John Hessler made Colorado history in his first career start Saturday night, throwing a school-record five touchdown passes in a 38-17 victory over No. 10 Oklahoma.
Hessler, who came off the bench last week to lead Colorado (5-0, 1-0 Big Eight) past Texas A&M, had to lead the Buffaloes back from first-half deficits of 10-0 and 17-7. The sophomore did it in style, completing 24 of 34 passes for 348 yards.Oklahoma (3-1, 0-1) had no luck moving the ball in the second half, and now has gone seven years without beating the Buffaloes.
Hessler's five touchdowns broke the team record of four held by Darian Hagan and Kordell Stewart. It also tied a Big Eight record.
Colorado took control of the game with two third-quarter touchdowns, a 71-yarder to Rae Carruth and a nice screen pass that Lendon Henry turned into a 28-yard score.
That left the Buffaloes with a 28-17 lead after three quarters. The Colorado defense held Oklahoma to 28 yards during the period, and then the Buffaloes snuffed out any Oklahoma hopes midway through the fourth.
Oklahoma tried for a first down on fourth-and-2 at the Colorado 28, but a bad snap resulted in a 9-yard loss. Five plays later, Hessler rolled out and found Phil Savoy for a 42-yard touchdown.
His other touchdown passes came in the second quarter - a 19-yarder to Savoy and an 11-yarder to Carruth.
Oklahoma's offense had struggled in the past two weeks, but established itself right away against Colorado by driving 63 yards on its first possession and getting a 21-yard field goal by Jeremy Alexander.
The Sooners used a blocked punt to score their first touchdown early in the second quarter. The block gave Oklahoma the ball at the Colorado 21, and seven plays later Eric Moore snuck in from the 1.
Moore fumbled while getting sacked by Darryl Price on the next possession, and Colorado took over at the Sooners 17. A holding penalty on second down left the Buffaloes facing second-and-24 from the 31, but two plays later Hessler found Savoy on the 19-yard touchdown.
Oklahoma then drove 78 yards and scored on Moore's 20-yard pass to JaJuan Penny on third-and-11, making the score 17-7. Moore had kept the drive alive with a 20-yard completion on third-and-13 to tight end Stephen Alexander, who made a nice run after the catch.
Colorado got back within 17-14 on Hessler's 11-yard touchdown pass to Carruth with 11 seconds left in the half. Hessler, who was 5-of-6 for 48 yards during the drive, had snuck for the first down on fourth-and-inches one play before the touchdown.
No. 2 Nebraska 35, Wash. St. 21
At Lincoln, Neb., quarterback Tommie Frazier scored three touchdowns and freshman Ahman Green ran for 176 yards and a score as Nebraska (5-0) gained 428 rushing yards against the fourth-best rush defense in the country.
Chad Davis threw for 278 yards and two touchdowns for Washington State (2-2).
No. 3 Florida 28, Mississippi 10
Danny Wuerffel threw three touchdown passes in Gainesville, Fla., his first two extending his streak of 10 straight possessions getting his team into the end zone for the Gators (4-0, 3-0 SEC).
Ole Miss (2-2, 1-2) kicker Tim Montz, who was 6-of-6 on field goals, missed two of three attempts.
No. 5 USC 31, Arizona St. 0
Keyshawn Johnson set an NCAA record by becoming the first player with 100 or more yards receiving in 12 consecutive games. He had 13 catches for 171 yards as the Trojans (4-0, 2-0 Pac-10) didn't miss three suspended starters.
Arizona State fell to 2-3 and 1-2.
Wisconsin 17, No. 6 Penn St. 9
Penn State (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten) was shut out in the first half for the first time since 1992 against Miami, 33 games ago. The Badgers (2-1-1, 1-0) were led by Darrell Bevell, who was 18-for-22 and threw two touchdown passes.
No. 8 Michigan 38, Miami, Ohio 19
Brian Griese, son of NFL Hall of Famer Bob Griese, threw two touchdown passes as Michigan (5-0) took a 31-0 lead at Ann Arbor, Mich.
Griese was 10-of-13 for 157 yards in the first half in relief of injured Scott Dreisbach against Miami (3-2).
No. 11 Virginia 35, Wake Forest 17
The Cavaliers (5-1, 4-0 ACC) beat Wake Forest (1-4, 0-2) for the 12th straight time as Mike Groh passed for 335 yards and two touchdowns at Charlottesville, Va.
This is the first time Virginia has won five games in a month since going 5-0 in September 1990.
No. 12 Tenn. 31, Oklahoma St. 0
Jay Graham rushed for two touchdowns and Peyton Manning passed for two at Knoxville, Tenn., as the Volunteers (4-1) scored twice in the final 70 seconds of the first half.
David Thompson led the Cowboys (1-4) with 104 yards on 27 carries.
No. 13 Auburn 42, Kentucky 21
Auburn took a 35-7 lead at Lexington, Ky., in beating Kentucky (2-3, 1-2 SEC) for the 13th straight time. Patrick Nix passed for three first-half touchdowns and 191 yards for Auburn (3-1, 2-1).
Kentucky's Moe Williams rushed for 164 yards and two touchdowns.
No. 14 LSU 20, South Carolina 20
LSU (3-1-1) needed Sheddrick Wilson's 19-yard touchdown catch with 1:06 remaining and Andre Lafleur's extra point to salvage a 20-20 tie at Columbia, S.C.
The Gamecocks (1-3-1) took a 20-13 lead on Reed Morton's second field goal of the game. But quarterback Jamie Howard hit passes of 16 and 9 yards to Eddie Kennison and 7 yards to Wilson before the TD.
No. 16 Kansas St. 44, N. Illinois 0
At Manhattan, Kan., Kevin Lockett broke the school record for touchdown catches and Bill Snyder became Kansas State's winningest coach as the Wildcats are 4-0 for the third straight season.
Lockett increased his career total to 14, and Snyder improved his record to 40-31-1 since 1989.
No. 18 Wash. 26, Oregon St. 16
Huskies quarterback Damon Huard surpassed the 4,000-yard mark in career passing at Corvallis, Ore., as the Huskies (3-1, 2-0 Pac-10) beat Oregon State for the eighth straight time.
Beavers redshirt freshman quarterback Tim Alexander rushed for 182 yards and two touchdowns.
No. 20 Alabama 31, Georgia 0
Alabama's defense forced six turnovers at Athens, Ga., as Georgia (2-3, 1-3 SEC) was shut out for the first time in 48 games.
Deshea Townsend returned a blocked field goal 90 yards for a touchdown, Cedric Samuel returned a fumble 25 yards for another and Kevin Jackson scored on a 26-yard interception return for Alabama (3-1, 2-1).
No. 21 Texas 35, SMU 10
James Brown threw two touchdown passes and Shon Mitchell scored twice and rushed for 180 yards at Dallas as Texas beat SMU for the eighth straight time.
After this season, Texas (3-1, 1-0) heads for the new Big 12 and SMU (1-4, 0-1) goes to the Western Athletic Conference.
No. 23 Arkansas 35, Vanderbilt 7
Madre Hill ran for 200 yards and two touchdowns at Nashville, Tenn., to send Vanderbilt (0-4, 0-2 SEC) to its worst start since 1980, when the Commodores opened 0-6. Vanderbilt ended a stretch without an offensive TD at 12 quarters in the fourth quarter.
Baylor 9, No. 24 Texas Tech 7
Jerod Douglas rushed for 157 yards to set up three field goals by Jarvis Van Dyke at Waco, Texas.
The Red Raiders (1-2, 0-1) didn't score until quarterback Zebbie Lethridge's 1-yard sneak with five seconds to play. An onside kick failed, and Baylor (3-1, 1-0) ran out the clock with one final play.