By The Associated Press

ATHENS, Ga. - Georgia took advantage of Casey Clausen's absence and took a major step toward their first conference title since 1982.

The Bulldogs (6-0, 3-0 SEC) withstood a late rally to remain the only unbeaten team in the conference. They'll be solid favorites the next two weeks at home against Vanderbilt and Kentucky, meaning they could be undefeated going into the annual showdown against Florida on Nov. 2.

Tennessee (4-2, 1-2) didn't have Clausen, who hurt his non-throwing shoulder in a six-overtime win over Arkansas, so they went most of the game with third-stringer James Banks.

Banks scored two TDs in the fourth quarter to make it close, but Georgia recovered an onside kick, and Tony Milton broke off a 25-yard run on fourth-and-2 to clinch the victory.

No. 7 Oregon 31, UCLA 30

PASADENA, Calif. - Jason Fife threw two touchdowns, including the winning 74-yarder to Keenan Howry on the first play of the fourth quarter, as the Ducks rallied to beat UCLA again.

Trailing 31-30, UCLA's Chris Griffith attempted a 46-yard field goal that sailed wide left with 1:54 remaining. Last season, Griffith's 50-yard attempt was short and wide in the final quarter, sealing the Bruins' 21-20 defeat.

The Ducks (6-0, 2-0 Pac-10) have beaten UCLA (4-2, 1-1 Pac-10) the last three times, and four of the last five games have been decided by five points or fewer.

UCLA quarterback Cory Paus was 17-of-31 for 316 yards and three touchdowns, but also threw three interceptions. Sophomore Craig Bragg scored three touchdowns and had nine catches for 230 yards.

No. 11 Iowa St. 31, Texas Tech 17

AMES, Iowa - Lane Danielsen sprinted 79 yards for a touchdown on a reverse and Seneca Wallace scored on a spectacular 12-yard run and threw a TD pass to lead Iowa State.

The Cyclones (6-1, 3-0 Big 12) frustrated the Texas Tech offense, and Red Raiders quarterback Kliff Kingsbury, who had thrown for more than 400 yards in each of his two previous games, had just 272.

Texas Tech (4-3, 1-1) contained Wallace for 21/2 quarters, and the two teams were locked in a 3-3 tie before the Cyclones took advantage of two Tech fumbles to break it open.

No. 12 Washington St. 36, Stanford 11

STANFORD, Calif. - Jason Gesser passed for 297 yards and threw two of his three touchdown passes to Jonathan Smith to lead the Cougars.

Jerome Riley had nine receptions for 173 yards and a score as Washington State (6-1, 3-0 Pac-10) rolled to its fourth straight victory since losing at Ohio State. After completing 17 of 23 passes despite his constantly sore ribs, Gesser sat out most of the fourth quarter in Washington State's biggest victory over Stanford since 1961.

Kenneth Tolon rushed for 89 yards and a late TD as Stanford (1-4, 0-2) lost its third straight under first-year coach Buddy Teevens.

No. 14 N.C. State 34, N. Carolina 17

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Freshman T.A. McLendon, playing with a cast on his broken right wrist, ran for a season-high 164 yards and two touchdowns as N.C. State remained unbeaten.

The win gave the Wolfpack (7-0, 2-0 ACC) their its second-best start in 111 years of football. They began 8-0 in 1967, when coach Chuck Amato was a senior linebacker under the direction of Lou Holtz.

North Carolina (2-4, 0-2) lost for just the second time to its rival in the last decade. The Tar Heels played a terrific first half, and Wolfpack quarterback Philip Rivers was held to 170 yards passing, but N.C. State rallied from a 10-point third-quarter deficit by getting its ground game going.

No. 18 LSU 36, No. 16 Florida 7

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - One week after losing at Mississippi, Florida's season got even worse as LSU quarterback Matt Mauck picked apart the Gators' woeful defense.

The Tigers (5-1, 2-0 SEC) had four interceptions against Rex Grossman, and LSU also scored on a fake field goal and two passes from Mauck to Devery Henderson.

Mauck had no interceptions and threw for 153 yards; he also ran for 67.

Florida (4-3, 2-2) lost to LSU at The Swamp for the first time since 1986.

No. 17 Iowa 44, Michigan St. 16

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Brad Banks threw two touchdown passes, Jermelle Lewis returned a kickoff 94 yards for another score, and Iowa also intercepted three passes.

The Hawkeyes (6-1, 3-0 Big Ten), who entered the game ranked 116th in the nation in pass defense, limited record-setting receiver Charles Rogers to five catches and ended his NCAA record streak of 14 straight games with a TD catch.

Rogers had just five catches for 78 yards. Michigan State (3-3, 1-1) scored a touchdown on its first possession, then allowed 44 straight points.

No. 19 Kansas St. 44, Oklahoma St. 9

MANHATTAN, Kan. - Ell Roberson threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores to lead Kansas State.

Taco Wallace finished with 101 yards on four catches for the Wildcats (5-1, 1-1 Big 12), and Darren Sproles had 130 yards rushing, including a 38-yard TD.

The Cowboys (2-4, 0-2) got just 184 yards and committed five turnovers. Kansas State linebacker Bryan Hickman intercepted two of Josh Fields' passes.

No. 20 USC 30, California 28

LOS ANGELES - Sultan McCullough carried 39 times for 176 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter for Southern California.

Carson Palmer threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns for the Trojans (4-2, 2-1 Pac-10), who trailed 21-3 early.

Ryan Killeen, who missed two field goals and a critical extra point in USC's loss to Washington State last week, kicked field goals of 34, 32 and 18 yards.

Kyle Boller completed 20 of 30 passes for 211 yards to lead the Bears (4-3, 1-2), but he was just 6-of-1 in the second half.

No. 21 Air Force 52, BYU 9

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - Chance Harridge ran for four touchdowns for the second straight game, and the Falcons forced five turnovers to remain unbeaten.

Air Force (6-0, 3-0), the nation's top rushing team, had 463 yards - 386 rushing - and used its ball-control offense to keep BYU's high-scoring offense off the field. The Falcons are off to their best start since opening the 1997 season 7-0.

BYU (3-3, 0-1) couldn't get its offense on track and seemed baffled by Air Force's option in its conference opener. The Cougars entered the game averaging 441 yards, but had just 304 - minus-21 rushing - and used all four of its quarterbacks to lose for the first time in 10 conference games.

Last season, BYU embarassed Air Force 63-33.

No. 22 Washington 32, Arizona 28

SEATTLE - Reggie Williams scored three touchdowns, including the game-winner on an 80-yard pass from Cody Pickett with 2:03 remaining, as the Huskies bounced back from last week's loss to California.

Williams catching eight passes for 184 yards. The Huskies (4-2, 1-1 Pac-10) also got a strong performance from Pickett, who completed 25 of 35 passes for 345 yards without an interception.

Arizona (3-3, 0-2) countered with 443 yards passing and three TDs from Jason Johnson, and Bobby Wade caught 10 passes for 155 yards.

Wade gave the Wildcats a 28-21 lead early in the fourth quarter on a 28-yard TD catch from Johnson.

Arkansas 38, No. 24 Auburn 17

AUBURN, Ala. - Fred Talley tore up Auburn's defense, running for 241 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown.

One week after a six-overtime loss at Tennessee, the Razorbacks (3-2, 1-2 SEC) racked up 426 yards rushing, and Talley's total was the most ever against Auburn. The previous high was 233, by Alabama's Bobby Marlow in 1951.

Talley had just 123 yards in four previous games this season, and he was only starting because of Cedric Cobbs' injured toe.

Auburn (4-2, 2-1) benched quarterback Daniel Cobb for Jason Campbell after three quarters. Cobb threw two first-half interceptions and lost a fumble, but he passed for 225 yard and made the Tigers' only big plays.

No. 25 Mississippi 52, Arkansas St. 17

OXFORD, Miss. - Eli Manning threw for 290 yards and three touchdowns to lead Ole Miss, which was playing as a ranked team for the first time in two years.

Coming off an upset of Florida, the Rebels (5-1) had a predictably easy time against Arkansas State (4-4), which fell to 1-18-2 against Ole Miss.

Manning was 14-of-19 with an interception and tied the school record for career touchdown passes with 43, sharing the mark with Romaro Miller.