By The Associated Press

STANFORD, Calif. - Matt Leinart passed for 308 yards and LenDale White scored on a 2-yard run with 6:15 left, capping Southern California's comeback from an 11-point deficit for a 31-28 victory over Stanford on Saturday night.

Steve Smith caught eight passes for 153 yards and a touchdown, and Reggie Bush contributed 95 yards rushing and a key punt return to USC's 13th straight victory. After yielding 291 yards in the first half, No. 1 USC gave up just 36 after halftime.

But the nation's second-longest winning streak nearly ended across the Bay from the site of the defending national champions' most recent defeat, at California last season.

Stanford took a 28-17 lead into halftime, embarrassing the Trojans' vaunted defense and shocking the thousands of USC fans at Stanford Stadium. The Cardinal scored on a fake field goal and added J.R. Lemon's 82-yard TD run as time ran out.

It was all too reminiscent of the Trojans' 34-31, triple-overtime loss in Berkeley last fall. That game featured similarly tentative defensive play, another big first-half deficit and a poor performance by Leinart.

But Leinart was nearly flawless against Stanford, going 24-of-30 and finally getting his offense going late in the third quarter on Smith's 51-yard reception to the Stanford 12. Leinart scored on a 1-yard keeper, cutting the lead to four points.

No. 5 Texas 35, Rice 13

AUSTIN, Texas - Cedric Benson rushed for 189 yards and a touchdown and Vince Young passed for three scores to his tight ends for Texas.

Texas (3-0) came in with the nation's No. 1 rushing attack and pounded the Owls on the ground from the start, grinding out 339 yards. The Longhorns have won 37 of the last 38 meetings with Rice (2-1).

Benson had 169 yards on 18 carries in the first half against a defense that was No. 1 in the country against the run coming in.

No. 6 West Virginia 45, James Madison 10

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Rasheed Marshall threw two touchdown passes to Chris Henry to lead West Virginia.

West Virginia's defense scored one touchdown and set up another as the Mountaineers (4-0) remained unbeaten heading into a showdown next week at former Big East rival Virginia Tech.

James Madison (2-1) has been outscored 135-10 in its last three contests against I-A teams and is 3-13 all-time against them.

The Dukes limited the Mountaineers to 171 yards on the ground, 140 yards below their average.

No 8 Florida State 41, Clemson 22

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Wyatt Sexton threw for 162 yards and a touchdown after replacing an injured Chris Rix and Florida State forced five turnovers.

Rix sprained his right ankle late in the first quarter and was able to return, but spent the rest of the game on the sideline watching Sexton direct the offense for Florida State (2-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference).

Sexton, a redshirt sophomore, completed 17 of 26 passes with a 47-yard scoring pass to Chauncey Stovall - the Seminoles' first TD pass of the season.

Justin Miller matched a school record with two kickoff return touchdowns for Clemson (1-3, 0-2), which has lost three straight.

No. 9 Auburn 33, The Citadel 3

AUBURN, Ala. - Jason Campbell passed for 194 yards in the first half and Auburn coasted in breather between a pair of high-stakes contests.

The Tigers (4-0) had no problem overcoming a few sloppy plays against the Division I-AA Bulldogs (0-2) in a tuneup for next week's showdown at No. 11 Tennessee. They have a six-game winning streak for the first time since opening the 1997 season 6-0 .

Auburn outgained The Citadel (0-2) 593-169 in total yards, coming off a 10-9 win over LSU.

Carnell Williams gained 95 yards on 22 carries, all in the first half, but lost a pair of fumbles in the Bulldogs' territory. He had a 1-yard touchdown run.

No. 11 Tennessee 42, Louisiana Tech 17

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Erik Ainge threw three touchdown passes and Cedric Houston ran for 160 yards and two more scores to lead Tennessee.

The Volunteers (3-0) started slow but broke open the game in the second quarter to catch a breather between a crucial win over Florida last week and a meeting with No. 9 Auburn next week.

Ainge again got the bulk of the playing time while alternating with fellow freshman Brent Schaeffer. Ainge finished 10-of-15 for 198 yards, and Gerald Riggs had a career-high 116 yards on 16 carries.

The Bulldogs (2-2) lost starting quarterback Donald Allen at the end of his first series with an injury. Matt Kubik, who started the season opener, replaced him and was intercepted twice.

No. 12 Virginia 31, Syracuse 10

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Marques Hagans had 283 total yards with two touchdown runs and a TD pass to lead Virginia.

Wali Lundy added a 27-yard run for his 10th touchdown of the season for the Cavaliers (4-0).

The Orange (2-2), 51-0 losers to Purdue in their season-opener, drove 68 yards for a field goal on their opening possession, then managed just 41 more yards on four possessions and trailed 21-3 at halftime.

Hagans had scoring runs of 59 and 27 yards in the first half and finished with 81 yards on six carries. The Cavaliers have outscored their opponents 120-13 before halftime.

No. 15 Purdue 38, Illinois 30

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Kyle Orton passed for 366 yards and four touchdowns, and Taylor Stubblefield caught 11 passes for 115 yards to lead Purdue.

Orton completed 35 of 50 passes and was not intercepted for the third straight game. He had scoring passes of 2, 5 and 34 yards to Stubblefield and 49 yards to Brandon Jones as the Boilermakers (3-0) rolled up 515 yards.

The Boilermakers (3-0, 1-0) won their eighth straight Big Ten opener.

Jon Beutjer threw three touchdown passes for the Illini (2-2, 0-1), who put themselves in a hole early by fumbling a reverse on the game's first play. Receiver Ade Adeyamo bobbled the handoff from Beutjer and Bobby Iwuchukwu recovered at the 5, leading to a Orton's first TD toss to Stubblefield.

No. 13 LSU 51, Mississippi State 0

BATON ROUGE, La. - Alley Broussard ran for a career-high three touchdowns in the first 17 minutes and LSU held Mississippi State to seven first downs and 130.

The Tigers (3-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) rolled up 594 yards and led 34-0 at half.

The LSU defense had four interceptions, recovered a fumble, and scored a touchdown.

The Bulldogs (1-3, 0-2), who are rebuilding under first-year coach Sylvester Croom, have lost seven straight in Tiger Stadium and 12 of 13 overall against LSU.

No. 14 Utah 49, Air Force 35

SALT LAKE CITY - Marty Johnson tied a school record with four rushing touchdowns and Utah held off Air Force for its best start in 10 years.

Johnson, who had 20 carries for 68 yards, became the fourth Utah player to score four TDs and Alex Smith added a rushing score and passed for two more. Smith completed 13 of 23 passes for 260 yards and had 13 carries for 84 yards.

The Utes are off to their first 4-0 start since 1994, when they went 10-2.

After allowing 35 straight points, the Falcons (2-2, 1-1 Mountain West Conference) got back within a touchdown but no closer as they turned the ball over three times.

No. 18 Michigan 30, Iowa 17

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Braylon Edwards caught six passes for 150 yards and a touchdown and Michigan turned four turnovers into 27 points.

The Wolverines (3-1, 1-0) won their 23rd consecutive Big Ten opener. They have won 12 straight at home since Iowa handed them their worst loss at Michigan Stadium since 1967.

Ed Hinkel's one-handed, diving TD catch on the opening drive gave the Hawkeyes (2-2, 0-1) their only lead. Chad Henne was 16-of-26 for 236 yards with a TD and, most importantly for Michigan, no turnovers.

Iowa first-year starter Drew Tate was 24-of-32 for 270 yards, two TDs and two interceptions.

No. 20 Wisconsin 16, Penn State 3

MADISON, Wisc. - Matt Bernstein bullied his way to a career-best 123 yards after replacing an ineffective and injured Booker Stanley to help Wisconsin hold off Penn State.

The Badgers (1-0 Big Ten) held their opponents out of the end zone for the third time in four games and ended the month 4-0 despite the absence of star tailback Anthony Davis (eye) for the last 3 1/2 games.

The loss was costly for the Nittany Lions (2-2, 0-1), who lost their top two offensive weapons in the first quarter when quarterback Zack Mills injured his right shoulder on Penn State's first series and his replacement, Michael Robinson, suffered a concussion and was taken off the field by ambulance.

Bernstein was pressed into duty when Stanley, who gained just 9 yards on 10 carries, couldn't go in the second half because of an injured foot.

No. 23 Maryland 55, Duke 21

DURHAM, N.C. - Joel Statham threw four touchdown passes to offset a host of mistakes Saturday, and Maryland piled up 685 yards in total offense.

Vernon Davis caught three of the TDs - the first of his career - and Rich Parson had the other as Maryland (3-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its fifth straight over the Blue Devils (0-4, 0-2).

Statham finished 22-for-37 for 362 yards, and the Terrapins added 277 on the ground. Their 100th play came on the final snap, and they finished with 35 first downs.