Miss. St. stuns champion LSU
New Mississippi State coach Mike Leach put his “Air Raid” offense in the hands of a transfer quarterback who showed up over the summer, and the results were like nothing defending national champion LSU or the Southeastern Conference has ever seen.
K.J. Costello passed for an SEC-record 623 yards and five touchdowns, and the visiting Bulldogs knocked off sixth-ranked LSU 44-34 on Saturday.
“I don’t know if any individual could visualize this taking place,” said Costello, who was Stanford’s starter in 2017 and 2018 before head and hand injuries sidelined him last season. “I wasn’t visualizing sitting here breaking records. … I’m excited about the potential that this offense has because, believe it or not, we did leave a lot on the field today.”
Costello’s passing yardage in his first game since moving from Silicon Valley to Starkville, Mississippi, eclipsed the 544 yards Georgia’s Eric Zeier had against Southern Mississippi in 1993 to set the conference record.
He needed most of it to make up for his two interceptions and two lost fumbles, which helped LSU rally to tie the game at 34 before he engineered two late scoring drives.
LSU became the first defending national champion to lose its opening game since Michigan in 1998 lost at Notre Dame and had its 16-game winning streak, the nation’s best, snapped.
Kansas State 38, Oklahoma 35
Skylar Thompson threw for 334 yards and ran for three touchdowns, and the visiting Wildcats rallied from 21 points down to stun the No. 3 Sooners. Freshman Deuce Vaughn caught four passes for 129 yards and ran for a touchdown in Kansas State’s first road victory over a top-three team.
Oklahoma freshman Spencer Rattler passed for 387 yards and four touchdowns but threw three interceptions.
After Nick Allen blocked Reeves Mundschau’s punt, the Wildcats took over at the Oklahoma 38-yard line. Vaughn’s 38-yard touchdown run and the extra point tied it at 35 with 8:17 to play. Blake Lynch hit a 50-yard field goal with 4:32 left, and Jahron McPherson intercepted Rattler’s pass in the final minute.
Texas 63, Texas Tech 56 (OT)
Sam Ehlinger threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Moore in overtime, sending the Longhorns to a wild victory that saw them rally with two touchdowns in the final three minutes of regulation.
Moore’s second touchdown catch came with 40 seconds left, and Ehlinger’s two-point conversion pass to Brennan Eagles tied it to get to overtime. Texas got the ball first and quickly scored when Ehlinger and Moore connected for their third score of the day.
Texas Tech’s possession ended when Alan Bowman was forced to scramble and threw a wild pass that was intercepted.
Georgia 37, Arkansas 10
Stetson Bennett threw two touchdown passes in the third quarter, and the No. 4 Bulldogs rallied to beat the host Razorbacks. Bennett replaced D’Wan Mathis in the second quarter and finished 20-for-29 for 211 yards. Bennett put the Bulldogs ahead to stay when he tossed a 19-yard touchdown pass to George Pickens and ran in the twopoint conversion to make it 13-10 with six minutes left in the third.
Florida 51, Ole Miss 35
Kyle Pitts caught four of Kyle Trask’s six touchdown passes, and the No. 5 Gators spoiled coach Lane Kiffin’s debut with the host Rebels. Trask completed 30 of 42 passes for 416 yards, throwing touchdown passes of one, 16, 71 and 17 yards to Pitts. The star tight end had 170 yards receiving.
Auburn 29, Kentucky 13
Bo Nix threw for 233 yards and three second-half touchdowns, including a pair to Seth Williams, and the No. 8 Tigers pulled away from the No. 23 Wildcats at home. The Tigers turned a three-quarter scare into a comfortable win by capitalizing on a late turnover and Kentucky’s failed fake punt.
UCF 51, East Carolina 28
Dillon Gabriel threw for 408 yards and four touchdowns to help the No. 13 Knights roll over the host Pirates. Jaylon Robinson and Marlon Williams had huge games. Robinson had nine catches for 150 yards and two touchdowns, and Williams had a career-best 13 catches for 136 yards.
Cincinnati 24, Army 10
Desmond Ridder passed for 258 yards and two touchdowns as the No. 14 Bearcats won at home against the No. 22 Black Knights.