Erickson has ASU in top 25

No matter where Dennis Erickson goes, his teams usually end up in the top 25.

Four games into his first season as Arizona State coach, Erickson has the Sun Devils unbeaten and in the Associated Press poll for the first time this season at No. 23.

Arizona State is the fourth school Erickson has guided into the rankings, along with Washington State, Miami and Oregon State. Only Lou Holtz, with five, has coached ranked teams at more schools. Holtz did it with North Carolina State, Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame and South Carolina.

No. 1 USC and No. 2 Louisiana State, as they have all season, head the top 25.

USC received 43 first-place votes and 1,601 points. The Tigers got 22 first-place votes and 1,580 points.

No. 3 Oklahoma flip-flopped with No. 4 Florida after the Gators had a close call at Mississippi and the Sooners rang up their fourth blowout of the season.

West Virginia is No. 5, followed by California and Texas. Ohio State, Wisconsin and Rutgers round out the top 10.

The Harris poll was released for the first time this season Sunday, and USC was a decisive No. 1. LSU, Oklahoma, Florida and West Virginia rounded out a top five that was the same as the AP’s.

In the USA Today coaches’ poll, the only difference in the top five was Florida at No. 3 and Oklahoma at No. 4.

Tyler Graunke overcame a rough start in place of Colt Brennan, throwing for 285 yards and three touchdowns and leading No. 19 Hawaii to a 66-10 victory over Charleston Southern on Saturday night in Honolulu.

Brennan, sidelined because of a sprained right ankle, suited up and participated in warmups but sat out for the first time in his career with the Warriors.

C.J. Hawthorne had five receptions for 91 yards and two scores for Hawaii, which improved to 4-0 for the first time since 1988. Hawaii has won 14 of its last 15 games.

South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier demoted quarterback Blake Mitchell after the fifth-year senior struggled against LSU on Saturday. Freshman Chris Smelley will start when the Gamecocks play Mississippi State this week.