EAST LANSING, Mich. — Leo Musso returned a fumble 66 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter and No. 11 Wisconsin turned its early showdown with No. 8 Michigan State into a rout, beating the Spartans 30-6 on Saturday.
Redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook threw for 195 yards and a touchdown in his first start for Wisconsin, outplaying fifth-year senior Tyler O’Connor, his Michigan State counterpart. The Badgers (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) were the better team in the first half and outscored the Spartans 17-0 in the third quarter.
Michigan State (2-1, 0-1) was down 13-6 early in the third and had the ball in Wisconsin territory when LJ Scott’s fumble bounced to Musso in the secondary. O’Connor was the only player with a decent shot at him on the return, and Musso spun past the quarterback and went all the way to the end zone.
O’Connor finished 18 of 38 for 224 yards with three interceptions.
Corey Clement ran for two touchdowns for Wisconsin.
NO. 7 STANFORD 22, UCLA 13
PASADENA, Calif. — J.J. Arcega-Whiteside caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Burns with 24 seconds left, and No. 7 Stanford rallied on its final drive for its ninth consecutive victory over UCLA.
Christian McCaffrey rushed for 138 yards for the Cardinal (3-0, 2-0 Pac-12), who haven’t lost to their downstate rivals since 2008.
After struggling on offense for 3 1/2 quarters at the Rose Bowl, Stanford put together a 70-yard winning drive capped by Burns’ fade to Arcega-Whiteside, who got one foot inbounds on an acrobatic play. Solomon Thomas then returned Josh Rosen’s fumble 42 yards for a touchdown on the game’s final play.
Rosen passed for 248 yards for the Bruins (2-2, 0-1). UCLA’s defense faltered late after severely limiting the Cardinal and McCaffrey, who had his 14th consecutive 100-yard rushing game, for most of the night at the Rose Bowl.
NO. 1 ALABAMA 48, KENT STATE 0
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Jalen Hurts ran and threw for touchdowns and tailback sub Joshua Jacobs scored his first two career touchdowns for Alabama.
The Crimson Tide (4-0) dominated coach Nick Saban’s alma mater from the start while scoring on a kickoff return and even a short touchdown throw to freshman linebacker Mack Wilson. Starting tailback Damien Harris went down on the opening drive with a sprained right ankle and didn’t return.
Harris was hardly needed in this game, when No. 2 quarterback Blake Barnett played much of the way and the emerging freshman Jacobs ran for 97 yards. It amounted to a respite for the Tide against Kent State (1-3) after a bruising 48-43 comeback victory over No. 23 Mississippi.
Hurts was 16 of 24 for 164 yards and ran for 54 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown dash on the opening drive. He found Wilson, who lines up at fullback in goal line situations, for a 1-yard third-quarter score that was supposed to go to tight end O.J. Howard.
NO. 3 LOUISVILLE 59, MARSHALL 28
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Lamar Jackson threw five touchdown passes and ran for two more scores for Louisville.
The sophomore completed 24 of 44 passes for a career-high 417 yards against a Marshall secondary whose most experienced player had five starts. Jackson also ran for 62 yards.
Louisville (4-0) didn’t slow down against a nonconference opponent on the road a week after beating Florida State 63-20 at home.
NO. 4 MICHIGAN 49, PENN STATE 10
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — De’Veon Smith led an overwhelming ground game with 107 yards rushing and a touchdown and Karan Higdon ran for two scores for Michigan in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
The Wolverines (4-0) had six touchdowns on the ground and finished with 326 yards rushing. Wilton Speight threw one touchdown pass. Penn State (2-2) has lost three straight to the Wolverines.
NO. 6 HOUSTON 64, TEXAS STATE 3
SAN MARCOS, Texas — D’Eriq King caught a touchdown pass, threw one and returned a kickoff for another score in Houston’s blowout victory.
King, a freshman recruited to play quarterback, is playing at wide receiver while Greg Ward Jr. directs the offense. Ward passed for two touchdowns and ran for one before leaving the game after playing one series in the third quarter. He completed 20 of 26 passes for 289 yards.
NO. 10 TEXAS A&M 45, NO. 17 ARKANSAS 24
ARLINGTON, Texas — Trevor Knight had two long touchdowns runs for Texas A&M before halftime and threw a 92-yard pass to Josh Reynolds right after Arkansas was stopped three times from the 1.
Reynolds caught the ball in stride just short of midfield, and quickly shed defensive back DJ Dean on his way to the end zone to break a 17-all tie and put the Aggies (4-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) ahead to stay. Texas A&M has won five straight against the Razorbacks (3-1, 0-1), all since joining the SEC.
The long catch-and-run by Reynolds came two plays after Keon Hatcher was tackled for a 5-yard loss on fourth down, ending a 19-play drive for the Razorbacks that took 10 minutes after Texas A&M had fumbled from the Arkansas 2.
NO. 23 MISSISSIPPI 45, NO. 12 GEORGIA 14
OXFORD, Miss. — Chad Kelly threw for 282 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score to help Mississippi break a 10-game losing streak in the series dating to 1996.
The Rebels (2-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) dominated every phase, building a lead of 31-0 by halftime and 45-0 by midway through the third quarter.
Georgia (3-1, 1-1) lost for the first time under new coach Kirby Smart and looked overmatched. To make matters worse, star running back Nick Chubb injured an ankle in the second quarter and didn’t return.
NO. 9 WASHINGTON 35, ARIZONA 28
TUCSON, Ariz. — Jake Browning hit Dante Pettis on a 4-yard touchdown in overtime, Lavon Coleman ran for 181 yards and Washington held off Arizona in both teams’ Pac-12 opener.
Pettis made a tough grab in traffic on the first possession of overtime and Washington’s defense forced a turnover on downs to eke out the victory.
The Huskies (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) had a hard time shaking Arizona (2-2, 0-1 Pac-12), which was down to its fourth-string running back after J.J. Taylor left in the third quarter with a left ankle injury.
Brandon Dawkins kept the Wildcats in it, dazzling with 176 yards and two touchdowns rushing, 167 yards and another score passing. He escaped what appeared to be a sack to hit Shun Brown on a 54-yard pass , then hit Josh Kern on a 3-yard TD pass with 17 seconds left to tie the game at 28.
Coleman kept the Huskies moving with Browning limited to passes underneath and scored on a 55-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Browning finished 14 of 21 for 160 yards and two touchdowns.
NO. 13 FLORIDA STATE 55, SOUTH FLORIDA 35
TAMPA, Fla. — Dalvin Cook rushed for a career-high 267 yards and two touchdowns and Florida State rebounded from the most lopsided loss in school history to beat South Florida.
Cook scored on a 75-yard run on the Seminoles’ first play from scrimmage, an immediate response to USF starting the game with Quinton Flowers and Rodney Adams teaming on an 84-yard catch-and-run for a 7-0 lead. The 213-pound junior’s rushing total on 28 carries topped his previous best of 266 yards against South Florida last year.
NO. 14 TENNESSEE 38, NO. 19 FLORIDA 28
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Joshua Dobbs accounted for five second-half touchdowns and Tennessee overcame a 21-point deficit to beat Florida and end an 11-game losing streak in the series.
Tennessee (4-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) beat Florida (3-1, 1-1) for the first time since a 30-28 victory in 2004. The Volunteers lost by a single point each of the last two years.
This time, Tennessee delivered the comeback by scoring 38 consecutive points.
Dobbs threw four touchdown passes and ran for a fifth score — all in the second half. He was 16 of 32 for 319 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. Dobbs also ran for 80 yards and a touchdown.
NO. 16 BAYLOR 35, OKLAHOMA STATE 24
WACO, Texas — Seth Russell threw four touchdown passes, including an 89-yarder to Chris Platt for the go-ahead score in the third quarter, and Baylor beat Oklahoma State in the weather-delayed Big 12 opener for both teams.
The game was stopped by lightning for about 1 1/2 hours after the Bears scored on the opening series.
Ishmael Zamora had career highs of 175 yards receiving and two touchdowns on eight catches in his season debut for the Bears after a three-game suspension over a video of him whipping his dog that surfaced during the summer. Platt also had two TDs. Baylor earned its fourth consecutive 4-0 start in its first big test after a light nonconference schedule.
The Cowboys (2-2) lost three fumbles, including the second by Justice Hill after he picked up a first down at the Baylor 2 with Oklahoma State trailing 28-24 with 9 minutes remaining. Hill, who had 122 yards rushing, was originally ruled down, but the call was overturned on review.
AUBURN 18, NO. 18 LSU 13
AUBURN, Ala. — Daniel Carlson kicked six field goals and Auburn beat LSU after officials ruled Danny Etling’s apparent last-gasp scoring pass came after time expired.
Etling rolled to his right and found D.J. Shark on a 15-yard pass, setting off a celebration by LSU players. Officials ruled time expired before Etling took the snap.
The celebration shifted to the Auburn sideline when officials announced the decisive ruling.
It was an important win for Auburn (2-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) and coach Gus Malzahn, who faced increased criticism following losses to Top 25 opponents Clemson and Texas A&M.
An illegal shift penalty against LSU (2-2, 1-1) left the Tigers with a fourth-down play from the 15 with 5 seconds remaining, setting up the final-play drama.
LSU star running back Leonard Fournette had 16 carries for 101 yards.
NO. 20 NEBRASKA 24, NORTHWESTERN 13
EVANSTON, Ill. — Tommy Armstrong Jr. threw for 246 yards and ran for a career-high 132 to lead Nebraska past Northwestern in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
The Cornhuskers (4-0) remained unbeaten coming off a tight win over Oregon that vaulted them into the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since December 2014.
They lost two fumbles near the Northwestern goal line in the first half, but scored two touchdowns in the third quarter to stretch their lead from three to 11.
The Wildcats (1-3) matched their loss total from last year when they went 10-3.