Top 25 roundup,
No. 2 Alabama 52, No. 13 Texas A&M 24
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Mac Jones passed for a career-high 435 yards and four touchdowns, including a pair of deep throws to John Metchie III and an even longer one to Jaylen Waddle, and Alabama romped past Texas A&M on Saturday.
Briefly threatened early, Jones and the Crimson Tide (2-0) flexed their considerable big-play muscle in the passing game to put away the Aggies (1-1). A sign of things to come: His first attempt went 78 yards to Metchie, 'Bama's latest major receiving threat.
Jones topped that with an 87-yard TD to Waddle, who had sprinted past two Aggies defenders to make the grab with nothing but green in between himself and the end zone. Metchie and Jones hooked up for a 63-yarder in the fourth, giving the sophomore five catches for 181 yards.
Jones finished 19-of-26 passing for a second straight surgically precise performance marred by one interception off a deflection. Waddle had 142 yards receiving and his touchdown catch was tied for the fifth longest in program history.
It came after three Alabama penalties in four plays. Jones' three career pass touchdowns of 85plus yards are the most by a Tide quarterback.
Najee Harris rushed for two short touchdowns and safety Daniel Wright scored on a 47-yard interception return against Kellen Mond.
Mond put up big numbers but it wasn't nearly enough. He completed 25 of 44 passes for 318 yards with three touchdowns — and the pick six. Ainias Smith had six catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns.
Alabama has won the last eight meetings and 19 straight home openers, including 14-0 under coach Nick Saban.
No. 3 Florida 38, South Carolina 24
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators can start up a Heisman Trophy campaign for Kyle Trask after Saturday's win over South Carolina.
But which one: quarterback Kyle Trask, who threw four touchdown passes in another strong performance? Or tight end Kyle Pitts, who caught two of Trask's scores and continues to dominate every
type of defender in front of him?
Pitts continued one of the best starts by an SEC receiver in years. With a pair of first-half touchdown catches, he had six through six quarters of play. The only SEC player with more over the past 25 seasons, according to ESPN, was Earl Bennett, who had seven for Vanderbilt in 2005.
Pitts' second, on a slant in the second quarter, was the 12th of his career, tying him with Aaron Hernandez for the most ever by a Gators tight end.
Trask was equally impressive. Through three quarters, he had almost as many touchdown passes (four) as incompletions (five). He was efficient, accurate and got the ball to his playmakers in good positions.
No. 15 Cincinnati 28, South Florida 7
CINCINNATI — Gerrid Doaks ran for 102 yards and a touchdown, Tre Tucker returned a kickoff 97 yards for a score and Cincinnati had five interceptions in its victory over South Florida.
Doaks had his first 100yard rushing game since November 2019 when he ran for 123 against UConn. Tucker returned the kickoff late in the third quarter to put Cincinnati ahead 28-7.
It was the first kick return TD by a Bearcats player since Ralph David
Abernathy IV in the Liberty Bowl against Vanderbilt in December 2011. The game started sloppily with four turnovers, two by each team, in the first 11 snaps.
No. 17 Oklahoma State 47, Kansas 7
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Shane Illingworth threw for 265 yards and three touchdowns, Chuba Hubbard ran for 145 yards and two more scores, and Oklahoma State was able to rest its starters the final 20 minutes of its blowout of Kansas.
Tylan Wallace had nine catches for 148 yards and two touchdowns, and Braylon Johnson had four catches for 74 yards and the other passing TD, as the Cowboys (3-0, 2-0 Big 12) built a 31-0 lead by halftime and never looked back.
Kansas (0-3, 0-2) finished with just 193 yards of total offense.
No. 21 Tennessee 35, Missouri 12
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Eric Gray and Ty Chandler combined to rush for 195 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead Tennessee to a victory over Missouri Saturday.
The Vols (2-0) have won eight in a row, tying them with Notre Dame for the most among Power Five teams.
Connor Bazelak relieved Shawn Robinson at quarterback in the second
quarter for Missouri (0-2), but the Tigers could still only muster one touchdown.
Jarrett Guarantano played a mistake-free game for Tennessee, completing 14 of 23 passes for 190 yards and a touchdown. He also converted on three fourthdown runs in the first quarter and had two short touchdown runs.
SMU 30,
No. 25 Memphis 27
DALLAS — Chris Naggar kicked a 43-yard field goal with nine seconds left and SMU beat Memphis, after the Mustangs blew an early three-touchdown lead against a team playing its first game in four weeks.
Memphis (1-1), which because of COVID-19 issues hadn't played since winning its opener Sept. 5, was driving for a potential go-ahead score when Brady White was sacked and fumbled with 1:25 left. That set up the final drive for SMU (4-0), which never trailed.
Shane Buechele was 32-of-45 passing for 474 yards and three touchdowns. That included catch-and-run scores of 70 and 85 yards to Reggie Roberson before the star receiver left the game with an apparent left knee injury late in the third. Roberson finished with five catches for 243 yards.
White was 29 of 42 for 380 yards, three touchdowns and two intercep
tions. Damonte Coxie had eight catches for 169 yards.
Memphis last played a month ago against Arkansas State. The Tigers didn't play their next two scheduled games and had an 11-day gap without practicing because of positive COVID-19 tests in the program.
SMU had a 24-3 lead after Roberson's 85-yard score early in the second quarter. Buechele stepped up in the pocket and hit Roberson near the 25, where the receiver made a defender miss and then took off down the sideline.
LATE FRIDAY
No. 22 BYU 45, La. Tech 14
PROVO, Utah — Zach Wilson completed 24 of 26 passes for 325 yards and two touchdowns and ran for three scores for Brigham Young.
The Cougars (3-0) rolled up 513 total yards and averaged 8.0 yards per play on their way to their best start since 2014.
Tyler Allgeier added 93 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, and Gunner Romney led BYU's receivers with 101 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions in his third straight 100-yard game.
Luke Anthony threw for 191 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception for the Bulldogs. Louisiana Tech (2-1) had only 313 yards of offense.