TUSCALOOSA, ALA. (AP) - AJ McCarron passed for 258 yards and threw a 30-yard touchdown to DeAndrew White in the fourth quarter to lift No. 1 Alabama to a 31-6 victory over Colorado State on Saturday night.
Kenyan Drake set up one touchdown with a blocked punt returned 15 yards by Dillon Lee and scored on a 3-yard touchdown run for the Crimson Tide (3-0), who led 17-6 heading to the fourth. Alabama managed only one offensive touchdown and no third-down conversions in the first three quarters a week after winning a 49-42 shootout over Texas A&M.
Coached by former Tide offensive coordinator Jim McElwain, the Rams (1-3) nursed hopes for a monumental upset into the fourth quarter before allowing two touchdowns. Trey DePriest stripped the ball from quarterback Garrett Grayson and recovered the fumble early in the quarter.
The next play, McCarron laced a perfect strike to White in the end zone and restless Alabama fans had something to cheer about. The Tide were without several key players, including receivers Amari Cooper and Kevin Norwood, guard Anthony Steen and cornerback Deion Belue
McCarron completed 20 of 26 passes but also was intercepted on an ill-advised throw. T.J. Yeldon ran seven times for 49 yards and Christion Jones caught nine passes for 90 yards.
NO. 4 OHIO ST. 76, FAMU 0
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) _ Kenny Guiton again starred in place of Braxton Miller, setting a school record with six touchdown passes _ all in the first half _ to lead Ohio State over Florida A&M.
It was the Buckeyes’ most lopsided win since 1935.
Ohio State (4-0) needed a total of four offensive plays and 46 seconds to go up 21-0 in the opening 6 minutes and never looked back. It was an epic mismatch between a team with national-title aspirations and a Football Championship Subdivision member getting a $900,000 guarantee.
FAMU (1-3), which suffered its worst loss ever, trailed 48-0 before picking up its initial first down in the second quarter.
Guiton completed 24 of 34 passes for 215 yards. His TD passes went to five different receivers.
The game was Ohio State’s last tuneup before opening Big Ten play next week against Wisconsin.
NO. 5 STANFORD 42, NO. 23 ARIZONA ST. 28
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) _ Tyler Gaffney ran for 95 yards and two touchdowns, Anthony Wilkerson added 68 yards and another score, and Stanford started strong en route to a victory over Arizona State in the Pac-12 opener for both teams.
The defending conference champions controlled every facet of the game to turn the only matchup between ranked opponents this week into a 29-0 halftime lead. The Cardinal (3-0, 1-0) scored in the air and on the ground, forced two turnovers, blocked two punts, tallied 10 tackles for loss and recorded three sacks.
Taylor Kelly threw for 367 yards, including three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, and Jaelen Strong caught 12 passes for 168 yards and a score in an otherwise disappointing showing for the Sun Devils (2-1, 0-1).
NO. 7 LOUISVILLE 72, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL 0
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) _ Teddy Bridgewater threw four touchdown passes and Louisville’s defense allowed a school-record 30 yards, helping the Cardinals blow out Florida International.
It was the highest scoring game for the Cardinals (4-0) since a 73-10 victory over Murray State in 2007. It also matched the school’s fifth-largest margin of victory.
Bridgewater hit DeVante Parker for two TD passes and Gerald Christian and Eli Rogers for one apiece before Will Gardner came on and passed to Michaelee Harris for another score in the fourth quarter. Dominique Brown, Senorise Perry, Michael Dyer and Brandon Radcliff rushed for TDs.
Charles Gaines returned the second-half kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown, and recovered a muffed punt to set up Bridgewater’s second TD pass in the second quarter. Bridgewater had 212 yards on 17-of-22 passing, part of Louisville’s 464-yard effort against winless FIU (0-4).
NO. 8 FLORIDA ST. 54, BETHUNE-COOKMAN 6
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) _ Florida State and quarterback Jameis Winston defeated FCS opponent Bethune-Cookman despite plenty of sloppy play.
The defending ACC champions (3-0) will want to clean up their offense before starting a seven-game stretch against conference foes next week.
Winston completed 10 of 19 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns. Devonta Freeman ran for a game-high 112 yards and a touchdown. Karlos Williams finished with 83 yards rushing and two touchdowns, and James Wilder Jr. added 56 yards and a touchdown.
The Wildcats (3-1) scored their lone touchdown off a seven-yard run from quarterback Jackie Wilson with 8:21 left in the third quarter.
All three starting FSU receivers had dropped passes in the second quarter, including two for TDs.
NO. 9 GEORGIA 45, NORTH TEXAS 21
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) _ Aaron Murray threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for another score to lead Georgia over pesky North Texas.
Murray overcame an early interception in the end zone, hooking up with freshman Reggie Davis on a 98-yard TD _ the longest pass play in school history. Arthur Lynch and Chris Conley also had touchdown catches for the Bulldogs (2-1).
The Mean Green (2-2) came in as a 33-point underdog, but big plays on special teams helped make a game of it. Brelan Chancellor returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, and Zac Whitfield fell on a blocked punt in the end zone early in the second half to stunningly tie the game at 21.
Murray made sure the Bulldogs avoided the upset when he scored on a 1-yard sneak and went to Conley on a 4-yard TD pass.
NO. 10 TEXAS A&M 42, SMU 13
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) _ Johnny Manziel accounted for 346 yards with three touchdowns in just more than a half to help Texas A&M cruise past SMU.
Texas A&M (3-1) was up 32-6 at halftime, and Manziel led the Aggies to a touchdown on their first drive of the third quarter before the Heisman Trophy winner went to the bench.
It was a nice bounce-back game for Texas A&M after falling to No. 1 Alabama 49-42 last week.
Manziel had 244 yards passing with a touchdown and ran for 102 yards and two more scores.
Deshazor Everett returned a fumble 12 yards for a touchdown and Ben Malena ran for 71 yards and two scores. He got things going for A&M with a 3-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
Former Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert threw for 310 yards and a touchdown with an interception for SMU (1-2), which piled up 16 penalties for 111 yards.
NO. 16 MIAMI 77, SAVANNAH ST. 7
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) _ Dallas Crawford and Gus Edwards both scored three touchdowns and Miami got into the end zone on its first seven possessions in rolling to a victory over Savannah State.
The Hurricanes set a school record for points, topping the 75 scored against Fordham in 1954.
Miami (3-0) lost quarterback Stephen Morris to a lower right leg injury with 8:51 left in the opening quarter. Coach Al Golden said in a televised halftime interview that X-rays were negative.
Stacy Coley had a kickoff return for a score and a touchdown catch for Miami, which has won five straight games for the first time since 2008. Duke Johnson, Allen Hurns and Beau Sandland all added a TD in a game that had the final quarter shortened to 12 minutes by mutual agreement of the coaches.
DeQuan Daniels had a 75-yard touchdown run for Savannah State (1-3).
The Hurricanes had three quarterbacks _ Morris, Ryan Williams and Gray Crow _ throw TD passes.
NO. 17 WASHINGTON 56, IDAHO ST. 0
SEATTLE (AP) _ Keith Price threw for 213 yards and three touchdowns in less than a half, Deontae Cooper scored his first career touchdown after three major knee surgeries, and Washington routed Idaho State in the Huskies’ final tuneup before the start of Pac-12 play.
Bishop Sankey, the national leader in yards rushing per game, barely broke a sweat against the Bengals (2-1) of the FCS. Sankey saw action on the Huskies’ first three series and scored on a 3-yard TD run in the first quarter. Sankey finished with 77 yards on four carries.
Price played a little more than 1 1/2 quarters, throwing TD passes of 1, 6 and 5 yards and adding a 1-yard TD run as the Huskies (3-0) led 42-0 at halftime. It was the second straight season they overwhelmed a lower division opponent in the first half.
Last year, Washington led Portland State 45-0 at halftime.
NO. 18 NORTHWESTERN 35, MAINE 21
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) _ Linebacker Damien Proby and defensive end Dean Lowry each had an interception return for a touchdown to lead Northwestern over Maine.
Northwestern improved to 4-0 as it wrapped up its non-conference slate, but this was not the consistent, steady performance coach Pat Fitzgerald was looking for heading into Big Ten play. If not for the interception returns, Maine (3-1) could have been in line for an upset down the stretch.
Running back Mike Trumpy and quarterback Kain Colter each had rushing TDs for Northwestern.
Marcus Wasilewski was 25-for-40 for 237 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for Maine, which had a 379 to 373 edge over the Wildcats in total yards.
Northwestern had posted better than 500 yards of offense in each of its first two games against California and Syracuse.
NO. 19 FLORIDA 31, TENNESSEE 17
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) _ After starting quarterback Jeff Driskel was lost to a season-ending ankle injury, Tyler Murphy led Florida to five scores in a somewhat ugly game, helping the Gators open Southeastern Conference play with a victory over Tennessee.
Murphy had a 52-yard touchdown throw to Solomon Patton, a swing pass that went the distance, and made several plays with his legs as Florida (2-1, 1-0) won its ninth straight in the series. Murphy’s 7-yard TD scamper in the fourth quarter made it 31-10 and sent fans scrambling for the exits.
The Volunteers (2-2, 0-1) had hoped to rebound from an embarrassing 59-14 loss at No. 2 Oregon a week ago, but they left Gainesville with another double-digit setback.
Murphy completed 8 of 14 passes for 134 yards. He also ran 10 times for 84 yards. His biggest mistake was taking a snap off his facemask, a botched play that resulted in a fumble.
NO. 20 BAYLOR 70, LOUISIANA MONROE 7
WACO, Texas (AP) _ Bryce Petty threw for 351 yards with four touchdowns and ran 2 yards for another score, and Baylor kept piling up the points in a win over Louisiana-Monroe.
The fast-paced Bears (3-0) had seven offensive touchdowns in the 10 drives Petty played. Those TD drives took a total of 6 minutes.
Baylor is the first FBS team since LSU in 1930 to open a season with at least 60 points in three consecutive games, according to STATS. Those Tigers had at least 70 points in each of those games _ Baylor scored 69 in its opener before 70 points in each of its last two.
The Bears finished with 781 total yards, matching the school record they set in their last game, two weeks ago in a 70-13 win over Buffalo.
ULM (2-2) suffered its worst defeat since a 73-7 drubbing at Auburn in 2003.
NO. 22 NOTRE DAME 17, MICHIGAN ST. 13
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) _ Cam McDaniel scored on a 7-yard run following a questionable pass interference call, one of several penalties that hurt Michigan State, and Notre Dame beat the Spartans for its 10th straight home win.
The Fighting Irish (3-1) also took advantage of another questionable pass interference call in the first half that set up a 2-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Rees to TJ Jones and a holding penalty that kept alive a drive that led to a 41-yard field goal by Kyle Brindza. The Spartans (3-1) had 10 penalties for 115 yards by the Big Ten officials.
But Michigan State made some costly mistakes of its own, including a trick play after the Spartans gained some momentum. After opening the second half with a field goal, receiver R.J. Shelton threw a pass that was intercepted by Matthias Farley and led to Notre Dame’s go-ahead touchdown.
NO. 24 WISCONSIN 41, PURDUE 10
MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ Melvin Gordon ran for three touchdowns, James White added 145 yards rushing and a 70-yard score, and Wisconsin opened Big Ten play with a win over Purdue.
Gordon scored from 5 and 27 yards in the first half before capping the opening drive of the second half with a 15-yard touchdown run to give Wisconsin (3-1, 1-0) a 31-10 lead.
Nose guard Warren Herring had a sack and three tackles, and linebacker Chris Borland had six stops and a pass breakup at the goal line with the game still close in the first half.
Wisconsin moved on nicely from last week’s stunning 32-30 loss to Arizona State, after officials mishandled the final seconds to deprive the Badgers of a game-winning field-goal try.
Quarterback Rob Henry’s 22-yard scramble for a score on what appeared to be a busted play provided one of the few highlights for the Boilermakers (1-3, 0-1).
NO. 25 TEXAS TECH 33, TEXAS ST. 7
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) _ Backup quarterback Davis Webb threw for two touchdowns and 310 yards to lead Texas Tech over Texas State.
Webb threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Eric Ward in the third quarter and a 10-yarder to Bradley Marquez in the fourth after Texas State failed on a fake punt deep in its own territory.
Webb finished 19 for 43 and had two interceptions.
Texas Tech’s defense got the lone touchdown of the first half when linebacker Will Smith returned a fumble 9 yards. Ryan Bustin added four field goals for the Red Raiders (4-0)
Texas State (2-1) struggled against a stingy Red Raiders defense that gave up only 232 total yards. Bobcats running back Robert Lowe scored on a 49-yard run _ a career-long rush for the sophomore _ and quarterback Tyler Arndt was responsible for two of the team’s three turnovers.
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