College Football Notes: Week 5

Ohio State tightened its grip on number one with a dominating performance against No. 13 Iowa on Saturday.

QB Troy Smith, the early leader in the Heisman race, totaled 207 yards of offense and threw for four touchdowns as the Buckeyes picked up the 38-17 victory. RB Antonio Pittman rushed for 117 yards and a score. The OSU defense limited Hawkeye QB Drew Tate to just a 37.5% completion percentage.

Two teams not used to being in the glare of the Top 25 spotlight continued their winning ways in week five.

No. 23 Rutgers defeated South Florida 22-20 to go 5-0 for the first time since 1978, while No. 25 Missouri beat Colorado 28-13 to start 5-0 for the first time since 1981.

Ray Rice rushed for 202 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Scarlet Knights to victory. Tiger QB Chase Daniel is making everyone forget about Brad Smith at Missouri. Daniel completed 23-of-35 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns as the Tigers dropped the Buffaloes to 0-5 on the season.

No. 2 Auburn and No. 3 USC survived scares with South Carolina and Washington State respectively. The Tigers downed South Carolina 24-17 and the Trojans held of a pesky Cougars squad, 28-22. John David Booty passed for 271 yards and three TDs to lead USC to victory.

No. 10 Georgia keeps hanging by a thread and finding ways to win ugly. The Bulldogs, down 14-0 last week to Colorado, came-from-behind in the fourth quarter for the victory. On Saturday, Georgia wasn't behind but did struggle in its 14-9 win over Mississippi. Kregg Lumpkin rushed for 100 yards and Brannan Southerland scored two touchdowns for the Dawgs.

No. 21 Nebraska fought off a determined Kansas team to pull out the 39-32 win in overtime. Husker QB Zac Taylor was 15-of-33 for 393 yards and four touchdowns in the victory. The Jayhawks have now lost 19 straight to Nebraska in Lincoln.

QB Chris Leak was 14-of-20 for 174 yards and two touchdowns to lead fifth-ranked Florida to the big 28-13 SEC win over Alabama. Sixth-ranked Michigan remained perfect on the season with a 28-14 triumph over Minnesota for the Little Brown Jug. Wolverines QB Chad Henne threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns and Mike Hart ran for 195 yards to lead the offensive production.

In addition to Iowa, two other Top 25 teams suffered defeat this week.

No. 24 Georgia Tech jumped out quickly and held off No. 11 Virginia Tech, 38-27. Yellowjacket WR Calvin Johnson caught six passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns to lead Tech to the victory. Teammate Tashard Choice rushed for 114 yards and two scores. The Yellowjacket defense held the Hokies to only 56 yards rushing.

No. 17 TCU had its 13-game winning streak snapped with a 31-17 loss to BYU on Thursday night. John Beck threw for 321 yards and three TDs in BYU's first win over a Top 25 team since 1999.

Other scores from the top 25: No. 7 Texas 56, Sam Houston State 3; No. 9 LSU 48, Mississippi State 17; No. 12 Notre Dame 35, Purdue 21; No. 14 Oregon 48, Arizona State 13; No. 15 Tennessee 41, Memphis 7; No. 18 Clemson 51, Louisiana Tech 0; No. 20 California 41, Oregon State 13; and No. 22 Boise State 36, Utah 3.

The upset of the week came in the Big Ten where Illinois handed Michigan State a 23-20 loss. The Spartans, after a 3-0 start, have now lost two straight. Pierre Thomas ran for 113 yards and QB Juice Williams ran for 103 and threw a touchdown to lead the Illini (2-3) to the victory. The win was Illinois first against a conference team since 2004.

Highlight games for week six include: LSU (4-1)at Florida (5-0); Purdue (4-1) at Iowa (4-1), Clemson (4-1) at Wake Forest (5-0); Texas (4-1) at Oklahoma (3-1); Missouri (5-0) at Texas Tech (4-1); Tennessee (4-1) at Georgia (5-0); and Oregon (4-0) at California (4-1).


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