Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Nix rallies No. 16 Auburn over No. 11 Oregon
ARLINGTON, Texas — Auburn true freshman quarterback Bo Nix threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Seth Williams with 9 seconds remaining and the 16thranked Tigers opened the season with a 27-21 comeback win over No. 11 Oregon on Saturday night.
Nix barely converted a fourth-and-3 at midfield on the final drive when he tucked and ran. Only the nose of the ball was past the chain when officials measured. Then on third-and-10 from the Oregon 39 with no timeouts, Nix hit Williams for 13 yards, and then found him again on the next play to put Auburn ahead for the first time.
The Tigers, who trailed 21-6 late in the third quarter, delivered another opening-weekend blow to the Pac-12. They beat the Pac12’s highest-ranked team in a season opener for the second year in a row — No. 6 Washington lost to them 21-16 in Atlanta last year.
Nix finished 13-of-31 passing for 177 yards and two touchdowns, and also ran seven times for 42 yards. JaTarvious Whitlow ran 24 times for 110 yards for the Tigers.
Justin Herbert, who bypassed early entry in the NFL draft to return to Oregon, was 28-of-37 passing for 242 yards with a touchdown.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 38, LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE 28
NEW ORLEANS — Graduate transfer Tommy Stevens passed for two touchdowns and ran for one in his first college start as Mississippi State defeated Louisiana-Lafayette in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Stevens, who was a backup at Penn State when Bulldogs’ second-year coach Joe Moorhead was the Nittany Lions’ offensive coordinator, completed 20 of 30 passes for 236 yards. He had passes of 31 yards to Osirus Mitchell on the game’s first possession and 12 yard to Austin Williams early in the fourth quarter to complete a 21-0 run.
Kylin Hill rushed 27 times for 197 yards and a touchdown and Stevens had a 4-yard touchdown run that broke a 14-all tie with 31 seconds left in the first half.
Levi Lewis ran for one touchdown and passed for another for the Ragin’ Cajuns. He threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Nick Ralston in the second quarter and ran 1 yard for a touchdown that completed the scoring with 9:56 left in the game.
MEMPHIS 15, OLE MISS 10
MEMPHIS, Tennessee — Patrick Taylor rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown, while defensive end Bryce Huff recorded a fourth quarter safety to seal a victory over Ole Miss in the season opener for both teams.
Huff’s tackle of Rebels quarterback Matt Corral with 6:42 left created the final margin. The safety was set up by a punt from Memphis’ Adam Williams to the Rebels’ 2 on the previous play. Huff was virtually untouched before reaching Corral in the back of the end zone.
Kenneth Gainwell, who has taken over all-purpose duties from Tony Pollard, now with the Dallas Cowboys, had 77 yards rushing for the Tigers and six catches for another 41 yards.
Corral finished the game 9 of 19 for 93 yards passing. Scottie Phillips managed 62 yards on 19 carries as the Rebels were held to 173 yards of total offense.
The Memphis defense, much maligned after giving up 32 points and 428 yards per game last season, stymied the Ole Miss offense. Ole Miss managed only 42 first half yards of offense, including minus-1 rushing.
KENTUCKY 38, TOLEDO 24
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Terry Wilson threw two touchdown passes, Asim Rose and Kavosiey Smoke each ran for TDs and Kentucky overcame Toledo to pull away in the season opener for both schools.
The Wildcats rallied twice against the Rockets to enter the break tied at 14 before taking control in the second half. A third-quarter fumble recovery led to Chance Poore’s 46-yard, go-ahead field goal before Bryce Oliver’s leaping grab of Wilson’s 32-yard TD pass provided a 10-point lead.
Smoke’s 40-yard TD run down the left side midway through the fourth made it 31-17. Kentucky then converted DeAndre Square’s interception into Wilson’s 2-yard TD pass to Josh Ali to clinch the first meeting between the schools.
NO. 2 ALABAMA 42, DUKE 3
ATLANTA — Tua Tagovailoa threw for 336 yards and four touchdowns as No. 2 Alabama overcame a sluggish start to blow out Duke in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game.
Returning to the stadium where they won the Southeastern Conference title last December and the national championship two seasons ago, the Crimson Tide (1-0) was held scoreless in the first quarter — which happened only one time in 2018.
But the Blue Devils (0-1) merely delayed the inevitable.
Tagovailoa, whose brilliant sophomore season ended with a bit of a thud, put his tight ends to good use. The left-hander hooked up with Miller Forristall on a 27-yard touchdown pass and then went to Major Tennison for a 1-yard score
Alabama’s dynamic receiving corps also got in on the fun. DeVonta Smith hauled in an 8-yard TD pass and Jerry Jeudy broke loose for a 21-yard score.
Jerome Ford and Brian Robinson Jr. ran for the Tide’s other TDs.
NORTH CAROLINA 24, SOUTH CAROLINA 20
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — True freshman quarterback Sam Howell threw for 245 yards and two touchdowns, Myles Wolfork had two late fourth quarter interceptions and North Carolina battled back to beat South Carolina in Mack Brown’s return to the sideline following a five-year hiatus.
Howell capped second half drives of 98 and 95 yards with a 22-yard TD strike to Dyami Brown and a 17-yard scoring toss to Beau Corrales to give Brown his first win since 2013, when he coached at Texas.
Brown was holding back tears as he was interviewed leaving the field.
The Tar Heels’ defense was strong in the second half, and Wolfork sealed the win by intercepting Jake Bentley twice on South Carolina’s final three possessions helping North Carolina register its first win over a power-conference opponent in a season opener since topping Indiana in 1997, Brown’s final season in his first stint at the school.
The Tar Heels were remarkably conservative on offense in crucial situations in the first half, not wanting to put Howell in difficult situations. North Carolina ran 12 plays inside the South Carolina 25-yard line in the first half and 11 were runs. The only pass attempt resulted in a sack.
But as the game progressed, the Tar Heels began to take the handcuffs off Howell and he responded with two big TD passes and no major mistakes.
GEORGIA STATE 38, TENNESSEE 30
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Dan Ellington threw two touchdown passes and ran for a third score as 26-point underdog Georgia State upset Tennessee in one of the first stunners of the college football season.
Georgia State (1-0) beat a Power Five opponent for the first time since this Sun Belt Conference school launched its program in 2010. The Panthers’ closest call before this had come in 2016, when they lost 23-17 to Wisconsin after leading in the fourth quarter.
Tennessee (0-1) suffered one of the more embarrassing setbacks in its history, the latest blow for a storied program attempting to bounce back from two straight losing seasons.
Georgia State was coming off a 2-10 season in which it had lost its last seven games. Only one of those seven losses was decided by less than two touchdowns.
NO. 6 LSU 55, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 3
BATON ROUGE, La. — Joe Burrow tied an LSU single-game record with five touchdown passes before halftime and No. 6 Tigers held a multi-touchdown lead for all but the first six minutes in a 55-3 victory over Georgia Southern on Saturday night.
Unleashing a new spread offense, the Tigers (1-0) scored 21 points in the first quarter — something they never did in any quarter last season. Their point total was the most in a non-overtime game since scoring 63 against New Mexico State in 2014.
Directing his unit with pace and precision, Burrow completed 23 of 27 passes for 278 yards without an interception before being subbed out after LSU’s first possession of the second half, which ended with a field goal. That drive marked Burrow’s last chance to break the LSU mark of five touchdowns in a game set by Zach Mettenberger in 2013.
Records aside, LSU looked different offensively, throwing 39 times and rushing 33, with more rushes coming in the second half as the Tigers ran down the clock. Ed Orgeron has said throughout August that he finally has the offense he wanted. Designed largely by new passing-game coordinator Joe Brady and overseen by incumbent offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger, the up-tempo, no-huddle scheme routinely features five receiving targets on a given play, some of whom give Burrow the option to unload the ball quickly if under pressure.
WYOMING 37, MISSOURI 31
LARAMIE, Wyo. — Quarterback Sean Chambers rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown, Xazavian Valladay had 118 yards rushing and a score and Wyoming upset Missouri 37-31 in a season opener on Saturday night.
It was the second upset win on the day by a Mountain West Conference team against a Southeastern Conference member. Earlier Saturday, Boise State beat Florida State 36-31 in Tallahassee, Florida.
Chambers averaged 10 yards on each of his 12 rushing attempts. He also completed 6 of 16 passes for 92 yards for a Wyoming team that took advantage of three Missouri turnovers while giving up 537 yards to the Tigers.
Valladay averaged 7.9 yards on 15 carries as Wyoming ground out 297 yards on 42 carries as a team.
Missouri was led by Clemson transfer quarterback Kelly Bryant, who completed 31 of 48 passes for 423 yards and two touchdowns.
NO. 3 GEORGIA 30, VANDERBILT 6
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Coach Kirby Smart thinks his third-ranked Georgia Bulldogs showed him a glimpse of just how good they might be this season in a rare season opener inside the Southeastern Conference on the road.
Jake Fromm threw for 156 yards and a touchdown, and third-ranked Georgia opened the season routing Vanderbilt.
The Bulldogs won their 20th opener in 23 seasons and stayed perfect to kick off coach Kirby Smart’s fourth season. They also easily won their 14th straight against the SEC’s Eastern Division in their first league game to open a season since 1995.
It sure didn’t feel like a road trip with fans taking advantage of a holiday weekend to paint the stadium Georgia red. The Bulldogs rewarded them by scoring a touchdown on their first three possessions, giving the fans plenty to start celebrating early.