McNamara at odds with Harbaugh

Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara had his first opportunity to share thoughts publicly on sharing starting quarterback duties with J.J. McCarthy early this season.

The Big Ten championship winning quarterback and team captain didn’t hold back, making it clear he was surprised coach Jim Harbaugh chose to split who takes the first snap over the first two weeks.

McNamara had a lackluster performance that was made moot by a dominant defense as the eighth-ranked Wolverines routed Colorado State 51-7 Saturday.

The fourth-year player started the opener and is scheduled to sit at the beginning of the Hawaii game next week when McCarthy gets a shot.

“I would definitely say it’s pretty unusual,” said McNamara, sounding surly. “It was kind of a thing that I wasn’t expecting. By the end of camp, I thought I had my best camp and put myself in a good position.”

When it was relayed to Harbaugh that McNamara was not happy, he didn’t seem to be concerned.

“I don’t think I have to manage anything,” Harbaugh said. “I just need to let them go out there and compete and do what they do.”

McNamara began 1 of 5 and finished 9 of 18 for 136 yards, a total boosted by a short pass he threw that Roman Wilson turned into a 61-yard touchdown early in the first quarter.

With McNamara under center, the Wolverines stalled at the Rams 13, 8 and 16 and settled for field goals in the first half that ended with them ahead 23-0.

“I thought he had a really good game,” Harbaugh said.

McCarthy made the most of his limited opportunity to play — running for a 20-yard score and going 4 of 4 for 30 yards through the air — and his coach was quick to praise his play.

“He was electric when he got in,” Harbaugh said. “There’s no question about that. He also went through his reads very well. He was super cool, calm and collected.”

Iowa finds safety net: Iowa’s defense came up with two second-half safeties, and the Hawkeyes opened the season with a 7-3 win over South Dakota State, of the FCS, on Saturday.

Neither team could do much offensively. Iowa finished with 166 yards of offense, while South Dakota State had 120. The two teams combined for more punts (21) than first downs (16).

Texas A&M shuts out Sam Houston: Haynes King threw for a career-high 364 yards and three touchdowns to lead No. 6 Texas A&M to a 31-0 win over Sam Houston Saturday in a game that included an almost three-hour weather delay.

Sooners roll UTEP: Dillon Gabriel passed for two touchdowns and ran for another and No. 9 Oklahoma rolled past UTEP 45-13 on Saturday for Brent Venables’ first career victory as a head coach.

Venables was a full-time assistant for the previous 26 years in stints at Kansas State, Oklahoma and Clemson. He took over after Lincoln Riley left to take the Southern California job last December.

Gabriel, a transfer from Central Florida, connected on 15 of 23 passes for 233 yards.

USC transfer Dart helps Mississippi beat Troy: Southern California transfer Jaxson Dart directed three consecutive touchdown drives in the first half to help No. 21 Mississippi beat Troy 28-10 on Saturday in the opener for both teams.

Ole Miss built a 21-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes on drives of 82, 68 and 83 yards and was never seriously threatened. Dart was 18 of 27 for 154 yards, with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Malik Heath to cap the opening series of the second half.

Houston escapes UTSA in 3 overtimes: Houston quarterback Clayton Tune leaped over a defender to score on a 13-yard run and the 24th-ranked Cougars escaped with 37-35 victory over UTSA in three overtimes Saturday.

Per NCAA rules for a third overtime, Tune’s winning run was a 2-point conversion. The Roadrunners were unable to match the score as their final pass floated out of bounds. Houston rallied from a 14-point deficit in the second half at the Alamadome to snap UTSA’s 10-game home winning streak.

Jefferson leads Arkansas by Cincy: KJ Jefferson threw for 223 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Trey Knox, and ran for 62 yards and another score to lead No. 19 Arkansas past No. 23 Cincinnati 31-24 on Saturday.

Stoops hits milestone with Kentucky:

Barion Brown returned the secondhalf kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, Keidron Smith’s fumble return less than a minute later set up another score and No. 20 Kentucky pulled away to beat Miami (Ohio) 37-13 on Saturday.

Mark Stoops’ 60th win tied him with Paul “Bear” Bryant as the Wildcats’ winningest coach in 10 seasons with the program.