No. 2 Clemson plays amid storm for win over Ga. Southern

CLEMSON, S.C. — Travis Etienne ran for 162 yards and two touchdowns for the Tigers (3-0) and Trevor Lawrence threw for 194 yards, including a 57yard score to fellow freshman Justyn Ross in their first meeting with Georgia Southern (2-1) of the Sun Belt Conference.

Clemson was the lone major conference school in the Carolinas and Virginia to play on Saturday, although school officials did move the game up to noon instead of its planned 3:30 p.m. ET start in deference to Florence, a one-time Category 4 hurricane that was a slow-moving tropical storm by Saturday.

At kickoff, though, the crowd of 79,844 had sunny skies and mild breezes for tailgates like many football Saturdays. Conditions changed by halftime with bands of grey clouds over the stadium and the wind picking up. Florence’s drenching rains were forecast to hit the area Saturday night.

The long, fatiguing, “Will they or won’t they?” stretch debating whether Clemson should even play with Florence looming seemed to sap the team’s focus early. Clemson had two of its three turnovers in the opening quarter on Kelly Bryant’s interception and Adam Choice’s fumble. Throw in Greg Huegel’s missed field goal — his first of two on the day — and the Tigers were tied 0-0 against an opponent they were favored to beat by five touchdowns after the opening quarter.

Things finally got going after that with Etienne ending a 93-yard drive on a fourth-and-goal TD from the 1.

Lawrence followed with his long touchdown throw to Ross and Bryant came back in a series later to lead a scoring drive with Tavien Feaster’s 1-yard touchdown.

NO. 3 GEORGIA 49, MID. TENNESSEE 7

Jake Fromm threw three touchdown passes and Elijah Holyfield ran for 100 yards, each playing only the first half, in Athens, Ga.

Georgia led 42-7 at halftime. It was an impressive warmup for the Bulldogs’ stretch of seven straight Southeastern Conference games, beginning with next week’s visit to Missouri. There were clouds but no rain in the game that was moved up to a noon kickoff due to Tropical Storm Florence. The game originally was scheduled to be played Saturday night.

The Bulldogs turned it into a rout quickly.

Freshman Justin Fields ran 15 yards for a touchdown last in the first half and threw a touchdowns pass in relief of Fromm. Jeremiah Holloman caught three passes for 90 yards, including an 11-yard scoring pass from Fromm in the first quarter. Holloman was one of five Georgia wide receivers to combine for six touchdowns.

NO. 5 OKLAHOMA 37, IOWA ST. 27

Kyler Murray threw for 348 yards and three touchdowns in the Big 12 opener for both teams, in Ames, Iowa.

Marquise Brown had 191 yards receiving and a TD for the Sooners (3-0, 1-0 Big 12), who extended the nation’s longest road winning streak to 17 games while avenging a stunning home loss to the Cyclones a year ago.

BYU 24,

NO. 6 WISCONSIN 21

Squally Canada ran for 118 yards and two touchdowns and BYU handed mistake-prone Wisconsin its first nonconference home loss since 2003, in Madison, Wis.

The Cougars (2-1) tossed in a trick play, too, when receiver Aleva Hifo found open tight end Moroni Laulu-Pututau for a 31-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.

NO. 12 LSU 22, NO. 7 AUBURN 21

Cole Tracy kicked a 42yard field goal on the final play in Auburn, Ala.

Joe Burrow led LSU (3-0) down the field in the final minutes with clutch plays and two pass interference calls against Auburn (2-1). That set up Tracy’s field goal that was almost right down the middle and sent LSU players swarming onto the field to celebrate.

NO. 8 NOTRE DAME 22, VANDERBILT 17

Jalen Elliott knocked the ball loose from Vanderbilt receiver Kalija Lipscomb with 1:07 remaining to give Notre Dame a fourth-down stop in South Bend, Ind.

Kyle Shurmur threw for 326 yards and one touchdown for Vanderbilt (2-1), rallying his team back from a 16-3 halftime deficit. His fourth-and-4 pass from the Notre Dame 31 to Lipscomb, who caught a game-high 11 passes, was nicely thrown and the receiver almost made a reaching catch at the 11. But the safety Elliott, with some help from the ground, knocked the ball loose and incomplete.

NO. 9 STANFORD 30, UC DAVIS 10

K.J. Costello overcame a rough start to throw two touchdown passes to JJ Arcega-Whiteside in Stanford, Calif.

Costello threw interceptions on two of the first three drives of the game for the Cardinal (3-0) before settling in a bit against the FCS-level Aggies (2-1).

NO. 11 PENN ST. 63, KENT ST. 10

Trace McSorley accounted for five touchdowns and broke Penn State’s record for most rushing scores by a quarterback, in State College, Pa.

Taylor Cornelius ran for two touchdowns and passed for another in Stillwater, Okla.

Justice Hill ran for 123 yards and a touchdown, and Tylan Wallace had five catches for 105 yards for the Cowboys (3-0). It was one of the most important nonconference wins in Mike Gundy’s 14-year tenure as coach.

NO. 19 MICHIGAN 45, SMU 20

Shea Patterson threw three touchdown passes to Donovan Peoples-Jones in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Wolverines (2-1) didn’t score until Ben Mason converted a fourth down with a 1-yard TD run midway through the second quarter.

NO. 21 MIAMI 49, TOLEDO 24

Malik Rosier threw for two touchdowns and ran for three more in Toledo, Ohio.

The Hurricanes (2-1) never trailed and led 21-0 late in the first half, but Toledo (1-1) twice pulled back to within a touchdown. Even then, however, the defending Mid-American Conference champion couldn’t stop Rosier and Miami.