BATON ROUGE, La. — With No. 1 in its sights, LSU had it easy for a change.

Matt Flynn passed for 237 yards and three touchdowns last night to lead No. 2 LSU to a comfortable 58-10 triumph over Louisiana Tech that could lift the Tigers back to the top of the national rankings.

Each of the Tigers' three previous victories — over Florida, Auburn and Alabama — were marked by late-game heroics that narrowly preserved the Tigers' national championship hopes.

They needed all of those comebacks, given their blown lead at Kentucky, which led to an overtime loss and an end to their brief stint at No. 1.

"The good news is we've been highly ranked most of the year, and wherever we've been ranked, it certainly has been in striking distance of where we need to be at the end of the year," LSU head coach Les Miles said. "It puts us close enough to play in the (national title) game if we continue to take care of business."

With Illinois upsetting top-ranked Ohio State earlier in the day, LSU (9-1) stood to gain from putting this weekend's contest out of reach early and wasn't expected to get much resistance from the Bulldogs (4-6).

"I'll be shocked if they're not the national champions at end of the year," Louisiana Tech head coach Derek Dooley said. "They put it to us tonight."

Louisiana Tech of the Western Athletic Conference, lost to Hawai'i, 45-44, in overtime, Sept. 8.

NO. 4 OKLAHOMA 52, BAYLOR 21

NORMAN, Okla. — Freshman DeMarco Murray scored four touchdowns, one on a 91-yard kickoff return, as the Sooners (9-1, 5-1 Big 12) handed the Bears (3-8, 0-7) their seventh straight loss amid reports that their coach, Guy Morriss, would be replaced at the end of the season.

NO. 5 KANSAS 43, OKLAHOMA STATE 28

STILLWATER, Okla. — Marcus Henry had a career-high 199 yards receiving and three touchdowns, Brandon McAnderson ran for 142 yards and two scores, and the Jayhawks (10-0, 6-0 Big 12) stayed unbeaten with a victory over the Cowboys (5-5, 3-3).

NO. 7 MISSOURI 40, TEXAS A&M 26

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Chase Daniel threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns, and the Tigers (9-1, 5-1 Big 12) reached nine victories for the first time since 1969 by beating the Aggies (6-5, 3-4), a team in turmoil amid reports coach Dennis Franchione's contract will be bought out after the year.

MARYLAND 42, NO. 8 BOSTON COLLEGE 35

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Chris Turner, completed 21 of 27 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns, helping the injury-plagued Terrapins (5-5, 2-4 ACC) end a three-game losing streak by turning back the Eagles (8-2, 4-2), who yielded 472 yards.

NO. 9 ARIZONA STATE 24, UCLA 20

PASADENA, Calif. — Keegan Herring rushed for 116 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown, and Rudy Carpenter threw for 200 yards and another score to lead the Sun Devils (9-1, 6-1 Pac-10) over the Bruins (5-5, 4-3).

NO. 10 GEORGIA 45, NO. 18 AUBURN 20

ATHENS, Ga. — Donning black jerseys for the first time in the modern era, Matthew Stafford threw a pair of touchdown passes and Knowshon Moreno broke 100 yards rushing for the fourth straight game, leading the Bulldogs (8-2, 5-2 SEC) past the Tigers (7-4, 4-3).

NO. 11 VIRGINIA TECH 40, FLORIDA STATE 21

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Tyrod Taylor threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Hokies (8-2, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) blew a 14-point halftime lead and trailed 21-20 entering the final quarter, before giving coach Frank Beamer to his first win in eight tries against the Seminoles (6-4, 3-4).

NO. 12 USC 24, NO. 24 CALIFORNIA 17

BERKELEY, Calif. — Chauncey Washington ran for a career-high 220 yards and a touchdown, and the Trojans (8-2, 5-2 Pac-10) beat the Golden Bears (6-4, 3-4) in a rain-soaked matchup that was much more tantalizing before both schools blew their national title hopes last month.

WISCONSIN 37, NO. 13 MICHIGAN 21

MADISON, Wis. — Tyler Donovan threw for one touchdown and scrambled for another, helping the Badgers (8-3, 4-3 Big Ten) hold off the Wolverines (8-3, 6-1), who played without injured running back Mike Hart, and quarterback Chad Henne, who was relieved in the first quarter because he wasn't "feeling right" according to coach Lloyd Carr.

NO. 15 TEXAS 59, TEXAS TECH 43

AUSTIN, Texas — Colt McCoy passed for four touchdowns, ran for two more and the Longhorns (9-2, 5-2 Big 12) scored 24 points in the fourth quarter to hold off the Red Raiders (7-4, 3-4) and coach Mike Leach, who ripped game officials for favoring Texas.

CINCINNATI 27, NO. 16 CONNECTICUT 3

CINCINNATI — Ben Mauk threw for three touchdowns and ran for another, an 11-yard quarterback draw for a 20-3 lead in the third quarter, helping the Bearcats (8-2, 3-2) hand the Huskies (8-2, 4-1) their first Big East loss.

NO. 17 FLORIDA 51, SOUTH CAROLINA 31

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Tim Tebow accounted for all seven of his team's touchdowns, a school record five rushing and two passing, as the Gators (7-3, 5-3) kept alive their hopes of making the SEC title game with a rout of the Gamecocks (6-5, 3-5).

NO. 20 CLEMSON 44, WAKE FOREST 10

CLEMSON, S.C. — Cullen Harper had three touchdown passes and also scored on a 7-yard keeper, leading the Tigers (8-2, 5-2) to their fourth straight win, while handing the Demon Deacons (6-4, 4-3) their second loss in a row.

MISSISSIPPI STATE 17, NO. 21 ALABAMA 12

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Anthony Johnson returned an interception a school-record 100 yards for a touchdown to help the Bulldogs (6-4, 3-3 SEC) upset the Crimson Tide (6-4, 4-3) and become bowl eligible for the first time since 2000.

NO. 22 TENNESSEE 34, ARKANSAS 13

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Erik Ainge threw for two touchdowns passes, Arian Foster ran for another, and the Volunteers (7-3, 4-2) held conference rushing leader Darren McFadden to 117 yards in beating the Razorbacks (6-4, 2-4).

NO. 23 VIRGINIA 48, MIAMI 0

MIAMI — Mikell Simpson had a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs and quarterback Jameel Sewell scored twice, as the Cavaliers (9-2, 6-1 ACC) ended the Hurricanes' (5-5, 2-4) 70-year stay at the Orange Bowl with their biggest shutout loss in stadium history.

NO. 24 KENTUCKY 27, VANDERBILT 20

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Andre Woodson threw for 222 yards, Rafael Little had 70 yards rushing and the Wildcats (7-3, 3-3 SEC) snapped a two-game losing skid and clinched consecutive seven-win seasons for the first time since 1976-77 by beating the Commodores (5-5, 2-5).