No. 5 LSU 43, Mississippi 36
BATON ROUGE, La. — Jordan Jefferson passed for a career-high 254 yards, threw for one touchdown and ran for another, and LSU survived an upset bid by Mississippi.
LSU (10-1, 6-1 SEC) trailed 36-35 with 4:57 left when Patrick Peterson returned a kickoff 34 yards to midfield, setting up a game-winning drive that ended with Stevan Ridley’s third touchdown rushing.
LSU was heavily favored, but as usual, Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt found a way to make the Tigers nervous in a wild, seesaw game that featured 890 yards of offense by the two teams.
Brandon Bolden rushed for 91 yards and two TDs for Ole Miss (4-7, 1-6), which came in needing to win its final two games to be eligible for a bowl.
No. 6 Wisconsin 48,
Michigan 28
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Montee Ball and James White combined for 354 yards rushing and six touchdowns, leading Wisconsin one step closer to its first Big Ten championship since 1999.
If the Badgers (10-1, 6-1 Big Ten) beat Northwestern next week at home, they’ll will win at least a share of the title and likely earn a trip to a BCS bowl.
The Badgers won at the Big House for the first time since 1994 by building a 24-0 lead at halftime and essentially trading scores in the second half.
Ball ran for 173 yards and four TDs. White had 181 yards rushing and two scores. They allowed Wisconsin to overcome the loss of injured John Clay for the second straight week.
Wisconsin’s Scott Tolzien finished 14 of 15 for 201 yards with an interception.
Denard Robinson set two NCAA records for Michigan (7-4, 3-4), topping Beau Morgan’s major-college record for yards rushing by quarterbacks and became the first player in NCAA history with 1,500 yards rushing and 1,500 yards passing in one year. Morgan had 1,494 yards rushing for Air Force in 1996. Robinson beat that mark with a 12-yard run in the third quarter against the Badgers.
He was 16 of 25 for 239 yards with two TDs, an interception and ran for 121 yards and two scores.
No. 7 Stanford 48,
California 14
BERKELEY, Calif. — Andrew Luck threw two touchdown passes and led No. 7 Stanford to scores on all eight possessions he played as the Cardinal beat California for its most lopsided win in the Big Game in 80 years.
Luck came into this rivalry game looking to avenge the worst performance of his career in last year’s loss against the Golden Bears, when he completed 10 of 30 passes and threw a game-sealing interception deep in Cal territory with just over a minute left.
Boy, did he do that, giving Stanford (10-1, 7-1 Pac-10) just its second win in the past nine games against Cal (5-6, 3-5). The Cardinal did it in emphatic fashion 28 years to the day after being stunned on this same field by The Play.
Luck made sure there would be no dramatic finishes this time as he carved up the Pac-10’s top-ranked defense and tied Cal’s record set in 1975 for the most points scored in the rivalry.
No. 8 Ohio State 20,
No. 21 Iowa 17
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Dan Herron rushed for a 1-yard touchdown with 1:47 left and No. 8 Ohio State rallied to keep its hopes for a Rose Bowl bid alive.
Terrelle Pryor threw for 195 yards and a touchdown for the Buckeyes (10-1, 6-1 Big Ten), including a 14-yard run on fourth down to keep the game-winning drive alive.
No. 21 Iowa (7-4, 4-3) went ahead 17-10 early in the fourth quarter on freshman Marcus Coker’s 1-yard TD run. But Devin Barclay’s 48-yard field goal brought the Buckeyes within 17-13, and Pryor engineered a 76-yard drive despite DeVier Posey’s drop of a sure TD pass.
Ricky Stanzi had 195 yards passing and a touchdown for the Hawkeyes, who’ve let up a game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter of each of their defeats.
The game went to the fourth quarter tied at 10. The Buckeyes blinked first — then rallied behind Pryor for its 12th win in 13 tries over the disappointing Hawkeyes.
No. 11 Michigan State 35,
Purdue 31
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Kirk Cousins lunged into the end zone from 3 yards out with 4:32 remaining, and Michigan State kept its Rose Bowl hopes alive by rallying for a win.
The Spartans trailed 28-13 after three quarters and 31-20 midway through the fourth, but Cousins threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Mark Dell with 6:54 remaining, and a 2-point conversion made it 31-28.
Denicos Allen then blocked a punt, giving Michigan State (10-1, 6-1 Big Ten) the ball inside the 5 and setting up Cousins’ touchdown.
Purdue (4-7, 2-5) then drove to the Michigan State 20, but Rob Henry was intercepted on fourth down with less than a minute to play.
No. 14 Virginia Tech 31,
No. 24 Miami 17
MIAMI — Ryan Williams ran for 142 yards and two touchdowns, including a career-long 84-yarder in the fourth quarter, and Virginia Tech won the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Coastal Division title.
Virginia Tech (9-2, 7-0) will play for the ACC title Dec. 4, with a spot in the Orange Bowl at stake. Jayron Hosley’s eighth interception of the season with 9:01 left set up Tyrod Taylor’s 18-yard touchdown run that sealed the win and the Hokies’ fourth divisional title since the ACC adopted the format in 2005.
Danny Coale had four catches for 83 yards and a touchdown for Virginia Tech.
Lamar Miller rushed for a career-best 163 yards and a touchdown for Miami (7-4, 5-3), which has not won the ACC since joining in 2004.
No. 15 Missouri 14
Iowa State 0
AMES, Iowa — Blaine Gabbert threw a touchdown pass and No. 15 Missouri turned a fake punt into another score in a 14-0 victory over Iowa State on Saturday night.
On a chilly night in the heartland, Missouri (9-2, 5-2 Big 12) sputtered offensively for most of the game. But the Tigers’ defense remained stout and they made just enough plays with the ball to deny Iowa State (5-7, 3-5) the victory it needed for bowl eligibility.
No. 17 South Carolina 69, Troy 24
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Marcus Lattimore had three touchdowns and 102 yards rushing by halftime and South Carolina scored its most points under coach Steve Spurrier.
The Gamecocks (8-3) won the SEC East last week. With rival Clemson ahead next weekend, many in the crowd at Williams-Brice Stadium held their breath wondering if there would be a letdown.
South Carolina and Lattimore showed early that wouldn’t happen, scoring on runs of 17, 8 and 5 yards for a 21-0 lead less than 7 minutes in.
That gave Lattimore 19 touchdowns, surpassing Harold Green’s 16 for South Carolina’s single-season mark. Lattimore also moved one TD away from the SEC freshman record of 20 set by Tennessee’s Reggie Cobb in 1987.
Troy (5-5) had five turnovers, all which led to touchdowns.
No, 19 Nevada 52,
New Mexico State 6
RENO, Nev. — Vai Taua ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns and scored a third on a 79-yard pass to lead Nevada.
Colin Kaepernick completed 15 of 27 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a third for the Wolf Pack (10-1, 4-1 WAC), who won their 11th straight home game and ensured their first 10-win season since 1991.
Freshman Andrew Manley completed 19 of 39 passes for 220 yards for the Aggies (2-9, 1-6 WAC). But Nevada’s defense held New Mexico State to 89 yards rushing, sacked Manley five times and had two interceptions. The last one was returned 90 yards for a touchdown by Khalid Wooten with 5:17 left in the game.
