Cal’s defense stuffs North Carolina in season-opening win
Jatarvious Whitlow ran 10 yards for a touchdown with 6:15 remaining, and the Auburn defense came through at the end, leading the Tigers in the opener in Atlanta between the two top-10 teams.
Trailing 16-15 after missing a twopoint conversion on their opening drive of the game, ninth-ranked Auburn drove 76 yards in 10 plays for the winning score. Jarrett Stidham kept the drive going early with a 12yard pass to Chandler Cox on thirdand-9. Then, facing third-and-7 deep in Washington territory, Auburn handed off inside to Whitlow, who knocked over a Washington defender as he smashed into the end zone.
Washington, ranked sixth, drove to the Auburn 37 with plenty of time to pull off the comeback, but Myles Gaskin was thrown for a 3-yard loss and Jake Browning was stymied by a fierce pass rush on back-to-back plays to preserve the Tigers’ victory.
Stidham was 26 of 36 for 273 yards for Auburn, including a 10yard touchdown pass to Sal Cannella, who made a leaping grab in the end zone before landing flat on his back. Browning was 18 of 32 for 296 yards. PENN STATE 45, APPALACHIAN STATE 38>> Amani Oruwariye intercepted Zac Thomas’ pass in the end zone, and No. 10 Penn State held on to beat Appalachian State in overtime, exactly 11 years after the Mountaineers stunned Michigan in one of the biggest upsets in college football history.
Miles Sanders ran for 91 yards and two touchdowns, including the goahead score in overtime for the Nittany Lions in the opener for both teams. But Penn State let a 31-17 lead evaporate when Appalachian State scored on three straight possessions over 5:53 in the fourth quarter. NOTRE DAME 24, MICHIGAN 17 >> Brandon Wimbush connected on a long touchdown pass to help No. 12 Notre Dame jump out to a big first-half lead, Te’von Coney and the defense made it stand with a late takeaway, and the Fighting Irish beat No. 14 Michigan as the rivalry returned after a three-year hiatus.
OHIO STATE 77, OREGON STATE 31 >> With coach Urban Meyer serving a suspension, new starting quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. had a record-setting day, throwing five touchdown passes to help No. 5 Ohio State rout the Beavers.
OKLAHOMA 63, FLORIDA ATLANTIC 14 >> A’s top draft pick Kyler Murray, taking over for Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield, passed for 209 yards and two touchdowns to lead No. 7 Oklahoma.
USC 43, UNLV 21 >> JT Daniels, the second freshman to start at quarterback in a season opener for 15th-ranked USC, threw for 282 yards, and had a 43-yard touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown. Daniels was 22 of 35, and fellow freshman St. Brown making seven receptions for 98 yards. BOISE STATE 56, TROY 20 >> Brett Rypien passed for 305 yards and four touchdowns, and Sean Modster had 167 yards receiving, to lead No. 22 Boise State on the road. The Broncos raced to a 35-7 halftime lead over a Trojans team coming off an 11-win season, largely with the Rypien-toModster connection. Then, Tyler Horton and Boise State’s defense mostly took over the scoring for the second half against Troy.
OREGON 58, BOWLING GREEN 24 >> Justin Herbert threw for five touchdowns and ran for another score to lead the No. 24 Ducks. WASHINGTON STATE 41, WYOMING 19 >> Graduate transfer Gardner Minshew threw for 319 yards and three
touchdowns as the visiting Cougars earned the season-opening win. Minshew, who transferred from East Carolina, completed 38 of 57 attempts. AIR FORCE 38, STONY BROOK 0 >> Linebacker Kyle Johnson’s early pick got the ball rolling for the defense. After that, visiting Stony Brook went nowhere.
Johnson returned an interception 32 yards for a score as a stingy Air Force defense limited Stony Brook’s offense to 75 total yards, helping the Falcons to the win. Air Force (1-0) and Stony Brook (0-1) weathered 76 minutes in delays during the second quarter as they shuttled back and forth to the locker room. CINCINNATI 26, UCLA 17 >> Michael Warren II rushed for 141 yards and three touchdowns, and Cincinnati spoiled Chip Kelly’s coaching debut at UCLA by throttling the Bruins’ offense. Cortez Broughton forced a fumble that led to a tiebreaking safety with 9:45 to play, and the Bearcats’ defense limited UCLA to 306 yards in the first game of Kelly’s return to college. WEATHER WOES >> Iowa State’s home game against South Dakota State was canceled after a long delay because of severe storms in and around Ames, Iowa. And Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, which holds some 80,000 people, was evacuated because of a severe thunderstorm two hours after the Akron-Nebraska game went into a lightning delay. There was no immediate word on whether it would be rescheduled.