Football: Top 25 roundup

Alabama beats LSU, clinches SEC West championship

Detroit News wire services

Tuscaloosa, Ala. -- Julio Jones left defenders grasping at his heels and Alabama's defense was typically immovable. The Crimson Tide is riding that combination to the Southeastern Conference championship game for the second consecutive season.

Jones broke free for a 73-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, and No. 3 Alabama locked down No. 9 Louisiana State in a 24-15 victory Saturday.

Leigh Tiffin booted a 40-yard field goal with 3:04 left to seal it and the Tide (9-0, 6-0) earned a rematch with No. 1 Florida for the league championship.

The hard-hitting affair left the Tigers (7-2, 4-2) without injured quarterback Jordan Jefferson and running back Charles Scott for most of the second half.

"It was a tough, physical game," said Alabama coach Nick Saban, who beat his former team for the second straight year. "Man, those games are fun to be a part of."

The win touched off another big celebration for Alabama, which survived a 12-10 victory over Tennessee two weeks ago with Terrence Cody's two blocked field goal attempts in the fourth quarter. Tiffin came up big in that one, too, with four field goals.

Jefferson had an ankle injury and Scott hurt his right shoulder in the third.

LSU coach Les Miles, who said Scott's injury was probably the more serious, didn't shed much light on their status.

On Jefferson, Miles said the quarterback was "trying to get back in the game. We felt like it would be best that he sit."

"I still like our chances, injuries or not. No excuses," he added.

The Tigers, whose only other loss came to the Gators, took a 15-10 lead into the fourth but managed only 9 yards in the quarter. They had won four straight games at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Once again, though, LSU is left taking a backseat to its former coach.

Saban, a former Michigan State coach, moved a step closer to his second straight perfect regular season. Alabama outgained LSU 452-253, and narrowed the number of SEC national championship contenders to two.

Alabama is 9-0 for a second consecutive season, which hasn't happened since 1973-74 under Bear Bryant.

Greg McElroy completed 19 of 34 passes for 276 yards with two touchdowns and an interception as the Tide aired it out 25 times in the first half against a defense that was putting extra defenders near the line.

The second half was more typical Tide. Mark Ingram (Flint Southwestern) gained 106 of his 144 yards after the half.

Jones had his best game of the season, with four catches for 102 yards, including his second touchdown.

"We practiced that all week," he said. "A situation like that, I feel like I should just step up and make the play. I did what I had to do."

And the Tide defense -- as it has all season -- came through in the end.

Needing two scores, backup quarterback Jarrett Lee and LSU couldn't get it to midfield in the final minutes.

Alabama hadn't left them much time, anyway, milking more than six minutes off the clock in setting up Tiffin's final kick, made possible when a running into the kicker call led Saban to go for it on fourth-and-1 just across midfield.

Ingram got the first down after taking a direct snap.

"That gives everybody confidence," McElroy said. "It's coach Saban having faith in us."

Tiffin, who became Alabama's all-time leading scorer in the game, also had a 20-yarder early in the fourth after a drive that took nearly six minutes.

LSU had failed on a 2-point try late in the third quarter trying to push its lead to seven points. Trent Richardson's 2-point run after Jones' touchdown made it a two-score game at the end.

Alabama gave fans two things they covet in the process: The lead and big plays from Jones, who hasn't made as many as he did in his fantastic freshman year.

He caught a short pass from McElroy, juked a defender and sprinted down the sideline for a touchdown.

"Put it in his hands, and you never know what's going to happen," McElroy said.

Then Richardson made it 21-15 Alabama.

Alabama forced the short-handed LSU offense into a three-and-out, then pushed the ball across midfield.

After Patrick Peterson nearly picked off McElroy's pass -- he was ruled out of bounds -- Jones' catch converted a third-and-7 to help move the Tide into field goal position.

"There's not one part of the team that didn't play well," Saban said. "The offense played extremely well. Greg played well. The receivers played well. We ran the ball. The offensive line did a fantastic job."

Jefferson and Scott were thriving before going to the sidelines.

Scott ran for 83 yards and his 34-yarder was the longest run play given up by Alabama this season. Jefferson passed for 114 yards and also had some success running the option.

"Losing those two guys was a big blow to our offense," receiver Terrance Toliver said. "It was a letdown to lose both of them, but Jarrett came in and played hard."

Lee was 4 of 10 for 44 yards with an interception on a fourth-down play at the end, and the Tigers were held to 95 yards rushing.

LSU's defense held its own through three quarters. Drake Nevis sacked McElroy in the third quarter for a safety, cutting Alabama's lead to 10-9.

Fullback Stevan Ridley bounced off 354-pound nose guard Terrance Cody for an 8-yard touchdown run and the 15-10 lead. Scott's big run set up the TD, but also ended his day. The pass for two points did not connect.

(At) No. 1 Florida 27, Vanderbilt 3: Tim Tebow accounted for two touchdowns, Caleb Sturgis kicked two field goals and the Gators (9-0, 7-0 SEC) won easily after a week of controversy that featured linebacker Brandon Spikes suspending himself one game for dirty play and coach Urban Meyer's hefty fine for criticizing officials may have been disappointed.

Tebow completed 15 of 20 passes for 208 yards and a TD, but a big chunk of his yardage came on a 64-yard run-and-catch by Aaron Hernandez late in the fourth quarter. Tebow also ran 16 times for 27 yards and a score

(At) No. 2 Texas 35, Central Florida 3 : Jordan Shipley set a Texas record with 273 yards receiving, including an 88-yard touchdown, for Texas (9-0). The sixth-year senior broke the Texas mark of 198 set in 1979 by Johnny "Lam" Jones. Colt McCoy passed for 470 yards with two touchdowns.

McCoy was just shy of current Texas running backs coach Major Applewhite's school-record 473 yards in the 2001 Holiday Bowl.

(At) No. 4 Cincinnati 47, Connecticut 45 : Zach Collaros threw for 480 yards and a touchdown and ran for two more scores for Cincinnati (9-0, 5-0 Big East), which is off to its best start since 1951.

In his three fill-in starts for the injured Tony Pike, Collaros' numbers are eye-opening: 70-of-89 for 1,100 yards with eight passing touchdowns.

No. 6 Texas Christian 55, (at) San Diego State 12 : Andy Dalton threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more as TCU (8-0, 4-0 Mountain West) won its 11th straight.

(At) Stanford 51, No. 7 Oregon 42. Toby Gerhart ran for a school-record 223 yards and three scores and Andrew Luck threw for two touchdowns for Stanford (6-3, 5-2 Pac-10).

Oregon (7-2, 5-1) rallied with two late touchdowns to cut a 20-point lead down to six, but Stanford recovered an onside kick with 2:38 to go and tacked on Nate Whitaker's third field goal with 11 seconds left. The Cardinal ended a seven-game losing streak against the Ducks.

(At) No. 10 Georgia Tech 30, Wake Forest 27 (OT) : Josh Nesbitt scored on a 3-yard run in overtime for Georgia Tech (8-1, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference).

No. 12 Southern California 14, (at) Arizona State 9 : Will Harris returned an interception 55 yards for a score and Matt Barkley threw a 75-yard pass to Damian Williams for another score for USC (7-2, 4-2 Pac-10). The Trojans remain in the hunt for an eighth straight Bowl Championship Series berth.

No. 13 Houston 46, (at) Tulsa 45 . Matt Hogan kicked a 51-yard field goal as time expired to win it for Houston (8-1, 4-1 Conference USA).

(At) No. 14 Pittsburgh 37, Syracuse 10. Greg Williams' 51-yard interception return for a touchdown late in the first half ignited Pittsburgh (8-1, 5-0 Big East), which won its fifth in a row.

(At) No. 16 Miami (Fla.) 52, Virginia 17 : Graig Cooper rushed for 152 yards and a touchdown, and Damien Berry ran for a pair of second-half scores for Miami (7-2, 4-2 ACC).

(At) No. 17 Utah 45, New Mexico 14 : Jordan Wynn passed for 297 yards and two touchdowns in his first college start and Eddie Wide set a school record with his sixth straight 100-yard rushing game as Utah (8-1, 5-0 Mountain West) won its sixth straight.

No. 18 Oklahoma State 34, (at) Iowa State 8 : Keith Toston ran for 206 yards and three touchdowns and Zac Robinson threw a touchdown pass for Oklahoma State (7-2, 4-1 Big 12).

(At) Nebraska 10, No. 20 Oklahoma 3 : Matt O'Hanlon had three interceptions against Landry Jones and Nebraska (6-3, 3-2 Big 12) had five total in the upset of Oklahoma (5-4, 3-2).

(At) No. 21 Arizona 48, Washington State 7 : Travis Cobb returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown for Arizona (6-2, 4-1 Pac-10).

Oregon State 31, (at) No. 23 California 14: Sean Canfield threw for 342 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a score as Oregon State (6-3, 4-2 Pac-10) pulled the upset. Canfield completed 29 of 39 passes with nine to Jacquizz Rodgers and six each to James Rodgers and Joe Halahuni.

California (6-3, 3-3) lost star tailback Jahvid Best to a concussion after he took a scary fall, then the Golden Bears lost their fifth straight at home to the Beavers.

Oklahoma (5-4, 3-2) failed to score a touchdown for the first time since a 29-0 loss to Texas A&M in 1998.

No. 25 Brigham Young 52, (at) Wyoming 0 : Max Hall threw for 312 yards and four touchdowns and BYU (7-2, 4-1 Mountain West) won its sixth straight over Wyoming.