Advertisement

No. 3 Texas pounds No. 10 Michigan 31-12

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Quinn Ewers threw for 246 yards and three touchdowns, and No. 3 Texas beat No. 10 Michigan 31-12 on Saturday.

The Longhorns (2-0) moved the ball at will through the air and on the ground against the defending national champions, whose turnover-prone offense failed to throw or run the ball effectively.

The Wolverines (1-1) had three streaks snapped in the first regular-season matchup of the traditional college football powerhouses.

Michigan had won a Big Ten-record 29 consecutive regular-season games, 23 straight home games and a national-best 16 games in a row since losing to TCU in the 2022 College Football Playoff.

NO. 1 GEORGIA 48, TENNESSEE TECH 3

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Carson Beck tied a school record with five touchdown passes in a little more than a half and No. 1 Georgia romped to a victory against outmanned Tennessee Tech.

With a brief respite in their daunting schedule, the Bulldogs (2-0) breezed past an FCS school that received $550,000 to make the trip to Athens for what amounted to little more than a glorified scrimmage.

Beck completed 18 of 25 passes for 242 yards before calling it a day less than three minutes into the second half. He had scoring throws of 22 yards to Dillon Bell, 6 yards to Colbie Young, 10 yards to Dominic Lovett, 50 yards to Arian Smith and 37 yards to Lawson Luckie.

Many in the announced crowd of more than 93,000 headed for the exits at halftime on a sweltering day with temperatures in the upper 80s. They didn’t miss much as the Bulldogs pulled most of their starters shortly into the third quarter.

NO. 2 OHIO ST. 56, W. MICHIGAN 0

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Quinshon Judkins rushed for 108 yards and two touchdowns, freshman Jeremiah Smith had 119 receiving yards and a touchdown, and No. 2 Ohio State scored 35 points in the first half on the way to a rout of Western Michigan.

Will Howard, in his second start for Ohio State, completed his first 10 passes and finished 18 for 26 for 292 yards and ran for a score before he was relieved late in the third quarter.

Both of the end-around scoring runs for Judkins went for 26 yards. TreVeyon Henderson also rushed for two touchdowns.

Smith, the top-rated recruit in the 2024 class, had one of the most thrilling plays of the night. He caught a seven-yard pass from Howard and outran defenders to turn it into a 70-yard TD in the first quarter. He had two touchdown catches last week against Akron in his debut.

NO. 4 ALABAMA 42, SOUTH FLORIDA 16

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Jalen Milroe ran for two touchdowns and threw for a pair of fourth-quarter scores to help No. 4 Alabama pull away to beat South Florida.

The Crimson Tide (2-0) were locked in a struggle with the Bulls (1-1) most of the way before exploding for 28 points in the final 10 minutes. It had turned into a surprising test for new coach Kalen DeBoer, whose team came in as 30-point favorites and didn’t come to life offensively until late.

Alabama lost three second-half fumbles and had an array of penalties, entering the fourth up just 14-13. Then Milroe had touchdown passes of 16 yards to Kobe Prentiss and 43 yards to Ryan Williams. Jamarion Miller added a 56-yard touchdown run and Justice Haynes had a 29-yarder in the final 2:30.

Miller finished with 140 yards rushing.

N. ILLINOIS 16, NO. 5 NOTRE DAME 14

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Kanon Woodill hit a 35-yard field goal with 31 seconds to play and Cade Haberman blocked a 62-yard try as time expired and Northern Illinois stunned No. 5 Notre Dame.

Haberman blocked the 62-yard attempt by Notre Dame’s Mitch Jeter, allowing the jubilant Huskies to claim their first non-conference victory against a ranked opponent since a 19-16 upset of No. 21 Alabama in 2003.

Notre Dame (1-1), on the heels of an impressive road win over Texas A&M, looked like it was in position to get some separation from Northern Illinois (2-0) as it clung to a 14-13 lead in the fourth quarter. The Fighting Irish gained possession after a punt with 7:49 left and drove from their 25 to the Northern Illinois 49.

Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard launched a pass deep up the middle intended for Kris Mitchell, but Amariyun Knighten made the interception and returned it 33 yards to the 50-yard line with 5:55 to play.

NO. 6 MISSISSIPPI 52, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 3

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) —Jaxson Dart completed his first 24 passes to set Southeastern Conference and school records, finishing 25 of 27 for 377 yards in No. 6 Mississippi’s victory over Middle Tennessee State.

The streak ended when Dart and Tre Harris couldn’t connect on a crossing pattern with 9:56 reaming. Dart, who completed 30 passes in a row over two games, broke the SEC record of 23 straight completions to start a game set by Tennessee’s Tee Martin against South Carolina in 1998.

Dart was hit hard from the blind side in the second quarter, but responded with throws of 18 and 25 yards before a 3-yard touchdown run. He threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Antwane Wells Jr. in the fourth quarter.

NO. 7 OREGON 37, BOISE ST. 34

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Atticus Sappington kicked a 25-yard field goal as time expired to give No. 7 Oregon a victory over resilient Boise State.

Dillon Gabriel threw for 243 yards and two touchdowns for the Ducks (2-0), who struggled against the Broncos but extended their nonconference home winning streak to 34 games, best nationally among active teams.

Ashton Jeanty ran for 192 yards and three touchdowns for Boise State, which led 20-14 at the half but lost momentum after Oregon scored a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter to take the lead.

The Broncos (1-1) went back ahead 34-27 early in the fourth quarter on Jeanty’s 8-yard scoring run, but Noah Whittington had a 99-yard kickoff return that ended with a Jayden Limar recovery in the end zone to tie it up 16 seconds later.

NO. 8 PENN ST. 34, BOWLING GREEN 27

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Drew Allar threw for two touchdowns and ran for another TD, and Penn State’s defense clamped down after a rough first half to push the No. 8 Nittany Lions past Bowling Green.

Nick Singleton scored twice, Omari Evans caught a touchdown pass and Sander Sahaydak kicked two field goals for the Nittany Lions (2-0) who trailed at halftime after their worst defensive start in years.

The Nittany Lions allowed 24 or more points just twice in the regular season last year, but couldn’t stop the Falcons early on Saturday. Led by quarterback Connor Bazelak, Bowling Green scored on four of its six first-half possessions to take a 24-20 lead, causing home fans to boo the Nittany Lions off the field.

Penn State’s defense looked like a different unit in the second half.

It forced three straight punts before intercepting Bazelak to end the Falcons’ next two drives in the fourth quarter.

NO. 9 MISSOURI 38, BUFFALO 0

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Brady Cook threw for 228 yards and ran for two touchdowns, preseason All-American Luther Burden III also scored before leaving with an illness, and No. 9 Missouri routed Buffalo for its second straight shutout to start the season.

Theo Wease Jr. had 13 catches for 149 yards, and Nate Noel added 73 yards rushing and a touchdown, as the Tigers (2-0) rolled to their 18th consecutive nonconference win at Memorial Stadium to match the best streak in school history.

Missouri’s offense was efficient, but new defensive coordinator Corey Batoon’s bunch were simply superb, holding the Bull to 169 yards of total offense. C.J. Ogbonna, who played against the Tigers on Faurot Field while he was with Southeast Missouri State a few years ago, completed just six passes for 55 yards, while Jacqez Barksdale had 67 yards rushing.

Buffalo (1-1) has never beaten an SEC opponent in five tries, including two games against the Tigers.

NO. 11 UTAH 23, BAYLOR 12

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Cam Rising threw for 92 yards and two touchdowns before leaving the game due to an injury to his throwing hand as No. 11 Utah beat Baylor.

Rising scrambled and released the ball just before being driven out of bounds and was shoved into the water coolers on the Baylor sideline with 1:55 left in the second quarter, and went to the locker room for X-rays. Backup quarterback Isaac Wilson led the Utes’ offense after halftime for a second straight game.

Micah Bernard rushed for 118 yards to lead Utah (2-0).

Dequan Finn threw for 115 yards and a touchdown in his second start for Baylor (1-1). Finn struggled against Utah’s defense, losing a fumble and getting sacked three times.

NO. 12 MIAMI 56, FLORIDA A&M 9

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Cam Ward passed for 304 yards and three touchdowns in his first home start for Miami, then he capped his day with a rushing score and the 12th-ranked Hurricanes beat Florida A&M.

Ward’s first pass was a touchdown throw to Elijah Arroyo on Miami’s opening possession, then he found Xavier Restrepo for a 50-yard scoring pass as the Hurricanes (2-0) had a 99-yard drive on their second possession.

Ward finished 20 of 26 to help Miami win its 17th consecutive home opener. Restrepo had four catches for 104 yards and a touchdown, and Damien Martinez rushed for 90 yards and another score.

Ward — who passed for 385 yards in Miami’s Week 1 win at Florida — is the third Hurricanes quarterback in the last 25 years with at least 600 yards passing in the season’s first two games, with 689 so far. The others on that list: Jacory Harris (656) in 2009 and Ken Dorsey (659) in 2001, Miami’s most recent national title season.

NO. 13 SOUTHERN CAL 48, UTAH ST. 0

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Quinten Joyner rushed for 84 yards and two touchdowns and No. 13 Southern California’s revitalized defense had the Trojans’ first shutout since 2011 in a victory over Utah State.

Miller Moss passed for 229 yards and a touchdown while playing only the first 2 1/2 quarters in his first home start for the Trojans (2-0). Woody Marks ran for 103 yards and a TD, while A’Marion Peterson rushed for another score.

USC was in control all night at the Coliseum, building on its impressive season-opening victory over LSU with another demonstration of the thorough transformation of last season’s pathetic defense.

After USC held the Tigers to 20 points in Las Vegas last week, defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s group yielded just 190 yards to the Aggies (1-1), with 40 of those yards coming against the Trojans’ backups on a final drive that ended with a missed 52-yard field goal attempt with 1:08 to play.

NO. 14 TENNESSEE 51, NO. 24 NC STATE 10

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Quarterback Nico Iamaleava combined for 276 yards and three touchdowns, former walk-on safety Will Brooks had a momentum-turning 85-yard interception return for a score and No. 14 Tennessee trounced No. 24 North Carolina State in the Duke’s Mayo Classic.

Iamaleava threw touchdown passes to Miles Kitselman and Holden Staes and ran for a 31-yard score as the Vols scored on eight of their 11 possessions with the redshirt freshman under center.

Dylan Sampson ran for 132 yards and two touchdowns as Tennessee (2-0, 0-0 SEC) outgained NC State, 460-143.

NO. 15 OKLAHOMA 16, HOUSTON 12

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Jackson Arnold threw two touchdown passes and No. 15 Oklahoma held off Houston.

The Sooners (2-0) struggled to move the ball and punted seven times. The Cougars (0-2) outgained Oklahoma 318-249 in total yards, including 260-174 in passing.

Oklahoma, which had six sacks and six turnovers in its opener, got a late interception from Robert Spears-Jennings to end one drive and a late safety to extend a slim lead.

Oklahoma led 14-6 at the half. The Sooners punted on their first two possessions, but led 7-0 after converting a muffed punt by Houston’s Mekhi Mews into points when Arnold found receiver Brenan Thompson for a 10-yard touchdown pass on the next play.

NO. 16 OKLAHOMA ST. 39, ARKANSAS 31, 2OT

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Ollie Gordon II’s 12-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion catch in the second overtime pushed No. 16 Oklahoma State past Arkansas.

Gordon, last season’s Doak Walker Award winner as the nation’s best running back, was held to 49 yards on 17 carries.

His teammates picked up the slack. Alan Bowman passed for 326 yards and Brennan Presley had 91 yards receiving, caught a touchdown pass and ran for a score for the Cowboys (2-0).

Arkansas (1-1) outgained Oklahoma State 648 yards to 385. But the Razorbacks missed two of their three field goals and had three turnovers to one for Oklahoma State.

NO. 17 KANSAS ST. 34, TULANE 27

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Kansas State safety Jack Fabris returned Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah’s fumble 60 yards for a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, and VJ Payne’s interception in the end zone helped the 17th-ranked Wildcats hold on for a victory over Tulane.

Tulane appeared to have scored a potential tying touchdown with 17 seconds left when Mensah hit Yulkeith Brown near the left pylon, but receiver Dontae Fleming was flagged for offensive pass interference.

Payne’s interception came two plays later.

Avery Johnson passed for two touchdowns for Kansas State (2-0). DJ Giddens rushed for 114 yards, his sixth straight game hitting the 100-yard mark, and had 63 yards receiving, including a 45-yard touchdown catch on fourth down in the third quarter.

NO. 18 LSU 44, NICHOLLS 21

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP0 — Garrett Nussmeier threw six touchdown passes to lead No. 18 LSU to a victory over Nicholls.

Bouncing back from a season-opening loss to Southern California a week ago in Las Vegas, LSU (1-1) struggled to pull away from the FCS-level Colonels (0-2) until early in the third quarter.

Leading 23-21 early in the second half, Nussmeier led LSU on a methodical 11-play, 72-yard drive, culminating with a six-yard touchdown pass to Kyren Lacy to push the lead to 30-21.

On the first play of the ensuing drive for Nicholls, LSU freshman cornerback P.J. Woodland forced and recovered a fumble on a pass from Pat McQuaide to Quincy Brown, giving LSU the ball at the Colonels’ 41-yard line.

Five plays later, Nussmeier found Lacy for his third score of the night, this time a seven-yard connection, to make it 37-21 Tigers.

ILLINOIS 23, NO. 19 KANSAS 17

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Kaden Feagin scored on a 1-yard run with 9:34 to go, David Alano added a 43-yard field goal with 58 seconds left and Illinois rallied to beat No. 19 Kansas.

Illinois (2-0) beat a ranked nonconference opponent for the first time since topping then-No. 22 Arizona State on Sept. 17, 2011. The Illini also avenged a 34-23 loss last year at Kansas (1-1).

Feagin scored after Luke Altmyer found Pat Bryant for 37- and 28-yard completions on the eight-play, 80-yard drive.

Altmyer completed 16 of 25 passes for 192 yards. Zakhari Franklin had nine catches for 99 yards, and Bryant had three receptions for 70 yards.

Kansas’ Jalon Daniels was 18 of 32 for 141 yards with two touchdown passes and three interceptions.

NO. 20 ARIZONA 22, N. ARIZONA 10

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Quali Conley ran for 112 yards, Noah Fifita threw for 173 yards and a touchdown and No. 20 Arizona overcame a four-point halftime deficit to beat Northern Arizona for its ninth consecutive win, tying the school record for consecutive victories.

The Wildcats (2-0) extended the longest active win streak in FBS by outscoring the Lumberjacks 16-0 in the second half after trailing 10-6 at the break. The nine straight wins matches the school record set in 1974-75 and matched in 1997-98.

Conley, a transfer from San Jose State, led the way as Arizona gained 188 yards on the ground. Receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who had a school-record 304 yards and four TDs in the 61-39 season-opening win over New Mexico, was limited to two catches for 11 yards.

Northern Arizona (1-1) finished with only 198 yards of total offense, 91 after halftime. Quarterback Ty Pennington threw for 84 yards on 14 of 24 passing and added 39 on the ground.

IOWA ST. 20, NO. 21 IOWA 19

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Kyle Konrardy made a 54-yard field goal with six seconds left to give Iowa State a 20-19 victory over No. 21 Iowa, only the Cyclones’ third victory in the last 11 games against the Hawkeyes.

Iowa State (2-0) got the ball at its own 22 with 34 seconds remaining and drove 42 yards on Rocco Becht’s three completions to get up the kick.

Iowa (1-1) got a 35-yard return from Max White on the ensuing kickoff and had time for one play, but Cade McNamara’s pass was intercepted by Darien Porter.

The Hawkeyes led 19-7 with 4:47 left in the third quarter after Kaleb Johnson’s 4-yard touchdown run. McNamara’s two-point conversion pass was incomplete.

NO. 22 LOUISVILLE 42, JACKSONVILLE ST. 14

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Tyler Shough threw for 349 yards and two touchdowns as No. 22 Louisville cruised to a victory over Jacksonville State.

It was the sixth time the seventh-year signal caller threw for more than 300 yards in a game. Shough, who completed 21 of 33 attempts, put the game away with a 48-yard touchdown pass to Chris Bell that gave the Cardinals (2-0) a 35-14 lead with 8:58 left in the third quarter. He added another midway through the fourth quarter and then was pulled.

Louisville’s victory was also aided by a solid ground game by committee. The Cardinals rushed for 233 yards and five backs scored, with four coming in the first half.

The Gamecocks (0-2) were led by quarterback Tyler Huff. The senior threw for 160 yards and a touchdown on 17 of 27 passing. He also ran 18 times for 101 yards and a score, marking the second career 100-yard rushing game for Huff, who transferred from Furman after last season.

SYRACUSE 31, NO. 23 GEORGIA TECH 28

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Kyle McCord passed for 381 yards and four touchdowns, two each to Trebor Pena and Oronde Gadsden II, and Syracuse held on to knock off newly ranked No. 23 Georgia Tech.

The Yellow Jackets (2-1, 1-1 ACC), ranked in the AP Top 25 last week for the first time since 2015, cut the lead to three with 2:31 to go on a 15-yard scoring run by Jamal Haynes.

The Orange made sure Georgia Tech never got the ball back, running out the clock for their first win against a ranked opponent since October 2022 against North Carolina State.

McCord was 32-of-46 passing, with career highs in attempts and completions. Gadsden had six catches for 93 yards. Pena has five touchdowns on the young season.

NO. 25 CLEMSON 66, APPALACHIAN ST. 20

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Cade Klubnik threw for a career-high 378 yards and five touchdowns as No. 25 Clemson cranked up an offense that was missing a week earlier against top-ranked Georgia and routed Appalachian State.

The Tigers (1-1) got going in a hurry with Klubnik’s 76-yard pass to Bryant Wesco Jr. less than two minutes into the game. Wesco’s 52-yard catch took the ball to the App State 1 and Klubnik followed with the first of two rushing scores.

Things continued going Clemson’s way the rest of the half as the Tigers scored touchdowns on all eight of their first-half drives for a 56-13 lead.

It was a welcome showing for Tigers, who were held to 188 yards in a beatdown by the Bulldogs in the opener. Clemson surpassed that total in the first quarter as Wesco had two catches for 131 yards and Phil Mafah ran for an 83-yard touchdown — Clemson’s longest since Travis Etienne ran for a 90-yard score in 2019.

The Associated Press