Associated Press
The Top 25 roundup …
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. ó To call Alabama tight end Michael Williams open would have been a stretch.
It didn’t stop A.J. McCarron from delivering a fastball that must have made lots of Alabama fans think the Crimson Tide’s quarterback competition is over.
McCarron was poised and efficient in a rare trip to Big Ten country for No. 3 Alabama, throwing for 163 yards and a 5-yard touchdown that he zipped through traffic to Williams as the Tide beat No. 23 Penn State 27-11 on Saturday.
Alabama completed a sweep of the home-and-home series between the two storied programs with a methodical and smothering performance reminiscent of last year’s 24-3 win in Tuscaloosa.
Both teams came into the second week of the season with unsettled quarterback issues. At Alabama (2-0), those now appear to be settled.
“That’s not my concern. That’s why coach make the calls,” McCarron said. “Coach tells me to go out and I’m going to play.”
Playing in front of the largest crowd ever to see an Alabama football game, McCarron was 19 for 31 with no turnovers.
“Not just myself, the whole offense did a great job of not allowing turnovers and the defense got us turnovers,” the sophomore said. “That’s the way we have to play. If we keep playing like that, it’s going to be a special team.”
McCarron started the Tide’s first game against Kent State but had to share the job with Phillip Sims. This week he was on his own. He gave coach Nick Saban no reason to make a change until the game was out of reach.
Saban, of course, was not about to declare McCarron the unchallenged No. 1.
“We still have a competition at the position,” Saban said. “We really do feel like we have two very good players and we want both guys to continue to develop. But I thought A.J. did a nice job today.”
Nittany Lions fans might be wondering if either Robert Bolden or Matt McGloin are the answer at quarterback for Penn State (1-1). They combined to go 12 for 39 for 144 yards. McGloin completed 1 of 10 for no yards. Bolden led a late scoring drive and threw an interception.
No. 5 Florida St 62, Charleston Southern 10
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ó Charleston Southern coach Jay Mills says his team is getting better.
Bold words, it might seem, after a 62-10 loss Saturday to No. 5 Florida State. But an improvement from a 62-0 defeat last week at Central Florida.
Charleston Southern (0-2) snapped a drought of 11 quarters without a touchdown.
No. 8 Wisconsin 35, Oregon State 0
MADISON, Wis. ó Russell Wilson threw three touchdowns and Wisconsin overcame a slow start.
With Oregon Stateís defense stuffing running backs Montee Ball and James White early on, Wisconsin pounced on special teams mistakes and leaned on Wilson and the defense to do the rest.
In his second career start for the Badgers (2-0), Wilson was 17 of 21 for 189 yards and the three touchdowns, including a pair to tight end Jacob Pedersen. Wisconsinís running game broke through after halftime, and Ball had a pair of touchdowns in the second half.
Sean Mannion most of the snaps at quarterback while the game still was in doubt but struggled to move the ball for Oregon State (0-2).
No. 13 Oregon 69, Nevada 20
EUGENE, Ore. ó Darron Thomas matched a school record with six touchdown passes and No. 13 Oregon bounced back from its season-opening loss.
LaMichael James ran for 67 yards and a touchdown, caught a scoring pass from Thomas and returned a punt for a score to help the Ducks (1-1) to their 17th straight victory at Autzen Stadium.
No. 15 Ohio State 27, Toledo 22
COLUMBUS, Ohio ó The Buckeyesí 90 years of in-state domination almost ended on a single play.
John Simon pressured backup Toledo quarterback Terrance Owens, forcing an incompletion on fourth down with 48 seconds left.
The Rockets (1-1) drove from their own 28 and were 17 yards away from becoming the first in-state team to beat the Buckeyes since 1921. Ohio State is 43-0-1 against its closest neighbors since that long ago 7-6 setback to Oberlin.
Auburn 41, No. 16 Mississippi State 34
AUBURN, Ala. ó Ryan Smith stopped the Bulldogsí Chris Relf at the goal line on the final play.
Relf kept the ball on an option and headed for the end zone before Smith went low and brought the 240-pound quarterback down for the Tigers (2-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference), who had gone from defending national champions to unranked underdog after needing a furious rally to beat Utah State.
This time they held on against the Bulldogs (1-1, 0-1), who nearly pulled off a similar comeback to force overtime.
They marched 66-plus yards in the final 2:52 with only one pass. Before the gameís last play, Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen raced to an official, signaling timeout, and managed to get three seconds put back on the clock.
No. 17 Michigan State 44, Florida Atlantic 0
EAST LANSING, Mich. ó Kirk Cousins threw for 183 yards and two touchdowns, and Michigan State held Florida Atlantic to one first down.
B.J. Cunningham caught five passes for 73 yards, breaking a tie with Matt Trannon for Michigan Stateís career lead in receptions. The Spartans (2-0) led 27-0 at halftime and ended up outgaining FAU 434-48.
No. 19 West Virginia 55, Norfolk State 12
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. ó Geno Smith threw for 371 yards and four scores and the Mountaineers scored on their first seven possessions of the second half to erase a two-point halftime deficit to an FCS opponent.
No. 25 TCU 35, Air Force 19
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. ó TCU brushed off the Baylor blues and routed Air Force for its 18th straight win in the Mountain West Conference.
The Horned Frogs (1-1) were efficient in bouncing back from their stunning 50-48 loss at Baylor last week that ended their BCS-best 25-game regular-season winning streak.