Columbia, Mo. ? All week, Missouri coach Gary Pinkel warned his No. 23 Tigers not to get too puffed up about their first national ranking in nearly five years.

Saturday, Middle Tennessee — a three-touchdown underdog — caught Missouri flat and pushed the Tigers to the brink, losing 41-40 in overtime and leaving Pinkel questioning whether he did enough to rid his team of overconfidence.

“You’re never as good as you think you are,” he said sternly after Missouri improved to 4-0 for the first time since 1981, when the Tigers won their first five games and finished 8-4. “I’m disappointed in myself. I thought I had this team ready to play.

“Obviously, I didn’t do a very good job. Obviously, we didn’t play as well as I wanted to.”

Missouri won on Brad Smith’s four-yard touchdown scramble in overtime and Mike Matheny’s extra point from 36 yards after a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for excessive celebration after Smith’s TD.

“I just threw my hands up, and I couldn’t breathe for a minute. My team was on top of me,” Matheny said.

The loss deflated Middle Tennessee’s Andrico Hines, who on the overtime period’s first possession scrambled for a four-yard TD run, only to see Brian Kelly’s extra-point attempt hit the left post. Moments later, Smith dropped the Blue Raiders (0-4) to 0-7 against ranked teams since the school joined Division I-A in 1999.

“Words really don’t explain how I feel,” said Hines, who also threw two touchdowns and 248 yards on 19-of-31 passing as Middle Tennessee closed out a three-game road swing that included losses at Georgia and Clemson.

“We were in position to win the game. Just a bad break here and there; that’s kind of been the story for us this year.”

Missouri quarterback Brad Smith starts his celebration while scoring against Middle Tennessee's defense, including Danny Tolbert (7). Smith's score came in overtime, and the Tigers were penalized for excessive celebration on the play. MU won, 41-40, following the 36-yard extra point Saturday in Columbia, Mo.

Regardless, Middle Tennessee coach Andy McCollum said, “I couldn’t be more proud of my players.”

“It’s good to see two teams of great characters going after each other,” he said, at least partly crediting the 55,075 who packed Memorial Stadium for rallying their team. “They need to stay behind them because they’ve got something special going on here.”

Smith also threw three touchdowns, the last one a 12-yarder to Darius Outlaw with 1:17 left in regulation. Smith, who finished with 192 yards passing and 136 more on the ground, then ran in a two-point conversion that tied it at 34-all.

Along the way, Smith laid out a Middle Tennessee defender, clearing the open field for Zack Abron’s career-long 64-yard run that set up a score. Smith also had a 64-yard ramble, leading to another touchdown.

“When they need him, he’s the man,” McCollum said.

No. 1 Oklahoma 59, UCLA 24

Norman, Okla. — Antonio Perkins brought back three punts for touchdowns and finished with 277 yards on seven returns to break two NCAA records as Oklahoma routed UCLA.

Perkins, who came into the game with only 80 yards on 13 punt returns, scored on returns of 74, 84 and 65 yards to become the first Division I-A player to return three punts for TDs in a game.

Perkins also broke the record of 219 yards on punt returns set by BYU’s Golden Richards against North Texas in 1971.

Jason White threw two touchdown passes, and Renaldo Works ran for two more scores for Oklahoma (4-0). The Sooners have won 18 straight nonconference games.

The Bruins (1-2) led 10-7 — the first time Oklahoma has trailed all season. But the momentum shifted on Perkins’ electrifying 74-yard return for a touchdown early in the second quarter.

No. 10 Florida State 47, Colorado 7

Tallahassee, Fla. — Chris Rix threw two long touchdown passes to Craphonso Thorpe, and Xavier Beitia kicked four field goals for Florida State. Although the Seminoles (4-0) couldn’t get their running game on track for the second straight week, Rix passed for a career-high 394 yards in three quarters, completing 30 of 39 attempts. Thorpe, the Atlantic Coast Conference 100- and 200-meter champion, caught scoring passes of 56 and 37 yards and finished with 205 yards on eight catches — both career bests. Colorado dropped to 2-2.

No. 13 Texas 48 Rice 7

Houston — Cedric Benson scored three touchdowns and backup Selvin Young had two more in a 41-point first half for Texas.

The Longhorns (2-1) were coming off a 38-28 loss to Arkansas, when they managed only 62 rushing yards.

Texas had 322 rushing yards on 53 carries against the Owls (0-3), who ranked 104th in rushing defense going into the game.

Benson scored on runs of two and 17 yards and caught a 59-yard touchdown pass from Chance Mock.

Mock also threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Roy Williams, who became Texas’ career leader in receiving yards. He caught five passes for 69 yards in the game.

Oklahoma State 52, SMU 6

Dallas — Rashaun Woods set a Division I-A record with seven touchdown catches and had career highs of 13 receptions and 232 yards as Oklahoma State beat Southern Methodist.

Woods had five scores by halftime, including three on consecutive snaps, then tied the 34-year-old record with a five-yarder early in the third quarter and broke it with an 11-yarder late in the quarter.

He didn’t return to go for the NCAA all-division mark of eight set by Paul Zaeske of Division II North Park in 1968. Tim Delaney of San Diego State had held the I-A mark since 1969, when he caught six against New Mexico State.

Woods’ first five scores covered 2, 10, 25, 32 and 34 yards, putting Oklahoma State (3-1) ahead 38-0.

North Carolina State 49, Texas Tech 21

Raleigh, N.C. — Greg Golden returned an interception 71 yards for a touchdown and Manny Lawson’s blocked punt led to another score as North Carolina State won despite allowing 681 yards. The Wolfpack (2-2) didn’t suffer a mental letdown following a triple-overtime loss at Ohio State last week and a fall from the polls, bolting to a 21-0 halftime lead. N.C. State blew a 28-point lead at Texas Tech (2-1) last season and eventually won 51-48 in overtime. There was no comeback this time as the Red Raiders wasted a school-record 586-yard passing day by B.J. Symons with a bevy of errors. Kliff Kingsbury threw for 510 yards last season against Missouri.

Baylor 27, Sam Houston 6

Waco, Texas — Rashad Armstrong ran for 125 yards and scored two touchdowns as Baylor reached the 500-victory milestone in coach Guy Morriss’ second victory with the Bears. Aaron Karas completed two long passes to position Baylor (2-2) for touchdowns and a 17-6 halftime lead, and Armstrong’s 39-yard third-quarter touchdown run put the game away. Backup quarterback Wade Pate got the Bearkats (1-2) on the board late in the first half. After running 39 yards on a bootleg to the Baylor 20. Pate hit Bernard Campbell for a 20-yard touchdown pass on the next play. The extra-point attempt hit the right upright and bounced back.