Wisconsin puts beatdown on No. 8 Spartans

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — 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 fifthyear 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. 1 ALABAMA 48,

KENT STATE 0 TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — 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. 4 MICHIGAN 49,

PENN STATE 10

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — 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.

Jabrill Peppers gave the fans an early thrill by returning Penn State's first punt to the 9, although a bench-interference penalty moved the ball to the Nittany Lions 24. Seven plays later, Khalid Hill dove in on 4th-and-goal from the 1. The Wolverines also scored touchdowns on their next two drives. Penn State finally got a couple stops, but the Wolverines took a 28-0 halftime lead on Higdon's 2-yard run.

NO. 6 HOUSTON 64,

TEXAS STATE 3

SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) — 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.

King made a mistake by calling for a fair catch on the Houston 5 during a first-quarter Texas State punt. He soon compensated for that, however, catching a short pass from Ward on a bubble screen and taking it in for a touchdown from 48 yards out. Early in the second quarter, King took a handoff from Ward and threw a high pass to the end zone that Steven Dunbar pulled in for a 15-yard touchdown.

King began the second half by returning the kickoff 99 yards for another touchdown.

Houston (4-0) gained 563 yards and limited Texas State (1-2) to 142.

NO. 23 MISSISSIPPI 45,

NO. 12 GEORGIA 14

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — 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.

It was an impressive win for the Rebels, who finally built a big lead they didn't give away. Ole Miss led Florida State by 22 points and Alabama by 21 this season before losing both games.

Kelly was 18 of 24 and had a 41-yard touchdown run through the middle of the defense.

NO. 13 FLORIDA STATE 55,

SOUTH FLORIDA 35

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — 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-andrun 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.

Florida State (3-1) bounced back from being trounced 63-20 by Louisville, a road shellacking that dropped the Seminoles 11 spots in the AP Top 25 from No. 2. South Florida (3-1) is off to its fastest start since 2011, however the Bulls were no match for a talented bunch that began the season with expectations of contending for its second national title in four years.

NO. 14 TENNESSEE 38,

NO. 19 FLORIDA 28

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — 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.

AUBURN 18,

NO. 18 LSU 13

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — 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. (AP) — 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.