South Florida upsets Auburn

Jessie Hester caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Matt Grothe to lift South Florida to a 26-23 overtime win over No. 17 Auburn Saturday night in Auburn, Ala., another impressive upset for the Bulls.

Auburn freshman Wes Byrum made a 39-yard field goal to start overtime and then Grothe took over. He ran three times, including a sneak on fourth-and-1. Then, on the next play he hit Hester behind the defense for the game-winner.

South Florida (2-0), which had pulled off upsets of highly ranked West Virginia and Louisville in the past two seasons, won for the first time in five tries against Southeastern Conference teams.

The Tigers (1-1) committed five turnovers.

(2) LSU 48, (9) Virginia Tech 7: Keiland Williams ran for 126 yards and two touchdowns, while quarterback Matt Flynn led LSU to scores on four of it first five possessions as the Tigers (2-0) cruised to a victory over the Hokies (1-1) in Baton Rouge, La.

LSU had a 24-0 lead after the first 18 minutes and outgained Tech 327-40 in the first half.

(3) West Virginia 48, Marshall 23: Pat White threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, Steve Slaton rushed for two scores and the Mountaineers (2-0) used a 42-point second half to beat the Thundering Herd (0-2) in Huntington, W.Va.

Held to three first downs and 118 total yards in the opening half, heavy favorite West Virginia scored on its first three possessions of the third quarter and handed Marshall its worst home loss since it opened Joan C. Edwards Stadium opened in 1991.

(4) Florida 59, Troy 31: Tim Tebow threw three touchdown passes, ran for two more scores and led the defending national champion Gators (2-0) to a victory over the Trojans (0-2) in Gainesville, Fla.

Florida scored on all seven possessions in the first half, moving the ball with relative ease against Troy’s soft zone.

(5) Oklahoma 51, Miami 13: Sam Bradford tied a school record with five touchdown passes and Reggie Smith returned a fumble for a score as the Sooners (2-0) earned a measure of redemption with a win against Miami (1-1) in Norman, Okla., in their first meeting since the Hurricanes swept three games in the 1980s.

All three of Oklahoma’s losses came in a three-year span when the Sooners went 33-0 against all opponents except the Hurricanes.

(5) Wisconsin 20, UNLV 13: Tyler Donovan scored on a 29-yard boot leg with 1:53 to play and the Badgers (2-0) held on for a victory over the Rebels (1-1) in Las Vegas.

UNLV, a four touchdown underdog, took a 13-12 lead midway through the fourth quarter on a 25-yard field goal from Sergio Aguayo.

But Donovan, the senior who won the Badgers starting job in summer practice, led the Badgers on a 10-play, 61-yard drive to avoid the upset.

(7) Texas 34, (19) TCU 13: Colt McCoy passed for a touchdown, set up another with a long run, and a dominant performance by the Texas defense carried the Longhorns (2-0) to a win over the Horned Frogs (1-1) in Austin, Texas.

McCoy, who threw two first-half interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown, cut a 10-0 TCU lead in the third quarter with a 33-yard strike to Nate Jones. His 23-yard scramble early in the fourth set up the go-ahead score.

South Carolina 16, (11) Georgia 12: Ryan Succop kicked three field goals, Cory Boyd ran for the game’s only touchdown and the Gamecocks (2-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) kept the Bulldogs (1-1, 0-1) out of the end zone in Athens, Ga.

Georgia, coming off an impressive 35-14 victory over Oklahoma State, was held without a touchdown for the first time since a 14-9 loss to South Carolina in 2001.

(12) Ohio State 20, Akron 2: The Buckeyes (2-0) led the Zips (1-1) 3-2 at the half in Columbus, Ohio, before putting the game away on Brandon Saine’s 6-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Todd Boeckman’s 13-yard scoring pass to Brian Robiskie in the fourth.

The Buckeyes won their 30th game in a row against another Ohio college since losing 7-6 to Oberlin in 1921.

(14) Penn State 31, Notre Dame 10: Derrick Williams returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown and Austin Scott ran for two second-half scores as the Nittany Lions (2-0) ruined the starting debut of Notre Dame freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen in a victory over the Fighting Irish (0-2) in State College, Pa.

The much-ballyhooed Clausen completed 17 of 32 passes for 144 yards and an interception.

(16) Nebraska 20, Wake Forest 17: Sam Keller threw for 258 yards and a touchdown in his first road start at Nebraska and Zackary Bowman had a critical interception in the end zone, leading the Cornhuskers (2-0) past the Demon Deacons (0-2) in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Keller completed 24 of 41 passes for Nebraska.

(21) Georgia Tech 69, Samford 14: Tashard Choice secured his ninth straight 100-yard game with a 73-yard touchdown run in the first quarter in Atlanta and the Yellow Jackets (2-0) scored 45 points in the first half – their most points in a half since 1916 – en route to a blowout win over the Bulldogs (1-1), a Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) school.

(24) Tennessee 39, Southern Miss 19: Erik Ainge threw touchdown passes, Arian Foster ran for two scores and the Volunteers (1-1) defeated the Golden Eagles (1-1) in Knoxville, Tenn.

Ainge completed 23 of 36 for 276 yards. Austin Rogers caught seven passes for 112 yards and Lucas Taylor adding 118 yards on five catches.

(25) Clemson 49, Louisiana-Monroe 26: Cullen Harper threw a school-record five touchdown passes and the Tigers (2-0) cruised to a victory over the Warhawks (0-2) in Clemson, S.C.

Harper hit 20 of 26 passes for 270 yards.