No. 1 GEORGIA 24, SOUTH CAROLINA 14
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Carson Beck passed for 269 yards, Daijun Edwards, Dillon Bell and Cash Jones ran for second-half touchdowns, and No. 1 Georgia rallied from 11 points down to beat South Carolina 24-14 on Saturday.
The two-time reigning national champion Bulldogs won their 20th consecutive game in uncharacteristic fashion, trotting off to a smattering of boos from their home fans and facing their biggest halftime deficit in nearly three years.
But Georgia (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) played like a champ after the teams returned to the field on a soggy, gloomy day between the hedges.
The defense totally shut down Spencer Rattler and the Gamecocks (1-2, 0-1), who couldn’t build on their 14-3 lead at the break. They managed just 129 yards over the final two quarters, with Rattler held to 6 of 24 passing for 104 yards with two interceptions.
FLORIDA 29, No. 11 TENNESSEE 16
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Trevor Etienne ran for a career-high 172 yards and a touchdown, Montrell Johnson scored twice and Florida upset Tennessee to extend the Volunteers’ losing streak in Gainesville to 10.
The game ended with a scuffle and penalty flags on both teams. Florida quarterback Graham Mertz took a knee and then took exception to Omari Thomas running into him. Benches cleared, and Tennessee’s Kamal Hadden and Florida’s Micah Mazzccua squared off like boxers. Mazzccua clearly threw a punch. Florida’s Damieon George was initially flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Thomas for targeting. But neither flag was enforced.
The victory was the first in a rivalry for Billy Napier, who last year became the first coach in school history to lose to Tennessee, LSU, Georgia and Florida State in the same season. Getting the first one under his belt should quell outside noise about Napier’s long-term viability with the Gators (2-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference).
Tennessee (2-1, 0-1) looked like it had as good a chance as any to end its road drought in the series — the Vols were 6 1/2-point favorites, according to FanDuel Sportsbook — but quarterback Joe Milton and his offensive line seemed lost at times just trying to get plays started.
No. 2 MICHIGAN 31, BOWLING GREEN 6
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Blake Corum had a 54-yard run on his first snap and finished with 101 yards and two touchdowns, helping No. 2 Michigan overcome a turnover-filled game.
The Wolverines (3-0) were without coach Jim Harbaugh, who will return from a school-imposed suspension for breaking NCAA rules next week against Rutgers.
The Falcons (1-2) forced three turnovers in the first half and kicked two field goals to stay within a point deep into the second quarter.
Bowling Green, though, turned the ball over two times on its first three snaps of the second half and that helped Michigan pull away.
J.J. McCarthy was 8 of 13 for 143 yards with two touchdowns for Michigan. He had a 33-yard pass to Roman Wilson late in the second quarter to put the Wolverines ahead 14-6 and a 50-yard touchdown pass to Cornelius Johnson on a flea flicker to give them a 25-point lead midway through the third quarter.
The Falcons were forced to play third-string quarterback Hayden Timosciek due to injuries.
No. 3 FLORIDA STATE 31, BOSTON COLLEGE 29
BOSTON (AP) — DJ Lundy intercepted a pass to set up his own 1-yard touchdown run and Florida State scored four unanswered touchdowns to build a 21-point lead but then blew almost all of it, surviving a late Boston College charge.
Boston College set a school record for penalties, missed an extra point, went for 2 after another touchdown and failed, and opted not to kick a field goal from the Seminoles 5 when trailing by 15 points early in the fourth quarter. But the Eagles still trailed by only 2 points with the ball in the final three minutes before Kalen DeLoach sacked Thomas Castellanos on third down to stall BC’s last possession.
The Eagles would have gotten the ball back with about a minute left after stopping Florida State on third down, but they were called for face masking on the tackle — their 18th penalty of the game.
Jordan Travis completed 16 of 24 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 38 yards for the Seminoles (3-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference). Thomas Castellanos threw for 305 yards and one touchdown and ran for 95 and another score for BC (1-2, 0-1),
No. 4 TEXAS 31, WYOMING 10
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Xavier Worthy caught a 44-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter, Jerrin Thompson added an interception return for another score minutes later, and No. 4 Texas pulled away late.
Jonathon Brooks added 164 yards rushing as Texas moved to 3-0 for the first time since 2012.
After an impressive win at Alabama, Texas jumped to its highest ranking in 14 years, then came home to find itself in a dogfight for three quarters with a program that has never beaten a top-10 opponent.
Wyoming (2-1) had already beaten Texas Tech of the Big 12 and wasn’t intimidated by the Texas sellout crowd of about 100,000 and the fancy new stadium light show for the Longhorns.
The Cowboys struck first with Harrison Waylee’s 62-yard touchdown run on their first possession, then rallied to tie it at 10-10 late in the third with a 17-play drive that started inside their own 5 yard line.
Texas had the individual talent to take over in the fourth quarter.
Worthy caught a short sideline pass and looked like he was pinned there. Then he wasn’t. Worthy avoided one hit, then another two defenders as he tight-roped along the sideline all the way to the end zone. Texas extended the lead to 24-10 on Quinn Ewers’ short yard touchdown run. On Wyoming’s next possession, Thompson stepped in front of a short pass from Evan Svoboda and went untouched 27 yards to the score.
No. 6 OHIO STATE 63, WESTERN KENTUCKY 10
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kyle McCord threw for three touchdowns and 318 yards and Ohio State used a 35-point second quarter to rout Western Kentucky.
McCord’s 75-yard TD pass to Marvin Harrison Jr. on the first play from scrimmage after Western Kentucky had pulled to within four points gave the Buckeyes (3-0) a 21-10 lead and Chip Trayanum ran for a 40-yard score on the first play of their next series to make it 28-10.
The last time OSU scored five TDs in a quarter was Sept. 21, 2013, vs. Florida A&M.
TreVeyon Henderson ran for 88 yards and his touchdowns of 21 and 10 yards put the Buckeyes ahead 14-3 nearly five minutes into the second quarter against the Hilltoppers (2-1),
No. 7 PENN STATE 30, ILLINOIS 13
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Cam Miller, Abdul Carter, Daequan Dixon and Johnny Hardy had interceptions and No. 7 Penn State took advantage of five turnovers by Illinois.
The Nittany Lions (3-0, 1-0 Big Ten) overcame a sub-par effort by Drew Allar, who completed just 16 of 33 passes for 208 yards, and the offense. The second-year quarterback connected on 78% of his passes in his first two games.
Luke Altmyer was intercepted four times before he was benched, and running back Josh McCray lost a fumble for Illinois (1-2, 0-1), which has lost two straight.
No. 8 WASHINGTON 41, MICHIGAN STATE 7
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michael Penix Jr. threw for 473 yards and four touchdowns, including three to Jack Westover, to lead Washington to a victory over Michigan State playing its first game without suspended coach Mel Tucker.
The Huskies (3-0) totaled 713 yards of offense which is the most ever given up by the Spartans, topping the previous high of 666 yards by Nebraska in 1995.
The Spartans (2-1) struggled offensively through most of the game and didn’t score until backup quarterback Katin Houser had a 4-yard run with 5:48 left.
No. 9 NOTRE DAME 41, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 17
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Sam Hartman threw three touchdown passes to move into seventh place on major college football’s career list and Notre Dame pulled away from Central Michigan.
Notre Dame (4-0) now awaits a top-10 showdown with No. 6 Ohio State next Saturday.
Hartman now has 123 career touchdown passes. He passed Aaron Murray of Georgia and Ty Detmer of BYU and is tied with Oklahoma’s Landry Jones at No. 7 all-time.
Audric Estime rushed for 176 yards on 20 carries and scored a touchdown for the Irish, who outscored Central Michigan (1-2) 20-3 after leading 21-14 at halftime.
No. 10 ALABAMA 17, SOUTH FLORIDA 3
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Roydell Williams rushed for 129 yards and a touchdown, helping third-string quarterback Ty Simpson and Alabama shrug off a slow start and beat South Florida.
The Crimson Tide (2-1) rebounded from a 10-point loss to Texas, improving to 14-1 in games following a regular-season loss since 2008.
To do it, though, Alabama had to overcome inconsistent quarterback play and several costly mistakes that kept USF (1-2) in the game. The Bulls led 3-0 when lightning delayed play for 55 minutes in the second quarter, and it was 3-3 at halftime.
No. 12 UTAH 31, WEBER STATE 7
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Nate Johnson threw for 193 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score in his first start, helping Utah to a victory over Weber State in another game without Cameron Rising.
Though he is practicing without limits, Rising still hasn’t suited up for the Utes (3-0) since tearing an ACL in the Rose Bowl last season.
Weber State’s Damon Bankston, who came in as the leading rusher in FCS game at 132 yards per game, was held to 59 yards on eight carries. The running back had 47 of those on a second-quarter carry that set up the only score for the Wildcats (2-1).
No. 13 OREGON 55, HAWAII 10
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Bo Nix threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns to lead No. 13 Oregon to an easy 55-10 victory.
The Ducks (3-0) have won 32 straight nonconference games at Autzen Stadium, the longest streak in the nation. Oregon hasn’t lost to a nonconference opponent at home since 2008.
Jordan James ran for a pair of touchdowns for the Ducks while Tez Johnson and Traeshon Holden each caught two scoring passes. Nix completed 21 of 27 passes before heading to the bench after one series in the second half.
It was the final nonconference tuneup for Oregon before the start of the team’s final Pac-12 season. Next week Oregon hosts No. 18 Colorado and new Buffs coach Deion Sanders.
Brayden Schager, who threw for 972 yards through his first three games of the season to lead the nation, threw for 131 yards and a late touchdown to Alex Perry for Hawaii (1-3).
No. 14 LSU 41, MISSISSIPPI STATE 14
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Malik Nabers set career highs with 13 catches for 239 yards and scored two touchdowns, Jayden Daniels ran for two scores, and LSU beat Mississippi State.
The Tigers (2-1) outgained the Bulldogs 310-79 in the first half on the way to a 24-7 lead.
Will Rogers had his worst game as a starting quarterback at Mississippi State (2-1) as the senior was 11 of 28 for 103 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. It was the fewest completions and yardage Rogers has had as a starter.
MISSOURI 30, No. 15 KANSAS STATE 27
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Harrison Mevis kicked a 61-yard field goal with no time remaining Saturday, sending Missouri to a field-storming, come-from-behind victory over Kansas State in a nonconference showdown of former Big 12 rivals.
The Tigers (3-0) had a chance to give their big-legged kicker a shorter attempt after Brady Cook had driven them into Kansas State territory in the final seconds. But after huddling on the sideline, Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz was too slow getting his field-goal unit onto the field, and the delay-of-game penalty pushed the Tigers back 5 yards.
Cook proceeded to throw an incomplete pass in the final seconds, but it left just enough time for Mevis to make some magic.
Will Howard threw for 270 yards and three touchdowns with an interception for the Wildcats (2-1).
No. 16 OREGON STATE 26, SAN DIEGO STATE 9
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — DJ Uiagalelei passed for 284 yards and a touchdown, ran for a touchdown for the third consecutive game, and Oregon State’s defense had seven sacks in a win over San Diego State.
In his third game as the Beavers’ starting quarterback after transferring from Clemson, Uiagalelei completed 14 of 30 passes and had two interceptions.
Damien Martinez anchored Oregon State’s running game with 102 yards.
The Beavers (3-0) kept the Aztecs (2-2) out of the end zone until the fourth quarter.
No. 17 MISSISSIPPI 48, GEORGIA TECH 23
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Jaxson Dart ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as No. 17 Mississippi pulled away in the final 10 minutes to beat Georgia Tech.
Ole Miss (3-0) needed a 45-yard field goal from Caden Davis, a 68-yard touchdown reception by Jordan Watkins from Dart and a 1-yard run by Quinshon Judkins to seal the win after Georgia Tech pulled to 24-17 with 10:31 remaining.
Dart finished 10 of 18 passing for 251 yards and added 14 rushes for 136 yards. He scored on runs of 1 and 6 yards as the Rebels accounted for 550 total yards of offense, 341 in the second half.
Georgia Tech (1-2) was led by Haynes King, who was 28 of 41 passing for 310 yards and two touchdowns.
No. 18 COLORADO 43, COLORADO STATE 35
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Shedeur Sanders threw a TD pass to Michael Harrison in the second overtime after leading a 98-yard drive to tie the game with 36 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and No. 18 Colorado rallied to beat Colorado State.
Sanders connected with Harrison for an 18-yard score and then found an open Xavier Weaver on the 2-point conversion. The Colorado defense took it from there, with Trevor Woods intercepting Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi’s pass on fourth-and-23 to end the game at nearly 12:30 a.m. local time.
In the first OT, Sanders patiently waited in the pocket until Harrison flashed open for a 3-yard score. Fowler-Nicolosi followed by connecting with Tory Horton on an 8-yard score.
With 2:06 remaining in the fourth quarter, Sanders and the Buffaloes (3-0) got the ball back on the 2-yard line and trailing 28-20. He led the Buffaloes on a seven-play drive that culminated with a 45-yard TD pass to Jimmy Horn Jr. with 36 seconds left. Sanders hit Harrison for the two-point conversion.
A 23 1/2-point underdog, the Rams led most of the game. Their unraveling was 17 penalties for 182 yards, including a flag for a block below the waist that nullified a touchdown in the second overtime.
No. 19 OKLAHOMA 66, TULSA 17
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Dillon Gabriel threw for 421 yards and five touchdowns, receiver Nic Anderson scored three times and No. 19 Oklahoma rolled to a victory over in-state rival Tulsa.
Gabriel was 28 of 31 with an interception as three of his receivers had at least 100 yards apiece.
Drake Stoops added a game-high eight catches for 53 yards with two TDs.
After gaining 365 yards in a 28-11 win over SMU last week, the Sooners (3-0) piled up 595 yards, just shy of the 642 they gained in the season-opening 73-0 blowout of Arkansas State.
Cardell Williams didn’t start for Tulsa (2-1), but came on in relief to complete 11 of 17 passes for 196 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
No. 20 NORTH CAROLINA 31, MINNESOTA 13
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Drake Maye threw for a season-high 414 yards to go with two touchdowns, Nate McCollum flirted with a single-game UNC receiving record and North Carolina pushed past Minnesota.
Maye overcame two interceptions and ultimately provided the only reliable source of offense for the Tar Heels (3-0), who were unable to run the ball against one of nation’s top defenses.
Darius Taylor ran for 138 yards and a touchdown shortly before halftime to lead Minnesota (2-1).
No. 21 DUKE 38, NORTHWESTERN 14
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Riley Leonard ran for two touchdowns and threw for 219 yards to lead Duke to a win over Northwestern.
Jordan Waters also ran for two touchdowns and Jalon Calhoun caught five passes for 112 yards as the Blue Devils (3-0, 1-0 ACC) opened the season with three straight wins for the second year in a row under coach Mike Elko.
Northwestern quarterback Ben Bryant was 17-for-34 for 123 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The Wildcats (1-2, 0-1 Big Ten) had 267 yards of total offense, with 90 of those in the fourth quarter.
No. 23 WASHINGTON STATE 64, NORTHERN COLORADO 21
PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — Cameron Ward passed for 327 yards and accounted for five first-half touchdowns, and Washington State breezed to a victory over FCS member Northern Colorado.
The Cougars (3-0) were locked in after their emotional win over Wisconsin last week and showed no signs of looking ahead to next week’s Pac-12 Conference opener against No. 16 Oregon State at home.
Ranked for the first time since 2019, the Cougars racked up 386 yards in the first half and scored touchdowns on all six of their drives to go up 43-0.
Northern Colorado (0-3) punted on its first five possessions.
No. 24 UCLA 59, NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 7
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Dante Moore passed for 182 yards and two touchdowns, Collin Schlee ran for a pair of scores and No. 24 UCLA scored on its first seven drives in a rout of North Carolina Central.
Moore and Schlee were two of five UCLA quarterbacks that played with four directing scoring drives. UCLA had 614 yards of total offense, including 404 rushing as it improved to 3-0 for the second straight season.
North Carolina Central (2-1) got into Bruins territory only three times in 12 drives, but averted a shutout on Chris Mosley’s 1-yard run with 6:08 remaining.
The Bruins scored on their first two offensive plays and had a 14-0 lead 74 seconds into the game. They scored on their first seven possessions and had a 52-0 halftime advantage.
No. 25 IOWA 41, WESTERN MICHIGAN 10
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Cade McNamara threw for two touchdowns and freshman Kamari Moulton scored twice after halftime in his debut, helping Iowa beat Western Michigan.
Leshon Williams rushed for a career-high 145 yards on 12 carries as the Hawkeyes (3-0) pulled away in the second half of a game delayed 42 minutes by lightning in the first quarter.
Iowa, which led just 14-10 at halftime, had a season-high 387 total yards.
Western Michigan (1-2) scored first when quarterback Treyson Bourguet threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Sambucci in the first quarter.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll
