7 min read

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Tim Tebow tied the Southeastern Conference touchdown record and No. 1 Florida gained its first perfect league season in 13 years with a 24-14 victory over South Carolina on Saturday.

The Gators (10-0, 8-0) remained on track for a third national title in four years. They again called on their SEC-leading defense to save things against former coach Steve Spurrier.

Down 17-14, South Carolina (6-5, 3-5) drove 48 yards to the Florida 22. But defensive lineman Justin Trattou intercepted Stephen Garcia and brought it back 53 yards. Tebow cashed in the touchdown four plays later, a 1-yard burst that was the 53rd of his SEC career to match LSU great Kevin Faulk.

Florida hadn’t gone undefeated in the SEC regular season since Spurrier’s 1996 national champions.

Tebow ended 14 of 25 for 199 yards passing, including a 68-yard touchdown throw to Riley Cooper.
No. 2 Texas 47, Baylor 14

WACO, Texas (AP) – Colt McCoy tied the NCAA record for career victories by a starting quarterback, throwing two touchdown passes for Texas.

Advertisement

McCoy is 42-7 in his career, tying the wins record set by former Georgia quarterback David Greene.

Texas led 40-0 by halftime with McCoy throwing touchdown passes of 3 and 7 yards to Jordan Shipley. Cody Johnson ran for 109 yards and two short touchdowns and Tre’ Newton added a 45-yard scoring run.

Texas (10-0, 6-0 Big 12) reached 10 wins for the ninth straight season, second only to Florida State’s run of 14 consecutive 10-win seasons from 1987-2000.

Baylor (4-6, 1-5) absorbed its fifth loss in six games. Nick Florence finished with 240 yards passing and three interceptions.
No. 6 Boise St. 63, Idaho 25

BOISE, Idaho (AP) – Kellen Moore threw four touchdown passes to Austin Pettis and tied a career high with five overall, leading Boise State to the victory.

Titus Young had a 100-yard kickoff return that was actually longer and Kyle Wilson returned an interception 71 yards for another score for the big-play Broncos (10-0, 5-0 WAC), who beat their rivals for the 11th consecutive time.

Advertisement

Moore, the nation’s passing efficiency leader with 32 touchdowns and just three interceptions, passed Steve Young for 19th place on the Western Athletic Conference’s list for career touchdown passes. His 57th in two seasons was to Pettis early in the fourth quarter.

Idaho (7-4, 4-3) committed seven turnovers, six by fill-in quarterback Brian Reader.
No. 7 Georgia Tech 49, Duke 10

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) – Jonathan Dwyer rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns, Josh Nesbitt accounted for three scores and Georgia Tech clinched a spot in the ACC championship game.

Orwin Smith returned a kickoff 83 yards to spark the slow-starting Yellow Jackets (10-1, 7-1). Their offense took over after that, scoring touchdowns on five of the following six possessions, rushing for 306 yards and shutting out the Blue Devils in the final three quarters.

Nesbitt was 6 for 10 for 195 yards with touchdown passes covering 32 yards to Stephen Hill and 75 yards to Demaryius Thomas, and had a 2-yard touchdown run.

The Blue Devils (5-5, 3-3) had minus-1 yard rushing through three quarters and finished with 25.
No. 10 Ohio St. 27, No. 15 Iowa 24, OT

Advertisement

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Backup Devin Barclay kicked a 39-yard field goal in overtime to send Ohio State to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 13 years.

The Buckeyes (9-2, 6-1) clinched at least a share of their fifth consecutive Big Ten title and the conference’s automatic BCS bid.

Iowa (9-2, 5-2), which overcame a 24-10 deficit with just over 11 minutes left, lost its second in a row. Redshirt freshman quarterback James Vandenberg was solid for the Hawkeyes in his first college start. But filling in for the injured Ricky Stanzi, Vandenberg was intercepted three times, the final time to end Iowa’s only possession in overtime.

Brandon Saine rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns and Dan Herron added another score for the Buckeyes.
No. 25 Stanford 55, No. 11 USC 21

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Toby Gerhart rushed for 178 yards and three touchdowns and Stanford emphatically followed up its 2007 upset at the Coliseum with the most points ever allowed by the Trojans.

The loss was the Trojans’ worst since a 51-0 defeat at home against Notre Dame in 1966 and essentially ended USC’s seven-year run as Pac-10 champions.

Advertisement

Andrew Luck threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score for the Cardinal (7-3, 6-2), who followed up their surprising rout of Oregon last week with a strong start and a big finish at the Coliseum, where the Trojans (7-3, 4-3) haven’t lost to any other opponent since 2001, going 47-2.

Stanford’s 24-23 victory as a 41-point underdog in 2007 was a major shocker, yet this win barely even qualified as an upset – which might be the most incredible thing of all about the Trojans’ downward slide.
North Carolina 33, No. 12 Miami 24

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) – Kendric Burney returned one of his three interceptions for a 77-yard touchdown and his third pick resulted in a bizarre fourth-quarter score that helped North Carolina get the win.

Burney fumbled his third interception on what looked to be a forward pass, but Melvin Williams picked up the loose ball and ran the last 44 yards for a score. The touchdown held up on review after replays showed the ball slipping from Burney’s hand, confirming a play that gave the Tar Heels a 30-17 lead with about 9½ minutes left.

North Carolina (7-3, 3-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) became bowl eligible for the second straight year and gave Butch Davis yet another win against his former program.

Jacory Harris threw four interceptions for the Hurricanes (7-3, 4-3), who have lost all three meetings against Davis since he took over in Chapel Hill in 2007.
Central Florida 37, No. 13 Houston 32

Advertisement

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – Central Florida slowed down Case Keenum and stopped the nation’s most prolific passer from pulling off another improbable comeback.

Brett Hodges outplayed the Cougars quarterback and Brynn Harvey rushed for 139 yards and three touchdowns, helping UCF stop Houston’s five-game winning streak that featured Keenum putting together a pair of last-minute rallies.

Harvey scored on runs of 1, 41 and 7 yards, the last set up by an interception that ended Keenum’s streak of consecutive passing attempts without a pick at 123. Hodges completed 21 of 25 passes for 141 yards and one TD.

Keenum threw for two TDs in the closing minutes, cutting into a 17-point deficit. He finished 33 of 56 for 377 yards and three scores. He had more than 500 yards in each of the previous two games.
No. 19 Penn St. 31, Indiana 20

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) – Linebacker Navorro Bowman had a 73-yard interception return for a touchdown and Evan Royster scored twice to help Penn State overcame four first-half turnovers.

Senior quarterback Daryll Clark threw for one score and ran for another in his last game at Beaver Stadium, but also threw two interceptions.

Advertisement

The Hoosiers have made a habit this season of hanging tough early in road games before letting leads slip away, and it happened again against the Nittany Lions.

Penn State (9-2, 5-2 Big Ten) tried to help Indiana (4-7, 1-6) by fumbling away two punt returns in the first half. Ben Chappell’s 26-yard touchdown pass gave Indiana a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.

Bowman’s return put the Nittany Lions ahead 17-10 in the third quarter.
No. 20 Virginia Tech 36, Maryland 9

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) – Tyrod Taylor threw for 268 yards and a career-high three touchdowns, and Virginia Tech built an early 24-point lead before coasting to the victory.

Taylor threw each of his TD passes in the opening 23 minutes to help Virginia Tech (7-3, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) go up 27-3.

Freshman Ryan Williams ran for 126 yards and scored his 12th touchdown, a single-season record for a Virginia Tech freshman.

Advertisement

Wearing black and desert camouflage uniforms as a tribute to Army veterans, Maryland (2-8, 1-5) lost its fifth straight – its longest skid since 1998. Sophomore quarterback Jamarr Robinson ran for 129 yards on 24 carries and completed 12 of 32 passes for 104 yards.
No. 21 Wisconsin 45, Michigan 24

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Scott Tolzien tied a career high with four touchdown passes and scored on a sneak to lead Wisconsin to the victory.

Nick Toon caught two of Tolzien’s touchdown throws for the Badgers (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten), who went to the air after putting together monster rushing performances in their previous two games.

It was the third consecutive win for the Badgers – and sweet payback on Senior Day for a team that struggled after blowing a lead to Michigan last year.

Tate Forcier was a solid 20 of 26 for 188 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, but it wasn’t enough to spare the Wolverines from their sixth consecutive conference loss. The Wolverines (5-6, 1-6) are reeling heading into next Saturday’s matchup with rival Ohio State.
No. 22 BYU 24, New Mexico 19

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – Max Hall passed for two touchdowns and got his 29th win at BYU to match Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer’s school record.

Advertisement

The Cougars (8-2, 5-1 Mountain West) held off a focused effort by the Lobos (0-10, 0-6), who were desperate to give fans something good to talk about after a tough season that has been worsened by first-year coach Mike Locksley’s problems off the field.

New Mexico made a game of it with 4:07 remaining when Donovan Porterie’s 20-yard TD pass to Victor James finished a drive that started in BYU territory after an ugly 30-yard punt by Riley Stephenson. Bryan Kariya fumbled on BYU’s next possession, but the Lobos turned it over on downs at midfield.

New Mexico dropped its 14th in a row, the second longest losing streak in school history.
No. 24 Clemson 43, NC State 23

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – C.J. Spiller became the first player in Clemson history to record a touchdown passing, rushing and receiving in the same game.

Spiller, who broke Derrick Hamilton’s single-season school record for all-purpose yards on his 16-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, rushed for 97 yards on 18 carries. He finished with three receptions for 48 yards, including a 34-yard touchdown catch early in the fourth.

Jamie Harper added a 69-yard touchdown run for the Tigers (7-3, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their fifth consecutive game.

Russell Wilson was 12 of 32 for 183 yards and two touchdowns for the Wolfpack (4-6, 1-5).

Comments are no longer available on this story