Matt Leinart completed 20 of 26 passes for 201 yards and four touchdowns, and Reggie Bush returned a punt 84 yards for another score to lead top-ranked Southern California to its 29th straight win, 51-24 over Washington on Saturday.
Leinart and Dwayne Jarrett combined for three touchdowns for the second time this season. Jarrett caught seven passes for 95 yards and the three scores, and now has 25 touchdown receptions in 20 career games.
Bush's electric, spinning punt return and two Washington turnovers -- two more than the undermanned Huskies (1-6, 0-4) could afford -- propelled USC (7-0, 4-0 Pac-10) to a 37-point first half.
PHOTO: AP
No. 2 Texas 52, No. 10 Texas Tech 17
At Austin, Texas, Vince Young threw for two touchdowns and ran for another and No. 2 Texas handed the 10th-ranked Red Raiders their first loss of the season.
Looking to start 7-0 for the first time since 1976 and move into national title contention, the high-scoring, pass-happy Red Raiders (6-1, 3-1) couldn't keep up with Young and the Longhorns (7-0, 4-0).
PHOTO: AP
Other than a three-point win at Ohio State, Texas' average margin of victory is 37 points.
No. 4 Georgia 23, Arkansas 20
At Athens Georgia, senior quarterback D.J. Shockley went down with a knee injury in the first half, marring the Bulldogs' victory and making it unlikely he will play in a crucial game against Florida.
Shockley threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Bryan McClendon on Georgia's first possession, and Joe Tereshinski did just enough in relief to keep the Bulldogs (7-0, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) on course for a spot in the SEC championship game. They can clinch the Eastern Division title as early as next weekend with a win over rival Florida.
Darren McFadden rushed for 190 yards to set a couple of Arkansas freshman records. He also scored a pair of touchdowns, the first on a stunning 70-yard run.
No. 5 Alabama 6,
No. 17 Tennessee 3
At Tuscaloola, Alabama, Jamie Christensen's 34-yard field goal with 13 seconds left gave No. 5 Alabama only its second win in 11 seasons over its bitter rival.
It was Christensen's second straight game-winner, but it was a fumble by Tennessee near the end zone on the Volunteers' previous possession that proved to be the key.
No. 7 LSU 20, No. 16 Auburn 17, OT
At Baton Rouge, Louisiana,a 39-yard field goal attempt by Auburn John Vaughn in overtime hit the left upright, giving LSU a win over Auburn.
Last year, Auburn beat LSU 10-9 on Courtney Taylor's touchdown with 1:14 remaining. Vaughn initially missed the extra point, but a penalty gave him a second chance. In this season's rematch, he missed five field goals, including a 49-yarder in the final seconds of regulation that would have won it.
Auburn (5-2, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) had won 13 straight against SEC opponents, one short of a school record.
No. 8 UCLA 51, Oregon State 28
At Pasadena, California, Drew Olson threw for a UCLA-record six touchdowns, and Maurice Drew accounted for 250 yards and two scores in the Bruins' victory over Oregon State (4-3, 2-2 Pac-10).
Olson had tied the school record of five touchdowns passes -- held by Cade McNown -- a week earlier in an overtime win over Washington State.
The Bruins (4-0 Pac-10) are 7-0 for the first time since 1998 and only the fourth time since 1954.
Olson completed scoring throws of 43 and 20 yards to Drew, 2 and 3 yards to Marcedes Lewis, 48 yards to Ryan Moya and 46 yards to Brandon Breazell.
No. 9 Notre Dame 49, BYU 23
At South Ben, Indiana, Brady Quinn threw for 467 yards and a school-record six touchdowns, four to Maurice Stovall, and No. 9 Notre Dame ended a four-game home losing streak.
The Fighting Irish (5-2), who were beaten by BYU last season when they were held to 11 yards rushing, didn't try to run the much against the Cougars (3-4), instead depending on Quinn's passing to open up the BYU defense.
Quinn broke the mark of five TD passes he set in an overtime loss against Michigan State earlier this season. He was 25-of-30 passing in the first half for a school-record 287 yards, and finished 32-of-41 passing.
No. 11 Florida State 55, Duke 24
At Durham, North Carolina, Drew Weatherford threw two touchdown passes and backup Xavier Lee added two of his own to help No. 11 Florida State bounce back from its first loss of the season.
Greg Carr caught three of the TDs and third-string tailback Antone Smith ran for two scores for the Seminoles (6-1, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who still struggled to generate a running game against the outmanned Blue Devils (1-7, 0-5). Smith was the leading rusher with 76 yards, and 45 of those came on a spectacular run early in the fourth quarter with the outcome no longer in doubt.
No. 12 Penn State 63, Illinois 10
At Champaign, Illinois, Michael Robinson threw for four touchdowns and ran for two more -- in the first half -- and Penn State gave coach Joe Paterno his 350th victory the easy way.
The victory was so decisive that Robinson and most of his fellow starters did not play after the Nittany Lions built a 56-3 halftime lead to spoil Illinois' homecoming. The win keeps Penn State (7-1, 4-1) in a tie with Wisconsin at the top of the Big Ten standings and moves Paterno's record to 350-117-3 in 40 seasons, second on the all-time Division I-A coaching victory list to Florida State's Bobby Bowden.
Penn State's performance set a new school record for scoring in a half, breaking the old mark of 55 set on Oct. 11, 1947, in the first half of a 70-0 victory over Fordham.
No. 14 Ohio St. 41, Indiana 10
At Bloomington, Indiana, Troy Smith ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, Ohio State had 240 yards rushing and another strong defensive effort led the Buckeyes to their most lopsided victory of the season.
For the Buckeyes (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten), there was one major change: They won a conference road game for only the second time in seven games dating to November 2003 -- albeit in a friendly environment that appeared to have more Buckeyes fans than Hoosiers supporters.
No. 15 Oregon 28, Arizona 21
At Tucson, Arizona, linebacker Brent Haberly returned a fumble 34 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter and Oregon beat Arizona despite the Ducks' top two quarterbacks being knocked out of the game on consecutive possessions.
Blair Phillips, another linebacker, had a sack and recovered another fumble late in the game to stop Arizona's final scoring threat, and Oregon (7-1, 4-1 Pac-10) won for the fourth straight time since losing to No. 1 Southern California. The Ducks also won their seventh in a row over the Wildcats.
Haberly's play about 2 minutes into the fourth quarter on an unforced fumble by Mike Bell came after the Wildcats (1-6, 0-4) knocked out Oregon starting quarterback Kellen Clemens and backup Dennis Dixon on consecutive possessions in the third.
No. 19 Wisconsin 31, Purdue 20
At Madison, Wisconsin, safety Roderick Rogers returned an interception 84 yards for a touchdown that sparked No. 19 Wisconsin (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten), which became bowl eligible in coach Barry Alvarez's 16th and final season.
Cornerback Jake Ikegwuonu added two interceptions, including a game-sealing pickoff that he returned 62 yards for a score with 3:21 left.
The Badgers had 146 return yards off their three interceptions of redshirt freshman Curtis Painter, who replaced junior starter Brandon Kirsch at quarterback for Purdue (2-5, 0-4). However, Painter couldn't stop the Boilermakers' slide that has resulted in the first five-game losing streak in coach Joe Tiller's nine seasons.
No. 21 TCU 48, Air Force 10
At Air Force Academy, Colorado, Jeff Ballard threw for 302 yards and two scores to help No. 21 TCU remain the only undefeated team in the Mountain West Conference.
Ballard went 20-for-28 to lift the Horned Frogs (7-1, 5-0) to their sixth straight victory and remain alone in first place in their first season in the Mountain West.
Air Force (3-5, 2-4) used its triple option to hold the ball for nearly 35 minutes, but mistakes hurt the Falcons. They had a punt blocked, committed 90 yards in penalties, missed two field goals and Shaun Carney threw an interception in the TCU end zone.
TCU took the lead with a 74-yard drive on the game's opening possession, capped by a 1-yard touchdown by William Jackson.
Northwestern 49,
No. 22 Michigan State 14
At East Lansing, Michigan, Brett Basanez threw for 331 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more scores to lead Northwestern to its third straight win.
The game was billed as a meeting between two of the nation's best offenses, but miscues by the Spartans (4-3, 1-3 Big Ten) allowed the game to turn into a rout. Michigan State has now lost three straight, while the Wildcats (5-2, 3-1) remain in the middle of the conference title race.
The Spartans entered the game third in the nation and first in the Big Ten in total offense, while Northwestern ranked fourth in the nation and second in the conference.
UNC 7, No. 23 Virginia 5
At Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Ronnie McGill ran for 118 yards while Cedrick Holt had a key interception late to cap a stellar defensive effort and help North Carolina hold off Virginia.
Matt Baker connected with Rikki Cook for the game's only touchdown in the first quarter, which ultimately proved to be all the Tar Heels (3-3, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) would need to bounce back from a humiliating loss at Louisville two weeks ago.
After allowing 69 points in that loss, the Tar Heels held Virginia (4-3, 2-3) to just 199 total yards and allowed the Cavaliers' offense just one field goal -- a surprising result for a team that upset unbeaten Florida State last week.
No. 24 Fresno State 40, Idaho 10
At Moscow, Idaho, Fresno State's Joe Fernandez returned a punt 72 yards for a touchdown, and Jaron Fairman returned a blocked punt for another score in a game that was determined by special teams play.
The Bulldogs (5-1, 3-0 WAC) started slowly in the first half, but scored 24 straight points and held Idaho scoreless in the second half to get the win.
Fresno State quarterback Paul Pinegar was 21-of-33 for 228 yards and a touchdown.
SEESAW CONTEST: The Pistons remain top of the Eastern Conference after battling to a win over the Hawks in a game that saw the lead change 27 times The Phoenix Suns on Monday shrugged off an injury to Devin Booker to end the Los Angeles Lakers’ seven-game winning streak with an emphatic 125-108 victory on the road. Booker exited in the first quarter, but the loss of the star point guard did little to halt the flow of Phoenix points over the remainder of the game. Dillon Brooks led the Phoenix scoring with 33 points, while Collin Gillespie added 28 — including eight three-pointers — as the Suns romped to victory. The Lakers were left ruing a colossal 22 turnovers — at a cost of 32 Suns points — on a
New Zealand yesterday reached 231-9 at stumps on a first day of the first Test against the West Indies shortened by rain after Justin Greaves triggered a middle-order collapse with the wicket of Kane Williamson. New Zealand tumbled from 94-1 to 148-6 on a bowler-friendly wicket after Williamson was dismissed for 52, his 38th Test half-century. Michael Bracewell and Nathan Smith arrested the slide with a 52-run stand for the seventh wicket. Smith eventually fell for 23 and Bracewell for 47. After Matt Henry went for 8, Zak Foulkes and Jacob Duffy were both on 4 when bad light stopped play after 70
Kylian Mbappe on Wednesday scored twice and had an assist as Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 to end a three-match winless streak in La Liga. Eduardo Camavinga also found the net for Madrid as they moved back within one point of Barcelona, who beat Atletico Madrid 3-1 on Tuesday. Both 19th-round matches were moved forward because Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Club and Atletico Madrid are to play in the Supercopa de Espana semi-finals in Saudi Arabia next month. Real Madrid were coming off league draws against Girona, Elche and Rayo Vallecano. It was their second win in their past six matches in
IN-HOUSE BUSINESS: LA Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said that the reason for the team’s poor form was not due to Paul, but the player was not a good fit for them Chris Paul’s return stint with the Los Angeles Clippers has come to an abrupt and stunning end, with the franchise parting ways with one of its greatest players in a late-night meeting on Wednesday that adds another layer of drama to the team’s terrible start this season. The news was delivered in a meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, that ended at about 2am, Clippers basketball operations president Lawrence Frank said. Frank said he made the decision to sever ties with Paul on Sunday then told the franchise’s career assist leader that he needed to see him on Tuesday in Atlanta. Frank did not confirm
RSS