COLUMBUS, Ohio — Not a pretty day for No. 1 Ohio State. Mistakes here and there, but it didn’t matter much as the Buckeyes started slow, then put up a flurry of points late and beat Hawaii 38-0 on Saturday.
Ezekiel Elliott scored three touchdowns on short runs, two in the first half and one in the second, and it was more than enough against the Rainbow Warriors (1-1), who came into the game as six-touchdown underdogs.
“We did not execute well,” Ohio State Urban Meyer said.
Cardale Jones started again at quarterback for the Buckeyes (2-0). He was 6 of 9 for 82 yards in the first half and finished with 100 yards passing. He also fumbled twice in the backfield, but recovered each one. The offensive line was called for three penalties and a 46-yard field goal attempt was botched when holder Cameron Johnston mishandled the snap.
“It wasn’t a performance that I wanted,” Jones said.
Elliott scored on runs of 1- and 3-yard runs in the first half, and added a 1-yard touchdown with about nine minutes left for a 24-0 lead. He finished with 101 yards on 27 carries.
The Buckeyes added two more touchdowns after that when safety Vonn Bell scooped up a fumble and ran 14 yards less than two minutes later and Bri’onte Dunn added another score.
J.T. Barrett replaced Jones for the final three series of the second quarter, but Jones returned to start the third.
Barrett completed 8 of 15 passes for 70 yards plus one carry for seven yards.
Meyer admitted he is struggling to figure out how to best use two talented quarterbacks.
“I’m evaluating how we’re doing that and what’s the best opportunity to go down the field and score,” he said.
Hawaii quarterback Max Wittek threw for 67 and had two interceptions. Rainbow Warriors running back Paul Harris, a Columbus native, ran for 46 yards on 14 carries.
“They played their tails off,” Meyer said of Hawaii.
The Hawaii defense was stingy and disruptive in the first half and sacked Jones twice in a row in the second quarter.
Still, coach Norm Chow was not pleased with the overall performance.
“We made enough mistakes to last a season,” Chow said. “You can’t do that against good football teams.”
Michigan St. 31, Oregon 21
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Connor Cook threw two touchdown passes, and No. 5 Michigan State held on with one final defensive stand to beat No. 7 Oregon 31-28 on Saturday night.
The Spartans (2-0) led for most of the second half, and it was 31-21 before Oregon’s Vernon Adams threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Byron Marshall with 3:25 remaining. After a Michigan State punt, the Ducks (1-1) drove to the Spartans 33 before Adams overthrew Marshall, who had beaten his defender.
The Spartans then sacked Adams for a loss of 10, and his fourth-down pass was incomplete.
LJ Scott ran for two touchdowns for Michigan State, and Aaron Burbridge caught eight passes for 101 yards and a touchdown.
NO. 6 AUBURN 27,JACKSONVILLE STATE 20, OT
AUBURN, Ala. — Auburn dodged an upset that would have ranked with the biggest in college football history, riding Melvin Ray’s touchdown catch in the final minute and Peyton Barber’s overtime scoring run for a victory over Jacksonville State.
Barber, making his first start at tailback, ran for 125 yards. The most important came on his 4-yard scoring run to cap No. 6 Auburn’s first possession in overtime. Troymaine Pope’s 5-yard touchdown run with 5:38 left gave the Gamecocks a 20-13 lead.
Jacksonville State (1-1) lost its bid to become the first Football Championship Subdivision team to beat a ranked FBS team since Aug. 31, 2013, when Eastern Washington beat No. 25 Oregon State 49-46. An Auburn loss would have compared with No. 5 Michigan’s loss to Appalachian State on Sept. 3, 2007.
NO. 9 NOTRE DAME 34, VIRGINIA 27
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Backup quarterback DeShone Kizer threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Will Fuller with 12 seconds left to lift Notre Dame past Virginia.
Kizer took over after starter Malik Zaire broke his right ankle in the third quarter. Zaire will miss the rest of the season. The injury came a week after the Fighting Irish (2-0) lost running back Tarean Folston to a season-ending knee injury.
Notre Dame rallied after Virginia (0-2) took the lead on Albert Reid’s 1-yard run with 1:54 left.
On the final drive, Kizer ran 4 yards for a first down on fourth-and-2 from the Notre Dame 28, and found the speedy Fuller behind Maurice Canady down the left sideline for the winning touchdown.
NO. 19 OKLAHOMA 31, NO. 23 TENNESSEE 24, 2OT
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Baker Mayfield threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Sterling Shepard in double overtime and Oklahoma beat Tennessee after overcoming a 17-point deficit.
Zack Sanchez clinched Oklahoma’s victory by picking off Joshua Dobbs’ pass on Tennessee’s second overtime possession, continuing the Vols’ recent history of frustration against Top 25 foes.
Oklahoma (2-0) forced overtime on Mayfield’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Shepard with 40 seconds left.
Tennessee went ahead 17-0 in the first 18 minutes and still led 17-3 until Mayfield engineered two fourth-quarter touchdown drives.
TOLEDO 16, NO. 18 ARKANSAS 12
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Former Alabama reserve quarterback Phillip Ely threw for 237 yards and the Toledo defense rattled Arkansas into a number of mistakes in an upset victory.
Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen threw his first interception since last Nov. 1 — after 134 attempts. He misfired on two passes from the Toledo 16 in the final 6 seconds.
Deep in their own territory, the Rockets (1-0) gave up a safety with 52 seconds left that cut their lead to four points. Arkansas (1-1) received the free kick, then drove from its 32 to the 16 with no timeouts before Allen’s throws sailed away.
NO. 2 ALABAMA 37, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 10
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Jake Coker passed for 214 yards in the first half and Derrick Henry ran for three touchdowns to lead Alabama past Middle Tennessee.
Coker started for the second straight game for the Crimson Tide (2-0) and gave no indication he’s going to yield the job to Cooper Bateman, who played the second half against the Blue Raiders (1-1). Coker was 15 of 26 with a touchdown, but also had a pass intercepted after throwing into double coverage.
NO. 3 TCU 70, STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 7
FORT WORTH, Texas — Trevone Boykin threw for 285 yards and four touchdowns in a little more than a half, Aaron Green ran for two scores and TCU beat lower-division Stephen F. Austin.
The Horned Frogs (2-0) won their 14th straight home opener under Gary Patterson since losing to Northwestern State of the FCS in his Amon Carter Stadium debut as head coach in 2001. The Lumberjacks (0-2), facing the highest-ranked opponent in school history, dropped to 0-9 against Big 12 teams.
Kolby Listenbee had six catches for 142 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown reception.
NO. 4 BAYLOR 66, LAMAR 31
WACO, Texas — Corey Coleman had a Baylor-record four touchdown catches, and the Bears had 785 total yards in their victory over FCS team Lamar.
Seth Russell completed 23 of 34 passes for 342 yards with the four scores. Coleman had six catches for 182 yards.
Shock Linwood added 130 yards rushing and three TDs to help Baylor (2-0) win its 17th consecutive home game, matching second-ranked Alabama for the longest current streak.
NO. 8 SOUTHERNCALIFORNIA 59, IDAHO 9
LOS ANGELES (– Cody Kessler threw for a career-high 410 yards and hit JuJu Smith-Schuster with two of his three touchdown passes, leading Southern California past Idaho.
Smith-Schuster set career highs with 10 catches for 192 yards and the Trojans (2-0) piled up 738 total yards and routed a Sun Belt Conference opponent for the second straight week.
USC led 38-3 at halftime after racking up 434 yards on just 46 plays, with Justin Davis and Tre Madden scoring two touchdowns apiece.
NO. 10 GEORGIA 31, VANDERBILT 14
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nick Chubb ran for 189 yards, Isaiah McKenzie returned a punt 77 yards for a touchdown, and Georgia beat Vanderbilt in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
Sony Michel had a 31-yard touchdown run and the Bulldogs (2-0) shook off a sluggish start that included linebacker Lorenzo Carter’s ejection for targeting and a shanked field goal.
NO. 11 FLORIDA STATE 34, SOUTH FLORIDA 14
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Dalvin Cook ran for 266 yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries to help Florida State beat South Florida.
Cook had the second-highest rushing total in school history and the first 200-yard game since Sammie Smith had 212 yards against Tulane in 1988. Greg Allen set the school record with 322 yards against Western Carolina in 1981.
Cook’s 74-yard touchdown run in the first quarter started the scoring and might be one of the plays of the weekend in college football. He found an opening on the right side of the line, gained speed toward the middle of the field, where he juked past Jamie Byrd and then bounced off Tajee Fulwood at the Bulls’ 27 before racing along the left sideline for the score.
NO. 12 CLEMSON 41, APPALACHIAN STATE 10
CLEMSON, S.C. — Deshaun Watson threw for 248 yards and three touchdowns in Clemson’s his first game since all-ACC receiver Mike Williams fractured a bone in his neck.
Watson threw his first interception and Clemson managed only a field goal in its first four drivers. But Watson found his stride and perhaps a new favorite target in Charone Peake, a fifth-year senior who caught scoring passes of 24 and 59 yards. Watson hit Artavis Scott with a 41-yard TD pass in the third.
NO. 13 UCLA 37, UNLV 3
LAS VEGAS — Paul Perkins ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns, Josh Rosen threw for another score and UCLA rolled past UNLV.
Rosen completed 22 of 42 passes for 223 yards as the Bruins (2-0) piled up 526 yards in all, the second consecutive week UNLV’s defense allowed more than 500.
After the first two games of his college career, Rosen is 50 of 77 for 574 yards and four touchdowns. His performance against Virginia last week earned him the Walter Camp National Player of the Week award on offense.
UCLA has won 13 of its last 14 non-conference games — 10 straight since losing to Baylor in the 2012 Holiday Bowl.
NO. 14 LSU 21, NO. 25 MISSISSIPPI STATE 19
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Leonard Fournette ran for 159 yards and three touchdowns, and LSU won when Mississippi State’s Devon Bell missed a 52-yard field goal as time expired.
Fournette’s hard running was the highlight of a bruising Southeastern Conference opener for both teams. The 6-foot-1, 230-pound sophomore had several good moments, including an impressive 26-yard dash to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
NO. 15 GEORGIA TECH 65,TULANE 10
ATLANTA — Justin Thomas passed for two touchdowns and ran for another to help Georgia Tech romp to another dominating victory.
Thomas got a chance to shine after playing only the first quarter in a 69-6 victory over Alcorn State in the opener. He threw a 17-yard scoring pass to Qua Searcy late in the first half, and hooked up with Micheal Summers on a 30-yarder in the third quarter. The quarterback also scored on a 4-yard run.
NO. 16 TEXAS A&M 56, BALL STATE 23
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Kyle Allen threw for 126 yards and three touchdowns in the first half and Texas A&M rolled past Ball State.
It was the perfect party to celebrate the first game after a $485 million redevelopment of Kyle Field that increased its capacity to 102,733, making it the largest stadium in the Southeastern Conference and No. 4 in the nation.
A field goal by the Cardinals (1-1) on their first drive cut the lead four. The Aggies (2-0) then reeled off 42 straight points, helped by a defensive score, to make it 49-3 at halftime.
NO. 17 MISSISSIPPI 73, FRESNO STATE 21
OXFORD, Miss. — Chad Kelly threw for 346 yards and four touchdowns, three to Quincy Adeboyejo, in Mississippi’s victory over Fresno State.
Kelly started his second straight game after winning what coach Hugh Freeze called a close quarterback race during preseason camp against Ryan Buchanan and DeVante Kincade.
BYU 35, NO. 20 BOISE STATE 24
PROVO, Utah — Freshman Tanner Mangum threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell Juergens with 45 seconds left to give BYU another last-second, come-from-behind victory.
BYU (2-0) trailed for most of the game. Mangum was far from perfect, completing 17 of 28 passes for 309 yards and throwing two interceptions. He was making the first start of his career after completing a Hail Mary to beat Nebraska last week.
NO. 21 MISSOURI 27, ARKANSAS STATE 20
JONESBORO, Ark. — Maty Mauk threw three touchdown passes and Missouri extended its road winning streak to 11 games, rallying in the second half to beat Arkansas State.
The Tigers (2-0) haven’t lost on the road since a 59-29 loss at Texas A&M on Nov. 24, 2012.
Mauk accounted for 223 total yards for Missouri, which trailed 17-10 at halftime before holding the Red Wolves (0-2) to 37 yards of offense in the second half. Nate Robinson,
NO. 22 ARIZONA 44, NEVADA 20
RENO, Nev. — Nick Wilson ran for 194 yards and three touchdowns and Anu Solomon passed for 264 yards and two scores for Arizona.
The Wildcats (2-0) opened a 14-0 lead less than 6 minutes into the game. They went ahead 21-10 when Wilson surpassed 100 yards rushing with his second score 3:56 before the half.