Top 25 roundup \ Saturday’s other games

No. 1 Florida 23, Arkansas 20

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Tim Tebow stood on the sideline with his eyes closed. He couldn’t bear to watch, not after seeing so much go wrong all afternoon. Maybe he should have peeked. After all, he missed what might go down as the most important field goal in Florida history. Tebow directed a 69-yard drive in the final minutes, setting up Caleb Sturgis’ 27-yard field goal with 9 seconds remaining that lifted the top-ranked Gators. “Once I heard everybody cheering and opened my eyes and saw we made the field goal, that was fun,” Tebow said. The rest of the game wasn’t nearly as enjoyable. On a day when little went right for the Gators (6-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference), Tebow took over down the stretch and helped extend the nation’s longest win streak to 16 games. He threw for 255 yards and a touchdown, ran for 69 more and saved his best plays for when Florida needed him most. That final drive may have been Tebow’s Heisman moment. It kept Florida unbeaten and likely No. 1 in the country. It also may have preserved the team’s chances of repeating as national champion. “I always knew we had a shot,” Tebow said. “We were just going to keep believing until the last second.” The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner threw for 30 yards and ran for 22 on the final drive. Three plays stood out: His 12-yard pass to Riley Cooper on third down (Cooper fell down, then caught the ball on one knee) and consecutive runs that gained 16 yards and put Sturgis well within his comfort zone. Sturgis overcame an early miss and finished with three field goals, including a 51-yarder in the third. For much of the day, it was Florida’s best play.

No. 2 Alabama 20, No. 22 South Carolina 6

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Mark Ingram rushed for a career-high 246 yards and a game-clinching touchdown, powering Alabama. Ingram’s tackle-breaking, defender-dragging runs and a punishing defense helped the Crimson Tide (7-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) overcome four turnovers — doubling their season total. It also helped ’Bama avoid the down-to-the-wire scares No. 1 Florida and No. 3 Texas had — or an upset defeat like No. 4 Virginia Tech endured. Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks (5-2, 2-2) had never beaten a team ranked higher than No. 3 and were hoping for their second win over a top-five team this season. Ingram didn’t let it happen. He was practically a one-man show on the decisive drive. He took the direct snap for five consecutive runs — including a 24-yarder and 22-yarder — and then took a pitch in from 4 yards out with 4:54 left.

No. 19 Georgia Tech 28, No. 4 Virginia Tech 23

ATLANTA — Virginia Tech might have lost its shot at a national championship on another doomed trip to Atlanta. Josh Nesbitt rushed for 122 yards and three touchdowns — the last of them tiptoeing down the sideline to finish off the fourth-ranked Hokies with 3 minutes left — as Georgia Tech ran to a win that threw the Atlantic Coast Conference race up for grabs while perhaps finishing off the league’s top contender in the national race. Georgia Tech (6-1, 4-1 ACC) completed just one pass but ran for 309 yards out of its spread option offense — all but 37 of those yards coming in the second half. Excuse Virginia Tech (5-2, 3-1) if it passes on any more trips to Atlanta for a while. The Hokies opened the season with a 34-24 loss to Alabama in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game, about a mile away at the Georgia Dome.

No. 9 Miami 27, Central Florida 7

ORLANDO, Fla. — Jacory Harris completed 20 of 26 passes for 293 yards and a touchdown, Javarris James rushed for another score on the way to topping the 2,000-yard mark for his career, and Miami pulled away to beat Central Florida. Damien Berry added a fourth-quarter touchdown run for the Hurricanes (5-1), who matched their best start since 2005. Brett Hodges threw for 163 yards for UCF (3-3), but the team’s top rusher — Brynn Harvey, who was coming off a 219-yard effort against Memphis — was held to 25 yards on 12 carries. UCF is now 0-20 against teams in the AP Top 25 since moving to Division I-A in 1996.

No. 12 TCU 44, Colorado St. 6

FORT WORTH, Texas — Jeremy Kerley tiptoed the sideline, then came to a near stop before finding an open lane to the end zone for his second punt return for a touchdown in three games and TCU remained undefeated. Kerley’s electrifying 69-yard return just before halftime made it 17-6, and came less than 2 1/2 minutes after TCU (6-0, 2-0 Mountain West) had finally taken the lead on Joseph Turner’s 2-yard touchdown run. The BCS buster hopeful Horned Frogs carried the momentum after halftime, scoring touchdowns on their first four drives after the break. That included two TD passes by Andy Dalton. Colorado State (3-4, 0-3) lost its fourth straight game.

Texas Tech 31, No. 15 Nebraska 10

LINCOLN, Neb. — Steven Sheffield passed for a touchdown and ran for two in his first road start, and Texas Tech jumped out fast to upset Nebraska. Sheffield, who passed for 490 yards passing and seven touchdowns in his debut as the starter against Kansas State last week, was nearly perfect early, completing 14 of his first 16 passes against the Cornhuskers. Playing for the injured Taylor Potts, Sheffield went 9-for-16 in the second half and finished with 234 yards. Texas Tech (5-2, 2-1) won for the first time in four road games since last October. Nebraska (4-2, 1-1) held the Raiders to 259 yards — 263 under their average. But Nebraska’s offense for the second straight week did next to nothing until the fourth quarter. By then it was too late.

Colorado 34, No. 17 Kansas 30

BOULDER, Colo. — Tyler Hansen wanted to prove that he should have been Colorado’s starting quarterback all along. He sure showed he deserves to be the Buffaloes’ main man from here on out. Hansen, who replaced Cody Hawkins — the coach’s son — in the starting lineup, ran for a touchdown and threw a TD pass to lead Colorado. Providing a spark both through the air and on the ground, Hansen threw for 175 yards and ran for 34 yards. Colorado (2-4, 1-1 Big 12) handed Todd Reesing and the Jayhawks (5-1, 1-1) their first loss. Hansen led the Buffs to the winning score after Reesing had rallied the Jayhawks from a three-touchdown deficit to give Kansas a 30-27 lead early in the fourth quarter. Hansen drove the Buffaloes 76 yards in 10 plays, the payoff coming when Rodney Stewart scored from 12 yards out, dragging a defender the final five yards into the end zone with 8 1/2 minutes remaining. Reesing, whose pass to Dezmon Briscoe fell incomplete on fourth-and-goal from the 6 with 4 1/2 minutes left, got the ball back with 59 seconds remaining and nearly pulled off yet another comeback. He drove the Jayhawks all the way to the Buffaloes 19 thanks to a 26-yard strike to Briscoe, but after spiking the ball with seven seconds left, his final two passes were knocked away by the Buffaloes.

No. 18 BYU 38, San Diego St. 28

SAN DIEGO — Max Hall threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for another score to lead Brigham Young to the 500th victory in school history. BYU (6-1, 3-0 Mountain West Conference) beat SDSU (2-4, 0-2) for the eighth time in the last nine games. SDSU’s Ryan Lindley also threw three touchdown passes. SDSU kept pace with BYU into the third quarter, tying it at 21 before the Cougars’ massive offensive line wore down the Aztecs, allowing Hall to throw two touchdown passes in less than four minutes. Running an effective no-huddle offense, Hall was 27 of 39 for his fifth 300-yard game of the season.

No. 23 Houston 44, Tulane 16

NEW ORLEANS — Case Keenum’s lowest passing total of the season was still pretty good, and more than enough to help Houston win its first conference game of the season. Keenum was 30 of 43 for 334 yards and two touchdowns. Bryce Beall and Justin Johnson each ran for two touchdowns for Houston (5-1, 1-1 Conference USA).

Associated Press