Crimson Tide flow early, bury Georgia

Backed by a dominant defense and John Parker Wilson's accurate passing, No. 8 Alabama raced to a stunning 31-point lead by halftime against self-destructing Georgia and held on to beat the third-ranked Bulldogs, 41-30, last night in Athens, Ga., establishing Nick Saban's team as a national championship contender in his second season.

Georgia (4-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) became the third team in the top four to fall on a devastating week for ranked teams, joining No. 1 Southern Cal and No. 4 Florida in the loss column.

Alabama (5-0, 2-0) is poised to move up at least three or four spots when the new poll comes out today, and the Tide certainly looked as impressive as anyone all year in winning decisively on the road against a team that started the season at the top of the heap.

Wilson went 13 of 16 for 205 yards and a touchdown, while Glenn Coffee ran for two scores in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the final score.

Knowshon Moreno got only nine carries for 34 yards, and quarterback Matthew Stafford spent much of the game running for his life as Georgia's 11-game winning streak ended. Stafford finished 24 of 42 for 274 yards, two TDs, and one interception.

Oklahoma 35, TCU 10 - The No. 2 Sooners (4-0) made their bid for the nation's top ranking, riding Sam Bradford's career-best 411 yards passing and four touchdowns to a home rout of the No. 24 Horned Frogs (4-1).

Manuel Johnson set an Oklahoma record with 206 yards receiving and caught three long TD passes from Bradford, covering 73, 55, and 63 yards. Bradford finished 19 of 34 and raised his season TD total to 16. By the end of the first quarter, Bradford had 202 yards passing - the most by an Oklahoma quarterback in a first period.

LSU 34, Mississippi St. 24 - Charles Scott surpassed 100 yards rushing for a fourth straight game, totaling 141 with two short touchdowns as the No. 5 Tigers (4-0, 2-0 SEC) rolled over the visiting Bulldogs (1-4, 0-2).

LSU's Jarrett Lee, who played throughout with Andrew Hatch still recovering from a concussion, put the game away with a 43-yard TD pass to Demetrius Byrd that made it 34-17 with less than five minutes to go. Lee finished 18 of 27 for 261 yards.

Texas 52, Arkansas 10 - Colt McCoy produced five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing), and the seventh-ranked Longhorns routed the visiting Razorbacks to hand Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino an embarrassing debut in a border rivalry famous for close games.

The loss was the most lopsided in the series since a 35-point Texas victory in 1970. In the previous 10 meetings, the average margin of victory was fewer than 9 points. The Longhorns (4-0) have now outscored opponents, 198-36, this season. Arkansas (2-2) has lost two straight by a combined 77 points.

Michigan 27, Wisconsin 25 - The Wolverines (2-2, 1-0 Big Ten) celebrated their 500th game at the Big House by rallying from a 19-point halftime deficit and knocking off the No. 9 Badgers to give coach Rich Rodriguez his first big win at Michigan.

Wisconsin (3-1, 0-1) appeared to set up overtime with David Gilreath's 22-yard touchdown catch with 13 seconds left and Allan Evridge's pass to Travis Beckum for 2 points, but the conversion was negated by a penalty. On the retry, Evridge's pass went through the end zone.

Penn St. 38, Illinois 24 - Derrick Williams caught a TD pass, ran for a TD, and returned a kickoff 94 yards for another score as the 12th-ranked Nittany Lions (5-0) won their matchup with the No. 22 Fighting Illini (2-2) in State College, Pa.

Ohio St. 34, Minnesota 21 - At Columbus, Ohio, Beanie Wells rushed for 106 yards in his first game in a month and freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor ran for two scores and threw for another, pacing the No. 14 Buckeyes (4-1) past the Golden Gophers (4-1) in a Big Ten

Auburn 14, Tennessee 12 - Jake Ricks recovered a fumble in the end zone to bail out the No. 15 Tigers' anemic offense, and host Auburn (4-1, 2-1 SEC) sent the sputtering Volunteers to their worst start in 14 years at 1-3, 0-2 in the conference.

Utah 37, Weber St. 21 - Louie Sakoda kicked three field goals and four extra points to become the leading scorer in Utah history with 241 points, and the No. 17 Utes (5-0) cruised in Salt Lake City.

Houston 41, East Carolina 24 - At Greenville, N.C., Case Keenum threw for 399 yards and three touchdowns as the Cougars (2-3, 1-0 Conference USA) earned their first win against a ranked opponent in a dozen years by beating the No. 23 Pirates (3-2, 1-1).

Fresno St. 36, UCLA 31 - Tom Brandstater threw for three scores, and the No. 25 Bulldogs (3-1) held off the host Bruins (1-3) by orchestrating a 17-play drive that ran out the clock.