College Football
Matt Leinart passed for 308 yards and LenDale White scored on a 2-yard run with 6:15 left Saturday, capping Southern California's comeback from an 11-point deficit for a 31-28 victory over Stanford.
PHOTO: AFP
Steve Smith caught eight passes for 153 yards and a touchdown, and Reggie Bush contributed 95 yards rushing and a key punt return to USC's 13th straight victory. After yielding 291 yards in the first half, No. 1 USC gave up just 36 after halftime.
But the nation's second-longest winning streak nearly ended across the Bay from the site of the defending national champions' most recent defeat, at California last season.
Stanford took a 28-17 lead into halftime, embarrassing the Trojans' vaunted defense and shocking the thousands of USC fans at Stanford Stadium. The Cardinal scored on a fake field goal and added J.R. Lemon's 82-yard TD run as time ran out.
No. 16 Florida 20, Kentucky 3
In Gainesville, Florida, with Hurricane Jeanne approaching, Florida squeezed in its game against Kentucky and beat the Wildcats behind Ciatrick Fason's career-high 210 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
Kickoff was moved up 6 1/2 hours because of the growing storm, which bore down on the state's Atlantic coast with winds near 185kph. Three million people were told to evacuate.
It didn't keep the fans away from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, better known as The Swamp. The announced attendance was 89,741.
No. 16 Florida took a 10-3 lead early in the second quarter when Fason broke through the middle, bounced off six tacklers and went 46 yards.
No. 5 Texas 35, Rice 13
In Austin, Texas, Cedric Benson rushed for 189 yards and a touchdown and Vince Young passed for three scores to his tight ends for Texas.
Texas (3-0) came in with the nation's No. 1 rushing attack and pounded the Owls on the ground from the start, grinding out 339 yards. The Longhorns have won 37 of the last 38 meetings with Rice (2-1).
Benson had 169 yards on 18 carries in the first half against a defense that was No. 1 in the country against the run coming in.
No 8 Florida St. 41, Clemson 22
In Tallahassee, Wyatt Sexton threw for 162 yards and a touchdown after replacing an injured Chris Rix and Florida State forced five turnovers.
Rix sprained his right ankle late in the first quarter and was able to return, but spent the rest of the game on the sideline watching Sexton direct the offense for Florida State (2-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference).
Sexton, a redshirt sophomore, completed 17 of 26 passes with a 47-yard scoring pass to Chauncey Stovall -- the Seminoles' first TD pass of the season.
No. 12 Virginia 31, Syracuse 10
In Charlottesville, Virginia, Marques Hagans had 283 total yards with two touchdown runs and a TD pass to lead Virginia.
Wali Lundy added a 27-yard run for his 10th touchdown of the season for the Cavaliers (4-0).
The Orange (2-2), 51-0 losers to Purdue in their season-opener, drove 68 yards for a field goal on their opening possession, then managed just 41 more yards on four possessions and trailed 21-3 at halftime.
Hagans had scoring runs of 59 and 27 yards in the first half and finished with 81 yards on six carries. The Cavaliers have outscored their opponents 120-13 before halftime.
No. 15 Purdue 38, Illinois 30
In Champaign, Illinois, Kyle Orton passed for 366 yards and four touchdowns, and Taylor Stubblefield caught 11 passes for 115 yards to lead Purdue.
Orton completed 35 of 50 passes and was not intercepted for the third straight game. He had scoring passes of 2, 5 and 34 yards to Stubblefield and 49 yards to Brandon Jones as the Boilermakers rolled up 515 yards.
The Boilermakers (3-0, 1-0) won their eighth straight Big Ten opener.
No. 13 LSU 51, Mississippi St 0
In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Alley Broussard ran for a career-high three touchdowns in the first 17 minutes and LSU held Mississippi State to seven first downs and 130.
The Tigers (3-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) rolled up 594 yards and led 34-0 at half.
The LSU defense had four interceptions, recovered a fumble and scored a touchdown.
The Bulldogs (1-3, 0-2), who are rebuilding under first-year coach Sylvester Croom, have lost seven straight in Tiger Stadium and 12 of 13 overall against LSU.
No. 14 Utah 49, Air Force 35
In Salt Lake City, Marty Johnson tied a school record with four rushing touchdowns and Utah held off Air Force for its best start in 10 years.
Johnson, who had 20 carries for 68 yards, became the fourth Utah player to score four TDs and Alex Smith added a rushing score and passed for two more. Smith completed 13 of 23 passes for 260 yards and had 13 carries for 84 yards.
The Utes are off to their first 4-0 start since 1994.
No. 18 Michigan 30, Iowa 17
In Ann Arbor, Michigan, Braylon Edwards caught six passes for 150 yards and a touchdown and Michigan turned four turnovers into 27 points.
The Wolverines (3-1, 1-0) won their 23rd consecutive Big Ten opener. They have won 12 straight at home since Iowa handed them their worst loss at Michigan Stadium since 1967.
Chad Henne was 16-of-26 for 236 yards with a TD and, most importantly for Michigan.
Iowa first-year starter Drew Tate was 24-of-32 for 270 yards, two TDs and two interceptions.
No. 19 Minnesota 43, Northwestern 17
In Minneapolis, Laurence Maroney had a 50-yard touchdown run and finished with 145 yards rushing to lead Minnesota.
Bryan Cupito, who completed passes to eight different receivers, threw for 155 yards and two TDs for the Gophers (4-0, 1-0) in the Big 10 opener for both teams.
Northwestern (1-3, 0-1) got a 97-yard kickoff return from Jeff Backes in the first quarter.
No. 20 Wisconsin 16, Penn St. 3
In Madison, Wisconsin, Matt Bernstein bullied his way to a career-best 123 yards after replacing an ineffective and injured Booker Stanley to help Wisconsin hold off Penn State.
The Badgers (1-0 Big Ten) held their opponents out of the end zone for the third time in four games and ended the month 4-0 despite the absence of star tailback Anthony Davis (eye) for the last 3 1/2 games.
No. 22 Arizona St. 27,
Oregon St. 14
In Tempe, Arizona, Jamar Williams intercepted two passes and Jordan Hill recovered two fumbles in Arizona State's victory over mistake-prone Oregon State in the Pac-10 opener for both teams.
The Sun Devils' Emmanuel Franklin saved an Oregon State touchdown by knocking the ball loose from Oregon State's Joe Newton, then recovering the ball for a touchback -- a play that turned the game around late in the first half.
Oregon State (1-3, 0-1) lost for the 16th consecutive time at Arizona State.
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