College Football Top 25 Roundup

NO. 2 OREGON 59, VIRGINIA 10

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — De’Anthony Thomas ran for 124 yards and three touchdowns, Marcus Mariota threw for two touchdowns and ran 71 yards for another score, and Oregon started fast and completely manhandled Virginia.

The Ducks (2-0), who gained a school-record 772 yards last week in beating Nicholls State, looked capable of doing it again against a Virginia defense that hoped to keep the Cavaliers in the game. Oregon finished with 557 yards and did all its scoring while possessing the ball for just 21:25.

Virginia (1-1) got an early look at what it was up against as Mariota dropped back on a third-and-5 on the opening series, then bolted up the middle untouched, going 71 yards for a touchdown.

After 1:51, the Ducks were on their way to their 16th consecutive victory on their opponent’s field, the longest streak in the country.

NO. 3 OHIO ST. 42, SAN DIEGO ST. 7

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Kenny Guiton took over when Braxton Miller left with a sprained left knee, running for one touchdown and passing for two while leading Ohio State over San Diego State.

Miller watched the last three quarters from the sideline after being sandwiched between two tacklers on the Buckeyes’ seventh offensive play. The Buckeyes (2-0) didn’t need him.

Guiton, who helped save Ohio State’s 12-0 season a year ago, had the most playing time he’s ever had in a game. He set career bests with 19 of 28 passing for 152 yards and 83 rushing yards.

It was another disappointing outing for the Aztecs (0-2), who lost 40-19 to FCS Eastern Illinois at home in their opener.

Guiton came in having completed 14 of 25 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions in his 16 career games. He had totaled 59 yards rushing on 14 attempts.

NO. 4 CLEMSON 52, SOUTH CAROLINA ST 13

CLEMSON, S.C. — Tajh Boyd ran for a touchdown and Clemson returned two interceptions for scores for the first time in program history in a win over FCS opponent South Carolina State.

Boyd finished 14-of-23 passing for 169 yards after accounting for five TDs a week ago and becoming a prime Heisman Trophy contender as the Tigers (2-0) defeated No. 11 Georgia 38-35.

In this one, Boyd scored Clemson’s first touchdown and played only a half against the Bulldogs (0-2) before finding a spot on the Death Valley sidelines next to offensive coordinator Chad Morris. That was more than enough, though, for Clemson to move to 27-0 all-time against FCS teams.

Cornerbacks Martin Jenkins and Darius Robinson each had pick-6 scores to help the Tigers to a 38-7 lead by halftime.

Backup Cole Stoudt had three touchdown passes, two to reserve Germone Hopper, in the blowout.

NO. 5 STANFORD 34, SAN JOSE STATE 13

STANFORD, Calif. — Tyler Gaffney ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns in an impressive return after playing baseball in the minors last year, leading Stanford to a season-opening win.

With career-rushing leader Stepfan Taylor in the NFL now, Gaffney made sure the defending Pac-12 and Rose Bowl champions kept the ground game going strong. The Cardinal scored on their first three possessions and forced prolific passer David Fales to toss short passes for little gain.

Kevin Hogan threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns for Stanford in front of an announced sellout crowd of 50,424 — the largest since 50,425 showed up for Southern California in 2008. Stanford has won nine straight games.

The Cardinal’s vaunted defense sacked Fales four times, held San Jose State (1-1) to 35 yards rushing and never lost its physical prowess. Fales completed 29 of 43 passes for 216 yards and a touchdown with one interception.

NO. 11 GEORGIA 41, NO. 6 SOUTH CAROLINA 30

ATHENS, Ga. — Aaron Murray threw for 309 yards and four touchdowns, Georgia’s beleaguered defense finally came up with a stop, and the Bulldogs defeated South Carolina for an early edge in the Southeastern Conference East.

Coming off a 38-35 loss at Clemson, Georgia could not afford another defeat if it wanted to remain a serious contender for a national title.

Murray took care of that, turning in one of the best games of his career. The fifth-year senior capped his stellar day for the Bulldogs (1-1, 1-0 SEC) with an 85-yard touchdown pass to Justin Scott-Wesley with 13 minutes remaining.

The defense made sure it stood up, stuffing Mike Davis on fourth-and-goal from inside the 1.

NO. 7 TEXAS A&M 65, SAM HOUSTON ST. 28

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Johnny Manziel threw for 426 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score in less than three quarters to give Texas A&M a win over Sam Houston State.

The Heisman Trophy winner played about a quarter more than he did last week when he sat out the first half for A&M (2-0) serving a suspension for what the school called an “inadvertent” violation of NCAA rules involving signing autographs.

The Aggies’ suspension-depleted defense was burned for several big plays by the Bearkats, the FCS runner-up the last two seasons, in the final tuneup before next week’s rematch with No. 1 Alabama.

Timothy Flanders had 170 yards rushing with two scores and a TD catch for the Bearkats (1-1).

Texas A&M’s Mike Evans had a career-high 155 yards receiving, Tra Carson ran for 51 with two touchdowns and Ben Malena had 68 yards rushing and a score.

NO. 8 LOUISVILLE 44, E. KENTUCKY 7

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Teddy Bridgewater threw for 397 yards and four touchdowns, and Louisville routed Eastern Kentucky on a day the Cardinals’ defense just missed it second straight shutout.

Linebacker Preston Brown had two sacks for Louisville, and Calvin Pryor had an interception as Louisville limited Eastern Kentucky (1-1) to 76 yards of total offense in the first half.

Following the noon kickoff, Louisville (2-0) settled for a pair of field goals from John Wallace after turnovers gave the offense short fields. The Cardinals also settled for a third field goal in the third quarter despite reaching Eastern Kentucky’s 4.

Bridgewater hit his first five passes and wound up 23 of 32 with no interceptions after throwing five touchdowns with one interception in the opener. He tossed TD passes to Damian Copeland, and two to DeVante Parker and Gerald Christian while connecting with eight different receivers.

NO. 9 LSU 56, UAB 17

BATON ROUGE, La. — Zach Mettenberger passed for an LSU single-game record five touchdowns, receiver Odell Beckham Jr. scored one of his four touchdowns on a 100-yard field goal return, and the Tigers overwhelmed UAB.

LSU coach Les Miles also decided to end running back Jeremy Hill’s benching in the second quarter of the second game of the season. Hill, who was arrested last spring for landing a punch outside a bar, scored on a 3-yard run on his first carry.

Mettenberger finished 16 of 19 for 282 yards and was not intercepted. Beckham’s 136 yards and three TDs receiving were both career highs. He led LSU (2-0) with 331 all-purpose yards.

Darren Reaves and Jamarcus Nelson each had touchdowns in the first half for UAB (0-2).

NO. 13 OKLAHOMA STATE 56, UTSA 35

SAN ANTONIO — New starter J.W. Walsh completed his first 10 passes and finished 24-of-27 for 326 yards with four touchdowns to lead Oklahoma State over UTSA.

It’s the fourth start for the sophomore Walsh, his first this season after a quick relief performance for Clint Chelf last week. With his speedy start against a Roadrunners team entering its third season of football, Walsh led the Cowboys (2-0) to TDs on five of six first-half possessions.

UTSA (1-1) tied the score 7-7 when Kenny Bias scored on a 6-yard run with 4:22 left in the first quarter. But Walsh scored from 4 yards out in the second and the Cowboys led 35-7 at halftime.

Walsh left with six minutes left in the third and the Cowboys up 42-7.

Eric Soza threw three TDs in the fourth quarter for UTSA and finished 24 of 41 for 308 yards, with three interceptions.

NO. 17 MICHIGAN 41, NO. 14 NOTRE DAME 30

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Devin Gardner threw four touchdown passes, including a victory-sealing connection to Drew Dileo with 4:18 left, and the dual-threat quarterback wearing No. 98 to honor Tom Harmon ran for a score to lead Michigan to a win in front of an NCAA-record crowd of 115,109.

The Wolverines (2-0) had a pair of 14-point leads, but the Fighting Irish (1-1) refused to get routed.

Notre Dame pulled within a TD early in the fourth quarter when defensive end Stephon Tuitt made a diving interception in the end zone.

Kyle Brindza made a 40-yard field goal with 9:15 left to pull Notre Dame within four points.

The Irish were called for pass interference twice on the ensuing drive and Gardner later took advantage with a 4-yard TD to Dileo.

Tommy Rees Rees was 29 of 51 for 314 yards with two TDs and two interceptions — both to Blake Countess. His second came with with 1:29 left.

Michigan has won four straight at home against the Irish.

BYU 40, NO. 15 TEXAS 21

PROVO, Utah — Taysom Hill led a big night on the ground for BYU, rushing for 259 yards — second-most in school history — and three touchdowns to help the Cougars beat Texas.

Hill was masterful in guiding the team’s new read-option offense as the Cougars (1-1) rolled up 550 yards rushing, eclipsing a 55-year-old team record. It’s also the most yards rushing Texas (1-1) has ever allowed.

The elusive Hill scored on runs of 68, 20 and 26 yards. He came close to breaking BYU’s single-game rushing record of 272 yards, a mark set by quarterback Eldon Fortie in 1962.

Jamaal Williams had a career-high 182 yards and Paul Lasike added 87 along with a score.

David Ash threw two TD passes to Mike Davis and Joe Bergeron had a short TD for Texas.

NO. 16 OKLAHOMA 16, WEST VIRGINIA 7

NORMAN, Okla. — Brennan Clay had a career-high 170 yards rushing and Oklahoma overcame a second-half quarterback switch to beat West Virginia.

The Sooners (2-0, 1-0 Big 12) scored the game’s final 16 points after trailing 7-0 in the first quarter. Freshman quarterback Trevor Knight threw a pair of third-quarter interceptions, leading to junior Blake Bell taking over in the fourth.

Clay finished with 22 carries, leading an Oklahoma offense that had 316 yards rushing and topping his previous best of 157 yards against Iowa State in 2012.

Paul Millard was 21-of-42 passing for 218 yards for the Mountaineers (1-1, 0-1), whose lone score came on a 75-yard touchdown run by Dreamius Smith in the first quarter.

NO. 19 NORTHWESTERN 48, SYRACUSE 27

EVANSTON, Ill. — Trevor Siemian threw for 259 yards and a career-high three touchdowns, and Kain Colter passed for a score and ran for another to lead Northwestern over Syracuse.

Tony Jones added a personal-best 185 yards receiving and a 47-yard TD, and the Wildcats (2-0) racked up 581 yards on offense. They also intercepted Syracuse’s Drew Allen four times.

Northwestern scored the game’s first 20 points and led 34-7 at the half after amassing 387 yards, with their quarterbacks picking apart Syracuse (0-2).

They each completed 11 of 12 passes in the first half, and Colter seemed to be fine after suffering a concussion last week at California. He was 15 of 18 for 116 yards and ran for 87 yards.

Allen was 27 of 41 with 279 yards, and the Orange will now try to pick themselves up against Wagner and Tulane before beginning Atlantic Coast Conference play against Clemson.

NO. 21 WISCONSIN 48, TENNESSEE TECH 0

MADISON, Wis. — Melvin Gordon ran for 140 yards and a score, and Wisconsin’s overpowering defense got its second straight shutout with a win over FCS school Tennessee Tech.

Joel Stave was 24 of 29 for 219 yards with three touchdowns and an interception, while defensive back Darius Hillary set the tone early by forcing a fumble that set up a score for the Badgers (2-0).

The early-season tuneup went about as well as could be expected for first-year coach Gary Andersen, who’s breaking in a new 3-4 defense in Madison. Wisconsin had no problems against the Golden Eagles (1-1), whose spread offense got outmuscled by the bigger Badgers.

NO. 22 NEBRASKA 56, S. MISSISSIPPI 13

LINCOLN, Neb. — Stanley Jean-Baptiste and Ciante Evans returned first-quarter interceptions for touchdowns and Nebraska made quick work of Southern Mississippi in the victory.

Taylor Martinez threw for three touchdowns and Ameer Abdullah ran for two more for the Cornhuskers (2-0), who now turn their attention to next week’s home game against No. 18 UCLA.

Jean-Baptiste jumped in front of Rickey Bradley Jr. just as Allan Bridgford’s pass arrived on the third play of the game and ran it back 43 yards. Evans put the Huskers up 21-3 with the first of his two interceptions, catching a ball tipped by Tyre’oune Holmes and going 22 yards to the end zone.

It was a solid rebound for a Nebraska defense that surrendered 602 yards in a 37-34 win over Wyoming last week.

The Golden Eagles (0-2) lost their 14th straight, the longest current skid in the FBS.

NO. 23 BAYLOR 70, BUFFALO 13

WACO, Texas — Bryce Petty threw for 338 yards and two touchdowns, Lache Seastrunk ran for 150 yards with three scores and Baylor’s first-team offense had 576 total yards in only 11 minutes with the ball in a rout of Buffalo.

The starters for the Bears (2-0) had eight touchdowns in their nine drives. The only non-scoring drive was when they had the ball at the end of the first half.

Baylor finished with a school-record 781 total yards and topped the 69 points scored a week earlier in what had been the most for the Bears since 1929.

Alex Neutz had six catches for a career-high 197 yards for Buffalo (0-2).

Petty completed 13 of 16 passes, and two of his incompletions were balls caught but ruled out of bounds. He also ran for a score.

NO. 24 TCU 38, SE LOUISIANA 17

FORT WORTH, Texas — Trevone Boykin led three straight scoring drives after starter Casey Pachall left with an injury game, and TCU pulled away from Southeastern Louisiana.

Pachall appeared to injure his left arm or wrist at the end of a running play late in the second quarter. Boykin ran 16 yards on the next play, and Jaden Oberkrom ended the first half with a 46-yard field goal that put the Horned Frogs (1-1) ahead 17-14.

Boykin completed a 29-yard pass to Brandon Carter on the first play of the second half, and Carter finished that drive with a 5-yard scoring run. Then Boykin threw 27 yards to Josh Doctson for a 31-14 lead.

WASHINGTON STATE 10, NO. 25 USC 7

LOS ANGELES — Andrew Furney kicked a 41-yard field goal with 3:03 to play, and Washington State got its first victory at the Coliseum in 13 years.

Damante Horton returned an interception 70 yards for a tying score in the final seconds of the first half for Washington State (1-1, 1-0 Pac-12), and he made the clinching interception with 2:18 to play in the Cougars’ first win over the Trojans anywhere since 2002.

Dom Williams took Connor Halliday’s third-and-long screen pass 49 yards to the USC 30 with 5½ minutes left to set up Furney’s tiebreaking kick.

Horton then picked off Max Wittek’s pass to finish off USC (1-1, 0-1), which received loud boos throughout its Pac-12 opener.

By wire sources