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Ohio State Defense Swamps Penn State, 28-9

LSU tripped up by Georgia, but No. 2 Nebraska hangs on

Ohio State is still the one.

Georgia's upset of LSU, Nebraska's narrow escape against Oklahoma State and a few other close calls shuffled the college football rankings this week.

But the No. 1 Buckeyes held firm, thanks to a stingy defense that turned a fumble and a blocked punt into touchdowns, and beat Penn State 28-9 on a rainy Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.

"I look at it as a solid win over the No. 7 team in the country," Ohio State coach John Cooper said after his team held the Nittany Lions to 181 total yards.

"I think we've beaten three real good, solid teams this year."

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That would be West Virginia, Missouri and Penn State, all Top 25 teams. With a solid grip on the top spot it has held since the preseason poll, Ohio State (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) is set for another national title run.

The toughest game over the next six weeks appears to be at home against Michigan State on Nov. 7. Then comes Michigan on Nov. 21. The Wolverines are 8-1-1 against Cooper-coached Ohio State teams.

No. 2 Nebraska (5-0) nearly dropped off the road to the Fiesta Bowl--the Bowl Championship Series' designated title game--but defensive end Mike Rucker stopped Nathan Simmons at the I on the last play of the game and the Cornhuskers beat the Cowboys 24-17 at Arrowhead Stadium.

"Sometimes your whole season comes down to one play, and sometimes it comes down to one foot" Rucker said.

He was referring to a last-second, game-tying TD catch by Matt Davison against Missouri in '97 that came after a Husker player's foot kept the ball alive. Nebraska won in overtime, 45-38.

The Huskers extended the nation's longest major-college winning streak to 19 games and kept the Cowboys winless against them since 1961--a 35-game stretch. But Nebraska looked beatable after running for just 73 yard--240 under their average.

At Baton Rouge, La., freshman Quincy Carter hit on 27 of 34 passes for 318 yards and two TDs as Georgia (4-0) surprised LSU 28-21. The Bulldogs moved from No. 12 to No. 7 in this week's AP poll and play host to No. 4 Tennessee on Saturday. LSU dropped from No. 6 to No. 11.

The Vols (4-0, 2-0 SEC) had a tough time at Auburn before winning 17-9 while Florida State and Florida both struggled--the Seminoles beat Maryland 24-10 and the Gators hung on at Alabama 16-10

In this week's Top 25, UCLA moved up a spot to No. 3 after beating Washington State 49-17, while Florida moved up two spots to No. 6 and Penn State fell six places to No. 13.

In next Saturday's top matchups, it's Tennessee at Georgia, UCLA at Arizona and Kansas State at Colorado.

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