Nebraska Bolsters No. 1 Ranking

Nebraska strengthened its grip on the No. 1 ranking, while Florida tumbled from the top 10 for the first time in five years in The Associated Press’ Top 25 college football poll.

The Cornhuskers (8-0), who beat Oklahoma, 69-7, on Saturday, received 46 first-place votes and 1,719 points from the panel of 70 sports writers and broadcasters, easily outdistancing No. 2 Penn State.

The Nittany Lions (7-0) collected 16 first-place votes and 1,643 points after their 30-27 victory over Northwestern. Last week, the Huskers led the Lions, 35-25, in first-place votes and 1,704-1,665 in points.

Florida (6-2), the defending national champion, lost to Georgia, 37-17, and dropped to No. 13, its first non-top 10 ranking in 81 polls.

Florida State (8-0) remained No. 3 while Michigan (8-0) was No. 4 and North Carolina (8-0) No. 5. UCLA jumped two spots to No. 10.

The Seminoles, who play the Tar Heels on Saturday night, had five first-place votes and 1,627 points, only 16 points behind Penn State.

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Frank Staine-Pyne recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for one touchdown and returned another blocked punt 19 yards for another score Saturday night as Air Force, 8-2 overall and 4-2 in the Western Athletic Conference, beat Hawaii (3-6, 1-6), 34-27, in Honolulu.