TOP 25 Saturday’s games

No. 7 Missouri 40, Texas A&M 26

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Chase Daniel threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns, and the Tigers pulled away late against the Aggies and embattled coach Dennis Franchione. Missouri (9-1, 5-1 Big 12) reached nine victories for the first time since 1969 and only the fourth time in school history. The Tigers also finished 5-0 at Faurot Field. Texas A&M (6-5, 3-4) has lost three straight to top-10 opponents. Tony Temple ran for 141 yards, including a 44-yard scoring run in the first quarter. Maclin finished with five catches for 146 yards, and his 82-yard touchdown catch was the school’s longest scoring play since an 86-yard run by Robert Delpino in 1987.

No. 9 Arizona State 24, UCLA 20

PASADENA, Calif. — Keegan Herring rushed for 116 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown, and Rudy Carpenter threw for 200 yards and another score to lead the Sun Devils. Arizona State (9-1, 6-1 Pac-10) remained in the thick of the conference race and its their hopes alive for a BCS bowl, while the Bruins (5-5, 4-3) lost for the fourth time in five games. Carpenter went 16-of-31, including a 9-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Williams. Osaar Rasshan went 14-of-27 for 181 yards with one pick for the Bruins.

The Sun Devils fell behind 10-0 early, trailed 13-10 at halftime, then went ahead to stay on Dimitri Nance’s 11-yard touchdown run five minutes into the third quarter.

No. 10 Georgia 45, No. 18 Auburn 20

ATHENS, Ga. — Donning black jerseys for the first time in the modern era, Matthew Stafford threw a pair of touchdown passes and Knowshon Moreno broke 100 yards rushing for the fourth straight game, leading Georgia past 18th-ranked Auburn. The Bulldogs (8-2) remained on top of the SEC East with a 5-2 mark, but they need help to reach the title game. Tennessee has only two SEC losses and has the tiebreaker over Georgia. Stafford threw a 58-yard TD pass to Mohamed Massaquoi and a 13-yarder to Sean Bailey. Moreno, a redshirt freshman, had scoring runs of 24 and 2 yards, finishing with 101 yards. Thomas Brown finished off the Tigers (7-4, 4-3) with a 53-yard run that set up Brannan Southerland’s touchdown.

No. 11 Virginia Tech 40, Florida St. 21

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Tyrod Taylor threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, lifting the Hokies and coach Frank Beamer to his first win in eight tries against the Seminoles. It was the first time ’Noles coach Bobby Bowden lost to Virginia Tech in 16 meetings. The Hokies (8-2, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) blew a 14-point halftime lead and trailed 21-20 entering the final quarter, but Taylor drove them to his go-ahead 3-yard scoring run, and three late Seminoles turnovers made a close game turn lopsided. The Seminoles (6-4, 3-4), who seemed to be catching their stride last week when they beat No. 8 Boston College, lost quarterback Drew Weatherford to injury before halftime and failed to get the 78-year-old Bowden his 300th victory at the school.

No. 15 Texas 59, Texas Tech 43

AUSTIN, Texas — Colt McCoy passed for four touchdowns, ran for two more and the Longhorns scored 24 points in the fourth quarter to hold off the Red Raiders. Texas (9-2, 5-2 Big 12) needed a 24-point fourth-quarter rally a week earlier to beat Oklahoma State. This time, the late scoring kept Texas Tech (7-4, 3-4) from staging a comeback.

Graham Harrell threw for 466 yards and five touchdowns for Tech. Tech twice cut the lead to 10 in the fourth quarter on Harrell TD passes, before McCoy hit Nate Jones for a 34-yard TD. McCoy finished with 51 yards rushing and 269 passing. Jamaal Charles had 167 yards rushing and a touchdown for the Longhorns.

Cincinnati 27, No. 16 Connecticut 3

CINCINNATI — Ben Mauk threw for three touchdowns and ran for another, handing Connecticut its first Big East loss and further scrambling the conference race. Mauk made the two decisive plays in the second half. He ran 11 yards for a touchdown on a draw play, then connected with Dominick Goodman on a 37-yard touchdown pass, keeping Cincinnati (8-2, 3-2) in a crowd of teams vying for the league title. Connecticut (8-2, 4-1) was the last unbeaten team in the conference, grinding out wins with a methodical, mistake-free approach. The Huskies had only 10 turnovers coming into the game, a big reason they were off to the best start in their 109-year football history.

No. 19 Boise St. 52, Utah St. 0

LOGAN, Utah — Taylor Tharp threw for 283 yards and two touchdowns in three quarters for the Broncos, who won their eighth straight. The overwhelmed Aggies (0-10, 0-6) have lost 16 in a row and were down by two touchdowns barely six minutes into the game. The Broncos (9-1, 6-0 WAC) blocked a punt for a touchdown, blocked a field goal and forced four turnovers, including three interceptions of Jase McCormick.

Utah State finished with 236 yards. Boise State’s Ian Johnson gained almost half that total by himself with 110 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown.

No. 20 Clemson 44, Wake Forest 10

CLEMSON, S.C. — Cullen Harper continued his record-setting year with three more touchdown passes for the Tigers. Clemson (8-2, 5-2) won its fourth straight, while Wake Forest (6-4, 4-3) lost its second in a row. And this one felt like old times. The Tigers were 45-6-1 against the Demon Deacons from 1950-2002, with several victories coming by blowout margins. Harper, who came in with a school record 23 touchdown throws, scored on a 7-yard keeper to finish Clemson’s first possession. It was 27-7 by halftime after David Richardson’s 52-yard field goal, the school’s longest in 10 years.

Mississippi St. 17, No. 21 Alabama 12

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Anthony Johnson returned an interception a school-record 100 yards for a touchdown to help Mississippi State become bowl eligible for the first time since 2000. It was the second straight win over his alma mater for Sylvester Croom, whose resurgent Bulldogs (6-4, 3-3 SEC) have won two straight over ranked opponents. The win gave the Bulldogs a 2-2 record during a streak of four consecutive games against ranked opponents. The Crimson Tide (6-4, 4-3) has lost two straight. The Bulldogs limited ’Bama to four Leigh Tiffin field goals and haven’t allowed the Tide offense in the end zone in 12 quarters. Mississippi State intercepted John Parker Wilson twice and held him to 121 yards passing.

No. 24 Kentucky 27, Vanderbilt 20

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Andre Woodson threw for 222 yards, Rafael Little had 70 yards rushing and the Wildcats kept alive their slim hopes of playing for an SEC title.

Kentucky (7-3, 3-3 SEC) snapped a two-game losing skid and clinched consecutive seven-win seasons for the first time since 1976-77. Kentucky still plays SEC East rivals Tennessee and Georgia, and has a chance to sneak into the league title game in Atlanta by defeating both. The Commodores (5-5, 2-5) hopes of becoming bowl eligible will have to wait. They haven’t been to a bowl since 1982.

No. 22 Tennessee 34, Arkansas 13

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Erik Ainge threw for two touchdowns and Arian Foster ran for another as the Volunteers kept their drive for an SEC Eastern Division title alive.

Tennessee (7-3, 4-2) held conference rushing leader Darren McFadden to 117 yards, and Casey Dick completed 12 of 22 passes for 140 yards and two interceptions. Last week, McFadden tied the SEC single-game rushing record with 321 yards against South Carolina. The Razorbacks (6-4, 2-4) struggled all day in the red zone and with penalties.

Arkansas narrowed the lead to 27-13 with 8:27 left in the game on Michael Smith’s 9-yard touchdown run after a handoff from McFadden. It was as close as the Hogs would get.

Associated Press