STATE COLLEGE, Pa. >> Will Howard threw for 182 yards and two touchdowns and No. 4 Ohio State’s defense made a late defensive stand to lift the Buckeyes over No. 3 Penn State 20-13 on Saturday.

Ohio State (7-1, 4-1) kept its hopes alive for a spot in the Big Ten Championship game by beating the Nittany Lions (7-1, 4-1) for the eighth straight time. Howard, who believes Penn State thought he “wasn’t good enough“ when it declined to offer the Philadelphia-area native a scholarship, exacted a measure of revenge in front of the largest crowd in Beaver Stadium history (111,030).

While Howard wasn’t perfect by any stretch — he threw a pick-6 on his first pass and later fumbled as he was crossing the goal line for what would have been a touchdown — he connected on first-half scoring passes to Emeka Egbuka and Brandon Inniss and Ohio State’s defense did the rest.

The Buckeyes held Penn State’s offense out of the end zone, twice turning the Nittany Lions away from deep in Ohio State territory. Buckeyes defensive back Davison Igbinosun out-wrestled Penn State wide receiver Harrison Wallace III for the ball in the end zone to end a Nittany Lions drive late in the first half.

No. 1 Oregon 38, Michigan 17 >> Dillon Gabriel threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score in another efficient performance from the Heisman Trophy front-runner, leading Oregon to a win over Michigan.

The Ducks (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) seemed to get a break on their first touchdown when Gabriel’s 2-yard pass to Evan Stewart appeared to be dropped, but they didn’t need much good fortune to stay unbeaten.

No. 2 Georgia 34, Florida 20 >> Carson Beck threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns to offset three interceptions and Georgia escaped “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” with a victory over Florida.

The Bulldogs (7-1, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) won their fourth straight in the series, their longest streak since winning six in a row between 1978 and 1983. They took advantage of Florida’s quarterback woes and a special teams error in this one.

No. 5 Miami 53, Duke 31 >> Heisman Trophy hopeful Cam Ward threw for 400 yards and five more touchdown passes, three to Xavier Restrepo on a record-setting day for both of them, and Miami erased a double-digit deficit for the third time this season to roll past Duke.

Ward now has 29 touchdown passes, tying Steve Walsh’s Miami season record set in 1988. A 66-yard scoring grab with 7:36 left was the big history-maker: Restrepo tied Mike Harley’s Miami career reception record with his 182nd, broke Santana Moss’ career receiving yards record with 2,573, and Ward tied Walsh’s TD pass mark for the Hurricanes (9-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference).

Texas Tech 23, No. 11 Iowa State 22 >> Behren Morton drove Texas Tech 71 yards for the winning touchdown with 19 seconds left, and the Red Raiders denied Iowa State its best start in program history with an upset.

Tahj Brooks’s 5-yard touchdown run came after the Cyclones had taken their first lead on Rocco Becht’s 44-yard touchdown pass to Carson Brown with 2:11 to play.

No. 13 Indiana 47, Michigan State 10 >> Kurtis Rourke threw for 263 yards and four touchdowns, including two to Elijah Sarratt, and Amare Ferrell had two interceptions to lead Indiana to a victory over Michigan State and its first 9-0 start in school history.

Rourke, who missed last week’s game against Washington following surgery on an injured right thumb, showed no ill effects and completed 19 of 29 passes.

Houston 24, No. 17 Kansas State 19 >> Zeon Chriss threw for 103 yards and a touchdown without an incompletion as Houston rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Kansas State.

Trailing 19-10 to start the fourth quarter, Chriss threw a 1-yard touchdown to Maliq Carr with 11 minutes left. After forcing a punt, Chriss rushed for a 41-yard touchdown with 2:31 to go.

No. 19 Mississippi 63, Arkansas 31 >> Jaxson Dart set Ole Miss records for yards passing and touchdown throws in a single game, leapfrogging Matt Corral and Eli Manning, in the Rebels’ dominating win over Arkansas.

Dart threw four scores and 321 yards in just the first half. He found Jordan Watkins on three of the TDs, including one for 62 yards and another for 66 on back-to-back drives. They were just three offensive plays apart. Dart ultimately finished 25 of 31 passing for 515 yards with six touchdowns.

No. 21 Army 20, Air Force 3 >> Kanye Udoh rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns to help Army to a win over Air Force and the Black Knights’ nation-leading 12th straight victory.

Minnesota 25, No. 24 Illinois 17 >> Max Brosmer threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Jameson Geers and Dragan Kesich kicked his fourth field goal of the game in the final five minutes, rallying Minnesota to a victory over Illinois.