COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Brady Cook threw for 218 yards with touchdowns running and throwing, Toriano Pride Jr. returned an interception 25 yards for a score, and No. 11 Missouri routed Murray State 51-0 on Thursday night in the season opener for both teams.
Luther Burden III had a touchdown catch while Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll added TD runs, helping the Tigers build a big lead early enough that coach Eli Drinkwitz was able to rest his starters midway through the third quarter.
Murray State, which was picked to finish last in the Missouri Valley, managed 85 yards of total offense. Jayden Johannsen was 7 of 13 for 27 yards with an interception while getting sacked twice and beaten up most of the night.
KANSAS 48, LINDENWOOD 3
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Devin Neal ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns on eight first-half carries and No. 22 Kansas beat Lindenwood in the opener for both teams.
Kansas outscored Lindenwood 27-0 in the second quarter at Children’s Mercy Park. Lindenwood, in its third year as an FCS program, played its first game against an FBS opponent.
Jalon Daniels, who played only in the first half for Kansas, was 9 of 15 for 148 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The Jayhawks are playing home games in Kansas City — two at Children’s Mercy Park and four at Arrowhead Stadium — because of stadium renovations.
Lindenwood averted a shutout with a 34-yard field goal by Logan Seibert with 6:12 left.
NC STATE 38, WESTERN CAROLINA 21
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — KC Concepcion slithered free from contact and broke loose to the right for a 35-yard catch-and-run touchdown — his third score of the night — to help No. 24 N.C. State finally push ahead for good and beat Western Carolina in the opener for both teams.
Concepcion had a diving 17-yard scoring catch over the middle in the first quarter along with a 5-yard catch-and-run to the left pylon in the second. He finished with nine catches and 121 yards as a highlight in what was at times a slog for N.C. State — and other times an unexpectedly tense test against a Championship Subdivision opponent.
The game was tied at 14-all at halftime and the Catamounts led 21-17 going into the final quarter, putting them within reach of a shocking upset. But Concepcion’s highlight-reel effort put the Wolfpack ahead for good, then Jordan Waters — a transfer from nearby Duke — shook off what had been a rough debut to that point by keeping his legs churning through multiple tacklers for a 7-yard TD that pushed N.C. State to a 31-21 lead with 6:33 left.
UTAH 49, S. UTAH 0
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Cam Rising made his return with a career-high five touchdown passes — three to Brant Kuithe — to power No. 12 Utah to a win over Southern Utah.
Rising, a seventh-year senior quarterback, shined in his first game action since tearing multiple knee ligaments in the Utes’ Rose Bowl loss to Penn State on Jan. 2, 2023, going 10 of 15 for 254 yards and 25 rushing yards as the 84th consecutive sellout crowd at Rice-Eccles Stadium held its collective breath on each rush. He left the game in the second quarter with Utah up 35-0.
Kuithe, who also missed last season and most of the 2022 campaign, caught three touchdown passes — all in the second quarter. He caught a 29-yard toss for a score on the first play of the quarter before an 18-yarder three minutes later. With 1:08 to play in the half, Kuithe fought off three defenders on his way into the end zone on a 11-yard grab.
Rising’s barrage marked the first time Utah had five passing TDs in a half since Brian Johnson against San Diego State in 2008, the last season Utah went undefeated.
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