CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Last weekend's upset of a Top 25 team wasn't enough to get Illinois ranked. Maybe this one will.

Rashard Mendenhall and Juice Williams carried the surprising Illini to a 31-26 win over No. 5 Wisconsin yesterday, ending the Badgers' 14-game winning streak.

A week ago, Illinois beat then-No. 21 Penn State 27-20, the school's first win over a ranked opponent since 2001.

Mendenhall ran for 160 yards and two touchdowns, and Williams added another 92 yards rushing as Illinois improved to 5-1 overall. The Illini are off to a 3-0 start in the Big Ten for the first time since 1990, when they won a share of the conference title.

None of it is a surprise to Illinois coach Ron Zook, who challenged Mendenhall before the season to lead the potent offense.

"I said, 'Rashard, if you have the kind of year we think you're capable of having, and if you do the things the coaches are trying to get you to do, we have a chance to be pretty special,' " Zook said.

Zook's resurrection of Illinois has mirrored his own. He was run out of Florida after three winning seasons, only to surface in Champaign in 2005. After winning only four of his first 23 games, and just one in the conference, he has Illinois talking Big Ten title.

"With a team like us," Mendenhall said, "we haven't had too much success like this. ... (Now) we know we can play with anybody."

The Badgers (5-1, 2-1) hadn't lost since Sept. 16, 2006, at Michigan. It was also only the second loss in 19 games for coach Bret Bielema, who said the Illini played up to Wisconsin's ranking.

"I think it has to do with we're ranked No. 5 in the country and everybody wants to talk about why we shouldn't be," he said.

NO. 1 LSU 28, NO. 9 FLORIDA 24

BATON ROUGE, La. — The Tigers barely converted a pair of fourth-down runs before Jacob Hester powered over from the 2-yard line with 1:09 remaining to complete a fourth-quarter comeback as the Tigers (6-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) rallied past the Gators (4-2, 2-2).

Tim Tebow shredded the nation's top-ranked defense for three quarters, giving Florida a 24-14 lead with 15 minutes remaining. But the Tigers scored two touchdowns on fourth-down plays and another after pulling off a fake field goal.

"We pretty much knew it was going to be a chance to win the game," Hester said. "Coach (Les) Miles said, 'I believe in you. I don't want a tie. I want to go out and win this thing.' When your head coach has that kind of respect and trust in you, you want to prove something to him."

NO. 4 OHIO STATE 23, PURDUE 7

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Todd Boeckman passed for 200 yards and two touchdowns and Ryan Pretorius made all three of his field goal attempts to lead the Buckeyes (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) over the Boilermakers (5-1, 1-1).

Purdue had averaged 45 points and 496 yards per game, but Ohio State held the Boilermakers to 272 total yards. Curtis Painter, who had averaged more than 300 passing yards in his first five games, finished with 268.

"I didn't think that their offense had seen a defense like ours," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said, "but still, it was their place, and it was a big game."

NO. 6 SOUTH FLORIDA 35, FLORIDA ATLANTIC 23

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Benjamin Williams ran for 186 yards and four touchdowns, Matt Grothe added 120 yards rushing and a score as the host Bulls (5-0) held off the Owls (3-3).

Williams had a 10-yard scoring run to break a 7-7 tie in the third quarter, and Grothe made it 21-14 with a 32-yard run two possessions later. Williams then scampered 54 yards with about 10 minutes left to make it 28-17.

NO. 7 BOSTON COLL. 55, BOWLING GREEN 24

BOSTON — Matt Ryan threw four touchdown passes and the Eagles (6-0) pulled away with four interceptions late in the first half to overwhelm the Falcons (3-2) for their best start in 65 years.

Boston College scored 38 straight points after Tyler Sheehan's 6-yard pass to Freddie Barnes with 8:55 left in the half cut BC's lead to 14-10. After that, the Eagles were well on the way to their 16th straight home victory.

NO. 10 OKLAHOMA 28, NO. 19 TEXAS 21

DALLAS — Sam Bradford was 21 of 32 for 244 yards and three touchdowns, including a 35-yarder to Malcolm Kelly on a third down with 10:42 left, to break a 21-all tie, helping the Sooners (5-1, 1-1 Big 12) end a two-game losing streak against the Longhorns (4-2, 0-2).

The Longhorns — who were ranked seventh before a 20-point loss to Kansas State last weekend — could be in jeopardy of ending a 114-week stint in the AP poll, the longest in the country.

TENNESSEE 35, NO. 12 GEORGIA 14

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Arian Foster rushed for 98 yards and three touchdowns, and the Volunteers (3-2, 1-1 SEC) scored on four of their first five possessions to put an emphatic end to the Bulldogs' (4-2, 2-2) three-game winning streak in Knoxville.

It was Georgia's worst loss since the 2003 SEC championship, a 34-13 loss to LSU. The Bulldogs didn't cross midfield until after halftime.

NO. 13 WEST VIRGINIA 55, SYRACUSE 14

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Fullback Owen Schmitt scored his first two touchdowns of the season, defensive tackle Keilen Dykes returned an interception 19 yards for another score, and the Mountaineers (5-1, 1-1 Big East) routed the Orange (1-5, 1-1) to give coach Rich Rodriguez his 100th victory.

West Virginia quarterback Pat White suffered what appeared to be a shoulder injury midway through the third quarter and never returned.

NO. 15 VIRGINIA TECH 41, NO. 22 CLEMSON 23

CLEMSON, S.C. — Victor Harris returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and Eddie Royals scored on an 82-yard punt return to power the Hokies (5-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) over the Tigers (4-2, 2-2). Royals, a senior, has two punt return TDs this year and three on his career.

NO. 17 MISSOURI 41, NEBRASKA 6

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Chase Daniel passed for a career-best 401 yards, including two touchdowns, and also ran for two scores as the host Tigers (5-0, 1-0 Big 12) beat the Cornhuskers (4-2, 1-1), who failed to score a touchdown for the first time since a 31-3 loss to Oklahoma on Nov. 13, 2004.

NO. 18 ARIZONA STATE 23, WASHINGTON STATE 20

PULLMAN, Wash. — Thomas Weber kicked a 37-yard field goal with 50 seconds left as the Sun Devils (6-0, 3-0 Pac-10) beat the Cougars (2-4, 0-3) to remain undefeated under coach Dennis Erickson. Washington State had a chance to tie with 12 seconds left, but Romeen Abdollmohammadi's 46-yard field goal missed left.

NO. 20 CINCINNATI 28, NO. 21 RUTGERS 23

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Ben Mauk threw two of his three touchdowns in a 19-second span late in the third quarter and the visiting Bearcats (6-0, 1-0 Big East) forced four turnovers, including a game-saving interception by linebacker Ryan Manalac with 1:19 to play to send the Scarlet Knights (3-2, 0-1) to their second straight defeat.

KANSAS 30, NO. 24 KANSAS STATE 24

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Todd Reesing threw for 267 yards and three touchdowns as the Jayhawks (1-1 Big 12) beat the Wildcats and are off to a 5-0 start for just the third time in 39 years. Reesing hit Dexton Fields with a 30-yard scoring pass for a 27-24 lead. That play came just 65 seconds after the Wildcats (2-3, 1-1) had taken the lead on a halfback option pass.