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.
NO. 25 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.
NO. 15 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.
NO. 8 PENN ST. 34, WEST VIRGINIA 12
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Drew Allar threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter, Nick Singleton rushed for 114 yards and a TD, and No. 8 Penn State beat West Virginia in a season opener delayed for more than two hours by lightning.
Allar and Singleton were able to generate the explosive plays that were lacking from Penn State’s offense in big games late last season and led to a change in offensive coordinators.
Allar threw a 50-yard TD pass to Harrison Wallace and found Kaytron Allen from 20 yards out on the next series.
Just before halftime, Allar caught the Mountaineers off guard with a quick snap count instead of running out the clock from deep in his own territory. He threw to a wide-open Omari Evans for 55 yards and found Wallace in the corner of the end zone on the next play from 18 yards out for a 20-6 halftime lead.
Allar completed 11 of 17 passes for 216 yards. Wallace caught five passes for a career-high 117 yards, all in the first half. That was more than half of his yardage production for the entire 2023 season.
NO. 17 OKLAHOMA ST. 44, S. DAKOTA ST. 20
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Alan Bowman threw three touchdown passes, Ollie Gordon II scored three times and No. 17 Oklahoma State ended two-time defending FCS national champion South Dakota State’s 29-game winning streak with a victory.
Bowman, beginning his seventh year of eligibility at age 24, completed 24 of 33 passes for 265 yards in the opener for both teams. He threw scoring passes of 6 yards to Brennan Presley, 22 yards to Ollie Gordon II and 58 yards to Rashod Owens.
Gordon, a junior who won the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back last season, carried 27 times for 104 yards and two scores. His second touchdown, on a short pass from Bowman, covered 22 yards for a 24-6 lead with 10:46 left in the third.
NO 4 TEXAS 52, COLORADO ST. 0
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Quinn Ewers passed for 260 yards and three touchdowns and No. 4 Texas rolled past Colorado State in the opener for both teams.
Ewers connected with Matthew Golden for a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter, and had another strike to Isaiah Bond as the Longhorns built a 31-0 lead by halftime.
A big question for Texas heading into this season was just how quickly Ewers and Texas would find their rhythm in a passing attack that lost the top five receivers from the 2023 Big 12 championship team. Texas joined the Southeastern Conference this year.
Golden transferred from Houston and Bond from Alabama, and Ewers and his rebuilt receiving corps easily carved up the Rams. After a slow start that included a stalled drive and an interception on Texas’ first three possessions, Texas scored 24 points in the second quarter.
NO. 2 OHIO ST. 52, AKRON 0
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Freshman Jeremiah Smith caught two touchdown passes and No. 2 Ohio State overcame a sluggish start to bury Akron in the opener for both teams.
Under new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, the Buckeyes needed nearly all of the first half to start running smoothly against the overmatched Zips.
Smith dropped the first pass thrown to him on the opening drive. The Buckeyes punted, leading to an Akron field goal.
Smith redeemed himself, however, turning around to make a slick catch in the end zone of a 16-yard pass from Kansas State transfer quarterback Will Howard for a touchdown.
NO. 18 MIAMI 41, FLORIDA 17
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Cam Ward threw for 385 yards and three touchdowns — looking cool, calm and collected on a sweltering Saturday in the Swamp — and No. 19 Miami dominated Florida to give coach Mario Cristobal a signature victory to start his third season at his alma mater.
The Hurricanes controlled both lines of scrimmage and never trailed in the renewal of a once-heated rivalry. The latest iteration was a one-sided beatdown, the kind that sent Florida fans scurrying for the exits in the third quarter and raised speculation about coach Billy Napier’s job security.
Napier fell to 11-15 in Gainesville, including 2-10 against ranked opponents and 1-8 against rivals Miami, Florida State, Georgia, LSU and Tennessee. The Gators lost their sixth consecutive game overall and witnessed the end of their 33-game winning streak in home openers, a run that started with Steve Spurrier’s arrival in 1990.
Now, Napier has the same number of losses at Florida Field in two-plus seasons (five) as Spurrier had in a dozen years.
NO. 18 KANSAS ST. 41, UT-MARTIN 6
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Avery Johnson threw two touchdown passes and Kansas State got contributions from all three phases of the game to lead the No. 18 Wildcats to a season-opening win over UT Martin on Saturday night.
The Wildcats’ defense dominated early and often, allowing the Wildcats’ offense to find its footing. Kansas State limited the Skyhawks to 134 total yards (2.4 yards per play).
K-State also befuddled UT Martin’s passing attack by sacking Kinkead Dent three times. The Wildcats finished with four sacks, led by sophomore defensive end Tobi Osunsanmi’s 1 1/2.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats’ offense had its moments behind Johnson, a sophomore who became K-State’s second-youngest quarterback to start a season opener.
NO. 9 MICHIGAN 30, FRESNO ST. 10
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Davis Warren and Alex Orji each threw a touchdown pass, Will Johnson returned an interception for a score and No. 9 Michigan started defense of its national championship with a win over Fresno State.
The Wolverines (1-0) were sluggish on offense for much of the night, breaking in new quarterbacks behind a revamped offensive line and Sherrone Moore, who made his coaching debut as Jim Harbaugh’s full-time replacement.
The Bulldogs (0-1) trailed by just four points deep into the second quarter and 16-10 midway through the fourth before Michigan pulled away.
Warren, who beat out Orji to start at quarterback, threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Colston Loveland to give Michigan a 23-10 lead with 5:43 left.
NO. 5 ALABAMA 63, W. KENTUCKY 0
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Jalen Milroe ran for two touchdowns and passed for three more, including scores of 84 and 55 yards to highly touted freshman Ryan Williams, and No. 5 Alabama breezed through Kalen DeBoer’s debut with a victory over Western Kentucky.
The Crimson Tide rode a cascade of big plays on both sides of the ball to a 42-0 halftime lead in the first game of the season and post-Nick Saban. Justice Haynes scored on an 85-yard run and Jam Miller added a 39-yard touchdown, and Michigan transfer safety Keon Sabb set up two touchdowns with first-quarter interceptions and long returns.
Milroe played less than three quarters, completing 7 of 9 passes for 200 yards and running 10 times for 79.
DeBoer replaced Saban, who led Alabama to six national titles in 17 seasons, after leading Washington to the national championship game. Saban and his family were at the game, watching his former team outgain Western Kentucky 600-145.
NO. 3 OREGON 24, IDAHO 14
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Dillon Gabriel threw for 380 yards and two touchdowns in his Oregon debut, but the third-ranked Ducks struggled in their first game as Big Ten members before holding off resilient Idaho.
While the victory wasn’t as decisive as expected, Oregon extended its nonconference home winning streak to a national-best 33 games. Oregon has won 20 straight home openers.
Oregon led 14-0 at the half, but Idaho narrowed the deficit on Jack Layne’s 36-yard touchdown pass to Jake Cox. After a field goal by Oregon, Layne rushed for a 4-yard TD to make it 17-14.
NO. 6 MISSISSIPPI 76, FURMAN 0
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Jaxson Dart threw five touchdown passes and ran for a score in leading eight consecutive first-half scoring drives, helping No. 6 Mississippi overpower Furman.
Dart opened the scoring with a 15-yard run and the Rebels raced to a 52-0 halftime lead in the opener for both teams.
Dart was 22 of 27 for 418 yards in the first half before yielding to Austin Simmons, who added a touchdown pass in the third quarter.
Ole Miss scored on first half series of 75, 90, 46, 20, 63, 81, 61 and 58 yards, highlighted by touchdown passes of 61 and 22 yards to Tre Harris. He had eight receptions for 179 yards.
NO. 7 NOTRE DAME 23, NO. 20 TEXAS A&M 13
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Jeremiyah Love broke a tie with a 21-yard touchdown run with 1:54 left and No. 7 Notre Dame beat No. 20 Texas A&M in the opener for both teams.
Love burst through the line and shed two would-be tacklers before waltzing into the end zone to give the Fighting Irish the lead.
The Aggies had a chance to tie it, but Christian Gray jumped the route to knock down Conner Weigman’s pass on fourth down to give Notre Dame the ball back.
The Fighting Irish added Mitch Jeter’s 46-yard field goal with 30 seconds left.
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