Florida’s perfect season intact following 23-20 win
Saturday, October 17, 2009 11:52 PM PDT
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Tim Tebow kept Florida’s perfect season intact.
Tebow directed a 69-yard drive in the final minutes, setting up Caleb Sturgis’ 27-yard field goal with 9 seconds remaining that gave the top-ranked Gators a 23-20 win against Arkansas on Saturday.
Was it Tebow’s Heisman moment?
Regardless, it kept Florida unbeaten and likely No. 1 in the country. And maybe even the Gators’ chances to repeat as national champions.
On a day when little went right for the Gators, Tebow took over down the stretch. He threw for 255 yards and a touchdown, ran for 69 more and saved his best plays for when Florida needed him most.
In other college football Saturday:
No. 3 Texas 16, No. 20 Oklahoma 13
DALLAS (AP) — Enough about Colt McCoy. Texas knocked off rival Oklahoma on Saturday because of its defense.
Aaron Williams knocked out Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford on a first-quarter sack, then he and Earl Thomas picked off backup Landry Jones in the fourth quarter to send Texas to a victory over the Sooners.
No. 19 Georgia Tech 28, No. 4 Virginia Tech 23
ATLANTA (AP) — Virginia Tech might have lost its shot at a national championship on another doomed trip to Atlanta.
Josh Nesbitt rushed for 122 yards and three touchdowns — the last of them tiptoeing down the sideline to finish off the Hokies with 3 minutes left — as Georgia Tech ran to a win that threw the Atlantic Coast Conference race up for grabs while perhaps finishing off the league’s top contender in the national race.
No. 6 Southern California 34, No. 25 Notre Dame 27
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Jimmy Clausen threw three incomplete passes into the end zone in the closing seconds as Southern California held on for a victory and its eighth straight win against Notre Dame.
Notre Dame’s streak of last-minute victories ended at three, but the Fighting Irish at least showed they could compete with their longtime rivals this season.
