College Football Top 25 Summaries

(1) Nebraska 27 (23) Notre Dame 24 - overtime (South Bend, Indiana-AP) -- Nebraska had a tough time denying Notre Dame's return to national prominence.

Eric Crouch's 7 yard touchdown run finally put away a surging Notre Dame club as number one Nebraska defeated the Irish 27-to-24 in overtime.

The 23rd-ranked Irish rallied from a two-touchdown deficit with long kickoff and punt returns for scores. They took their first lead at 24-to-21 when Nick Setta kicked a 29-yard field goal on the opening O-T possession.

But the Huskers would not be denied. Facing a third-and-9 from the 24, Crouch hit Tracey Wistrom with a 9-yard pass to keep the drive alive.

(2) Florida State 26 Georgia Tech 21 (Atlanta-AP) -- Second-ranked Florida State avoided a major upset by rallying for two fourth-quarter touchdowns to beat unranked but upset-minded Georgia Tech 26-to-21.

Seminoles 28-year-old senior quarterback Chris Weinke (WIHN'-kee) threw for a career-high 443 yards and a couple of touchdowns.

Florida State extended its winning streak to 14 in a row and improved its Atlanta Coast Conference record to 63-and-2 since joining the A-C-C in 1992.

Georgia Tech, a 22-point underdog, lost its ninth in a row to the Seminoles but received a rousing cheer from the home fans after its final drive ended in Florida State territory.

After passing up a chance to enter the N-F-L draft, Weinke became Florida State's career-leading passer with 64-hundred-33 yards. He was 25-of-38 against Tech, including a 30-yard touchdown pass to Robert Morgan with 12:58 remaining that put the Seminoles ahead.

(3) Michigan 38, Rice 7 (Ann Arbor, Michigan-AP) -- Anthony Thomas ran for 131 yards on 14 carries and scored two first-quarter touchdowns as third-ranked Michigan beat Rice 38-to-7.

The two-and-oh Wolverines scored 28 points on their first four possessions, breaking a 1991 school record of 24 first-quarter points against Northwestern.

Redshirt freshman John Navarre started his second straight game for injured quarterback Drew Henson. Navarre completed 10 of 15 passes for 129 yards.

Rice's only score came on a 68-yard touchdown pass from Ben Wulf to Adrian Sadler in the fourth quarter.

The Owls are 1-and-1.

(15) Washington 34 (4) Miami 29 (Seattle-AP) -- Marques Tuiasosopo (too-ih-ah-soh-SOH'-poh) passed for one T-D and ran for another to lead 15th-ranked Washington to a 34-to-29 upset of fourth-ranked Miami.

Huskies freshman Rich Alexis scored on a 50-yard run for 2-and-0 Washington, which built a 21-to-3 halftime lead.

The 'Canes rallied to make it 34-to-29 with 2:52 left on James Jackson's one-yard run following an interception.

(5) Wisconsin 27 Oregon 23 (Madison, Wisconsin-AP) -- Big Ten sprint champion Michael Bennett rushed for 290 yards and two long touchdowns as fifth-ranked Wisconsin outlasted Oregon 27-to-23.

The suspension-ridden Badgers got three interceptions from star cornerback Jamar Fletcher.

The Badgers played without a dozen players who were suspended for receiving unadvertised discounts at a shoe store.

With games coming up against Cincinnati and Northwestern, the Badgers will be missing key components of a team that hopes to contend for the national title.

Quarterback Joey Harrington was victimized by several drops, including two on the Ducks' desperation drive.

(6) Texas 52 Louisiana-Lafayette 10 (Austin, Texas-AP) -- Major Applewhite's performance is making coach Mack Brown's decision as to who should start for sixth-ranked Texas a little tougher.

Applewhite came off the bench in the first quarter in relief of Chris Simms. He passed for 315 yards and four touchdowns to rally the Longhorns to a 52-to-10 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette.

Applewhite had lost the much-publicized battle with Simms over the starting role.

Texas rolled up 490 yards of total offense against the overmatched Ragin' Cajuns.

Derek Dyer completed 11 of 22 passes for 121 yards and a team-high 30 yards rushing for Louisiana-Lafayette.

(8) Florida 55 Middle Tennessee 0 (Gainesville, Florida-AP) -- Backup Rex Grossman threw three touchdown passes to spark another Florida quarterback controversy as the eighth-ranked Gators blanked Middle Tennessee 55-to-0.

The redshirt freshman replaced Jesse Palmer in the middle of a series with his team leading 24-to-0, but coach Steve Spurrier apparently unhappy with the way his starter was throwing and moving the offense.

Grossman threw T-D passes of 19 and 14 yards to Aaron Walker. He also tossed a 16-yarder to Alex Willis that finished a seven-play, 50-yard drive that Palmer began with a 13-yard completion to Reche Caldwell.

Florida is 2-and-0. Middle Tennessee is 0-and-2. The visitors never threatened, finishing with 229 yards and five turnovers.

South Carolina 21 (9) Georgia 10 (Columbia, South Carolina-AP) -- South Carolina is off the conference skid. Lou Holtz's Gamecocks made it two in a row with a stunning 21-to-10 upset over number nine Georgia.

Last week, South Carolina beat New Mexico State to end a 21-game losing streak. Yesterday, they ended an 18-game Southeastern Conference losing streak.

South Carolina took advantage of Quincy Carter's career-high five interceptions. And Derek Watson's three rushing touchdowns was all the cushion the Gamecocks' defense needed.

Players showered Holtz with ice water and, like last week, celebrated with fans as the goal posts fell.

The victory was the Gamecocks' first over a top-10 opponent since they beat then-number-six Georgia in 1988.

(11) Southern Cal 17 Colorado 14 (Los Angeles-AP) -- David Newbury avenged two earlier misses by kicking a 24-yard field goal with 13 seconds left to give eleventh-ranked Southern Cal a 17-to-14 win over scrappy Colorado.

Colorado's Mark Mariscal had missed a 41-yard field goal attempt with 1:14 remaining.

Carson Palmer drove the Trojans 72 yards to the winning field goal, completing third-down passes of 23 yards and 19 yards to Kareem Kelly, with the second reception putting the ball at the Colorado 21.

Palmer threw for 275 yards and one touchdown for the 2-and-0 Trojans. Kelly had 10 receptions for 143 yards.

The Trojans' win overshadowed a 150-yard rushing performance by freshman tailback Marcus Houston of Colorado.

(13) Alabama 28 Vanderbilt 10 (Birmingham, Alabama-AP) -- Ahmaad Galloway ran for 172 yards including a 79-yard touchdown run, and number 13 Alabama scored 18 points in the fourth quarter to beat Vanderbilt 28-to-10.

Tyler Watts and Brandon Miree added fourth-quarter touchdown runs for the Crimson Tide.

The offense sputtered badly before all but abandoning the passing game in the final quarter.

The Tide led just 10-to-7 before Watts replaced a struggling Andrew Zow at quarterback in the third quarter. Watts later scored on a 9-yard keeper.

The Commodores managed to put together a nine-play, 71-yard drive, capped by Jared McGrath's 2-yard run before the half.

(14) Purdue 45 Kent St. 10 (West Lafayette, Indiana-AP) -- Drew Brees completed 32 of 46 passes for 415 yards and two touchdowns as 14-ranked Purdue beat Kent State 45-to-10.

Senior Vinny Sutherland scored three touchdowns and had 192 total yards in the first half.

Brees, who ran for two touchdowns, becomes the school's career leader in total offense and completions.

The Boilermakers built a 24-3 halftime lead with Sutherland accumulating 71 yards on five receptions. He also had a couple of touchdown catches of 4 and 5 yards.

Kent State scored all of its points after recovering Purdue fumbles.

(16) U-C-L-A 24 Fresno State 21 (Pasadena, California-AP) -- DeShaun Foster ran for two fourth-quarter touchdowns and 16th-ranked U-C-L-A withstood two late touchdown passes from David Carr to Charles Smith for a 24-to-21 victory over Fresno State.

Foster scored on a 1-yard run on fourth-and-goal with 11:16 remaining, and a 49-yard burst less than 21/2 minutes later to give the Bruins what appeared to be an insurmountable 24-to-7 lead.

However, Carr threw scoring passes of 16 and 32 yards to Smith to make it a three-point game with five minutes to play. U-C-L-A was able to run out the clock to go 2-and-0 after its big win over Alabama last week.

(17) Clemson 62 Missouri 9 (Clemson, South Carolina-AP) -- This tiger was in the wrong den.

Woodrow Dantzler threw two touchdown passes and ran for a third to lead 17th-ranked Clemson to a 62-to-9 rout of Missouri.

Clemson scored 34 points in an eight and a-half minute stretch in the second and third quarters to pull away from Missouri.

Missouri quarterback Kirk Farmer threw his second interception just 47 seconds into the second half. His third interception set up Travis Zachary's third touchdown.

(18) Ohio State 27 Arizona 17 (Tucson, Arizona-AP) -- Steve Bellisari passed for two touchdowns, including a 60-yarder to Chad Cacchio, and number-18 Ohio State rallied to beat Arizona 27-to-17.

Nate Clements set up another score with a 47-yard punt return late in the third quarter. Dan Stultz kicked two field goals for the 2-and-0 Buckeyes.

Ortege (or-TEEJ') Jenkins ran for one T-D and passed to Bobby Wade for another as Arizona took a 17-to-10 halftime lead.

But Ohio State's defense, which scored four times in a rout of Fresno State last week, was virtually impenetrable again. The Buckeyes sacked Jenkins eight times and forced the Wildcats to punt 12 times. Arizona is 1-and-1.

Auburn 35 (19) Mississippi 27 (Oxford, Mississippi-AP) -- Rudi Johnson ran for 165 yards and two touchdowns as Auburn beat 19th-ranked Mississippi 35-to-27, giving Tigers coach Tommy Tuberville a victory over his former team.

Deuce McAllister had 257 all-purpose yards and scored three touchdowns, including an 87-yard punt return that gave Ole Miss a 27-to-21 lead in the third quarter.

But Auburn's Johnson, on a fourth-and-2 play, broke through the left side of a tightly packed Ole Miss line and rumbled 42 yards for a touchdown that gave the Tigers a 28-to-27 with 13:59 to go.

After an interception by Courtney Rose with 8:02 left, Auburn put together a 37-yard drive that took 6:21 and ended with Ben Leard sneaking into the end zone from a yard out.

Stanford Simmons' diving interception with 1:27 left to play sealed the victory. It was the third interception thrown by Romaro Miller.

(20) Oklahoma 45 Arkansas State 7 (Norman, Oklahoma-AP) -- Josh Heupel threw three touchdown passes and number-20 Oklahoma beat Arkansas State 45-to-7.

All of Heupel's touchdowns came on third-and-long plays, including two in the first half when the Sooners took a 28-to-0 lead. His 35 career T-D passes, accomplished in 13 games, tied the school record set by Cale Gundy in 40 games from 1990-93.

J-T Thatcher returned a punt 66 yards for a touchdown on his way to a school record for returns. Thatcher had 160 yards on five returns, breaking the Oklahoma record of 146 yards set last season by Jarrail Jackson against Missouri. Thatcher also had an interception that set up a third-quarter touchdown.

Arkansas State is 0-and-2. It didn't cross midfield until late in the first half and was outclassed one week after losing at North Carolina State in two overtimes.

(21) Illinois 49 San Diego State 13 (San Diego-AP) -- Kurt Kittner threw three touchdown passes for the second straight game and 21st-ranked Illinois routed San Diego State 49-to-13.

Antoineo Harris ran for 117 yards and three T-D's. Rocky Harvey, the other half of Illinois' tailback tandem, gained 124 yards on 15 carries with 104 yards coming in the first half. Harris and Harvey each went over the 100-yard mark for the second straight game.

Kittner completed 18 of 25 passes for 148 yards, with no interceptions. Backup quarterback Dustin Ward came on for 2-and-0 Illinois with 13:03 to play. San Diego State fell to 0-and-2.

(22) Texas Christian 41 Nevada 10 (Reno, Nevada-AP) -- LaDainian Tomlinson ran for 176 yards and three T-D's in leading 22nd-ranked Texas Christian over Nevada 41-to-10.

T-C-U sacked Nevada Q-B David Neill 12 times in the first half.

Special teams also helped the Horned Frogs. LaTarence Dunbar scored on a 95-yard kickoff return. Lavar Veale had an 85-yard punt return for a score.

(24) Michigan St. 34 Marshall 24 (East Lansing, Michigan-AP) -- Burly running back T.J. Duckett ran for 219 yards as Number 24 Michigan State beat Marshall 34-to-24.

The win snaps the Thundering Herd's 18-game winning streak.

Freshman Jeff Smoker made a solid debut at quarterback for the Spartans after starter Ryan Van Dyke injured his right thumb in the second quarter.

Smoker completed 16 of 24 passes for 138 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Marshall sophomore Byron Leftwich had three touchdown passes and three interceptions -- one in the Spartans' end zone and one at their one-yard line.