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Murray stars, Anderson hurt; No. 6 Sooners rout UCLA

By The Associated Press

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Kyler Murray threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more scores, and No. 6 Oklahoma lost star running back Rodney Anderson to a leg injury in a 49-21 victory over UCLA on Saturday.

Anderson ran for 10 yards on the final play of the first quarter, and then got up slowly. He limped off on his own, and trainers tended to the preseason All-Big 12 pick before he headed to the locker room. He was back on the bench later, out of uniform.

NO. 1 ALABAMA 57, ARKANSAS STATE 7

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Tua Tagovailoa passed for three first-quarter touchdowns and Jalen Hurts added two more before halftime for Alabama.

The Crimson Tide (2-0) racked up big plays on the way to a 40-0 halftime lead while rotating the quarterbacks who battled for the job throughout the offseason. Coach Nick Saban officially announced Tagovailoa would remain the starter Monday, but both were big parts of the plan again.

Tagovailoa finished 13 of 19 for 228 yards and four TDs. He led seven drives and tossed in runs of 15 and 12 yards in the second half. Tagovailoa had TD passes of 58 yards to Jerry Jeudy, 31 to Henry Ruggs III and 41 to DeVonta Smith — all in the first quarter — and tacked on a 14-yarder to Derek Kief.

NO. 3 GEORGIA 41, NO. 24 SOUTH CAROLINA 17

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Jake Fromm threw for 194 yards and a touchdown, all three of Georgia’s latest running combo scored touchdowns and the expected Southeastern Conference showdown turned into a blowout.

The Gamecocks (1-1, 0-1) came in ranked for the first time in four years, and some thought they had a chance of upsetting the defending SEC champions early in the season. Instead, the Bulldogs (2-0, 1-0) used dominating offense and suffocating defense to win their fourth straight over South Carolina.

NO. 4 OHIO STATE 52, RUTGERS 3

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Dwayne Haskins Jr. threw four touchdown passes and Ohio State rolled to the 900th victory in program history.

Johnnie Dixon grabbed two of Haskins’ scoring strikes, and backup quarterback Tate Martell added another touchdown pass and a 47-yard scoring run on a gray, misty afternoon. The Buckeyes, playing in their second game without suspended coach Urban Meyer, piled up 579 offensive yards.

Meyer was back conducting practices this week but will miss one more game — next week’s prime-time clash with No. 16 TCU — to finish out his three-game suspension for mismanaging fired assistant coach Zach Smith, who was accused to domestic abuse and other misbehavior. Co-offensive coordinator Ryan Day ran the show again and had few reasons to fret, save for the 11 penalties that cost Ohio State 131 yards.

NO. 5 WISCONSIN 45, NEW MEXICO 14

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Jonathan Taylor ran for a career-high 253 yards and three touchdowns, and Wisconsin asserted its dominance after allowing a score on the game-opening drive.

A.J. Taylor had 134 yards receiving and a score to help the Badgers (2-0) win their 41st straight home nonconference game. That’s the longest active streak in the FBS.

With the Lobos (1-1) down to third-string quarterback Sheriron Jones because of injuries, the Badgers converted two turnovers into touchdowns in a 5-minute span in the third quarter.

NO. 8 NOTRE DAME 24, BALL STATE 16

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Jalen Elliott had two interceptions that Notre Dame turned into touchdowns and the Fighting Irish held off stubborn Ball State.

The Irish, coming off an emotional 24-17 season-opening victory over Michigan, looked lackluster against the Mid-American Conference foe. The Cardinals (1-1) also played nothing like the 341⁄2-point underdogs they were labeled in the schools’ first meeting in football.

After going the entire 2017 season and last week without an interception by a safety, Elliott picked off a pair of Riley Neal’s passes that the offense converted into rushing touchdowns of 31 and 1 yards by junior Tony Jones Jr. for a 21-6 lead in the third quarter.

NO. 9 WASHINGTON 45, NORTH DAKOTA 3

SEATTLE (AP) — Jake Browning threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns, Ty Jones had two touchdown receptions, and Washington pulled away in the second half.

The Huskies home opener was a chance to regroup after the letdown of last week’s season opener loss to No. 7 Auburn. Browning was 23 of 37 passing with short TD passes to Jones and Cade Otton. Backup QB Jake Haener added a 12-yard TD pass to Jones in the fourth quarter.

NO. 12 VIRGINIA TECH 62, WILLIAM & MARY 17

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Steven Peoples had two first-half touchdown runs, and Josh Jackson threw for a touchdown and ran for another for Virginia Tech.

Jackson went to the bench before halftime with the Hokies (2-0) up 31-7, and backup Ryan Willis led a touchdown drive on his first college series.

The FCS-level Tribe (1-1) were outgained 401-100 in the opening 30 minutes, and 71 of their yards came on a pass from Shon Mitchell to Nick Muse, setting up their lone points in the half.

NO. 18 MISSISSIPPI STATE 31, KANSAS STATE 10

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Nick Fitzgerald returned from a suspension to throw two touchdown passes, Kylin Hill ran for 211 yards and accounted for three scores for Mississippi State.

It was the first road win over a Power Five opponent for the Bulldogs (2-0) since 1995 against Baylor.

Fitzgerald missed the Bulldogs’ bowl game last year with an injury, and then was suspended for last week’s blowout of Stephen F. Austin. But after getting off to a rusty start Saturday, the dual-threat QB threw for 154 yards and ran for 159 yards rushing as the Bulldogs piled up 372 on the ground.

Kansas State dropped to 1-1.

NO. 21 MICHIGAN 49, WESTERN MICHIGAN 3

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Shea Patterson threw three touchdown passes, one in each of the first three quarters, to help Michigan beat Western Michigan.

Patterson, the heralded transfer from Mississippi, was 12 of 17 for 125 yards. He connected for two scores to wide receivers after the position group accounted for a total of just three touchdowns last season for the Wolverines (1-1). Karan Higdon ran 140 of his 156 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter against the overmatched Broncos (0-2).

NO. 23 OREGON 62, PORTLAND STATE 14

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Justin Herbert threw for 250 yards and four touchdowns for Oregon before heading to the bench in the third quarter.

Herbert was 20 of 26 passes, and had 10 total touchdowns — nine passing and one on the ground — in the Ducks’ two opening victories. The have won 22nd straight nonconference games.

Portland State (0-2) has lost 15 in a row dating to 2016.

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