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.

“I’ve known McNamara a long time,” coach Jay Norvell said after his Colorado State debut. “He’s from Reno (Nevada). No. 9 (McCarthy) is athletic. He goes in there and runs the zone read and keeps the drive alive. He’s different. I’ll let Jimmy worry about that.”

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 FCS’ South Dakota State 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).

“Obviously a very unusual scoring line,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “You’ve got 3 (in the first quarter), 2 (in the third quarter), 2 in the fourth. I’ve never been around a game like that.”

Texas A&M shuts out Sam Houston: Haynes King threw for a career-high 364 yards and three long 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.

“We’ve got a long way to go,” Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher said. “We’ve got to get a lot better... just got to keep developing in the things we do.”

King, who was named the starter last week after beating out two others in camp, threw touchdown passes of 66, 63 and 43 yards in the opener for both teams. King also threw two interceptions in an inconsistent performance in his return after breaking his leg in the second game last season.

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. Eric Gray rushed for 102 yards, Brayden Willis caught two touchdown passes and Marcus Major rushed for two scores for the Sooners.

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.

Transfer Zach Evans rushed for 130 yards on 20 carries as Ole Miss finished with 433 yards of total offense. The Rebels scored on 2-yard runs in the first half by Ulysses Bentley IV, Jonathan Mingo and Quinshon Judkins.