Penn State Puts Clamps on Wisconsin

Michael Robinson threw two touchdown passes and ran for 125 yards, and linebacker Tamba Hali led a ferocious defense as No. 10 Penn State beat No. 14 Wisconsin, 35-14, Saturday at State College, Pa.

Hali had four sacks to help the Nittany Lions shut down the Badgers’ high-scoring attack and tailback Brian Calhoun, who finished with only 38 yards in 20 carries -- well below his 135-yard average.

Tony Hunt had 151 yards and two scores for Penn State (9-1, 6-1), which inched closer to claiming the Big Ten Conference’s bowl championship series bid. Penn State can guarantee a trip to a BCS bowl if it wins its final regular-season game, at Michigan State on Nov. 19.

John Stocco of Wisconsin (8-2, 5-2) threw one touchdown pass and had two of his passes intercepted. Penn State’s defense sacked Stocco nine times.

The Badgers had the Big Ten’s highest-scoring offense coming into the game (39.7 points).

The Nittany Lions led from the opening drive and dominated in the first half for a 21-0 lead.

No. 2 Texas 62, Baylor 0 -- Ramonce Taylor ran for 102 yards and three touchdowns and caught a 42-yard touchdown pass from Vince Young to lead the Longhorns (9-0, 6-0) to their 16th straight victory after a rout of the Bears (4-5, 1-5) in a Big 12 Conference game at Waco, Texas.

Young, a Heisman Trophy contender who is 26-2 as the Longhorn starter, had 351 total yards in just more than three quarters -- 16 of 27 passing for 298 yards and two touchdowns, and 53 yards rushing.

The 16-game winning streak is the longest for the Longhorns since they won a school-record 30 in a row from 1968 to 1970.

No. 4 Alabama 17, Mississippi State 0 -- Kenneth Darby ran for 122 yards and the Crimson Tide (9-0, 6-0) returned two turnovers for touchdowns to shut down the Bulldogs (2-7, 0-6) in a Southeastern Conference game at Starkville, Ala.

Brodie Croyle completed 14 of 22 passes for 116 yards for Alabama, which forced four turnovers and held Mississippi State to 26 yards rushing.

No. 6 Louisiana State 24, Appalachian State 0 -- JaMarcus Russell passed for 208 yards and two touchdowns, and the Tigers (7-1) defeated the Mountaineers (6-3) in a nonconference game at Baton Rouge, La.

It was LSU’s closest game ever against a I-AA opponent, besting a 35-10 victory against The Citadel in 2002.

No. 8 Notre Dame 41, Tennessee 21 -- Brady Quinn threw three touchdown passes and Tom Zbikowski had a punt return and interception return for scores to lead the Fighting Irish (6-2) over the Volunteers (3-5) at South Bend, Ind.

Quinn was 20 of 33 for 295 yards and threw two touchdown passes in the span of a minute to give the Irish a 14-0 lead. The Irish went ahead, 21-3, on Zbikowski’s 78-yard punt return for a score.

Tennessee lost its fourth straight game for the first time since 1988.

North Carolina State 20, No. 9 Florida State 15 -- Andre Brown ran for 179 yards and a 65-yard touchdown and the Wolfpack (4-4, 2-4) intercepted quarterback Drew Weatherford three times to upset the Seminoles (7-2, 5-2) in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Tallahassee, Fla.

Florida State backed into the conference’s first championship game scheduled next month in Jacksonville, Fla., because Boston College lost at North Carolina.

No. 12 Ohio State 40, Illinois 2 -- Troy Smith threw three touchdown passes and Antonio Pittman ran for two scores to lead the Buckeyes (7-2, 5-1) over the Fighting Illini (2-7, 0-6) in a Big Ten game at Columbus, Ohio.

Smith completed 13 of 21 passes for a career-high 298 yards, and ran for 55 yards in seven carries. His scoring passes covered 41 and three yards to Santonio Holmes, and 73 yards to Ted Ginn Jr., who had 138 yards in four catches.

No. 13 Florida 49, Vanderbilt 42 -- Backup cornerback Reggie Lewis intercepted Jay Cutler’s first pass in the second overtime to give the Gators (7-2, 5-2) the victory over the Commodores (4-5, 2-4) in an SEC game at Gainesville, Fla.

Vanderbilt and Florida traded touchdowns in the first overtime.

Jeff Jennings ran eight yards for a score for the Commodores, then Chris Leak answered with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Chad Jackson. Leak finished 32 of 41 for 257 yards with three touchdowns. He also ran for a career-high 67 yards and two scores.

No. 16 Texas Tech 56, Texas A&M; 17 -- Taurean Henderson ran for 109 yards and four touchdowns and the Red Raiders (8-1, 5-1) routed the Aggies (5-4, 3-3) in a Big 12 game at Lubbock, Texas.

Henderson carried 20 times, and ran for touchdowns of 19, four, four and one yards. With his last touchdown, he tied for third place on the NCAA career list for points (408) by non-kickers with Brock Forsey of Boise State.

North Carolina 16, No. 19 Boston College -- Connor Barth broke out of a season-long slump with three field goals and Wallace Wright ran back the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to lead the Tar Heels (4-4, 3-2) over the Eagles (6-3, 3-3) in an ACC game at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Jesse Holley set career highs with eight catches for 125 yards for North Carolina, which got its second consecutive upset at home. Two weeks ago, it beat then-No. 23 Virginia, 7-5.

No. 17 Auburn 49, Kentucky 27 -- Kenny Irons, Tristan Davis and Tre Smith combined for 364 yards rushing and five touchdowns to lead the Tigers (7-2, 5-1) over the Wildcats (2-6, 1-4) in an SEC game at Lexington, Ky.

Irons carried 23 times for 103 yards and three touchdowns, all in the first half, and Davis had 162 yards and a touchdown in eight carries.

No. 20 Texas Christian 33, Colorado State 6 -- Robert Merrill and Aaron Brown combined for 178 yards in 29 rushes to lead the Horned Frogs (9-1, 7-0) over the Rams (5-4, 4-2) in a Mountain West Conference game at Fort Worth for their first outright conference title since 1958.

TCU, playing its first season in the MWC, last won an league title when it played in the Southwest Conference.

No. 21 Fresno State 45, San Jose State 7 -- Paul Pinegar passed for 368 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score to help the Bulldogs (7-1, 5-0) rout the Spartans (1-8, 0-6) in a Western Athletic Conference game at Fresno.

Pinegar matched David Carr’s school record with the 70th touchdown pass of his career, and Paul Williams caught six passes for 137 yards.

No. 25 Colorado 41, Missouri 12 -- Lawrence Vickers had four touchdown runs and Mason Crosby kicked a 56-yard field goal to help the Buffaloes (7-2, 5-1) defeat the Tigers (5-4, 3-3) in a Big 12 game at Boulder, Colo.

Missouri quarterback Brad Smith rushed for only 16 yards but passed Antwaan Randle-El of Indiana (3,895 yards) to become the NCAA’s career leader in rushing by a quarterback with 3,907 yards.

OTHER GAMES

Kansas (5-4, 2-4) finally beat Nebraska (5-4, 2-4), ending a 36-game losing streak to the Cornhuskers with a 40-15 Big 12 victory at Lawrence, Kan. Kansas ended the NCAA’s second longest losing streak against an opponent in an uninterrupted series. The record is 41 wins in a row by Notre Dame against Navy.... Ross Lane caught a nine-yard touchdown pass from Brett Basanez with 42 seconds left to give Northwestern (6-3, 4-2) a 28-27 comeback win over Iowa (5-4, 3-3) in a Big Ten game at Evanston, Ill.... Blake Mitchell threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Kenny McKinley on the final play of the third quarter, and South Carolina (6-3, 4-3) became bowl eligible in Coach Steve Spurrier’s first season with a 14-10 SEC win over Arkansas (2-6, 0-5) at Fayetteville, Ark.... Carlton Jones ran for 146 yards and a touchdown, and Army (2-6) stayed in contention for the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy with a 27-24 victory over Air Force (3-7) at Air Force Academy, Colo.... Glenville State’s Joey Conrad passed for 427 yards in a 38-10 win over West Virginia Wesleyan, giving him 11,884 for his career, to break the Division II passing record of 11,742 set by Andrew Webb of Fort Lewis, Colo., in 2000-03.