No. 21 Florida serves notice to the rest of the SEC with its takedown of No. 4 Ole Miss

Florida proved the oddsmakers right, and then some, on Saturday and established itself as a real threat in the Southeastern Conference in Jon Sumrall's first season.

The 21st-ranked Gators built a two-touchdown lead against No. 4 Mississippi and responded each time the Rebels got close in the second half before pulling away for a 52-28 victory.

Ole Miss had a big comedown from its emotional win over Lane Kiffin and LSU. The Gators were at their high-scoring best in The Swamp and showed in no uncertain terms they were worthy of having been installed as 3 1/2-point favorites against their top-five opponent.

The Gators (4-0) were unranked in the preseason and picked ninth in the SEC. They've rung up 66, 52, 44 and 52 points and merit a big promotion when The Associated Press Top 25 is released Sunday.

Elsewhere, No. 1 Texas, No. 7 Ohio State and No. 11 Texas Tech got some of the best individual performances of the season.

With President Donald Trump looking on from a suite at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Texas held off No. 14 Tennessee 20-17 after Colin Simmons recorded five of his team's 10 sacks of freshman Faizon Brandon and the Longhorns survived a Hail Mary after the Volunteers recovered an onside kick.

Jeremiah Smith stole the show in Columbus, tying the Ohio State record with four touchdowns among a career-high 12 catches for 217 yards in a 42-19 victory over Illinois.

Texas Tech linebacker Austin Romaine returned interceptions for touchdowns on back-to-back defensive plays early in the second quarter — something that hadn't been done by a major-college player since 2013 — and the Red Raiders pulled away for a 49-14 win over Sam Houston.

Simmons led a huge defensive effort by the Longhorns. His five sacks were most in the Football Bowl Subdivision since Ivan Pace Jr. of Miami (Ohio) had six against Akron in 2019.

Tennessee had just 136 total yards and was averaging 2.2 per play before Brandon led an 80-yard drive that pulled the Vols within three points with 1:22 to play. Brandon was sacked twice before Texas broke up his desperation throw to the end zone on the game's last play.

“Shoutout to our defense,” quarterback Arch Manning said in a postgame television interview. “Colin Simmons, that’s a real player right there.”

Ohio State's Smith made defenders look silly on two of his four touchdown catches. On his second, a 72-yarder, he made two quick moves to shake Mac Resetich on his way to the end zone. On his fourth, he completely turned around Juice Clarke while getting open on his 26-yarder.

Texas Tech broke away from Sam Houston thanks to Romaine. Brock Gowlas, his teammate, leaped to deflect a pass thrown by Brett Holloway. Romaine, who had also jumped, then grabbed the ball out of the air and ran 15 yards for a touchdown with 14:54 left in the first half.

On the first play after the ensuing kickoff, Bearcats starting quarterback Landyn Locke was back in the game, and his pass on first down was picked off by Romaine. That 31-yard return made it 21-0, only 7 seconds after his first pick-6.

Louisville's loss

No. 16 Louisville has been vulnerable on defense through the first month of the season, and the Cardinals paid the price against Wake Forest in a 30-27 loss. They likely will have to win the Atlantic Coast Conference championship to make the College Football Playoff. An at-large bid with two losses before October is a big ask.

Louisville came into the game near the bottom of the ACC in total and scoring defense, and the Demon Deacons came away with points on six of their first 10 possessions.

How 'bout those Hawkeyes?

No. 17 Iowa set up a huge game against Ohio State in Iowa City next week by keeping it close against No. 18 Michigan all day and then escaping the Big House with a big win.

Hank Brown threw a game-ending, 16-yard touchdown pass to Reece Vander Zee to give the Hawkeyes a 20-19 victory. The Hawkeyes went 91 yards on the final drive — boosted by an unnecessary roughness penalty against Michigan on a third down at midfield. Brown’s 29-yard pass to Addison Ostrenga set up the final play with 2 seconds on the clock.

Best of the rest in SEC

— No. 19 Missouri was visiting No. 24 Mississippi State in a game featuring quarterbacks Austin Simmons of the Tigers and Kamario Taylor of the Bulldogs.

— No. 23 Texas A&M was at No. 10 LSU for a game between teams in bounceback mode. The Aggies were coming off a home loss to Kentucky and are playing the Tigers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for the second year in a row. The Aggies won easily last year.

Oregon-USC tops Big Ten schedule

No. 20 Oregon, which entered the season ranked No. 2 and a trendy pick to win its first national championship, was in a near must-win situation at No. 12 Southern California.

Oregon went to Oklahoma State two weeks ago and left with a shocking loss, and that was after the Ducks held off Boise State in their opener. The defense gave up a combined 66 points in those games and shaky offensive line play has led to seven sacks of Dante Moore so far.

The Trojans' defense also has had problems. USC shut out Fresno State in its second game but otherwise has been unimpressive. Last week, the Trojans didn’t put away winless Rutgers until the final four minutes.

K-State faces Big 12 road test

A better-than-expected Kansas State is on the road for the first time to play its first Power Four opponent and Big 12 opener against Cincinnati.

Avery Johnson was averaging 290 yards per game in total offense and the Wildcats' defense, ranked second nationally, had held opposing passers to 44% accuracy. Cincinnati was trying to get to 4-0 before playing back-to-back road games and then a slew of ranked opponents.

Boise State tops Group of Six

Boise State went on the road and laid claim to class of the Group of Six with a 32-7 win over Mid-American Conference defending champion and preseason favorite Western Michigan.

Maddux Madsen threw three touchdown passes and Dylan Riley added 138 yards rushing and a score for the Broncos, who head into their inaugural Pac-12 Conference matchup next Saturday against Utah State.

___

This story has been corrected. A previous version reported erroneously that Ohio State was unbeaten.

___

Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here