With star tailback Chris Wells sidelined by a foot injury, the Buckeyes (2-0) struggled until Brandon Saine’s short plunge on the third play of the final quarter finally put them on top. Ray Small added a late 69-yard punt return for a TD.

This was not the tuneup the Buckeyes needed before traveling next week to meet No. 1 Southern California.

Ohio (0-2) had five costly turnovers — two in the fourth quarter — to help its bigger, badder neighbors escape.

No. 4 Oklahoma 52, Cincinnati 26: Sam Bradford overcame two interceptions and threw for a career-best 395 yards and five touchdowns for the Sooners (2-0).

Freshman Ryan Broyles had a breakout game with 141 receiving yards, Jermaine Gresham caught two touchdown passes and the Sooners extended the nation’s longest home winning streak to 20 games.

Broyles had a 27-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter and extended a key second-half drive with a leaping 43-yard catch to allow the Sooners to start pulling away with 24 consecutive points.

Cincinnati’s Mardy Gilyard returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown to break one of the longest runback droughts in college football. The last score by the Bearcats (1-1) on a kickoff return came in 1995, and only two schools have gone longer than Cincinnati’s 145 games without one.

Gilyard finished with a school-record 365 all purpose yards, including 119 yards receiving on seven first-half catches.

No. 5 Florida 26, Miami 3: Tim Tebow threw two touchdown passes, speedster Percy Harvin ran for a score and the Gators used a swarming defensive effort to beat the Hurricanes for the first time since 1985.

The rebuilding Hurricanes (1-1), three-touchdown underdogs, hung close for three quarters with the Gators (2-0), who had averaged more than 40 points at Florida Field with Tebow as the starting quarterback.

Florida struggled against Miami’s defense most of the night. The Hurricanes pressured Tebow after every snap, forcing him to scramble and make early, sometimes off-balance throws.

Still, he finished 21-of-35 passing for 256 yards and two TD passes. He also ran 13 times for 55 yards. Harvin, who missed last week’s opener while recovering from offseason heel surgery, ran five times for 27 yards.

Robert Marve, making his first career start for Miami, was 10-of-18 passing for 69 yards and was sacked three times. The Hurricanes managed just 140 yards of offense and gave up 345.