Florida St. wins thriller over LSU on blocked kick
NEW ORLEANS — Shyheim Brown blocked LSU’s extra-point attempt with no time left to give Florida State a 24-23 victory Sunday night, spoiling Brian Kelly’s debut as Tigers coach.
Despite a slew of mistakes including a muffed punt with 2:15 left, LSU came within the extra point of tying it in the wild finish.
Florida State’s Treshaun Ward fumbled at the LSU 1 with 1:20 to go, and Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels drove LSU for a touchdown on a 2-yard pass to Jaray Jenkins with no time left.
With LSU fans celebrating an apparent twotouchdown comeback in the final 4:07 — and Florida State fans bracing themselves for what could have gone down as an infamous implosion — Brown deflected Damian Ramos’ kick, touching off a Florida State celebration during which players wildly rushed the field.
Jordan Travis passed for 260 yards and two touchdowns for Florida State.
Travis’ scoring passes came on a 39-yard throw to Ontaria Wilson on a flea flicker and a 27-yard pass that Wilson corralled with one hand while being interfered with. Travis also rushed for 31 yards on a combination of designed runs and scrambles, repeatedly leaving LSU pass rushers grasping air as he spun or darted away from pressure.
Sanders’ 5 TDs lift Jackson St.
MIAMI — Shedeur Sanders completed his first 17 passes and threw for five touchdowns to lead Jackson State past Florida A&M 59-3 in the Orange Blossom Classic in Miami.
Sanders, son of coach Deion Sanders, completed 29 of 33 passes for 323 yards and the Jackson State defensive effort resulted in an interception return, fumble return and blocked punt for touchdowns.
Shapen sharp as Baylor romps
Blake Shapen had known since the end of spring practice that he would be the starting quarterback for 10thranked Baylor.
Shapen completed 17 of 20 passes for 214 yards with two long touchdowns and had a nifty dive into the end zone for another score on the final play of the first half as the Bears beat FCS team Albany 69-10 in their season opener Saturday night.
The reigning Big 12 champion Bears have a six-game winning streak, matching fourth-ranked Clemson for the longest active among FBS teams.
Texas Tech routs after QB injury
Donovan Smith came off the bench to throw four touchdown passes, Tahj Brooks ran for three scores and Texas Tech blew out lower-division Murray State 63-10 in coach Joey McGuire’s debut in Lubbock.
Smith had scoring tosses on his first two passes after replacing Tyler Shough in the first half. McGuire indicated he planned to play both, but said at halftime Shough was injured and probably wouldn’t return.
Shough, whose 2021 season ended after four games with a broken left collarbone, was on the sideline in the second half with a sling on that same non-throwing shoulder. McGuire said the team would know more about the injury Sunday.