TOP 25: Oregon escapes Bay Area with 15-13 win over Cal

BERKELEY, Calif. - Jeff Maehl caught a 29-yard touchdown pass and No. 1 Oregon got stellar effort from its defense and a huge break on a missed field goal to stay unbeaten with a 15-13 win over Cal.

Cliff Harris returned a punt 64 yards for the only touchdown in the first half by the Ducks (10-0, 7-0 Pac-10), who wobbled on the road to the BCS title game.

Giorgio Tavecchio missed a 29-yard field goal in the fourth quarter for Cal that would have given the Golden Bears a 16-15 lead. The miss came after he was called for a false start that wiped a 24-yard field goal off the board.

No. 2 Auburn 49,

Georgia 31

AUBURN, Ala. - Cam Newton responded to allegations of wrongdoing by passing for two touchdowns and running for two more to lead Auburn into the SEC championship game.

The Tigers (11-0, 7-0) will face South Carolina for the conference title Dec. 4 in Atlanta, and have their eyes on a national championship.

Newton carried 30 times for 151 yards and completed 12 of 15 passes for 148 yards.

No. 3 TCU 40,

San Diego State 35

FORT WORTH, Texas - Andy Dalton threw three touchdown passes to Jeremy Kerley as TCU rallied from an early two-touchdown deficit, then held on to beat San Diego State.

The Horned Frogs (11-0, 7-0 Mountain West) won their 20th consecutive home game and clinched at least a share of the conference title.

No. 5 LSU 51,

Louisiana-Monroe 0

BATON ROUGE, La. - Ron Brooks returned an interception for a score, Lavar Edwards brought back a fumble for another, and LSU's (9-1) defense dominated.

No. 6 Wisconsin 83, Indiana 20

MADISON, Wis. - Montee Ball ran for three touchdowns in his first start, replacing injured running back John Clay, and Scott Tolzien threw for three more scores as Wisconsin matched the highest-scoring game by a Big Ten team in 60 years.

The Badgers (9-1, 5-1) put up the most points by an FBS school this season and matched the highest scoring total by a team in a Big Ten conference game since Ohio State's 83-21 victory over Iowa in 1950.

No. 7 Stanford 17,

Arizona State 13

TEMPE, Ariz. - Andrew Luck threw for 292 yards and engineered a long fourth-quarter scoring drive to set up Owen Marecic's second 1-yard touchdown dive.

Stanford (9-1, 6-1 Pac-10) labored against Arizona State's gang-tackling most of the night before moving 85 yards in 10 plays to set up Marecic's bulldozing TD run with just over 5 minutes left.

No. 8 Ohio State 38,

Penn State 14

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Devon Torrence tipped and snagged an interception and returned it 34 yards for the go-ahead touchdown to turn the tide for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State, which trailed 14-3 at half, added scores when a long pass into double coverage ricocheted off a defender to Dane Sanzenbacher for a 58-yard score and Travis Howard picked off a pass and brought it back 30 yards, also in the fourth quarter.

No. 9 Nebraska 20, Kansas 3

LINCOLN, Neb. - Rex Burkhead and Roy Helu Jr. ran for touchdowns and Nebraska's defense held Kansas to 87 total yards.

No. 11 Alabama 30,

No. 17 Mississippi St. 10

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Greg McElroy passed for 227 yards, including a 78-yard touchdown to Mark Ingram, and Alabama rolled over Mississippi State.

No. 12 Ok. State 33,

Texas 16

AUSTIN, Texas - Brandon Weeden passed for 409 yards and Kendall Hunter ran for two touchdowns as Oklahoma State ended a 12-year losing streak to Texas.

The win keeps surging Oklahoma State (9-1, 5-1) in first place in the Big 12 South with two games to play. The Cowboys have never won the division.

Northwestern 21,

No. 13 Iowa 17

EVANSTON, Ill. - Dan Persa ruptured his Achilles' tendon after throwing the winning pass, and Northwestern handed No. 13 Iowa another devastating loss.

Persa, who threw for 318 yards, capped an 85-yard TD drive with a 6-yard pass to Jeremy Ebert with 6:21 to go to bring the Wildcats within three. He finished a 91-yard drive with a 20-yard TD pass to Demetrius Fields with 1:22 to play.

No. 14 Arkansas 58,

UTEP 21

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Ryan Mallett threw for a school-record five touchdowns and ran for another as Arkansas defeated Texas-El Paso 58-21 on Saturday.

Knile Davis added a career-best 182 yards rushing on just 11 carries for the No. 14 Razorbacks (8-2, 4-2 Southeastern Conference).

Notre Dame 28,

No. 15 Utah 3

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Freshman Tommy Rees threw three touchdown passes in his first start and Notre Dame used two Utah special teams mistakes to rout the slumping Utes.

Returning from a week off, Notre Dame (5-5) moved within one win of becoming bowl eligible. Utah (8-2), meanwhile, was still reeling from its 47-7 loss to TCU a week earlier. The victory was Notre Dame's first over a ranked team since 2006, when the Irish defeated Penn State.

No. 16 Virginia Tech 26, North Carolina 10

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Tyrod Taylor hit Marcus Davis with a pair of third-quarter TD passes to lead Virginia Tech.

Taylor threw for 249 yards while the defense locked down the Tar Heels, helping the Hokies (8-2, 6-0 ACC) improve to 4-0 in Chapel Hill since joining the league in 2004.

USC 24, No. 18 Arizona 21

TUCSON, Ariz. - Marc Tyler ran for a career-high 160 yards and Southern California climbed into a tie with Arizona (7-3, 4-3) for third in the Pac-10 .

Matt Barkley passed for one touchdown and sneaked for another as the Trojans (7-3, 4-3 Pac-10) jumped ahead 14-0 and never relinquished the lead.

No. 19 Oklahoma 45,

Texas tech 7

NORMAN, Okla. - Ryan Broyles caught three of Landry Jones' five touchdown passes and broke a few more Oklahoma records.

Broyles caught eight passes for 119 yards and broke Mark Clayton's career records for receptions and touchdown catches at Oklahoma (8-2, 4-2 Big 12).

No. 20 Missouri 38,

Kansas State 28

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Blaine Gabbert accounted for three touchdown in a strong effort, while the Missouri defense made just as many big plays against error-prone Kansas State.

The Tigers (8-2, 4-2 Big 12) capitalized on three fumble recoveries, two of them huge swing plays, and scored 17 straight points to put away the Wildcats (6-3, 3-4).

No. 22 S. Carolina 36,

No. 24 Florida 14

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Marcus Lattimore ran 40 times for a career-high 212 yards and three touchdowns, Stephen Garcia played turnover-free and Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks upset Florida to clinch the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division.

The Gamecocks won for the second time in 19 tries against Florida (6-4, 4-4), snapped an 0-for-12 streak in Gainesville and earned a spot in the league title game for the first time. South Carolina (7-3, 5-3 SEC) will play second-ranked Auburn on Dec. 4, with the winner advancing to the Bowl Championship Series.

No. 23 Texas A&M 42, Baylor 30

WACO, Texas - Cyrus Gray ran for 137 yards and scored three of his career-high four touchdowns in the second half as Texas A&M rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit .

The Aggies (7-3, 4-2 Big 12) trailed 30-21 at halftime before Gray scored on runs of 13 and 10 yards in the third quarter to give Texas A&M its first lead at 35-30. Baylor (7-4, 4-3) had been up 30-14 midway through the second quarter after Jay Finley's third touchdown.

Southern Miss 31,

No. 25 UCF 21

ORLANDO, Fla. - Austin Davis threw for 264 yards and four touchdowns, helping Southern Mississippi ruin Central Florida's first game as a ranked team.

The victory keeps the Eagles in the race for Conference USA's East Division title.