AUSTIN, Texas — Sometime during the week, the top-ranked Texas Longhorns dug a hole in a secret spot and buried the game ball from their big win over Oklahoma.

Then, with the hype symbolically disposed of, the Longhorns went out and buried No. 11 Missouri.

Using a stunning first half, Texas raced to a 35-point lead before cruising to a 56-31 victory last night that left little doubt these Longhorns plan to be No. 1 for a while.

Colt McCoy passed for a 337 yards and two touchdowns, ran for two more and set a school record with 17 straight completions.

"Colt was phenomenal," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "He's showing leadership, he's poised. He's really having a good time."

McCoy and the Longhorns had earned Texas' first regular-season No. 1 ranking since 1984 a week earlier by knocking off Oklahoma in Dallas, leading some to wonder how the Longhorns would handle the top spot.

Missouri was supposed to be a battle between two national title contenders and Heisman Trophy-caliber quarterbacks in McCoy and Missouri's Chase Daniel. The Tigers had been within one victory of playing for the national title last season and were ranked as high as No. 3 just a week ago.

It wasn't close. Not even for a little while.

Dominating both sides of the ball, the Longhorns (7-0, 3-0 Big 12) scored touchdowns on all five possessions of the first half in front of a feverish record home crowd of 98,383.

"We came out strong," McCoy said. "Every time we had the ball, we went down and scored. That's our standard."

Missouri (5-2, 1-2) didn't score until Jeff Wolfert kicked a 33-yard field goal on the last play of the half. By that time, the crowd had been taunting the Tigers with chants of "Over-rated!" for nearly 20 minutes. The Tigers tacked on two fourth-quarter touchdowns when the game was well out of reach.

NO. 2 ALABAMA 24, MISSISSIPPI 20

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — John Parker Wilson passed for 219 yards and a pair of touchdowns and the Crimson Tide (7-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) stopped the Rebels (3-4, 1-3) on fourth-and-5 from their 43-yard line in the final minute, when Jevan Snead's pass to Dexter McCluster fell incomplete.

Alabama scored 24 consecutive points after falling behind for the first time this season, 3-0, and allowing its first points in an opening quarter. Then Ole Miss answered with 17 straight points and closed to 24-20 on Joshua Shene's 35-yard field goal with 6:09 left.

NO. 3 PENN STATE 46, MICHIGAN 17

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Behind the running of Evan Royster — 174 yards, including a 44-yard TD run — and a few momentum-shifting plays by the defense and special teams, the Nittany Lions (8-0, 4-0 Big Ten) rallied from a 17-7 deficit to end a nine-game losing streak against the Wolverines (2-5, 1-2).

Penn State coach Joe Paterno wasn't on the field to enjoy his team's highest-scoring game against Michigan and 380th career victory, relegated to working from the press box for a third consecutive week because of a sore hip and leg.

NO. 4 OKLAHOMA 45, NO. 16 KANSAS 31

NORMAN, Okla. — Sam Bradford passed for a school-record 468 yards and had three touchdown passes to help the Sooners (6-1, 2-1 Big 12) bounce back from their first loss with a convincing victory over the Jayhawks (5-2, 2-1).

Leading 24-17 at halftime, the Sooners started pulling away in the third quarter to keep themselves right in the thick of the national championship chase after losing their No. 1 ranking to Texas in last week's Red River Rivalry.

NO. 7 TEXAS TECH 43, TEXAS A&M 25

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Graham Harrell completed 44 of 56 passes for 450 yards and three touchdowns, and also ran for two scores as the visiting Red Raiders moved to 7-0 — 3-0 in the Big 12 — after beating the Aggies (2-5, 0-3) for their best start in 32 years.

Jerrod Johnson completed 26 of 39 passes for 283 yards for the Aggies, who led 23-20 at halftime. A&M outgained Texas Tech, 274-254, in the first half, but mustered only 32 yards and five first downs in the second.

NO. 8 OKLAHOMA STATE 34, BAYLOR 6

STILLWATER, Okla. — Playing their first game as a top 10 team since 1985, the Cowboys (7-0, 3-0 Big 12), who trailed 6-0, scored on four straight first-half possessions en route to a 28-6 lead at intermission in rolling past the Bears (3-4, 1-2).

Dez Bryant had a career-high 11 catches for 212 yards and two touchdowns, and Keith Toston added two scoring runs as Oklahoma State set up a showdown Saturday at No. 1 Texas.

NO. 10 GEORGIA 24, NO. 22 VANDERBILT 14

ATHENS, Ga. — Knowshon Moreno rushed for a season-high 172 yards, and freshman A.J. Green had 132 yards receiving as the Bulldogs (6-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) handed the Commodores (5-2, 3-2) their second loss in a row.

Matthew Stafford threw two touchdown passes for Georgia, which twice built 14-point leads but didn't put away the Commodores until Blair Walsh kicked a 39-yard field goal with 17 seconds remaining.

NO. 12 OHIO STATE 45, NO. 20 MICHIGAN STATE 7

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Freshman Terrelle Pryor ran for a score and threw for another to help the Buckeyes (7-1, 4-0 Big Ten) build a four-touchdown lead, and Chris "Beanie" Wells rushed for 140 yards and two touchdowns in a rout of the Spartans (6-2, 3-1).

NO. 13 LSU 24, SOUTH CAROLINA 17

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Charles Scott's 2-yard touchdown run with 4:16 to go broke a 17-all tie as the Tigers (5-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) rallied to beat the Gamecocks (5-3, 2-3).

NO. 14 UTAH 49, COLORADO STATE 16

SALT LAKE CITY — Brian Johnson threw two touchdown passes in the first half and backup quarterback Corbin Louks ran for 109 yards and two touchdowns in the second half as the Utes (8-0, 4-0 Mountain West) amassed 549 yards in offense to rout the Rams (3-4, 1-2).

VIRGINIA 16, NO. 18 NORTH CAROLINA 13

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Cedric Peerman scored on a 2-yard run with 47 seconds left in regulation and ran 2 yards for another score in overtime to lift the Cavaliers (4-3, 2-1, Atlantic Coast Conference) over the Tar Heels (5-2, 1-2).

BOSTON COLLEGE 28, NO. 17 VIRGINIA TECH 23

BOSTON — Rich Gunnell returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown and the Eagles (5-1, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) returned two of quarterback Chris Crane's three interceptions for touchdowns to beat the Hokies (5-2, 2-2), who were held to a season-low 240 total yards.

NO. 19 SOUTH FLORIDA 45, SYRACUSE 13

TAMPA, Fla. — Matt Grothe threw for 255 yards and three touchdowns, and also ran for 72 yards and another score to lead the Bulls (6-1, 1-1 Big East) to an easy victory over the Orange (1-6, 0-3).

MARYLAND 26, NO. 21 WAKE FOREST 0

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Chris Turner threw for 321 yards and a touchdown, and Obi Egekeze kicked four field goals as the Terrapins (5-2, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) upset the Demon Deacons (4-2, 2-1) for their fifth straight win over a Top 25 team.

NO. 23 PITTSBURGH 42, NAVY 2

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — LeSean McCoy rushed for 156 yards and three touchdowns as the Panthers (5-1) rolled up 501 yards on offense to cruise past the Midshipmen (4-3).

ARIZONA 42, NO. 25 CALIFORNIA 27

TUCSON, Ariz. — Freshman Keola Antolin ran for 149 yards and three touchdowns, and the Wildcats (5-2, 3-1 Pac-10) rallied from a 24-14 halftime deficit with four touchdowns in 11:45 of the third quarter to clobber the Golden Bears (4-2, 2-1) and move into a four-way tie for first in the conference with Oregon, Oregon State and Southern California.