No. 2 Ohio State 24,
Illinois 13
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — When Terrelle Pryor sprinted out of the locker room late in the third quarter, the sound that came from several thousand red-shirted Buckeye fans was pure relief.
Pryor was back and the game, surely, was in hand.
Good thing they didn’t realize how bad Pryor’s left quadriceps felt.
The Heisman Trophy candidate returned from a leg injury that briefly knocked him from the game, then led No. 2 Ohio State on two drives that sealed a come-from-behind, 24-13 win over Illinois on Saturday.
Pryor was helped by the pounding of tailback Dan Herron and a Buckeye defense that held Illinois to 251 total yards and, after the first quarter, a pair of field goals.
No. 5 TCU 27,
Colorado State 0
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — TCU quarterback Andy Dalton and his offensive mates didn’t have one of their better days.
With this defense, though, it was plenty good.
TCU’s swarming defense forced two turnovers and bailed out the fifth-ranked Frogs in a 27-0 win over Colorado State on Saturday.
The Frogs (5-0, 1-0 Mountain West) were making their first trip out of the state of Texas this season and struggled early, leading just 6-0 at halftime.
No matter, the defense had Dalton’s back until the offense awoke from the doldrums.
Ed Wesley scored two touchdowns in the third quarter as TCU pulled away from the Rams (1-4, 0-1), who came in as heavy underdogs.
No. 8 Oklahoma 28, No. 21 Texas 20
DALLAS — Landry Jones threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns, DeMarco Murray ran for two scores on hurry-up plays and No. 8 Oklahoma survived another fourth-quarter swoon Saturday to hand No. 21 Texas its second straight loss, 28-20 in the Red River Rivalry.
The Sooners (5-0, 1-0 Big 12) jumped out to a two-touchdown lead in the first quarter, then got bailed out by a muffed punt late for a second straight week. The Longhorns had scored 10 straight points and were set to get the ball back in the final 62 seconds when Aaron Williams dropped the punt and James Winchester recovered it to let Oklahoma run out the clock.
Two plays earlier, Jared Norton had a chance to give Texas (3-2, 1-1) the ball inside the Oklahoma 10 but instead knocked Jones’ fumble out of bounds.
Until the wild finish, the Sooners seemed in control from the very start.
No. 10 Auburn 52, Louisiana-Monroe 3
AUBURN, Ala.— Auburn’s Cam Newton faked a handoff and then heaved a throw to Emory Blake, running all by himself down the middle of the field.
The result: a 94-yard touchdown that was the longest play from scrimmage in school history. It was that kind of day for the 10th-ranked Tigers, who routed 52-3 Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday.
Everything worked. Auburn (5-0) didn’t even need Newton to run.
But the Tigers didn’t let up against the heavy underdogs, either.
Newton completed 14 of 19 passes for 245 yards with three touchdowns before sitting out most of the second half for the Tigers, who finally got a stress-free win after three straight close ones. The Southeastern Conference’s top rusher going into Saturday, Newton didn’t have a carry other than a sack, minimizing the punishment he absorbed.
No. 24 Michigan State 34, No. 11 Wisconsin 24
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Kirk Cousins lofted a 1-yard touchdown pass to B.J. Cunningham on fourth down with 2:43 remaining, icing No. 24 Michigan State’s second straight win without coach Mark Dantonio, 34-24 over No. 11 Wisconsin on Saturday.
Dantonio, who had a mild heart attack Sept. 19, planned to return for this game, but the Spartans (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) announced hours before kickoff that he had been hospitalized again Thursday because of a blood clot in his leg. School officials said his prognosis was excellent.
Michigan State overcame three first-half turnovers to remain unbeaten heading into next week’s showdown at Michigan.
With the Spartans leading 27-24 late in the fourth quarter, Wisconsin (4-1, 0-1) couldn’t stop them when they decided to go for the touchdown on fourth down near the goal line. Cunningham’s touchdown catch capped a 15-play, 84-yard drive that used up 7:57. Michigan State kept the drive alive with a 35-yard screen pass to Larry Caper on third-and-11 from its own 28.
No. 12 LSU 16,
Tennessee 14
BATON ROUGE, La.— No. 12 LSU blew one final chance, then made the most of another.
The Tigers remained unbeaten with a 16-14 victory over Tennessee on Saturday after a Volunteers penalty for too many players on the field gave them a second shot at victory. LSU (5-0, 3-0 SEC) was confused on third-and-goal from the 1 and allowed the clock to run nearly to zero before a botched snap sent Tennessee players streaming onto the field in celebration as time ran out.
But the Volunteers (2-3, 0-2) had 13 defensive players on the field when the ball was snapped, which allowed LSU to run one more play from the 1. Stevan Ridley punched in a 1-yard touchdown for the wild win.
Ridley finished with 123 yards rushing. Matt Simms and Tauren Poole scored on short runs for Tennessee.
Jordan Jefferson had an 83-yard TD run on LSU’s first offensive play.
No. 16 Miami (FL) 30, Clemson 21
CLEMSON, S.C. — Quarterback Jacory Harris got No. 16 Miami ahead. Cornerback Brandon Harris made sure that lead stood up in the Hurricanes’ Atlantic Coast Conference opener.
Jacory Harris tied a career best with four first-half touchdown passes while teammate Harris stuffed Andre Ellington on fourth down to end Clemson’s best chance to rally back in Miami’s 30-21 victory on Saturday.
The Hurricanes (3-1, 1-0 ACC) have long grown accustomed to Jacory Harris’ heroics. This time, they saw a second Harris and their top-ranked ACC defense take center stage.
No. 19 Michigan 42, Indiana 35
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Denard Robinson ran 4 yards for a TD with 17 seconds left Saturday to give No. 19 Michigan a 42-35 victory at Indiana and complete another spectacular performance by the Wolverines’ star quarterback.
Robinson ran 19 times for 217 yards and two scores, completed 10-of-16 passes for 277 yards and three scores and the game-winning drive was almost all about him.
Ben Chappell went 45 of 64 for 480 yards, all school records, and three TDs. Tandon Doss had 15 receptions for 221 yards for Indiana (3-1, 0-1).
The Hoosiers tied the score at 35 when Chappell hooked up with Darius Willis on a 19-yard TD pass with 1:15 to go.
But Robinson answered immediately. With a pass rusher in his face, he found a leaping Junior Hemingway for a 42-yard completion with 21 seconds to go. Robinson ran it in on the next play for the Wolverines (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten).
Virginia Tech 41,
No. 23 NC State 30
RALEIGH, N.C.— Tyrod Taylor threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Jarrett Boykin with 1:27 left, and Virginia Tech rallied past No. 23 North Carolina State 41-30 on Saturday.
Taylor finished 12 of 24 for 123 yards with three touchdown passes and rushed for 121 yards to lead the Hokies (3-2, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) back from a 17-0 deficit.
Darren Evans rushed for 160 yards and two TDs, David Wilson returned a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown and Jayron Hosley had three interceptions.
Russell Wilson was 21 of 49 for 362 yards with three touchdown passes for the Wolfpack (4-1, 1-1), whose first appearance in the national rankings since 2003 likely will be a short one.
Josh Czajkowski’s 42-yard field goal put N.C. State up 30-28 with 4:42 left.
