Oxford, Miss. ? Just when it looked like Florida coach Ron Zook had quieted the skeptics in Gator Nation, Mississippi gave them something new to complain about.

Matt Grier returned the second of his two third-quarter interceptions 24 yards for the go-ahead touchdown, and Mississippi shut out the sixth-ranked Gators in the second half to win 17-14 Saturday.

The Rebels (4-1, 2-0 SEC) defeated a top-10 team for the first time since 1997, when they beat No. 8 LSU on the road. The victory also was one of their biggest ever in Oxford.

“It feels great,” Grier said. “Florida is a national team. A win like this brings national attention.”

The Gators (4-2, 2-1) found themselves in a defensive struggle as Rex Grossman threw four interceptions. He was 19-of-41 for 205 yards and two touchdowns.

Grier’s first interception came on Florida’s first possession of the second half. He returned it 10 yards to the Florida 18, and three plays later, Vashon Pearson scored from 4 yards out. Eli Manning hit Jason Armstead for the 2-point conversion to cut the Gators’ lead to 14-10.

Grier’s clincher came when Grossman threw into double-coverage. Grier caught the pass at the Florida 24 and made a nice cutback before vaulting into the end zone to give Ole Miss its first lead, 17-14, with 7:34 left in the third quarter.

Manning was 18-for-33 for 154 yards, and for the first time in his career he didn’t throw a touchdown pass as a starter. But he did become the first member of his family to beat the Gators. His brother, Peyton, was 0-4 against Florida while at Tennessee.

“He’ll probably be the first one to call me,” Eli said of his older brother, now the Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback.

Manning’s father, Archie, never played the Gators while at Ole Miss.

The Rebels’ defense, which allowed 38 points and more than 400 yards to Vanderbilt two weeks ago, bottled up the Gators’ big-play threats and gave up only four second-half first downs.

Florida quarterback Rex Grossman (8) is pressured by Mississippi linebacker Eddie Strong into throwing an incomplete pass. The Rebels shocked the sixth-ranked Gators, 17-14, Saturday in Oxford, Miss.

Florida did not have a first down in five third-quarter possessions, and Grossman went 2-for-10 for minus-2 yards.

“In the third quarter, I am not quite sure what went wrong,” Grossman said. “It’s a team sport, but I didn’t do my part to help this team win the game.”

Taylor Jacobs had five catches for 80 yards, and Earnest Graham ran for just 52 yards on 16 carries. Neither scored a touchdown or had a play longer than 20 yards.

Gators fans have worried about whether Zook would be able to maintain the success they had become accustomed to under former coach Steve Spurrier. A lopsided loss to Miami early in September gave the doubters plenty of ammunition. Florida gave its coach a big lift with a win at Tennessee, but the team took another big step back Saturday.

“Offensively, I have no concerns,” Zook said. “Did we play well? No. Is it correctable? Yes. Sometimes with a new system, you have to get knocked down to get the light turned on.”

The Gators contributed to their own problems with 11 penalties. An illegal-man-downfield penalty by Florida wiped out a big gain on pass from Graham to Grossman that would have given the Gators a first down at the Rebels 12 in the fourth quarter. An illegal-formation flag on the same drive led to a fourth-and-13 from the 30.

Zook decided against letting shaky kicker Matt Leach attempt a potential game-tying field goal. Instead, Grossman was sacked by Eddie Strong on the fourth down.

Leach, who is 3-for-5 on field-goal attempts on the season and has missed five extra points, had a 35-yard attempt blocked in the first half.

On the Gators’ next possession, Grossman threw his final interception, a pass that floated over the head over Jacobs and into the arms of Travis Blanchard with 2:58 left.

No. 1 Miami 48, Connecticut 14

Miami Miami prepared for next week’s home game against Florida State by routing Connecticut, behind Willis McGahee’s 107 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Ken Dorsey added three TD passes for the Hurricanes (5-0), who extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 27. Miami scored on five of its six first-half possessions and added a defensive touchdown. Then they took the opening kickoff of the second half 86 yards for another score and a 48-0 lead over the overmatched Huskies (2-4).

No. 5 Ohio State 27, Northwestern 16

Evanston, Ill. Freshman Maurice Clarett ran for two scores on the way to his fourth-straight 100-yard game one shy of the school record and Mike Nugent kicked two field goals as the Buckeyes held off scrappy Northwestern. Clarett finished with 140 yards, giving him 715 in five games, but he also fumbled three times. Craig Krenzel completed 11 of 22 passes for 170 yards and ran for 62 yards as Ohio State improved to 6-0 (2-0 Big Ten) for the first time since 1998.

No. 7 Georgia 27, No. 22 Alabama 25

Tuscaloosa, Ala. Billy Bennett kicked a 32-yard field goal with 38 seconds left as the Bulldogs recovered after blowing a 12-point fourth-quarter lead. Thomas Davis then picked off Brodie Croyle’s pass on the next play from scrimmage to seal the win for Georgia (5-0, 2-0 SEC), the last remaining unbeaten team in the conference. The Bulldogs are off to their first 5-0 start since 1982 and snapped a seven-game losing streak in Tuscaloosa.

No. 9 Notre Dame 31, Stanford 7

South Bend, Ind. Shane Walton and Courtney Watson each scored on interception returns and Rashon Powers-Neal ran for a 3-yard touchdown to help Notre Dame earn a mistake-filled victory. Irish coach Tyrone Willingham who was Stanford’s coach for the last seven years joins Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian and Jesse Harper as the only full-time Notre Dame coaches to open 5-0 in their first seasons at the school. Stanford (1-3) is off to its worst start since opening 1998 with one win in its first nine games.

No. 10 Tennessee 41, Arkansas 38, 6OT

Knoxville, Tenn. Jason Witten caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Casey Clausen in the sixth overtime for Tennessee. The Razorbacks, who beat Mississippi 58-57 in a record-setting seven-overtime game last season, had to settle for a 47-yard field goal by David Carlton in the sixth OT before Volunteers (4-1, 1-1 SEC) got their last chance. Arkansas (2-2, 0-2) scored a touchdown in the fourth OT, on Matt Jones’ run, but the Razorbacks couldn’t get the 2-point conversion. Under NCAA rules, teams must go for 2 points after touchdowns starting with the third overtime.

California 34, No. 12 Washington 27

Seattle Kyle Boller threw for 266 yards and a career-high five touchdowns as California snapped a 19-game losing streak to Washington. The Golden Bears (4-2, 1-1 Pac-10) beat Washington (3-2, 0-1) for the first time since Nov. 9, 1976. They also ended the Huskies’ 17-game home winning streak. Boller was 13-of-24 without an interception, outdueling Washington’s Cody Pickett, the nation’s No. 2 passer.

No. 17 Wash. State 30, No. 18 USC 27, OT

Pullman, Wash. Drew Dunning kicked a tying 35-yard field goal with 1:50 left in regulation, then made another 35-yarder in overtime to lift the Cougars. Ryan Killeen missed a 52-yard field-goal attempt on USC’s overtime possession. He earlier missed an extra point that would have won the game for the Trojans (3-2, 1-1 Pac-10). Jason Gesser led the Cougars (5-1, 2-0) with two TD passes to Mike Bush and Devard Darling, and Jermaine Green ran 75 yards for another TD. Gesser, playing with a padded flak jacket his sore rib, threw for 315 yards.

No. 20 Penn State 34, No. 19 Wisconsin 31

Madison, Wis. Zack Mills guided Penn State on seven scoring drives, Robbie Gould kicked four field goals and Jimmy Kennedy had four sacks as Penn State became the first team this season to take advantage of Lee Evans’ absence. Larry Johnson had 171 all-purpose yards for the Nittany Lions (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) before leaving with a hamstring injury in the second half. The Badgers (5-1, 0-1) were hoping to have Evans, their star receiver, back for the conference game, but still was unable to play because of a left knee injury.

No. 21 LSU 48, Louisiana-Lafayette 0

Baton Rouge, La. Matt Mauck threw three first-half touchdown passes to lead LSU. LSU (4-1) allowed the overmatched Ragin’ Cajuns just six first downs in the game. Louisiana-Lafayette had 17 yards rushing and 53 yards passing. The Tigers had 205 yards rushing, 154 passing. Louisiana-Lafayette (1-4) has been outscored 542-0 in the last 10 meetings with LSU, but the last time they played was 1938.

No. 24 Iowa 31, Purdue 28

Iowa City, Iowa Brad Banks threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Clark on fourth-and-goal with 1:07 left to rally the Hawkeyes. Iowa (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten) trailed 28-24 with five minutes left before coming back. On the game-winning drive, Banks led the Hawkeyes 87 yards in eight plays with no timeouts. Banks started the drive with a 44-yard run. Purdue (3-3, 1-1) had a fourth-quarter rally of its own, led by freshman quarterback Brandon Kirsch, who came in after Kyle Orton left with a minor head injury midway through the third quarter. Kirsch took the Boilermakers to the Iowa 25 late in the game, but his pass was intercepted by Adolphus Shelton.