30-of-51 for 401 yards and two scores, but he was sacked six times.

Hansen led the Buffs to the winning score after Reesing had rallied the Jayhawks from a three-touchdown deficit to give Kansas a 30-27 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Hansen drove the Buffaloes 76 yards in 10 plays, the payoff coming when Rodney Stewart scored from 12 yards out.



No. 18 Brigham Young 38, San Diego State 28

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Max Hall threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for another score to lead Brigham Young to the 500th victory in school history, beating San Diego State.

BYU (6-1, 3-0 Mountain West Conference) beat SDSU (2-4, 0-2) for the eighth time in the last nine games.

SDSU's Ryan Lindley also threw three touchdown passes. SDSU kept pace with BYU into the third quarter, tying it at 21 before the Cougars' massive offensive line wore down the Aztecs, allowing Hall to throw two touchdown passes in less than four minutes.

Running an effective no-huddle offense, Hall was 27 of 39 for his fifth 300-yard game of the season. Lindley was 21 of 33 for 298 yards.

Lindley threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to DeMarco Sampson with 8:23 left in the third quarter to tie it at 21.



No. 23 Houston 44, Tulane 16

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Case Keenum's lowest passing total of the season was still pretty good, and more than enough to help Houston win its first conference game of the season.

Keenum was 30 of 43 for 334 yards and two touchdowns, and the Cougars defeated Tulane.

Bryce Beall and Justin Johnson each ran for two touchdowns for Houston (5-1, 1-1 Conference USA), which pulled away after leading only 9-6 at halftime.

Keenum eclipsed 300 yards passing for the 19th time in his career and the sixth straight game this season. His scoring passes went to James Cleveland and L.J. Castile.

Tulane (2-4, 0-3) now has lost 37 straight to ranked teams since 1982.



No. 24 Utah 35, UNLV 15

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Terrance Cain threw two touchdown passes and rushed for another score to lead Utah to the 600th victory in the program history.

Eddie Wide rushed for 111 yards on 17 carries, including a 37-yard touchdown run. Wide's TD run down the right side gave the Utes (5-1, 2-0 Mountain West Conference) a 20-point lead with 12:55 left in the fourth quarter.

Cain was 17 of 24 for 174 yards, with no interceptions.

UNLV has lost four straight games.