Ohio State Defense Swamps Penn State, 28-9

Ohio State is still the one.

Georgia's upset of LSU, Nebraska's narrow escape against Oklahoma State and a few other close calls shuffled the college football rankings this week.

But the No. 1 Buckeyes held firm, thanks to a stingy defense that turned a fumble and a blocked punt into touchdowns, and beat Penn State 28-9 on a rainy Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.

"I look at it as a solid win over the No. 7 team in the country," Ohio State coach John Cooper said after his team held the Nittany Lions to 181 total yards.

"I think we've beaten three real good, solid teams this year."

That would be West Virginia, Missouri and Penn State, all Top 25 teams. With a solid grip on the top spot it has held since the preseason poll, Ohio State (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) is set for another national title run.

The toughest game over the next six weeks appears to be at home against Michigan State on Nov. 7. Then comes Michigan on Nov. 21. The Wolverines are 8-1-1 against Cooper-coached Ohio State teams.

No. 2 Nebraska (5-0) nearly dropped off the road to the Fiesta Bowl--the Bowl Championship Series' designated title game--but defensive end Mike Rucker stopped Nathan Simmons at the I on the last play of the game and the Cornhuskers beat the Cowboys 24-17 at Arrowhead Stadium.

"Sometimes your whole season comes down to one play, and sometimes it comes down to one foot" Rucker said.

He was referring to a last-second, game-tying TD catch by Matt Davison against Missouri in '97 that came after a Husker player's foot kept the ball alive. Nebraska won in overtime, 45-38.

The Huskers extended the nation's longest major-college winning streak to 19 games and kept the Cowboys winless against them since 1961--a 35-game stretch. But Nebraska looked beatable after running for just 73 yard--240 under their average.

At Baton Rouge, La., freshman Quincy Carter hit on 27 of 34 passes for 318 yards and two TDs as Georgia (4-0) surprised LSU 28-21. The Bulldogs moved from No. 12 to No. 7 in this week's AP poll and play host to No. 4 Tennessee on Saturday. LSU dropped from No. 6 to No. 11.

The Vols (4-0, 2-0 SEC) had a tough time at Auburn before winning 17-9 while Florida State and Florida both struggled--the Seminoles beat Maryland 24-10 and the Gators hung on at Alabama 16-10

In this week's Top 25, UCLA moved up a spot to No. 3 after beating Washington State 49-17, while Florida moved up two spots to No. 6 and Penn State fell six places to No. 13.

In next Saturday's top matchups, it's Tennessee at Georgia, UCLA at Arizona and Kansas State at Colorado.

In other Top 25 games, it was: No. 9 Virginia 52, San Jose State 14; No. 10 Arizona 31, Washington 28; No. 12 Wisconsin 24, Indiana 20; No. 14 Colorado 27, Oklahoma 25; No. 16 West Virginia 45, Navy 24; No. 18 Texas A&M 24, Kansas 21; No. 19 Southern California 35, Arizona State 24; No. 20 Arkansas 27, Kentucky 20; No. 21 Missouri 35, Northwestern State 14; and No. 22 Notre Dame 35, Stanford 17.

No. 1 Ohio St. 28, No. 13 Penn St. 9

In a six-minute span covering the second and third periods, the Buckeyes scored three TDs to pull away from the Nittany Lions (3-1, 0-1).

Linebacker Jerry Rudzinski recovered Penn State quarterback Kevin Thompson's fumble in the end zone and Joe Germaine threw a 20-yard TD pass to Michael Wiley to put Ohio State ahead 14-3 at halftime, Then, Percy King blocked Pat Pidgeon's punt, lost control of the ball in the end zone and Joe Cooper pounced on it for a score and a 21-3 lead.

AP TOP 25 Rank  Team  Record  Points 1.  Ohio St.(66)  4-0  1,746 2.  Nebraska (1)  5-0  1,640 3.  UCLA (1)  3-0  1.575 4.  Tennessee  4-0  1,541 5.  Kansas St. (2)  4-0  1,519 6.  Florida  4-1  1,326 7.  Georgia  4-0  1,313 8.  Florida St.  4-1  1,235 9.  Virginia  5-0  1,219 10.  Arizona  5-0  1,043 11.  LSU  3-1  1,010 12.  Wisconsin  5-0  937 13.  Penn St.  3-1  894 14.  Colorado  5-0  755 15.  Oregon  4-0  747 16.  West Virginia  3-1  728 17.  Virginia Tech  4-0  637 18.  Texas A&M  4-1  594 19.  Southern Cal  4-1  462 20.  Arkansas  4-0  404 21.  Missouri  3-1  288 22.  Notre Dame  3-1  274 23.  N. Carolina St.  3-1  262 24.  Syracuse  2-2  169 25.  Tulane  4-0  114

No. 2 Nebraska 24, Okla. St. 17

At Kansas City, Mo., Joe Walker's 73-yard puntreturn for a TD with 7:29 left broke a 17-17 game,but the Cowboys (2-2, 11 Big 12) nearly forced OT.

On fourth-and-4 at the Huskers 12 with 14seconds left, Tony Lindsay hit Sean Love with an11-yard pass. After spiking the ball to stop theclock with five seconds left, Simmons ran up themiddle but was stopped by Rucker and a swarm ofdefenders.

"We didn't come up here for a moral victory,"Cowboys coach Bob Simmons said. "We had a goodgame plan and we though we could execute the gameplan. We came up here to win."

No. 3 UCLA 49, Wash. St. 17

At Pasadena, Calif., Cade McNown threw for 205yards and a TD and ran for another score as theBruins (3-0, 1-0 Pac-10) ran their school-recordwining streak to 13 games.

Jermaine Lewis and Keith Brown each ran for twoTDs UCLA avenged last year's 37-24 the Cougars(3-2, 0-2).

No. 4 Tennessee 17, Auburn 9

At Auburn, Ala., Shaun Ellis returned aninterception 90 yards for a TD and the Vols (4-0,2-0 SEC) capitalized on three Tigers' turnovers towin the rematch of last year's SEC title game.Auburn (1-3, 1-2) trailed 17-0.

No. 6 Florida 16, Alabama 10

At Tuscaloosa, Ala., Travis McGriff caught ninepasses for 213 yards, including a 32-yard TD fromJesse Palmer, for the Gators (4-1, 2-1 SEC).Alabama (2-2, 1-1) was at the Florida 34 with 19seconds left, but Tony George intercepted on thenext play.

"The Gators don't play like champions anymore,"Florida coach Steve Spurrier lamented after histeam came away with just three field goals on sixtrips inside the Alabama 12. The Crimson Tide fellto 2-2, 1-1.

No. 8 Fla. St. 24, Maryland 10

At College Park, Md., Sebastian Janikowskikicked five field goals and Chris Weinke passedfor 261 yards as the Seminoles (4-1, 2-1 ACC)overcame their own mistakes. Florida State ledonly 16-10 at halftime against a team it hasdominated for years.

No. 9 Va. 52, San Jose St. 14

At Charlottesville, Va., Thomas Jones ran for203 yards and two of Virginia's six rushing TDs.Aaron Brooks also rushed for two scores as theCavs (5-0) gained 446 yards on the ground.

Other Games

At Bloomington, Ind., Ron Dayne, who had 130yards and TD in Wisconsin's 24-20 win overIndiana, became the sixth player in major-collegehistory to rush for 4,000 career yards as ajunior. Dayne now has 4,083 yards as the Badgersmoved to 5-0.

At Seattle, Ortege Jenkins scored on a 9-yardrun--somersaulting over three defenders into theend zone--with four seconds left as Arizona beatWashington 31-28. The Wildcats (5-0, 2-0 Pac-10)are riding a nine-game wining streak, while theHuskies (2-2, 1-1) fell out of the Top 25.

Colorado (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) survived atOklahoma, winning 27-25 as Mike Moschetti threwthree TD passes.

Marc Bulger threw for 354 yards and two TDs asWest Virginia (3-1) rallied for a 45-24 win overNavy (1-3) at Annapolis, Md. Amos Zereoue added 95yards and two TDs for WVU, which trailed 17-3 inthe second quarter.

At Lawrence, Kan., Dante Hall ran for 177 yardsand three TDs, including the game-winner with 3:24left, as Texas A&M (4-1, 1-0 Big 12) beat Kansas(2-3, 0-3) 24-21....At Los Angeles, IfeanyiOhalete returned a blocked punt 14 yards for a TDto start a 21-point fourth quarter as USC (4-1,2-0 Pac-10) beat Arizona State (2-3, 1-2) 35-24.J.R. Redmond had a school-record 350 all-purposeyards...At Little Rock, Ark., Clint Stoerner threwtwo fourth-quarter TD passes and David Barrett setthe tying score with a 62-yard interception returnas Arkansas (4-0, 2-0 SEC) rallied for a 27-20 winover Kentucky (3-2, 0-2). Tim Couch threw for acareer-high 499 yards and had three TDs. He alsobroke his own SEC records with 47 completions and66 attempts...At South Bend, Ind., quarterbackJarious Jackson ran for 100 yards and threw for163 as Notre Dame (3-1) beat Stanford (1-4)35-17...At Iowa City, Jay Feely kicked a 22-yardfield goal with 8:19 left to give Michigan (3-2,2-0 Big Ten) a 12-9 win over Iowa (2-3, 1-1).

Elsewhere, Prairie View's winning streak washalted at one game after a 55-40 loss to Gramblingat the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The Panthers' NCAArecord 80-game losing streak ended last week witha win over Langston...Ricky Williams ran for aschool-record 350 yards and had five TDs as Texasbeat Iowa State 54-33. Williams set NCAA recordsfor career TDs (65) and points by a non-kicker(394)....Tim Rattay threw for 539 yards and sevenTDs--five to Troy Edwards--as Louisiana Tech beatBoise State 63.2

No. 2 Nebraska 24, Okla. St. 17

At Kansas City, Mo., Joe Walker's 73-yard puntreturn for a TD with 7:29 left broke a 17-17 game,but the Cowboys (2-2, 11 Big 12) nearly forced OT.

On fourth-and-4 at the Huskers 12 with 14seconds left, Tony Lindsay hit Sean Love with an11-yard pass. After spiking the ball to stop theclock with five seconds left, Simmons ran up themiddle but was stopped by Rucker and a swarm ofdefenders.

"We didn't come up here for a moral victory,"Cowboys coach Bob Simmons said. "We had a goodgame plan and we though we could execute the gameplan. We came up here to win."

No. 3 UCLA 49, Wash. St. 17

At Pasadena, Calif., Cade McNown threw for 205yards and a TD and ran for another score as theBruins (3-0, 1-0 Pac-10) ran their school-recordwining streak to 13 games.

Jermaine Lewis and Keith Brown each ran for twoTDs UCLA avenged last year's 37-24 the Cougars(3-2, 0-2).

No. 4 Tennessee 17, Auburn 9

At Auburn, Ala., Shaun Ellis returned aninterception 90 yards for a TD and the Vols (4-0,2-0 SEC) capitalized on three Tigers' turnovers towin the rematch of last year's SEC title game.Auburn (1-3, 1-2) trailed 17-0.

No. 6 Florida 16, Alabama 10

At Tuscaloosa, Ala., Travis McGriff caught ninepasses for 213 yards, including a 32-yard TD fromJesse Palmer, for the Gators (4-1, 2-1 SEC).Alabama (2-2, 1-1) was at the Florida 34 with 19seconds left, but Tony George intercepted on thenext play.

"The Gators don't play like champions anymore,"Florida coach Steve Spurrier lamented after histeam came away with just three field goals on sixtrips inside the Alabama 12. The Crimson Tide fellto 2-2, 1-1.

No. 8 Fla. St. 24, Maryland 10

At College Park, Md., Sebastian Janikowskikicked five field goals and Chris Weinke passedfor 261 yards as the Seminoles (4-1, 2-1 ACC)overcame their own mistakes. Florida State ledonly 16-10 at halftime against a team it hasdominated for years.

No. 9 Va. 52, San Jose St. 14

At Charlottesville, Va., Thomas Jones ran for203 yards and two of Virginia's six rushing TDs.Aaron Brooks also rushed for two scores as theCavs (5-0) gained 446 yards on the ground.

Other Games

At Bloomington, Ind., Ron Dayne, who had 130yards and TD in Wisconsin's 24-20 win overIndiana, became the sixth player in major-collegehistory to rush for 4,000 career yards as ajunior. Dayne now has 4,083 yards as the Badgersmoved to 5-0.

At Seattle, Ortege Jenkins scored on a 9-yardrun--somersaulting over three defenders into theend zone--with four seconds left as Arizona beatWashington 31-28. The Wildcats (5-0, 2-0 Pac-10)are riding a nine-game wining streak, while theHuskies (2-2, 1-1) fell out of the Top 25.

Colorado (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) survived atOklahoma, winning 27-25 as Mike Moschetti threwthree TD passes.

Marc Bulger threw for 354 yards and two TDs asWest Virginia (3-1) rallied for a 45-24 win overNavy (1-3) at Annapolis, Md. Amos Zereoue added 95yards and two TDs for WVU, which trailed 17-3 inthe second quarter.

At Lawrence, Kan., Dante Hall ran for 177 yardsand three TDs, including the game-winner with 3:24left, as Texas A&M (4-1, 1-0 Big 12) beat Kansas(2-3, 0-3) 24-21....At Los Angeles, IfeanyiOhalete returned a blocked punt 14 yards for a TDto start a 21-point fourth quarter as USC (4-1,2-0 Pac-10) beat Arizona State (2-3, 1-2) 35-24.J.R. Redmond had a school-record 350 all-purposeyards...At Little Rock, Ark., Clint Stoerner threwtwo fourth-quarter TD passes and David Barrett setthe tying score with a 62-yard interception returnas Arkansas (4-0, 2-0 SEC) rallied for a 27-20 winover Kentucky (3-2, 0-2). Tim Couch threw for acareer-high 499 yards and had three TDs. He alsobroke his own SEC records with 47 completions and66 attempts...At South Bend, Ind., quarterbackJarious Jackson ran for 100 yards and threw for163 as Notre Dame (3-1) beat Stanford (1-4)35-17...At Iowa City, Jay Feely kicked a 22-yardfield goal with 8:19 left to give Michigan (3-2,2-0 Big Ten) a 12-9 win over Iowa (2-3, 1-1).

Elsewhere, Prairie View's winning streak washalted at one game after a 55-40 loss to Gramblingat the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The Panthers' NCAArecord 80-game losing streak ended last week witha win over Langston...Ricky Williams ran for aschool-record 350 yards and had five TDs as Texasbeat Iowa State 54-33. Williams set NCAA recordsfor career TDs (65) and points by a non-kicker(394)....Tim Rattay threw for 539 yards and sevenTDs--five to Troy Edwards--as Louisiana Tech beatBoise State 63.2