LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Branson Robinson rushed for a 3-yard, go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and top-ranked Georgia overcame a lethargic performance to rally past and then hold off Kentucky 13-12 on Saturday night.
The Bulldogs (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) struggled to find continuity on either side of the ball and trailed 9-3 early in the third quarter to a Wildcats squad intent on rebounding from their own flat effort in a 31-6 home loss to conference-rival South Carolina. Peyton Woodring’s 30-yard field goal late in the third quarter got Georgia within three before the ’Dawgs followed with their longest drive of the night at just the right time.
Trevor Etienne’s 12-yard run, 11-yard reception and 8-yard rush got the Bulldogs to the Kentucky 29. The Florida transfer then broke right for a 17-yard run to the 11, stepping out of bounds as he tip-toed down the sideline trying to reach the end zone. Robinson took it in from there three plays later for Georgia’s first lead at 13-9.
The Wildcats weren’t done, answering with Alex Raynor’s 51-yard field goal to get within a point. His school-record 55-yard kick gave Kentucky the initial lead, and he added two more from 32 and 40 yards for an advantage that held for more than three quarters — though not enough to put Georgia away. Kentucky (1-2, 0-2) got the ball one final time at its 20 with 9 seconds left,
NO. 2 TEXAS 56, UTSA 7
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Arch Manning passed for four touchdowns and ran 67 yards for another score after taking over for injured starter Quinn Ewers in the second quarter, leading Texas to a win over UTSA.
Texas (3-0) led 14-0 when Ewers left with what coach Steve Sarkisian described as a strained abdomen. Manning threw a 19-yard touchdown to DeAndre Moore on his first play, then broke off the long sprint for another touchdown on Texas’ next possession, as several UTSA (1-2) defenders chased him.
Manning and Isaiah Bond connected for a 51-yard TD on Texas’ first series in the third quarter that made it 35-7. His next throw was a 75-yard deep strike TD to Ryan Wingo.
Manning finished 9 of 12 passing for 223 yards. He left the game early in the fourth quarter after his final touchdown pass to Johntay Cook II.
NO. 4 ALABAMA 42, WISCONSIN 10
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Jalen Milroe threw three touchdowns and ran for two more as Alabama made a rare trip north and beat Wisconsin in a game the Badgers lost quarterback Tyler Van Dyke to an injury on the game’s first series.
Milroe went 12 of 17 for 196 yards with touchdown passes of 31 yards to Ryan Williams, 26 yards to Germie Bernard and 37 yards to Josh Cuevas. He also rushed for 75 yards on 14 carries, scoring on runs of 3 and 10 yards.
Alabama (3-0) was playing its first true road game against a team from north of the Mason-Dixon Line since a 27-11 victory at Penn State in 2011. This also marked the Crimson Tide’s first trip to Camp Randall Stadium since a 15-0 loss to Wisconsin in 1928.
Wisconsin (2-1) suffered its most lopsided home loss since a 48-7 defeat against Penn State in 2008.
NO. 5 MISSISSIPPI 40, WAKE FOREST 6
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Jaxson Dart passed for 377 yards and two touchdowns, Henry Parrish Jr. rushed for 148 yards and two TDs, and Mississippi beat Wake Forest.
Dart was 26 for 34, and he also had a 13-yard touchdown run. Tre Harris had another monster game with 11 catches for 127 yards and Jordan Watkins caught a 75-yard TD pass as the Rebels (3-0) outgained Demon Deacons 650-311.
The Rebels defense limited Wake Forest (1-2) to 46 yards on the ground on 32 carries and kept their third straight opponent out of the end zone. The Demon Deacons only had one run of longer than 10 yards — and that resulted in a fumble by Ty Clark.
Hank Bachmeier finished 22-of-39 passing for 239 yards for Wake Forest.
NO. 6 MISSOURI 27, NO. 24 BOSTON COLLEGE 21
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Brady Cook passed for a touchdown and ran for another TD, helping Missouri top Boston College.
Nate Noel rushed for 121 yards for the Tigers (3-0), who trailed 14-3 early in the second quarter. Blake Craig kicked four field goals.
Cook was 21 for 30 for 264 yards. He found Luther Burden III for a 19-yard touchdown with 3:04 left in the first half, and Noel tied it at 14 when he carried in the 2-point conversion.
Cook’s 6-yard TD run lifted Missouri to a 24-14 lead in the third quarter, and Craig made a 31-yarder with 5:58 left in the fourth.
NO. 7 TENNESSEE 71, KENT ST. 0
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Dylan Sampson rushed for 101 yards and four touchdowns — all in the first half — to lead Tennessee to a victory over Kent State.
It was Sampson’s fourth straight game, dating back to last season’s Citrus Bowl game, in which he rushed for over 100 yards.
DeSean Bishop added 120 rushing yards and two TDs in the first half for the Volunteers (3-0). They led 65-0 at halftime, the largest point total in one half in school history. The 71 points are the most in modern-era school history.
The Golden Flashes (0-3) generated just 23 total yards in the first half. They were offered to have a running clock in the second half but declined.
NO. 9 OREGON 49, OREGON ST. 14
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Dillon Gabriel threw for 291 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 64 yards with another score to lead Oregon to a win over rival Oregon State.
Jordan James had 12 carries for 86 yards and two touchdowns, and the Ducks improved to 3-0 in their first Big Ten season after the demise of the Pac-12.
It was the 128th meeting in the rivalry between the two former conference foes. Formerly known as the Civil War, the rivalry was normally held over Thanksgiving weekend. It had never before been played in September.
Oregon, ranked No. 3 in the preseason AP Top 25, had struggled in underwhelming victories over Idaho and Boise State to start the season. But the Ducks got their ground game going against the Beavers with 240 rushing yards, more than they had against the Vandals and Broncos combined.
NO. 10 MIAMI 62, BALL ST. 0
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Cam Ward was dominant again, throwing for 346 yards and five touchdowns before getting subbed out early in the second half as Miami piled up stats in a win over Ball State.
Miami (3-0) outgained Ball State 750-115, setting a school record for yards in a game. It was the biggest shutout win over an FBS opponent in Hurricanes’ history, topping the 61-0 win over Rutgers in 2001.
Ward now has three straight 300-yard games to start his season. He connected with Xavier Restrepo on a pair of touchdown passes, and found Jacolby George, Elijah Arroyo and Chris Johnson Jr. with his other scoring throws for the Hurricanes (3-0).
Ward’s five-touchdown game was the 10th by a Miami quarterback, one shy of the school record of six TDs set by Jarren Williams against Louisville in 2019. And it all came on the weekend where Miami celebrated the 35th anniversary of the school’s 1989 team winning the national title — a team that had a young offensive lineman named Mario Cristobal, now the Hurricanes’ coach.
NO. 12 UTAH 38, UTAH ST. 21
LOGAN, Utah (AP) — Isaac Wilson had 239 yards passing and three touchdowns in his first career start to lead Utah to a victory over Utah State.
Wilson started in place of Cam Rising, who sat out after injuring his throwing hand against Baylor last week. Nine players caught a pass from the true freshman in his first 200-yard game.
Micah Bernard added 123 yards rushing and a touchdown, and Mike Mitchell ran for 75 yards.
Utah (3-0) beat Utah State for the 15th time in the last 16 meetings in their rivalry that dates to 1892.
NO. 13 OKLAHOMA ST. 45, TULSA 10
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Alan Bowman matched a career high with five touchdown passes, and Oklahoma State routed Tulsa to set up next week’s Big 12 showdown against Utah.
Bowman, in his seventh year of eligibility, completed 24 of 31 passes for 396 yards and one interception before sitting out the fourth quarter. He previously threw five TD passes in a game for Texas Tech against Texas in 2020 and Houston in 2018.
De’Zhaun Stribling caught seven passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns — including one covering 63 yards — to help the Cowboys (3-0) win their 10 straight against the Golden Hurricane.
NO. 15 OKLAHOMA 34, TULANE 19
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Jackson Arnold ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as Oklahoma beat Tulane.
Arnold passed for 169 yards and ran for 97. Taylor Tatum caught a touchdown pass and ran for a score, and Deion Burks caught seven passes for 80 yards to help lead the Sooners.
Oklahoma (3-0) won its final tune-up before it plays its first Southeastern Conference game next Saturday at home against Tennessee.
Oklahoma expected a battle. Tulane was coming off a 34-27 loss to then-No. 17 Kansas State last week. And the Sooners remembered the close call in 2021, when No. 2 Oklahoma held on to beat the Green Wave 40-35.
NO. 16 LSU 36, SOUTH CAROLINA 33
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Josh Williams scored on a 2-yard run with 1:12 left and mistake-prone LSU rallied to beat South Carolina to open Southeastern Conference play.
The Tigers (2-1, 1-0 SEC) trailed 17-0 and were still trailing in the final two minutes when Williams took a handoff through a big hole on the left side and into the the end zone for the winning score. LSU players jumped with joy, but it was probably as much relief after trailing most of the game.
Garrett Nussmeier threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns, Caden Durham ran for 98 yards and a pair of scores for their eighth straight win over the Gamecocks (2-1, 1-1).
LSU was far from crisp. Nussmeier threw a fourth-down pick at the goal line that looked like it might end his team’s chances.
But the Tigers got a final chance with less than four minutes left. Nussmeier found Kyren Lacy for a 29-yard catch that took it to the South Carolina 4. Two plays later, Williams sped in for the touchdown.
NO. 17 MICHIGAN, 28, ARKANSAS ST. 18
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Kalel Mullings ran for a career-high 153 yards and two touchdowns to help Michigan overcome Davis Warren’s three interceptions in a 28-18 win over Arkansas State on Saturday.
The Wolverines (2-1) scored three times on the ground after entering the game without a rushing touchdown in two games, including last week’s loss to then-No. 3 Texas that ended a 28-game regular season winning streak and a 23-game stretch of success at home.
Running was much more effective than throwing for the defending national champions.
Warren threw an interception in each of the first three quarters and finished 11 of 14 for 122 yards, mostly relegated to completing short passes.
NO. 18 NOTRE DAME 66, PURDUE 7
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Riley Leonard and Jeremiyah Love led the way in an impressive rushing performance for Notre Dame, helping the Fighting Irish pound Purdue 66-7.
Notre Dame (2-1) collected 278 of its 362 yards rushing in the first half. Led by Leonard and Love, the Irish rolled to their highest point total and biggest victory margin of the 88-game series, bouncing back nicely after last weekend’s surprising loss to Northern Illinois.
Love had 11 carries for a career-best 109 yards, including a career-long 48-yard TD run. Leonard had 11 carries for 100 yards and matched his career high with three TD runs.
NO. 23 NEBRASKA 30, N. IOWA 3
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Dylan Raiola passed for 247 yards and two touchdowns, and Nebraska continued its best start since 2016 with a 34-3 win over Northern Iowa on Saturday night.
The Cornhuskers (3-0) came away with points on five of their first six possessions against the Panthers (2-1) of the second-tier Football Championship Subdivision.
Raiola threw for 209 yards in the first half and completed 13 of his first 14 passes, including 11 in a row. He finished 17 of 23 and gave way to Heinrich Haarberg midway through the fourth quarter.
The Huskers led 21-3 at halftime after Raiola sidestepped a pass rusher and found a wide-open Jalen Lloyd for 59 yards and Jacory Barney III ran 10 yards on a reverse for a touchdown on the next play.
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