Murray stars again for No. 5 Sooners
Kyler Murray threw for 348 yards and three touchdowns and Oklahoma held off Iowa State 37-27 on Saturday in Ames, Iowa, in the Big 12 opener for both teams.
Marquise Brown had 191 yards receiving and a touchdown to help the Sooners (3-0), a year removed from a stunning home loss to the Cyclones, extend the nation’s longest road winning streak to 17 games. Murray also ran for a team-high 77 yards. Iowa State (0-2) rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to make it 34-27 late in the third quarter. But the Sooners killed nearly eight minutes on a drive that ended with a 42-yard field goal from Austin Siebert with 2:51 left, and Parnell Motley’s interception with 1:11 to go sealed the win.
Backup Zeb Noland threw for a careerhigh 360 yards and a pair of long touchdown passes to Hakeem Butler for the Cyclones. Starting quarterback Kyle Kempt sat out with a knee injury.
No. 1 Alabama 62, Ole Miss 7
Tua Tagovailoa threw for 191 yards and two touchdowns, Jerry Jeudy caught two scoring passes and the visiting Tide rolled.
Alabama (3-0) gave up a 75-yard touchdown on the first play of the SEC opener, but responded by scoring the next 62 points. The Tide’s offense had 516 total yards and was so effective that Tagovailoa’s evening was over by midway through the second quarter.
The left-handed sophomore completed 11 of 15 passes during his short time on the field. The Tide then turned to Jalen Hurts, who completed 7 of 10 passes for 85 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
No. 2 Clemson 38, Georgia Southern 7
Travis Etienne ran for 162 yards and two touchdowns for the Tigers (3-0) and Trevor Lawrence threw for 194 yards, including a 57yard score to fellow freshman Justyn Ross in front of 79,844 fans despite the presence of Hurricane Florence in the state. Clemson outgained Georgia Southern 595-140.
No. 3 Georgia 49, Middle Tennessee 7
Jake Fromm threw three touchdown passes and Elijah Holyfield ran for 100 yards in the first half for the Bulldogs (3-0).
Freshman Justin Fields ran 15 yards for a touchdown in the first half and threw a touchdowns pass in relief of Fromm. Jeremiah Holloman caught three passes for 90 yards, including an 11-yard scoring pass from Fromm in the first quarter. Mecole Hardman had a touchdown catch and a 70-yard punt return touchdown, and Tyler Simmons had a 56-yard touchdown run.
Texas Tech 63, Houston 49
Texas Tech true freshman quarterback Alan Bowman threw for 605 yards with five touchdowns — three to Antoine Wesley who set a school record with 261 yards receiving — for the Red Raiders (2-1). Bowman finished 43-for-59 passing for the fifth 600-yard game in Texas Tech history. D’Eriq King was 30-of51 passing for 431 yards and five touchdowns, and Marquez Stevenson had nine catches for 177 yards for the Cougars (2-1).