Backup plan works for No. 2 Georgia
Stetson Bennett tied a school record with five touchdown passes filling in for injured starter JT Daniels, leading No. 2 Georgia to a 56-7 rout of visiting UAB on Saturday.
Bennett completed his first six passes — four of them going all the way to the end zone for the Bulldogs (2-0), who didn’t show any signs of a letdown after a 10-3 victory over Clemson despite the absence of their No. 1 quarterback.
Jermaine Burton set the tone by slipping behind the secondary to haul in a 73yard TD from Bennett on Georgia’s second offensive play, thrilling the raucous crowd of nearly 93,000 at Sanford Stadium.
By the opening minute of the second quarter, Bennett had tacked on scoring passes of 12 yards to Kenny McIntosh, 89 yards to Brock Bowers and 61 yards to Arian Smith.
After finally throwing an incompletion, Bennett tacked on his fifth TD of the game with another to Bowers, the freshman tight end grabbing a 9-yarder that gave the Bulldogs a 35-0 halftime lead.
Bennett completed 9 of 11 for 279 yards and became the sixth Georgia quarterback to pass for five touchdowns in a game. The most recent was Aaron Murray vs. New Mexico State in 2011.
Daniels (Mater Dei High, USC) was sidelined by an oblique injury, which is not believed to be a longterm problem.
NO. 1 ALABAMA 48, MERCER 14 >> Bryce Young threw three touchdown passes and Jase McClellan scored three times in Alabama’s rout of the FCS Bears (1-1).
The Crimson Tide (20), however, had star linebacker Will Anderson Jr. leave with an apparent right leg injury.
Young (Mater Dei High) completed 19 of 27 passes for 227 yards.
NO. 4 OKLAHOMA 76, WESTERN CAROLINA 0 >> Spencer Rattler threw five TD passes, and the Sooners routed the Catamounts.
Oklahoma (2-0) led 62-0 after three quarters, and the fourth quarter was shortened to 12 minutes.
Rattler completed 20 of 26 passes for 243 yards before resting in the second half of Oklahoma’s 10th straight victory. He joined Jason White as the only Sooners to pass for five touchdowns in a half.
Jadon Haselwood had two TD catches and Jaden Knowles ran for two scores.
NO. 6 CLEMSON 49, SOUTH CAROLINA STATE 3 >> DJ Uiagalelei ran for two touchdowns and threw for a third as Clemson cranked up its offense after a sorry showing in an opening loss to Georgia a week earlier.
Uiagalelei (St. John Bosco) went 14 of 24 for 171 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He rushed for scores of 4 and 5 yards.
Will Shipley, a freshman, had a team-high 80 yards and touchdown runs of 7 and 13 yards.
NO. 7 CINCINNATI 42, MURRAY STATE 7 >> Jerome Ford ran for 113 yards and three touchdowns, Desmond Ridder passed for 243 yards and two TDs, and the host Bearcats (2-0)scored on four of their first five possessions in the second half against the Racers (1-1).
NO. 10 IOWA 27, NO. 9 IOWA STATE 17 >> Jack Campbell returned a fumble 6 yards for a touchdown and the Hawkeyes ran their winning streak against the Cyclones to six games.
In the first Cy-Hawk Trophy game matching ranked teams in 65 total meetings, the Hawkeyes (20) turned four takeaways into 20 points, ran their overall winning streak to eight games and their winning streak against ranked teams to five.
Matt Hankins had two of Iowa’s three interceptions against Brock Purdy, who was benched for Hunter Dekkers early in the fourth quarter.
NO. 11 PENN STATE 44, BALL STATE 13 >> Sean Clifford completed 21 of 29 passes for 230 yards, ran for a touchdown and threw for another as the Nittany Lions (2-0) won their sixth straight game dating to last season.
NO. 13 FLORIDA 42, SOUTH FLORIDA 20 >> The Gators scored TDs on five consecutive possessions and beat the host Bulls (0-2).
Florida (2-0) got results from its two quarterbacks, Emory Jones and Anthony
Richardson. Jones completed 14 of 22 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown and ran for 81 yards and a score.
Richardson was 3 for 3 for 152 yards and two touchdown passes with an 80-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, totaling 115 yards on the ground.
ARKANSAS 40, NO. 15 TEXAS 21 >> The Razorbacks (2-0) piled up 333 rushing yards and got touchdowns from four different players on the ground while their defense stuffed the Longhorns (1-1) in a dominating win.
NO. 18 WISCONSIN 34, EASTERN MICHIGAN 7 >> Chez Mellusi ran for 144 yards and a touchdown to lead the Badgers past the Eagles.
Wisconsin (1-1) piled up 352 rushing yards and held Eastern Michigan (0-2) to 92 total yards on offense.
NO. 19 VIRGINIA TECH 35, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 14 >> Raheem Blackshear rushed for two touchdowns to lead the Hokies (2-0) over the Blue Raiders (1-1).
NO. 20 MISSISSIPPI 54, AUSTIN PEAY 17 >> Matt Corral threw for five touchdowns — four in the first half — as the Rebels (2-0) routed the FCS member Governors (1-1).
NO. 22 MIAMI (FLORIDA) 25, APPALACHIAN STATE 23 >> D’Eriq King threw for 200 yards and rushed for 67 more, freshman Andy Borregales kicked a goahead 43-yard field goal with 2:04 remaining and the Hurricanes (1-1) rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat the Mountaineers (1-1), who took a 23-22 lead with 5:48 left when Malik Williams caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Chase Brice.
NO. 24 NORTH CAROLINA 59, GEORGIA STATE 17 >> Sam Howell threw three touchdown passes and rushed for two more scores as the Tar Heels shook off the disappointment of a loss in their opener.
Howell completed 21 of 29 passes for 352 yards without an interception. He was picked off three times in a 17-10 loss at Virginia Tech a week earlier.
NO. 25 AUBURN 62, ALABAMA STATE 0 >> Demetris Robertson scored three touchdowns and Jarquez Hunter rushed for 147 yards as the Tigers (2-0) raced past the FCS member Hornets.