Associated Press
The top 25 roundup …
ARLINGTON, Texas ó Michael Ford ran for two touchdowns and Jarrett Lee admirably directed LSU’s offense in place of suspended quarterback Jordan Jefferson in the fourth-ranked Tigers’ season-opening 40-27 victory over No. 3 Oregon on Saturday night.
Missing cornerback-punt returner Cliff Harris was too much for Oregon to overcome in a rare season-opening matchup of top-five teams on a neutral field.
Lee’s touchdown pass came against the freshman defensive back filling in for Harris. And a fill-in punt returner had a fumble that led directly to an LSU touchdown.
LSU converted three of Oregon’s four turnovers into 20 points and won its 34th consecutive nonconference game.
No. 2 Alabama 48, Kent State 7
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ó AJ McCarron stepped up in Alabama’s quarterback race, throwing for a touchdown and 226 yards for the Crimson Tide.
Vying with Phillip Sims to replace Greg McElroy, McCarron had a 24-yard scoring toss to Marquis Maze and finished 14-of-23 passing.
No. 5 Boise St. 35, No. 19 Georgia 21
ATLANTA ó Kellen Moore and those BCS Busters from Boise State are off and running again, coming into the heart of mighty SEC country to beat up Georgia.
Moore threw for three touchdowns ó giving him 102 in his career ó and the No. 5 Broncos romped past the 19th-ranked Bulldogs 35-21 Saturday night, boosting their hopes of making another run to a major bowl while dealing a huge blow to embattled Georgia coach Mark Richt.
No. 6 Florida State 34, Louisiana-Monroe 0
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ó EJ Manuel threw for 252 yards and two touchdowns and backup quarterback Clint Trickett threw a touchdown pass on his first college play for Florida State.
No. 7 Stanford 57, San Jose State 3
STANFORD, Calif. ó Andrew Luck threw two touchdowns and ran for another score to lead Stanford.
The Heisman Trophy runner-up completed 17 of 26 passes for 171 yards.
No. 10 Nebraska 40, Chattanooga 7
LINCOLN, Neb. ó Taylor Martinez ran for 135 yards and three touchdowns out of Nebraska’s new no-huddle offense and the Cornhuskers won their first game as Big Ten members.
No. 15 Arkansas 51, Missouri State 7
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. ó Tyler Wilson threw for 260 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Jarius Wright, Joe Adams tied a Southeastern Conference record with two punt returns for touchdowns and Arkansas defeated Missouri State 51-7.
South Florida 23, No. 16 Notre Dame
SOUTH BEND, Ind. ó Kayvon Webster returned a fumble 96 yards for an early touchdown as South Florida beat Notre Dame in a game disrupted for hours because of storms.
The victory gave Skip Holtz an emotional victory in his return to Notre Dame, where he went to school and his dad Lou led the Irish to their last national title in 1988.
No. 18 Ohio State 42, Akron 0
COLUMBUS, Ohio ó Starting his first game at quarterback for Ohio State, Joe Bauserman ran for a touchdown and threw three TD passes to tight end Jake Stoneburner to lead the Buckeyes in a sweltering season opener.
No. 21 Missouri 17, Miami, Ohio 6
COLUMBIA, Mo. ó James Franklin ran for one touchdown and passed for the clinching score in his first career start, helping Missouri open with a victory over stubborn Miami of the MAC.
No. 22 Florida 41, Florida Atlantic 3
GAINESVILLE, Fla. ó John Brantley looked comfortable in Florida’s revamped offense, Chris Rainey scored three different ways and the 22nd-ranked Gators opened the Will Muschamp era by beating Florida Atlantic 38-3.
No. 23 Auburn 42, Utah State 38
AUBURN, Ala. ó With Cam Newton, Nick Fairly and a slew of other key players from last year’s national championship team having moved on, it was expected that Auburn would have a tough time following up its undefeated season with another title run.
No. 25 USC 19, Minnesota 17
LOS ANGELES ó Robert Woods caught a school-record 17 passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns, and USC hung on to spoil Jerry Kill’s coaching debut for Minnesota .
Matt Barkley completed a school-record 34 passes for 304 yards for the Trojans.