COLUMBUS, Ohio — All the elements were in place for an epic upset of No. 6 Ohio State by Navy.

"If Ohio State comes in totally focused on us, we had no chance," said Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo, a Radford High and University of Hawai'i alum. "We felt like we had them in the perfect storm."

The Buckeyes weathered that storm with the help of a college football rarity.

Brian Rolle intercepted a potential tying 2-point conversion in the closing minutes and returned it for two points the other way, helping the Buckeyes hold off Navy, 31-27, yesterday.

A crowd of 105,092 — the largest ever to see the Buckeyes open a season — sat in stunned silence after the 21-point underdog Midshipmen scored twice in 4 minutes to cut a 29-14 deficit to two points with 2:23 left.

Navy went for the tie, but Rolle stepped in front of Ricky Dobbs' pass and rumbled up the sideline to preserve the win in the Midshipmen's first trip to Ohio Stadium since 1931.

Navy will play at Hawai'i Nov. 28.

MORE NONCONFERENCE

Stanford 39, Washington State 13: Freshman quarterback Andrew Luck threw for 193 yards and Toby Gerhart and Chris Owusu each scored two touchdowns to lead the Cardinal over the Cougars at Pullman, Wash., in the Pac-10 opener for both. Washington State will host Hawai'i Saturday.

UNLV 38, Sacramento State 3: Channing Trotter rushed for 102 yards and three 1-yard touchdowns, quarterback Omar Clayton completed 13 of 17 passes for 213 yards and the Rebels' defense held the Hornets to 228 total yards at Las Vegas. UNLV will host Hawai'i Sept. 19.

Wisconsin 28, Northern Illinois 20: Wide receiver Isaac Anderson caught an 80-yard pass for a touchdown and ran for another score as the Badgers took a 28-6 lead before holding off the Huskies at Madison, Wis. The Badgers play at Hawai'i Dec. 5

WAC

No. 4 USC 56, San Jose State 3: Matt Barkley passed for 233 yards after a slow start in his Southern California debut, and the No. 4 Trojans' fleet of tailbacks ran for six touchdowns in a rout of the Spartans at Los Angeles.

Barkley, the first non-redshirt freshman to start a season opener at USC, went 15 for 19 with no interceptions. He was at his best handing off to his fellow Trojans, who pounded the Spartans with six consecutive TD drives after trailing 3-0 early in the second quarter. San Jose State will host Hawai'i Nov. 21.

Auburn 37, Louisiana Tech 13: Chris Todd and Terrell Zachery hooked up on a school-record 93-yard touchdown pass and freshman Onterio McCalebb rushed for 148 yards and a touchdown to help the Tigers and new coach Gene Chizik beat the Bulldogs at Auburn, Ala. LaTech hosts Hawai'i on Sept. 30.

Idaho 21, New Mexico State 6: Nathan Enderle threw two touchdown passes as the Vandals opened their season with a Western Athletic Conference victory over the Aggies at Las Cruces, N.M., spoiling the coaching debut of DeWayne Walker. Idaho hosts Hawai'i Oct. 17.

Fresno State 51, UC Davis 0: Ryan Mathews rushed for 106 yards, Ryan Colburn passed for 161 in his first career start and the Bulldogs amassed 511 yards of total offense, including 310 on the ground, to smother the Aggies at Fresno, Calif. Fresno State is at Hawai'i Oct. 10.