No. 1 Georgia manhandles No. 14 Clemson 34-3

ATLANTA (AP) — Carson Beck threw for 278 yards, including a pair of touchdowns, and No. 1 Georgia opened another season of enormous expectations by stifling 14th-ranked Clemson 34-3 on Saturday.

Leading only 6-0 at halftime, Georgia finally got its offense rolling in the third quarter with a pair of 75-yard touchdown drives, capped by Colbie Young’s 7-yard reception and Nate Frazier’s 1-yard run. Beck tacked on a 40-yard TD pass to London Humphreys that sent the Clemson side of Mercedes-Benz Stadium heading for the exits.

Clemson was held to 188 yards and Nolan Hauser’s 26-yard field goal.

IOWA 40, ILLINOIS ST. 0

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Cade McNamara threw three second-half touchdown passes and the No. 25 Hawkeyes cruised to a season-opening victory without coach Kirk Ferentz.

Ferentz served a one-game suspension imposed by the university for a recruiting contact violation that is under investigation by the NCAA. Assistant coach Seth Wallace ran the team in his absence. It was the first game Ferentz had missed in his 26 seasons as the Hawkeyes’ coach.

McNamara, who missed the final nine games of last season with a knee injury, threw touchdown passes of 7 and 19 yards to freshman wide receiver Reece Vander Zee. He also tossed a 31-yard TD pass to Jacob Gill to help the Hawkeyes pull away after leading 6-0 at halftime.

Kaleb Johnson rushed for 119 yards, including touchdown runs of 64 and 18 yards in the fourth quarter.

TENNESSEE 69, CHATTANOOGA 3

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nico Iamaleava threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns — all in the first half — in his first regular-season start to lead the 15th-ranked Volunteers to a victory over Chattanooga.

Dylan Sampson rushed for 124 yards and three scores in the first half as the Volunteers had an easy opener against an in-state FCS foe. Chattanooga, ranked eighth in the FCS preseason poll, didn’t cross into Tennessee territory until its first drive of the second half.

Tennessee dominated both sides of the ball in the first half and built a 45-0 lead. The Vols put up 490 yards of total offense and the Mocs didn’t get past their own 47.