12 Ohio State avoids upset to Cal; No. 13 Virginia Tech falls COLUMBUS, Ohio -- It's been 40 years since California and Ohio State met on a field. They had enough excitement in one game to make up for that long wait. Braxton Miller lofted a 72-yard touchdown pass to an all-alone Devin Smith with 3:26 left and Christian Bryant snuffed out the Golden Bears' last chance with an interception to power the 12th-ranked Buckeyes to a 35-28 win on Saturday. The Golden Bears (1-2) missed three field goals and had a touchdown called back by a penalty, while the Buckeyes (3-0) gave up 512 yards and were manhandled for much of the second half. Taking over at Ohio State's 25 with the score knotted, it took just three plays until on third-and-7 a defensive back thought Miller would run and he instead threw deep to a wide-open Smith. Bryant then picked off Zach Maynard's pass and returned it 38 yards to end the Bears' last threat with about a minute left. Ohio State built a 20-7 lead at half but managed 25 yards and no first downs on 14 plays in the third quarter. Cal's brightest star was undoubtedly backup tailback Brendan Bigelow, who raced 81 yards on his first carry of the game - the longest run ever by an opposing back in 90-year-old Ohio Stadium. Maynard then kept on a 1-yard sneak to give Cal a 21-20 lead early in the fourth quarter. Miller, who was 16 of 30 passing for 249 yards and four touchdowns with one interception, then guided the Buckeyes 75 yards in 11 plays, capping it by running a play that Ohio State coach Urban Meyer brought with him from his days at Florida with Tim Tebow. Miller kept the ball, took a step forward, then stepped back and flipped a pass over the middle to Jake Stoneburner for the final 3 yards - his second score of the game from Miller. Miller then carried on a conversion run for a 28-21 lead. Just two plays later, Bigelow, who finished with 160 yards on only four carries, burst through the Ohio State defense for a 16-yard run and then topped that on the next play with a 59-yarder to tie the game at 28. Miller promptly turned the ball over by throwing an interception directly to Cal defensive back Steve Williams. The Bears patiently drove to the Ohio State 25, where the drive stalled. On fourth-and-1, they called timeout. While almost all 105,232 in Ohio Stadium thought coach Jeff Tedford would elect to go for it, instead, he sent junior kicker Vincenzo D'Amato out for a 42-yard field goal. He was wide left with 4:20 left, his third kick that sailed left of the mark on the day, missing twice from 42 and once from 40 yards. 5 Florida State 52, Wake Forest 0 TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Chris Thompson scored on runs of 74 and 80 yards on successive carries to lead No. 5 Florida State to a 52-0 victory over Wake Forest on Saturday. Thompson, who suffered a broken back at Wake Forest a year ago that nearly ended his career, already had a career-high 197 yards following his 80-yard touchdown run that put the Seminoles into a 28-0 lead with 9:42 remaining in the first half. His 74-yard touchdown followed a 60-yard punt return TD by Rashad Greene as the Seminoles (3-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) led 38-0 at the half. Florida State's defense, which has allowed just three points this season, held Wake Forest (2-1, 1-1 ACC) to 126 yards. Tanner Price managed only 82 passing yards and Michael Campanaro had two catches for 8 yards. Pittsburgh 35, No. 13 Virginia Tech 17 PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Ray Graham ran for 94 yards and two scores and added an 18-yard touchdown reception to lead the Panthers to the upset win. Tino Sunseri passed for 283 yards and two touchdowns and freshman running back Rushel Shell added 157 yards as Pitt (1-2) gave coach Paul Chryst his first career victory in emphatic fashion. The Panthers never trailed, forced four turnovers and took advantage of uncharacteristically sloppy play by the Hokies. Virginia Tech (2-1) had won 13 straight true road games, the longest active streak in the country, but let Pitt race to a quick three-touchdown lead and never really threatened. Logan Thomas completed just 14 of 31 passes for 265 yards and one touchdown against three interceptions. 16 Texas Christian 20, Kansas 6 LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Casey Pachall threw for 335 yards and two touchdowns, both of them to Brandon Carter, to lead the Horned Frogs to a victory in their Big 12 Conference debut. Carter finished with eight catches for 141 yards, and Waymon James added 99 yards rushing for the Horned Frogs (2-0, 1-0), who pushed the nation's longest winning streak to 10 games by beating up on the team picked to finish last in the conference in preseason polls. Dayne Crist led the Jayhawks (1-2, 0-1) with 303 yards passing, but he was also intercepted once, fumbled as he was heading into the end zone in the fourth quarter, and missed several third-down throws that prevented Kansas from capitalizing on TCU turnovers.