WEEK 2 NCAA TOP 25 RUNDOWN
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Steven Gilmore returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter and Khalan Labron ran for 163 yards as Marshall shocked No. 8 Notre Dame 26-21 on Saturday, making Marcus Freeman the first Fighting Irish coach to lose his first three games.
Gilmore, the brother of Stephon Gilmore of the Indianapolis Colts, picked off a pass by Tyler Buchner with 4:35 left, raced to the end zone and then jumped into the stands where Marshall fans were already celebrating.
Marshall (2-0), the first Sun Belt Conference team to play at Notre Dame Stadium, beat a team ranked in the top 10 for just the second time in school history.
NO. 1 ALABAMA 20, TEXAS 19
AUSTIN, Texas – Will Reichard kicked a 33-yard field goal with 10 seconds left, and Bryce Young and Alabama overcame a stifling defensive effort by Texas to earn a hard-fought victory. Young was hit and harassed by the Texas defense most of the game, but the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback put together a big fourth quarter.
He had a twisting, off-balance touchdown pass, and then a 20-yard scramble in the final minute to set up Reichard’s winning kick. Young easily dodged a blitzing defender, then had wide open field ahead of him to scamper.
Young’s clutch play rescued Alabama on an uncharacteristically sloppy day when the Crimson Tide (2-0) struggled with penalties and dropped passes and was forced into six consecutive punts in one stretch. Texas (1-1) stuffed Alabama on fourth-and-inches late to set up a go-ahead field goal by Bert Auburn with 1:39 remaining.
Young also spoiled what could have been a program-defining victory for Texas and second-year coach Steve Sarkisian. Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers was knocked out with a shoulder injury at the end of the first quarter.
NO. 2 GEORGIA 33, SAMFORD 0
ATHENS, Ga. – Stetson Bennett passed for 300 yards while throwing and running for touchdowns and Georgia’s rebuilt defense delivered another dominant performance.
One week after giving up only a field goal in a 49-3 season-opening rout of then-No. 11 Oregon, Georgia’s defense again played up to the standard it set while winning last season’s national championship. Samford (1-1) was held to 128 yards and three first downs.
NO. 3 OHIO STATE 45, ARKANSAS STATE 12
COLUMBUS, Ohio – C.J. Stroud threw three touchdown passes to Marvin Harrison Jr., TreVeyon Henderson ran for another two scores and Ohio State raced past Arkansas State.
Harrison had a career-best seven catches for 184 yards. Coupled with his three-touchdown performance as a first-year player in the Rose Bowl last season, Harrison became only the second Ohio State receiver to have a pair of three-touchdown games in his career. Joey Galloway had multiple touchdown games in 1993 and 1994.
NO. 4 MICHIGAN 56, HAWAII 10
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – J.J. McCarthy was sharp in his first start, throwing for three touchdowns to help Michigan overwhelm Hawaii.
The sophomore made the most of his starting quarterback opportunity against the Rainbow Warriors, throwing a 42-yard touchdown pass to Roman Wilson on his second snap and 13-yard pass to Ronnie Bell early in the second quarter to give the Wolverines (2-0) a four-touchdown lead.
NO. 5 CLEMSON 35, FURMAN 12
CLEMSON, S.C. – DJ Uiagalelei threw for 231 yards and two touchdowns, Will Shipley ran for two scores and Clemson moved to 37-0 against FCS opponents.
Uiagalelei directed the Tigers (2-0) to touchdowns on his first five drives and Clemson was up 21-3 early in the second quarter. It was Clemson’s eighth straight victory, longest among Power Five teams. It was also the Tigers’ 35th straight win at home and 32nd in a row over Furman.
APPALACHIAN STATE 17, NO. 6 TEXAS A&M 14
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS – Chase Brice threw for 134 yards and a touchdown and Appalachian State took advantage of two turnovers to stun Texas A&M.
Appalachian State won a week after scoring six touchdowns and 40 points in the fourth quarter in a 63-61 opening loss to North Carolina.
NO. 7 OKLAHOMA 33, KENT STATE 3
NORMAN, Okla. – Marvin Mims caught seven passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns to help Oklahoma overcome a slow start and beat Kent State,
Dillon Gabriel completed 21 of 28 passes for 296 yards and three touchdowns, and the Sooners finished with 430 yards of offense. Oklahoma has won 11 straight home games and 29 of its last 30.
NO. 21 BYU 26, NO. 9 BAYLOR 20, 2OT
PROVO, Utah – Lopini Katoa barreled into the end zone on a 3-yard run to lift BYU past Baylor in double overtime.
Jaren Hall threw for 261 yards and a touchdown, and added a 22-yard TD catch, to lead BYU (2-0). Chase Roberts had a career-high 122 yards and a touchdown on eight catches for the Cougars. Roberts also threw a touchdown pass to Hall in the third quarter.
NO. 10 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 41, STANFORD 28
STANFORD, Calif. – Caleb Williams threw for 341 yards and four touchdowns, with two of those going to Jordan Addison, leading Southern California past Stanford in the teams’ Pac-12 opener.
Addison wound up with seven catches for 172 yards and Travis Dye ran for 105 yards and a touchdown, while the Trojans’ opportunistic defense shined again with two interceptions and two fumble recoveries _ four turnovers that led to 17 points.
Dominant USC (2-0, 1-0 Pac-12) didn’t have a third-down play until 52 seconds before halftime and punted for the first time with 8:02 left. USC’s defense has forced eight total turnovers this season.
NO. 11 OKLAHOMA STATE 34, ARIZONA STATE 17
STILLWATER, Okla. – Spencer Sanders passed for two touchdowns and ran for another, and Oklahoma State defeated Arizona State on a rainy evening.
Sanders passed for 268 yards and ran for 54, and Dominic Richardson ran for 131 yards and a touchdown and caught five passes for 44 yards for the Cowboys (2-0).
NO. 20 KENTUCKY 26, NO. 12 FLORIDA 20
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Kentucky intercepted Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson twice, including one Keidron Smith returned 65 yards for a touchdown, and the Wildcats toppled Florida in the Swamp to notch consecutive wins in the series for the first time in 45 years.
Richardson was off all night, a stark contrast from last week’s three-touchdown, turnover-free performance against then-No. 7 Utah. He had two throws in this one that were complete head-scratchers, and the Wildcats (2-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) made him pay dearly.
NO. 13 UTAH 73, SOUTHERN UTAH 7
SALT LAKE CITY – Cameron Rising threw for 254 yards in the first half and Dalton Kincaid had 107 yards receiving and two touchdowns in Utah’s rout of Southern Utah.
Utah scored on nine consecutive drives, including eight touchdowns, over the final three quarters against the FCS Thunderbirds (1-1). The Utes (1-1) had 599 yards of total offense.
As six-touchdown underdogs, the Thunderbirds weren’t afraid of taking some risks. They started the game with an unsuccessful onside kick that led to a 13-yard touchdown run by Tavion Thomas.
NO. 14 MICHIGAN STATE 52, AKRON 0
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Jalen Berger ran for 107 yards and three touchdowns and Michigan State’s defense forced four fumbles in its win over Akron.
It was the largest margin of victory for Michigan State (2-0) since it beat Eastern Michigan by 59 points in 2014.
NO. 15 MIAMI 30, SOUTHERN MISS 7
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Miami used a pair of third-quarter touchdowns barely 2 minutes apart to pull away in the second half against Southern Miss.
The Hurricanes (2-0) trailed for most of the second quarter, then shook off the slow start by scoring the game’s final 27 points. Henry Parrish rushed for 97 yards and a score.
NO. 16 ARKANSAS 44, SOUTH CAROLINA 30
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Rocket Sanders ran for a career-high 156 yards and scored Arkansas’ first two touchdowns, and KJ Jefferson ran for a score and threw for another to lift the Razorbacks past the Gamecocks.
Jefferson led Arkansas (2-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) on three scoring drives in the fourth quarter, never allowing South Carolina to rally.
NO. 24 TENNESSEE 34, NO. 17 PITTSBURGH 27, OT
PITTSBURGH – Hendon Hookier threw for 325 yards and two touchdowns, the final one a 28-yard heave to Cedric Tillman in overtime, to give the Volunteers an overtime win against the Panthers.
The Volunteers (2-0) picked up the first significant nonconference win under second-year coach Josh Heupel by relying on Hooker and a defense that was just good enough against a game effort by the Panthers (1-1), who lost starting quarterback Kedon Slovis to a injury at the end of the first half.
NO. 18 NORTH CAROLINA STATE 55, CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 3
RALEIGH, N.C. – Devin Leary tied a program record by accounting for six touchdowns and No. 18 North Carolina State’s defense surrendered 150 total yards in the Wolfpack’s big win over Charleston Southern.
Leary threw four TD passes, including a perfect 24-yard wheel route to Jordan Houston down the left side and then a 40-yard strike over the middle to Anthony Smith.
WASHINGTON STATE 17, NO. 19 WISCONSIN 14
MADISON, Wis. – Nakia Watson scored two touchdowns against his former team and Washington State beat Wisconsin.
Watson scored on a 2-yard run in the second quarter and put the Cougars (2-0) ahead for good by turning a short completion into a 31-yard score with 5:12 left in the third quarter. Watson rushed for 522 yards and five touchdowns at Wisconsin from 2019-20 before transferring.
Wisconsin (1-1) trailed 17-14 and faced third-and-6 from the Washington State 9 midway through the fourth quarter when defensive tackle Christian Mejia picked off a Graham Mertz pass before losing the football. Wisconsin recovered at the Washington State 20, but a personal foul on Badgers tight end Clay Cundiff after the play pushed them back to the 35.
NO. 22 MISSISSIPPI 59, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 3
OXFORD, Miss. – Luke Altmyer threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score, Michael Trigg had three touchdown catches and Mississippi routed Central Arkansas.
Ole Miss (2-0) raced to a 28-0 first-quarter lead, highlighted by touchdown passes of 1 and 7 yards from Altmyer to Trigg before adding a 1-yard scoring run to cap the decisive surge.
NO. 23 WAKE FOREST 45, VANDERBILT 25
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Sam Hartman passed for 300 yards and four touchdowns in Wake Forest’s win over Vanderbilt, connecting on 18 of 27 passes after he missed the season opener against VMI because of a blood clot.
Hartman’s 68-yard touchdown pass to A.T. Perry lifted Wake Forest (2-0) to a 14-3 lead with 36 seconds left in the first quarter. He found Christian Turner for a 2-yarder early in the second quarter, and then threw second-half touchdown passes to Taylor Morin and Cameron Hite.
TEXAS TECH 33, NO. 25 HOUSTON 30, 2 OT
LUBBOCK, Texas – Donovan Smith ran 9 yards for a touchdown in the second overtime, lifting Texas Tech over Houston.
A back-and-forth finish ended with the Red Raiders (2-0) beating a ranked nonconference opponent in the regular season for the first time since 1989, a span of 14 games.
After Houston’s Bubba Baxa opened the second OT with a 20-yard field goal, Smith broke into the open field and ran untouched to the end zone, sending Texas Tech students and fans streaming onto the field.
(Associated Press/Photo: FrontOfficeSports)
