College Football Notes: Week 7

It doesn't pay to be number two in the AP college football pool if you're a team from the Southeastern Conference. Just ask Auburn and Florida.

Last week, the Tigers were bumped from the second spot by Arkansas, 27-10. This week, Auburn returned the favor and defeated the Gators 27-17, knocking Florida from the number two perch.

The Auburn defense rose to the occasion by scoring two touchdowns, a safety and limiting the dual QB threat of Chris Leak and Tim Tebow to 118 yards combined.

The new number two could be Michigan after a 17-10 victory over Penn State in Happy Valley. The Wolverines (7-0), playing without injured receiver Mario Manningham, got 112 yards rushing and a touchdown from Mike Hart. Chad Henne had a solid day (15-of-30, 196 yards, 1 TD) even without the services of his favorite target. But the real superstar of the game was the Michigan defense, who held the Nittany Lions to -16 yards rushing. That's right minus 16!

USC (6-0) is currently in the number three spot but Michigan could leapfrog the Trojans after they blew a 21-0 lead and had to hang on to defeat Arizona State 28-21. Chauncey Washington ran for 109 yards and scored the game-winner with 4:29 left.

No. 1 Ohio State and No. 5 West Virginia continue to impress with blowout victories. The Buckeyes (7-0) took apart Michigan State 38-7, behind the arm of Trent Smith. The Heisman front runner threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns on 15-of-22 passing. The Mountaineers (6-0) cruised to the 41-17 win over Syracuse. West Virginia's Pat White set a Big East rushing record for a quarterback with 247 yards and four touchdowns.

Louisville QB Brian Brohm returned from injury and threw for 321 yards and a TD to lead the No. 7 Cardinals (7-0) to the tougher than expected 23-17 win over Cincinnati.

No. 23 Oklahoma picked up an easy 34-9 victory over Iowa State on Saturday, but it came at a heavy price. The Sooners (4-2) lost star tailback Adrian Peterson for the remainder of the season with a broken collarbone. Peterson left the game with 183 yards rushing and two scores.

No. 24 Rutgers (6-0) looked very impressive in its win over a decent Navy (5-2) club. Scarlet Knights QB Mike Teel was 15-of-26 for 216 yards and three touchdowns.

Four teams in the Top 25 suffered defeats this weekend. Boston College (5-1) took care of No. 22 Virginia Tech 22-3, and Texas A&M (6-1), behind Jorvorski Lane's 127 yards, handed previously unbeaten and 19th ranked Missouri a 25-19 loss. The Tigers are now 6-1 on the season.

There's a double winner in the upset of the week department as Indiana (4-3) beat No. 15 Iowa (5-2) and Vanderbilt (3-4) ended a 53-game losing streak to ranked opponents by stunning No. 16 Georgia, 24-22. The loss was the second straight for the Bulldogs after winning their first five games.

Other scores from the top 25: No. 6 Texas 63, Baylor 31; No. 10 California 21, Washington State 3; No. 12 Clemson 63, Temple 9; No. 14 LSU 49, Kentucky 0; No. 17 Arkansas 63, SE Missouri State 7; No. 18 Oregon 30, UCLA 20; No. 21 Nebraska 21, Kansas State 3; No. 25 Wisconsin 48, Minnesota 12.

Highlight games for week eight include: Texas (6-1) at Nebraska (6-1); Rutgers (6-0) at Pittsburgh (6-1); Wisconsin (6-1) at Purdue (5-2); UCLA (4-2) at Notre Dame (5-1); Iowa (5-2) at Michigan (7-0); Alabama (5-2) at Tennessee (5-1); Boston College (5-1) at Florida State (4-2); and Georgia Tech (5-1) at Clemson (6-1).

college football notes AP Poll Southeastern Conference


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