RALEIGH, N.C. — Jameis Winston threw for 365 yards and four touchdowns in his return from a suspension, and No. 1 Florida State rallied from 17 down to beat North Carolina State 56-41 on Saturday night.
The Heisman Trophy winner directed four straight second-half touchdown drives to help the reigning national champions fight through and extend the nation’s longest active winning streak to a program-record 20 games.
Rashad Greene caught 11 passes for 125 yards and the go-ahead score for the Seminoles (4-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), while Karlos Williams ran for three scores — the last with 2:07 left to seal it.
Winston was suspended for making an obscene public comment on campus last week, then watched backup Sean Maguire lead Florida State to an overtime home win over Clemson.
Winston shook off a third-quarter interception to keep the Seminoles pushing forward against the Wolfpack (4-1, 0-1) and Jacoby Brissett.
Brissett, a Florida transfer, threw for 359 yards and three touchdowns in the program’s first home game against the No. 1-ranked team.
NO. 6 TEXAS A&M 35, ARKANSAS 28, OT
ARLINGTON, Texas — Kenny Hill threw for 386 yards and four touchdowns, with a 25-yarder to Malcome Kennedy on the first play of overtime, and Texas A&M rallied from a two-touchdown deficit to beat Arkansas.
The Aggies (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) trailed 28-14 going into the fourth quarter before Hill threw two long scoring passes — 86 yards to Edward Pope and 59 yards to Josh Reynolds, the later with 2:08 left only two plays after Arkansas missed a field goal.
After Hill’s strike in overtime, Arkansas faced fourth-and-1 when a handoff went to Alex Collins, who had 131 yards rushing. But Collins was stuffed at the line by defensive end Julien Obioha to end the game.
NO. 7 BAYLOR 49, IOWA STATE 28
AMES, Iowa — Bryce Petty threw for 336 yards and a touchdown and ran for two scores to help Baylor cruised past Iowa State in its Big 12 opener.
Shock Linwood had three TDs rushing for the Bears (4-0, 1-0), who have started 4-0 in consecutive seasons for the first time in 76 years. Baylor jumped ahead 35-7 late in the second quarter and led by at least 21 points for the entire second half.
Sam Richardson threw for 212 yards and ran for 99 more for Iowa State (1-3, 0-2).
NO. 8 NOTRE DAME 31, SYRACUSE 15
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Everett Golson completed 25 straight passes to set a Notre Dame record and threw for four touchdowns in the Fighting Irish’s victory over Syracuse.
Golson’s record-breaking game was far from perfect. The quarterback threw his first two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown in the fourth quarter by Durell Eskridge. Golson fumbled the ball away deep in Syracuse territory and bumbled an attempt to spike the ball late in the first half to stop the clock into another giveaway. A total of five turnovers by the Irish (4-0) allowed Syracuse (2-3) to linger.
NO. 12 GEORGIA 35, TENNESSEE 32
ATHENS, Ga. — Todd Gurley ran for a career-high 208 yards and two touchdowns, including a 51-yarder in the fourth quarter, and Georgia rallied to beat Tennessee.
The lackluster Bulldogs (3-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) struggled with the Volunteers (2-2, 0-1) for the second year in a row. Tennessee wouldn’t quit, even after Jalen Hurd fumbled a handoff and Josh Dawson fell on it in the end zone for a Georgia touchdown.
NO. 5 AUBURN 45, LOUISIANA TECH 17
AUBURN, Ala. — Nick Marshall threw three touchdown passes and rushed for 105 yards for Auburn.
Marshall completed 10 of 17 passes for 166 yards for the Tigers (4-0).
Quan Bray caught a 44-yard touchdown pass and returned a punt 76 yards for another score in a 53-second span of the fourth quarter. Those plays turned a competitive game into a route against the Bulldogs (2-3).
NO. 9 MICHIGAN ST. 56, WYOMING 14
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Jeremy Langford ran for 137 of Michigan State’s 533 yards of total offense.
Michigan State (3-1) completed its most prolific four games in school history with a 50.3-point average.
Connor Cook was 6 of 8 for 109 yards and two touchdowns, helping Michigan State score more than 50 points in consecutive games for the first time since 1978.
NO. 10 MISSISSIPPI 24, MEMPHIS 3
OXFORD, Miss. — Jaylen Walton ran for a key fourth-quarter touchdown, and Mississippi used a dominant defensive performance to beat Memphis.
The Rebels (4-0) are undefeated through four games for the first time since 1970, overcoming a mistake-riddled performance by the offense and special teams.
MISSOURI 21, NO. 13 S. CAROLINA 20
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Russell Hansbrough scored two of his three touchdowns in the final 7 minutes and Missouri rallied from 13 points down to beat South Carolina.
The Tigers (4-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) trailed 20-7 and managed just 181 yards of offense through three quarters when Maty Mauk began the comeback with passes of 41 yards to Bud Sasser and 26 yards to Wesley Leftwich to South Carolina’s 1 before Hansbrough drew them within a score.
After the Gamecocks (3-2, 2-2) went three-and-out on their next series, Missouri was in business again. The Tigers converted two fourth downs in the sequence, including Hansbrough’s 1-yard TD run.
NO. 16 STANFORD 20, WASHINGTON 13
SEATTLE — Kevin Hogan scored on a 5-yard run with 4:29 remaining, and Stanford took advantage of a poorly timed fake punt to hold off Washington.
Hogan and the Cardinal (3-1, 1-1) avoided a potentially costly 0-2 start in Pac-12 play after already losing at home to Southern California.
NO. 17 LSU 63, NEW MEXICO STATE 7
BATON ROUGE, La. — Backup quarterback Brandon Harris led touchdown drives on each of his seven series in LSU’s victory over New Mexico State.
In vastly outplaying starter Anthony Jennings, Harris may have made himself a candidate to take over as the Tigers’ No. 1 quarterback when LSU (4-1) returns to Southeastern Conference play next Saturday at Auburn.
NO. 18 USC 35, OREGON ST. 10
LOS ANGELES — Cody Kessler passed for 261 yards and two touchdowns, and Su’a Cravens returned an interception 31 yards for another score in Southern California’s victory over Oregon State.
Darreus Rogers caught a 48-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass at the halftime gun as the Trojans (3-1, 2-0 Pac-12) rebounded smartly from their first loss with solid defense and another stellar game from Kessler, who went 24 for 32 while leading a 461-yard offensive performance.
NO. 19 WISCONSIN 27, SOUTH FLORIDA 10
MADISON, Wis. — Melvin Gordon rushed for 181 yards and two touchdowns, and Wisconsin (3-1) overcame a sluggish start to beat South Florida.
Gordon scored on carries of seven and 43 yards on the Badgers’ first two drives of the second half after running room finally opened up for the star tailback.
NO. 21 NEBRASKA 45, ILLINOIS 14
LINCOLN, Neb. — Ameer Abdullah ran for 208 yards and three touchdowns, and Imani Cross added a career-high 109 yards and a score to help Nebraska beat Illinois.
The Cornhuskers (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) are off to their best start since 2010 heading into next week’s game at No. 9 Michigan State.
NO. 22 OHIO ST. 50, CINCINNATI 28
COLUMBUS, Ohio — J.T. Barrett passed for 330 yards and four touchdowns and Ezekiel Elliott ran for 182 yards and a score to lead Ohio State (3-1) past Gunner Kiel and Cincinnati.
Kiel, the acclaimed passer for the Bearcats (2-1), completed 21 of 32 passes for 352 yards and four scores in a game of wild momentum swings before a stadium-record crowd of 108,362.
NO. 25 KANSAS ST. 58, UTEP 28
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Charles Jones ran for three touchdowns, Tyler Lockett returned a punt for another score and Kansas State (3-1) romped past UTEP on Saturday.