COLUMBUS, OHIO ? Jim Tressel felt he had to reassure the 105,000-plus Ohio State fans.

“Don’t be disappointed,” the Ohio State state coach counseled after the No. 8 Buckeyes’ 19-10 snoozefest Saturday over No. 9 Iowa. “That was a good football game.”

At least it was for the guys on defense and special teams.

Michael Jenkins returned a punt for a touchdown, and Donte Whitner fell on a blocked punt in the end zone.

“The story of the game is we didn’t get the job done on special teams, and that’s a tough one to live with,” said Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, who had all of his team’s points scored by kicker Nate Kaeding.

The Buckeyes were coming off their first loss in 20 games, a 17-10 defeat in the rain at Wisconsin last week.

The Buckeyes (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten) had 185 yards of total offense, rushing for 56 yards on 42 attempts. Ohio State came into the game ranked 109th in total offense of the 117 Division I-A teams and didn’t move up.

The Hawkeyes (5-2, 1-2) all but gave the game to the Buckeyes. Trailing 17-10, Iowa blew its final chance to pull even when center Eric Rothwell snapped the ball over quarterback Nathan Chandler’s head and through the end zone for a safety with 3:03 left.

No. 2 Miami 52, Temple 14

Miami — Jarrett Payton had his first 100-yard game as Miami beat Temple for the 12th consecutive time. Payton, the son of late Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton, carried 16 times for 115 yards and scored twice as the Hurricanes (7-0, 3-0 Big East) extended the nation’s longest home winning streak to 26 games. Miami also has won 39 straight regular-season games and 27 in a row in the Big East.

No. 4 Georgia 27, Vandy 8

Nashville, Tenn. — Michael Cooper, Tyson Browning and Ronnie Powell had second-half touchdown runs as Georgia rallied from a 2-0 halftime deficit to beat Vanderbilt, clinching the Commodores’ 21st consecutive losing season. The defending Southeastern Conference champion Bulldogs (6-1, 4-1) were coming off an emotional rout of Tennessee last week.

No. 5 USC 45, Notre Dame 14

South Bend, Ind. — Matt Leinart threw for 351 yards and four touchdowns as Southern California overpowered Notre Dame. Last year, the Trojans beat the Irish, 44-13, and knocked Notre Dame out of contention for a Bowl Championship Series game. This time, USC (6-1) remained in the national-title race, while the Irish (2-4) are in danger of a losing season.

No. 6 Washington State 24, Stanford 14

Stanford, Calif. — Matt Kegel passed for 331 yards and three touchdowns, and Sammy Moore’s 64-yard punt return set up another score as Washington State beat Stanford.

No. 7 FSU 19, Virginia 14

Charlottesville, Va. — Florida State’s Bobby Bowden tied Penn State’s Joe Paterno for the Division I-A coaching victory lead with 338. Chris Rix threw a 79-yard touchdown pass to Craphonso Thorpe and Xavier Beitia kicked four field goals for the Seminoles (6-1, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference).

No. 10 LSU 33, S. Carolina 7

Columbia, S.C. — Matt Mauck threw two touchdown passes, and LSU (6-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) bounced back from its first loss to beat South Carolina.

Florida 33, No. 11 Ark. 28

Fayetteville, Ark. — After Keiwan Ratliff’s 44-yard interception return for a touchdown put Florida up 33-7 early in the fourth quarter, Arkansas scored 21 points in three quick drives. The Razorbacks’ third roughing-the-passer penalty wiped out an interception with a minute left, killing their last chance.

No. 12 N. Illinois 37,

W. Michigan 10

Dekalb, Ill. — Michael Turner ran for 173 yards, and Josh Haldi threw three touchdown passes as Northern Illinois (7-0, 3-0 Mid-American Conference) remained undefeated.

No. 13 Purdue 26,

No. 14 Wisconsin 23

Madison, Wis. — Ben Jones kicked an 18-yard field goal with three seconds left to lift Purdue past Wisconsin. Kyle Orton drove the Boilermakers (6-1, 3-0 Big Ten) 82 yards in 11 plays for the win, their sixth straight.

No. 15 Michigan State 44,

No. 25 Minnesota 38

Minneapolis — Jeff Smoker threw for 252 yards and ran for a touchdown, and DeAndra Cobb had a 100-yard kickoff return for Michigan State. Jaren Hayes had two touchdown runs for the Spartans (7-1, 4-0 Big Ten), who won their fifth straight and snapped a three-game losing streak to the Gophers. Dave Rayner kicked field goals of 46, 50 and 52 yards for Michigan State.

No. 16 TCU 27, UAB 24

Fort Worth, Texas — Lonta Hobbs scored on a 10-yard run early in the fourth quarter, helping TCU pull out a victory that keeps the Horned Frogs among the nation’s few undefeated teams going into the release of the first BCS standings.

No. 17 Michigan 56, Illinois 14

Ann Arbor, Mich. — Chris Perry ran for 140 yards and three touchdowns, and Steve Breaston returned a punt 74 yards for a score for Michigan.

No. 19 Auburn 45, Miss. St. 13

Auburn, Ala. — Carnell Williams ran for 161 yards and an Auburn-record six touchdowns — five in the first half.