No. 23 Texas A&M tops Fresno St. in three OTs
Associated Press
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COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M turned to its powerful running back to stave off Fresno State yesterday.
Jorvorskie Lane rushed for two of his four touchdowns in the second and third overtimes as the 23rd-ranked Aggies beat the feisty Bulldogs, 47-45, in the first three-OT game in A&M history.
The 6-foot, 268-pound Lane barreled for his final touchdown from 3 yards out, then charged into the end zone again for the winning 2-point conversion on A&M's final possession.
"I knew what the situation was," said Lane, who rushed for 121 yards. "They couldn't stop us in the running game."
The Aggies (2-0) rushed on 18 of their 19 plays in the three overtimes. Ten of them were handoffs to Lane, who's heavier than three of Fresno State's four starting defensive linemen.
"When they went to pound the big guy on us, I knew we were in trouble," said Fresno State coach Pat Hill.
With A&M leading 45-29, Fresno State quarterback Tom Brandstater found tight end Bear Pascoe in the end zone to cut the Aggies' lead to 2. On the 2-point conversion try — required starting in the third overtime — Brandstater overthrew receiver Marlon Moore in the corner of the end zone.
Fresno State plays at Hawai'i Nov. 10.
NO. 2 LSU 48, NO. 9 VIRGINIA TECH 7
BATON ROUGE, La. — Jacob Lester and Keiland Williams each scored two touchdowns and the host Tigers (2-0) scored on their first five possessions to cruise past the uncharacteristically hapless Hokies (1-1).
Williams highlighted an overwhelming first half for the Tigers with a career-long 67-yard run for a touchdown.
LSU had a 24-0 lead after the first 18 minutes and outgained Tech 327-40 in the first half.
NO. 3 WEST VIRGINIA 48, MARSHALL 23
Huntington, W.Va — Pat White threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, Steve Slaton rushed for two scores and the visiting Mountaineers (2-0) scored 42 points in the second half to beat the Thundering Herd (0-2).
Held to three first downs and 118 total yards in the opening half, heavy favorite West Virginia scored on its first three possessions of the third quarter and handed Marshall its worst home loss since it opened Joan C. Edwards Stadium opened in 1991.
NO. 4 FLORIDA 59, TROY 31
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Tim Tebow threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more scores to lead the defending national champion and host Gators (2-0) to an easy victory over the Trojans (0-2).
Florida scored on all seven possessions in the first half, moving the ball with relative ease against Troy's soft zone. Florida had two turnovers and two punts in the second half, and the Trojans took advantage. Omar Haugabook ran for a touchdown, then hooked up with Austin Silvoy for two scores as Troy whittled into the lead.
NO. 5 OKLAHOMA 51, MIAMI 13
NORMAN, Okla. — Sam Bradford tied a school record with five touchdown passes and Reggie Smith returned a fumble 61 yards for a score to power the host Sooners (2-0) past the Hurricanes (1-1) for the first time in four games since 1988.
Bradford completed 19 of 25 passes for 205 yards in his second career start, and Malcolm Kelly caught three of his touchdown passes as the Sooners evened the all-time series at three games each.
NO. 5 WISCONSIN 20, UNLV 13
LAS VEGAS — Tyler Donovan capped a 10-play, 61-yard drive by scoring on a 29-yard boot leg with 1:53 to play, helping the Badgers (2-0) beat the Rebels (1-1).
UNLV, a four touchdown underdog, took a 13-12 midway through the fourth on a 35-yard field goal from Sergio Aguayo.
UNLV will host Hawai'i on Saturday.
NO. 7 TEXAS 34, NO. 19 TCU 13
AUSTIN, Texas — Colt McCoy passed for a touchdown, set up another with a long run, and Brandon Foster returned a fumble by Horned Frogs' (1-1) punter Derek Walsh for a TD as the Longhorns (2-0) dominated the second half.
McCoy, who threw two first-half interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown, cut a 10-0 TCU lead in the third quarter with a 33-yard strike to Nate Jones. His 23-yard scramble early in the fourth set up the go-ahead score before the Longhorns started piling it on.
NO. 10 CALIFORNIA 34, COLORADO STATE 28
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — DeSean Jackson had 141 all-purpose yards, including a 73-yard reverse for a touchdown, helping the visiting Golden Bears (2-0) hold off the Rams (0-2), who scored two touchdowns 53 seconds apart to turn a 34-14 deficit into a 34-28 nail-biter with 2:54 remaining.
The Golden Bears put Rams quarterback Caleb Hanie under duress almost the entire second half and forced him into three turnovers, including Justin Moye's interception in the fourth quarter that set up James Montgomery's 2-yard TD run to make it 27-14.
SOUTH CAROLINA 16, NO. 11 GEORGIA 12: Ryan Succop kicked three field goals, Cory Boyd ran for the game's only touchdown and Gamecocks' coach Steve Spurrier did it to the Bulldogs again at Athens, Ga.
The ol' ball coach, who beat the Bulldogs regularly while at Florida, guided South Carolina to an upset of Georgia, signaling the Gamecocks as a possible title contender in the Southeastern Conference.
NO. 12 OHIO STATE 20, AKRON 2: The host Buckeyes (2-0) allowed just three first downs, forced the Zips (1-1) to punt 14 times, including after 12 consecutive three-and-out series, and pulled away in the second half at Columbus, Ohio.
The Buckeyes led Akron 3-2 at the half before putting the game away on Brandon Saine's 6-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Todd Boeckman's 13-yard scoring pass to Brian Robiskie in the fourth.
No. 13 UCLA 27, BYU 17: Chris Markey ran for a late touchdown, Trey Brown returned an interception 56 yards for a score and the Bruins (2-0) held off the Cougars (1-1), who trailed 20-3 at intermission, but opened the second half with a pair of touchdown drives at Pasadena, Calif.
UCLA used a slow, 45-yard drive in the final three minutes that included a pass interference penalty on BYU and a Ben Olson completion on third-and-7. Markey's 3-yard touchdown run with 1:12 remaining sealed the win.
NO. 14 PENN STATE 31, NOTRE DAME 10: The Nittany Lions (2-0) bottled up freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen in his starting debut, Derrick Williams had a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown and Austin Scott ran for two second-half scores in a rout of the Irish (0-2) at State College, Pa.
The much-ballyhooed Clausen finished 17 of 32 passing for 144 yards and an interception as Notre Dame opened the season 0-2 for the first time since 2001, when it lost its first three games.
NO. 16 NEBRASKA 20, WAKE FOREST 17: Sam Keller completed 24 of 41 passes for 258 yards and a touchdown, and Zackary Bowman had an interception in the end zone as the visiting Cornhuskers (2-0) beat the Demon Deacons (0-2) at Winston-Salem, N.C.
South Florida 26, No. 17 Auburn 23: After the host Tigers (1-1) kicked a field goal to start the overtime, Jessie Hester caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Matt Grothe to lift the Bulls (2-0) at Auburn, Ala.
NO. 21 GEORGIA TECH 69, SAMFORD 14: Tashard Choice ran for 110 yards and two touchdowns, including a 73-yard scamper in the first quarter and the host Yellow Jackets (2-0) scored its most points in a half — 45-0 — since 1916, blowing out the Bulldogs (1-1) in Atlanta.
No. 24 Tennessee 39, Southern Miss 19: Erik Ainge completed 23 of 36 passes for 276 yards and two TDs and Arian Foster ran for two scores as the host Volunteers (1-1) beat the Golden Eagles (1-1) at Knoxville, Tenn.
NO. 25 CLEMSON 49, LOUISIANA-MONROE 26: Cullen Harper completed 20 of 26 passes for 270 yards and a school-record tying five touchdowns, as the host Tigers routed the Warhawks (0-2) at Clemson, S.C., to start 2-0 for the second time in three seasons.