Top 25 college football: No. 1 Georgia overcomes slow start, fends off Auburn

AUBURN, Ala. — With Georgia’s No. 1 ranking and lengthy winning streak on the line, Brock Bowers caught a 40-yard touchdown pass from Carson Beck in the final minutes of a 27-20 win over Auburn on Saturday.

The Bulldogs (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) made it the Beck-and-Bowers show in the fourth quarter to bail out of another slow start and SEC scare. Georgia’s school-record winning streak ultimately stretched to 22 games, even if the Bulldogs only dominated when they absolutely had to.

Auburn (3-2, 0-2), which led 10-0 after the first quarter, had tied it on Alex McPherson’s 42-yard field goal with 10:57 left.

Auburn’s final drive was halted with a fourth-down interception by Malaki Starks just across midfield.

Payton Thorne passed for 82 yards with the interception and ran for 92 yards for the Tigers, including an early 61-yarder.

No. 3 Texas 40, No. 24 Kansas 14

AUSTIN, Texas — Jonathon Brooks rushed for 217 yards and two touchdowns to lead Texas to a win over Kansas, which lost standout quarterback Jalon Daniels in pregame warmups with back stiffness.

Quinn Ewers passed for 325 yards and ran 30 yards for the game’s first score. Texas (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) also got another standout game from its defense, which has surrendered just three touchdowns in the past three games.

Texas finished with 336 yards rushing and 661 yards overall, and wore down Kansas (4-1, 1-1) in the second half. The Longhorns blew the game open in the fourth quarter with Ewer’s touchdown pass to Adonai Mitchell and the quarterback’s second touchdown run.

No. 8 Southern California 48, Colorado 41

BOULDER, Colo. — Caleb Williams threw for 403 yards and tied a career high with six touchdown passes as Southern California held off Colorado after racing out to a big lead.

Leading 34-7 in the second quarter, the Trojans saw Colorado storm back to make it a one-score game with 1:43 remaining on Shedeur Sanders’ 16-yard TD strike to Jimmy Horn Jr. The Trojans recovered the onside-kick attempt and Williams kneeled three times to close out the win.

The Trojans (5-0, 3-0 Pac-12) improved to 17-0 all-time against the Buffaloes (3-2, 0-2), who were knocked off for a second straight week after a 3-0 start that made Deion Sanders’ team the biggest story in college football.

Sanders finished with 371 yards passing and four touchdowns, along with a 25-yard scamper for a score just before halftime. He had one interception.

Kentucky 33, No. 22 Florida 14

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Ray Davis rushed for a career-high 280 yards and scored four touchdowns, including three in the first half, as Kentucky overwhelmed Florida.

The Vanderbilt transfer established a career rushing best with 206 yards before the break alone.

Kentucky (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) totaled 398 yards against the SEC’s top overall and scoring defense, which entered the game yielding just 224 yards and 13.5 points per outing. The Wildcats also beat the Gators (3-2, 1-1) for the third consecutive time — their first such streak since winning four in a row from 1948-51 — and fourth in six meetings.

Graham Mertz completed 25 of 30 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns, but was sacked three times. He was also intercepted by Trevin Wallace.

No. 23 Missouri 38, Vanderbilt 21

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Brady Cook threw for a career-high 395 yards and four touchdowns as Missouri beat Vanderbilt to continue the Tigers’ best start since 2013.

The Tigers (5-0) opened the Southeastern Conference portion of their schedule with their fifth straight victory. That puts them two victories from matching 2013 when the Tigers won their first seven games en route to the SEC Eastern Division title and a berth in the conference championship.

Peter Schrader ran for a TD that gave Missouri the lead for good early in the second quarter.

Vanderbilt (2-4, 0-2) has lost four straight.