Clemson sacks Auburn
CLEMSON, S.C. — Kelly Bryant ran for two touchdowns after getting knocked hard to the ground and defensive end Austin Bryant had four of Clemson's 11 sacks in the No. 3 Tigers' 14-6 victory over Auburn on Saturday night.
This was billed as an early showcase between elite teams with dreams of the College Football Playoffs. Instead, Clemson's Bryants never gave Auburn (1-1) much of a chance.
Bryant, making his second career start at quarterback for defending national champion Clemson, appeared to be seriously hurt after he remained on the ground on a hit by Dontavius Russell. But after a few moments in the medical tent, Bryant returned to direct a pair of touchdown drives that gave Clemson (2-0) the lead for good.
Bryant's 3-yard run right before halftime put Clemson ahead 7-6. He finished the next possession with a spinning, 27-yard burst .
Clemson's defense squashed any chance of an Auburn comeback. Bryant was nearly unblockable and created havoc quarterback Jarrett Stidham and Auburn, which was held to 117 yards.
Austin Byrant sacked Stidham on Auburn's final two plays as the Baylor transfer desperately tried to get the ball downfield. Byrant threw for 181 yards on 19 of 29 passing. He also rushed for 68 yards.
TCU 28, Arkansas 7
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Darius Anderson ran for a career-high 106 yards and a touchdown and No. 23 TCU's defense dominated once again in a victory over Arkansas.
Anderson had 15 carries to help the Horned Frogs (2-0) win in Fayetteville for the first time since 1984 when both schools were in the Southwest Conference. The sophomore's previous rushing best was 103 yards in a victory over Texas last season.
Kenny Hill was 21-of-31 passing for 166 yards for TCU, and the Horned Frogs held the Razorbacks (1-1) to 267 yards of total offense — a week after allowing only 65 yards in a 63-0 victory over Jackson State.
Arkansas' Austin Allen was 9 of 23 for 138 yards, a year after accounting for four touchdowns in the Razorbacks' double-overtime win at TCU.
Alabama 41, Fresno State 10
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Jalen Hurts set the tone for Alabama early in the week and again to start the game.
The top-ranked Crimson Tide needed to play better Saturday against Fresno State, he told his teammates. Hurts certainly did.
He ran for 154 yards and two touchdowns and passed for a third score in No. 1 Alabama's victory, getting the Tide rolling with a 55-yard touchdown run two plays into the game.
Alabama (2-0) polished off the 44-point underdog Bulldogs (1-1) with a workmanlike performance on the heels of a hardhitting opening victory over No. 10 Florida State in Atlanta.
Hurts completed 14 of 18 passes for 128 yards, but his biggest play came in the opening minute. He kept on a zone read and sprinted for a touchdown, stepping out of a last-gasp tackle attempt at the 15.
LSU 45, Chattanooga 10
BATON ROUGE, La. — Derrius Guice ran for 102 yards and two touchdowns, D.J. Chark returned a punt 65 yards for a score, and No. 12 LSU overcame bouts of sloppiness in a victory over Chattanooga.
Danny Etling passed for 227 yards and a TD, connecting on eight of 14 attempts in less than three quarters of work for the Tigers (2-0). Etling's scoring pass was a 36-yarder to Drake Davis, who had only one career catch before that.
Chark had three receptions for 103 yards, including a 48-yard catch from Etling in the third quarter. Chark also had a 79-yard punt return for a would-be TD negated by a holding penalty.
While LSU coach Ed Orgeron is bound to be pleased overall by a two-game start in which the Tigers have outscored opponents 72-10 combined, he also could be concerned about a rash of penalties and place-kicking problems as his team prepares for its first Southeastern Conference game next week.
LSU was penalized 11 times for 74 yards, one week after committing 10 penalties for 86 yards against BYU.
Several early penalties helped Chattanooga (0-2), a member of the NCAA's second-tier Football Championship Subdivision, drive inside the LSU 10 on the game's opening series for an early 3-0 lead.
South Carolina 31, Missouri 13
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Deebo Samuel ran for two touchdowns to help South Carolina cruise to a victory over Missouri in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
Missouri (1-1, 0-1) led 10-0 early in the second quarter when tight end Jason Reese slipped past linebacker T.J. Brunson, hauled in a Drew Lock pass and outran his pursuers. South Carolina (2-0, 1-0) trailed for only 30 seconds. Samuel returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown — his second TD return in two weeks. After the Gamecocks' Jamyest Williams intercepted Lock, Samuel struck again, scoring on a 25-yard jet sweep. Samuel finished with five catches for 45 yards.
Jake Bentley was 18 of 28 for 187 yards passing and threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Hayden Hurst to stretch South Carolina's lead to 21-10 midway through the third quarter. Hurst added a 2-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.
Lock had 245 yards passing and a touchdown, but was intercepted twice.
Georgia 20, Notre Dame 19
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Lorenzo Carter and Davin Bellamy led a swarming Georgia defense and the No. 15 Bulldogs got just enough plays from an offense starting a freshman quarterback to beat No. 24 Notre Dame in their first road trip to this part of country in more than five decades.
The first regular-season meeting between the storied programs was a hard-hitting, penalty filled tug-o-war.
Rodrigo Blankenship kicked a 30-yard field goal with 3:39 remaining to give the Bulldogs (2-0) a one-point lead, and that was enough for Carter and company.
Georgia stopped Brandon Wimbush and the Fighting Irish (1-1) on downs once. Then, on Notre Dame's final drive, Bellamy blind-sided the quarterback and Carter recovered the fumble with 1:27 left to seal it.
Wimbush scored Notre Dame's only touchdown in the first half on a 1-yard run and finished 20 for 40 for 210 yards with two lost fumbles. Carter had a strip sack in the second-half, too.
Vanderbilt 42, Alabama A&M 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt quarterback Kyle Shurmur threw four touchdown passes and ran for another as the Commodores smashed Alabama A&M, improving to 2-0 for the first time under fourth-year coach Derek Mason.
The Commodores dominated all facets of the game as they readied for next week's home challenge against 19th-ranked Kansas State. Shurmur completed 12-of-12 passes for 175 yards and three scores in the first half alone, finishing 15-for-18 for 202 yards. Vanderbilt outgained the Bulldogs 291-38 in the opening two quarters, holding Alabama A&M (0-2) to three first downs. The Commodores blocked one Bulldogs punt - converting it into a touchdown - and deflected another. Vanderbilt scored touchdowns on five-of-six possessions in the opening half.
Tennessee 42, Indiana State 7
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Ty Chandler returned the opening kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown, Carlin Fils-aime had two scoring runs and No. 25 Tennessee breezed to a victory over Football Championship Subdivision program Indiana State.
Five days after John Kelly ran for four touchdowns in Tennessee's 42-41 double-overtime triumph over Georgia Tech, he shared the spotlight with his backups in a game that had much less suspense. Kelly ran for 80 yards and caught five passes for 60 yards to lead the Volunteers (2-0) in rushing and receiving, but two guys below him on the depth chart scored Tennessee's first three touchdowns.
Chandler took the opening kickoff just to the right of the right hash, easily shed an attempted arm tackle as he approached his own 35 and ran untouched the rest of the way. Chandler is the first Tennessee true freshman to score on a kickoff return since Leonard Scott did it against Georgia in 1999.
Kentucky 27, Eastern Kentucky 16
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Quarterback Stephen Johnson played perhaps the most critical role in the Kentucky Wildcats' win over the FCS Colonels after trailing 13-3 in the second quarter.
Nearly two years after rallying late to eventually beat EKU 34-27 in overtime, Johnson and Kentucky (2-0) certainly had their work cut for them overcoming ineffective play on both sides of the ball.