So this much we know after No. 1 USC throttled No. 5 Ohio State: The Trojans are scary good and the Buckeyes are not.

USC's 35-3 victory on Saturday showed once again its ability to meet a prime-time challenge and Ohio State's ability to go into the prime-time tank. That leads to this question: Does anybody outside the state of Ohio want to see the Buckeyes in another BCS game? It could happen if they win the Big Ten and get a Rose Bowl bid.

The Buckeyes, in case you've forgotten, have gotten crushed in the last two national title games.

As far as the will-he-or-won't-he intrigue regarding Ohio State tailback Beanie Wells and his injured right foot, the answer was a "did not play." Not that it would have mattered.

Trojans quarterback Mark Sanchez threw four touchdown passes, tailback Joe McKnight ran for 105 yards on 12 carries and the defense squeezed the life out of the Buckeyes' two-quarterback attack. They gained just 30 second-half yards.

Ohio State self-destructed with a couple of holding penalties on the same second-quarter series that cost the visitors a touchdown and, perhaps, a chance to stay competitive.

In the end, though, USC took a huge step toward playing for the national title for the fourth time in this decade. The biggest remaining challenges on the schedule are No. 16 Oregon (3-0), No. 15 Arizona State (2-1) and arch-rival UCLA (1-1).

Arizona State, by the way, was upset in overtime by UNLV, 23-20. UNLV scored the game's final 13 points.

Second-ranked Georgia survived a huge upset bid by South Carolina and won 14-7. The Gamecocks twice got inside the Georgia 20-yard line in the fourth quarter and failed to score. Don't be surprised if the Bulldogs drop in the polls and No. 3 Oklahoma, which crushed Washington 55-14, replaces them.

Nobody does offense better than No. 6 Missouri, which has surpassed 50 points in all three games, including its 69-17 whipping of Nevada. It helps to have Heisman Trophy candidate Chase Daniel at quarterback. He broke Brad Smith's school record for passing yards against Nevada. The three-year starter (he was Smith's backup as a freshman) was 23-for-28 for 405 yards and four touchdowns against Nevada. He has 9,152 passing yards for his career. Smith had 8,799.

Ninth-ranked Auburn could use some of that offense, or any offense, after edging Mississippi State 3-2. No typo: That is 3-2.

How do you figure Maryland beating No. 23 California 35-27? Those are the same Terrapins (2-1) who lost to Middle Tennessee State the previous week in what was described as the worst loss of Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen's career. It's the same Cal that ran roughshod over Washington State and Michigan State. Of course, those victories were at home. The Bears (2-1) apparently lost their mojo in the flight to the East Coast.

Then there's No. 18 Brigham Young smashing UCLA 59-0 as quarterback Max Hall threw for six touchdowns -- in the first half. He finished with seven. It was UCLA's worst loss in nearly 80 years.

East Carolina is unstoppable against ranked teams. It's the unranked guys that give the No. 14 Pirates trouble. Take Tulane, which pushed East Carolina to the limit before losing 28-24.

Illinois, ranked No. 24, looked embarrassingly vulnerable in its shaky 20-17 win over winless Louisiana-Lafayette. It could drop out of the rankings.