TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama’s defense couldn’t bail out the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide this time — or rescue its national title hopes.

JaMarcus Russell kept No. 5 LSU’s own championship aspirations alive by hitting Dwayne Bowe in the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown in overtime, lifting the Tigers to a 16-13 victory on Saturday.

Russell hit Justin Vincent on a swing pass for 10 yards to open the possession after Alabama (9-1, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) had to settle for a field goal. Then the LSU quarterback was stopped for no gain when he couldn’t find an open receiver against the nation’s top scoring defense.

A reverse to Xavier Carter went for 4 yards, forcing a third-and-6. Russell rolled right and threw a strike over the middle to Bowe to punctuate an up-and-down day mostly dominated by the defenses.

The LSU players swarmed to the end zone while the Tide fans mostly remained in their seats, stunned by the sudden end to their surprising run at perfection.

LSU (8-1, 5-1) won it without having to turn to placekicker Chris Jackson, who had already missed three of his four long field goal attempts.

No. 1 USC 35, California 10

BERKELEY, Calif. — Matt Leinart passed for 246 yards and ran for two touchdowns, and LenDale White ran for three more scores in USC’s 32nd straight win, a rout of slumping California.

Reggie Bush ran for 82 yards for the Trojans (10-0, 7-0 Pac-10), while USC defense intercepted Joe Ayoob four times and kept Cal out of the end zone until 1:34 remained.

The Trojans haven’t lost since their 34-31 triple-overtime defeat at Memorial Stadium in 2003, when Leinart and Bush couldn’t overcome an early deficit and a slew of mistakes.

USC is even better now — and mistake-prone Cal (6-4, 3-4) is plummeting, with four losses in its last five games. The Bears took their largest loss in coach Jeff Tedford’s four seasons, also losing on Senior Day for the first time in his tenure.

No. 2 Texas 66, Kansas 14

AUSTIN, Texas — Vince Young became Texas’ career total offense leader with 281 yards passing and a career-high four touchdown tosses as Texas clinched the Big 12 South Division title.

Young had scoring passes of 45 yards and 64 yards to Limas Sweed and Quan Cosby, and Aaron Ross returned a punt 71 yards for a TD as Texas built a 52-0 lead by halftime, tying the school record for most points in a half.

Texas (10-0, 7-0) ran its winning streak to 17 games and earned its first berth in the Big 12 championship game since 2001, although Longhorns fans are thinking well beyond what could be their first conference title since 1996.

Young passed for 264 yards and all four TDs in the first half. He left the game with five minutes left in the third quarter.

Texas scored at least 50 points for the sixth time this season and had outscored opponents 152-0 over eight quarters before Kansas (5-5, 2-5) scored on the first possession of the third quarter on Jon Cornish’s 59-yard run.

No. 3 Miami 47, Wake Forest 17

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Kyle Wright tied a school record with five touchdown passes, Charlie Jones ran for two more scores and Miami stayed on track for a spot in the first Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.

A week after a surprisingly easy victory at Virginia Tech, the Hurricanes (8-1, 5-1 ACC) used a quick-strike offense to avoid a letdown in their first visit to Groves Stadium since 1971. Injured tailback Tyrone Moss (torn ACL) and return star Devin Hester (hamstring strain) hardly were missed as Miami piled up 515 yards of offense.

Wright finished 17-for-27 for 319 yards and Jones rushed for 90 more, but it wasn’t quite as easy as the final margin indicated. The Demon Deacons (4-7, 3-5) completed their third straight losing season with an inspired effort, taking a 17-14 lead late in the second quarter on a 7-yard run by Chris Barclay.

Wright responded on the third play of the ensuing possession with his first TD toss, waiting patiently in the pocket for Sinorice Moss to break open in the middle of Wake Forest’s zone to give Miami the lead for good.

No. 7 Notre Dame 42, Navy 21

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Brady Quinn passed for four touchdowns, three to Maurice Stovall, to lead Notre Dame to its NCAA-record 42nd straight win over Navy.

Notre Dame broke the game open by scoring on all three of its second-quarter possessions, including a pair of touchdowns 1:28 apart late in the quarter by Darius Walker, who ran for 118 yards on 19 carries, and Anthony Fasano to take a 28-7 halftime lead.

The Irish (7-2) need to win their final two games against Syracuse and at Stanford to remain eligible for a Bowl Championship Series berth. Navy (5-4) still needs a win over either Temple or Army to become bowl eligible.

Stovall had TD catches of 31, 16 and 10 yards, giving him eight touchdown catches in the past three games.

No. 10 Ohio St. 48, No. 25 Northwestern 7

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Troy Smith ran for two touchdowns and linebacker A.J. Hawk returned a blocked punt for another score to lead Ohio State to its fifth consecutive win.

Ohio State (8-2, 6-1) needs to win next week’s annual showdown with rival Michigan to clinch at least a share of the Big Ten title.

The Buckeyes scored at least 35 points for the fifth game in a row — a streak in which they’ve won by an average score of 42-15 — but it was their defense which paved the way.

Brett Basanez came in averaging 316 yards passing a game — fifth-best in the nation — for Northwestern (6-4, 4-3), but was limited to just 121 yards passing while completing 15 of 31 passes with one interception.

Oklahoma State 24, No. 13 Texas Tech 17

STILLWATER, Okla. — Al Pena scored on a 1-yard run with 23 seconds remaining to stave off a rally by Texas Tech and give Oklahoma State a win.

Julius Crosslin did most of the work on the Cowboys’ last drive with runs of 12, 11, 10 and 9, putting Pena in position to break a 17-17 tie.

It was the first Big 12 win for Oklahoma State (4-5, 1-5) and spoiled Texas Tech’s hopes of its first 10-win season since 1976.

The Cowboys dominated much of the game and led 17-0 with 6:41 to go in the third quarter. The Red Raiders (8-2, 5-2) finally got on the board with a field goal minutes later, and Cody Hodges threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jarrett Hicks with 14:42 to go.

Seconds later, after a penalty left the Cowboys driving from their own 8, Oklahoma State quarterback Bobby Reid fumbled and Chris Hudler jumped on it in the end zone for the tying TD.

That set up a wild final quarter, in which the ball changed hands on turnovers three more times, before Pena, who hadn’t played until the fourth quarter, scored.

Iowa 20, No. 19 Wisconsin 10

MADISON, Wis. — Albert Young ran for 127 yards and Iowa ruined Barry Alvarez’s going away party, beating Wisconsin in the coach’s final home game.

Alvarez, who will step down after this season but remain as Wisconsin’s athletic director, built a program over the past 16 seasons that has been known for a punishing running game and a solid defense. But Iowa (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) dominated both sides of the ball in the final three quarters.

The win makes Iowa bowl eligible while ending the slim hopes Wisconsin (8-3, 5-3) had of sharing the Big Ten title in Alvarez’s last season.

Wisconsin seemed poised to send Alvarez out a winner, jumping out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. But Iowa clamped down from there, holding the Badgers to just 72 more yards until their last drive with the game out of reach.

No. 21 Michigan 41, Indiana 14

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Chad Henne had three touchdown passes in the first half as No. 21 Michigan built a huge lead and coasted to a victory over Indiana without scoring after halftime.

The Wolverines (7-3, 5-2 Big Ten) won their fourth straight, avoiding a letdown coming off a bye and heading into the regular-season finale against Ohio State. The Hoosiers (4-6, 1-6) fell out of bowl contention with their fifth consecutive setback, and 14th in a row to Michigan.

Indiana scored on the opening drive of the game, then Michigan took control.

Henne’s passing, Kevin Grady’s two TD runs and Steve Breaston’s 201 all-purpose yards gave the Wolverines a 41-7 lead at halftime. It was Michigan’s highest-scoring first half since scoring 45 against Indiana in 2000.

Virginia 27, No. 24 Ga. Tech 17

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Marques Hagans led Virginia on two scoring drives after it squandered a 17-point lead and the Cavaliers became bowl eligible by beating Georgia Tech for the fourth consecutive season.

Virginia (6-3, 3-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) got two first-quarter touchdown runs from Wali Lundy in building a 17-0 lead.

Georgia Tech (6-3, 4-3) rallied to get even on Reggie Ball’s 24-yard touchdown pass to Damarius Bilbo in the third quarter, but Hagans led one drive that led to Connor Hughes’ 47-yard field goal, then hit Deyon Williams for a 21-yard touchdown with 9:03 left.

No. 15 Auburn 31, No. 9 Georgia 30

ATHENS, Ga. — Auburn’s hopes of reaching the Southeastern Conference championship game took a major blow before the kickoff.

The Tigers didn’t let it get them down.

Devin Aromashodu turned a fourth-down pass into a 63-yard gain, setting up John Vaughn’s 20-yard field goal with six seconds remaining that gave No. 15 Auburn a thrilling 31-30 victory over ninth-ranked Georgia on Saturday night.

The Tigers (8-2, 6-1 SEC) were hoping hated rival Alabama would remain unbeaten, setting up a head-to-head showdown for the Western Division title next week at Auburn.

But the Crimson Tide lost to LSU 16-13 in overtime shortly before the Auburn-Georgia game kicked off, putting the Bayou Bengals in control of the division race.

Georgia (7-2, 5-2) is actually in better shape despite the loss. Helped out by South Carolina’s upset of Florida, the Bulldogs can still claim a spot in the SEC’s Dec. 3 championship game with a win over lowly Kentucky next week.

In a wild game featuring eight lead changes, Auburn came through when it counted. On fourth-and-11 at their own 34, Brandon Cox found Aromashodu breaking free over the middle.

The receiver made the catch in stride and raced for the end zone. Just short of the goal line, Georgia defensive back Paul Oliver managed to knock the ball away, with Auburn’s Courtney Taylor falling on the fumble in the end zone.

Since the ball was fumbled forward, Auburn got it at the 3 with 1:52 remaining. That actually worked to the Tigers’ advantage, allowing them to run down the clock before Vaughn’s winning kick.

The chip shot erased some of the sting from Vaughn’s 1-of-6 performance against LSU last month, a game Auburn lost in overtime and may keep the Tigers out of the SEC championship game.

No. 18 TCU 51, UNLV 3

FORT WORTH, Texas — Quentily Harmon caught a touchdown pass and Cory Rodgers ran for another TCU score before UNLV even gained a yard and the No. 18 Horned Frogs were quickly on way to keeping their slim BCS hopes alive with a 51-3 victory Saturday night.

Already playing their regular-season finale, the Horned Frogs (10-1, 8-0 Mountain West Conference) won their ninth straight game — only No. 1 USC (32 games) and No. 2 Texas (17) have longer active winning streaks. It is TCU’s fourth 10-win season in six years.

No. 14 UCLA 45, Arizona State 35

PASADENA, Calif. — Drew Olson threw for 510 yards and five touchdowns Saturday and No. 14 UCLA defeated Arizona State 45-35 in an high-scoring show at the Rose Bowl.

The Bruins (9-1, 6-1 Pac-10) rebounded from their stunning 52-14 loss at Arizona a week earlier with another explosive offensive performance.

Iowa State 30, No. 22 Colorado 16

AMES, Iowa -- Steve Paris returned a fumble 66 yards for a touchdown and defensive tackle Brent Curvey rumbled 66 yards for a score with an interception to secure Iowa State's 30-16 victory over No. 22 Colorado on Saturday night.

Iowa State (7-3, 4-3 Big 12) stayed in the running for a share of the North division championship with its fourth straight victory on a blustery night and prevented Colorado (7-3, 5-2) from clinching the division.

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