STARS
-Armanti Edwards, Appalachian State, threw for 227 yards, three scores and rushed for another in a 34-32 upset of Michigan.
-Matt Ryan, Boston College, completed 32-of-52 passes for a career-high 408 yards and five touchdowns and the Eagles College beat Wake Forest 38-28.
-DeMarco Murray, Oklahoma, scored five touchdowns and the Sooners crushed North Texas 79-10.
-Tim Tebow, Florida, threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another as the Gators crushed Western Kentucky 49-3.
-Nate Kmic, Mount Union, rushed for four touchdowns and finished with 151 yards on seven carries in a record-breaking 75-7 win over Averett.
-Tashard Choice, Georgia Tech, rushed for a career-high 196 yards and two touchdowns and the Yellow Jackets beat Notre Dame 33-3.
-Ben Olson, UCLA, threw five touchdown passes in a 45-17 victory over Stanford.
-Marlon Lucky rushed for a career-high 233 yards and three touchdowns in Nebraska’s 52-10 rout of Nevada.
– Sean Lee, Penn State, had seven tackles, a forced fumble and a sack in a 59-0 rout of Florida International.
-Darren McFadden, Arkansas, ran for 151 yards and a touchdown and also threw for a score in a 46-26 victory over Troy
-Kevin Smith, UCF, rushed for a career-high 217 yards with two touchdowns, and Central Florida held on to beat North Carolina State 25-23.
-Earl Bennett, Vanderbilt, had 13 catches for a school-record 223 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-17 win over Richmond.
-Jehuu Caulcrick, Michigan State, ran for 93 yards and a career-high four touchdowns as the Spartans rolled past Alabama-Birmingham, 55-18.
BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE
Julian Rauch’s 24-yard field goal with 26 seconds left put Appalachian State ahead of Michigan and Corey Lynch blocked a field goal in the final seconds to seal one of college football’s biggest upsets. The two-time defending champions from college football’s former Division I-AA beat Michigan 34-32. No Division I-AA team had beaten a team ranked in The Associated Press poll from 1989-2006.
CLOSE CALL
Brandon Cox threw a touchdown pass to Gabe McKenzie with 2:01 remaining and Antonio Coleman then returned a fumble for a score Saturday to give No. 18 Auburn an come-from-behind 23-13 win over Kansas State.
IN MEMORY OF COACH HOEPPNER
Indiana playing in their first game after the death of coach Terry Hoeppner routed Indiana State 55-7. Quarterback Kellen Lewis completed 12-of-21 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns. The 55-7 victory was the most lopsided season-opening win for Indiana since a 72-0 victory over Fort Knox on Sept. 16, 1944.
HURTING
Ohio State’s starting defensive end Lawrence Wilson broke his right leg midway through the second quarter against Youngstown State. … Illinois quarterback Juice Williams left the game against Missouri early in the second quarter after taking a shot to the head. Williams ran to the right side and took what appeared to be a helmet-to-helmet hit from Missouri’s Hardy Ricks. No penalty was called. He was replaced by redshirt freshman Eddie McGee.
DYNAMIC DUOS
Pat White threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores, and Steve Slaton scored four times in No. 3 West Virginia’s 62-24 rout of Western Michigan. It was the Mountaineers’ highest scoring game since an 80-7 win over Rutgers in 2001. White finished 10-of-18 for 192 yards and 97 yards rushing, while Slaton finished with 109 yards. … Arkansas’ two 1,000-yard rushers last season, Darren McFadden and Felix Jones combined for 280 yards rushing in the Razorbacks 46-26 victory over Troy. McFadden ran for 151 yards a touchdown and threw a touchdown pass, while Jones ran for 129 yards and a score and returned a kickoff for a touchdown.
ADRIAN WHO?
Freshman DeMarco Murray became the first Oklahoma player to score five touchdowns in his debut, as the No. 8 Sooners beat North Texas 79-10 Saturday night. The school record is Quentin Griffin’s six touchdowns in Oklahoma’s 63-14 win against Texas in 2000. Oklahoma ended up with its most lopsided win in a season opener since it beat New Mexico State 73-3 to start the 1989 season and its second-highest point total since 1919.
IRISH STING
Georgia Tech’s defense shut down Notre Dame in a 33-3 victory. The only score for Notre Dame came on a 24-yard field goal by Brandon Walker in the third quarter. The Fighting Irish were held to minus-8 yards rushing.
DANDY-VANDY
Vanderbilt beat Richmond 41-17 Saturday night. The Commodores won its season-opening game at home for the first time since 1997 and scored its most points in an opener since 1950.
HEALING
After 4 1/2 months of mourning, No. 9 Virginia Tech struggled to beat East Carolina 17-7, even hearing boos from a home crowd that honored a plea not to jeer the Pirates. The Hokies appeared a bit overwhelmed by the burden of what they’ll face all year: rallying a school that is desperate to move on from the worst mass shooting in modern American history. The 32 victims of April’s campus massacre were honored in a heart-tugging pregame ceremony, which was followed by an uninspiring performance on the field.
ONE NITTANY LION
Penn State welcomed 80-year-old Joe Paterno back to the sidelines with a suffocating show of defense. The 17th-ranked Nittany Lions routed Florida International 59-0, as Paterno made his first appearance on the sidelines since breaking his left leg last year at Wisconsin. A cart took Paterno off the field at Wisconsin last November after two players ran into him on the sideline in a violent collision. He spent the next week at home while recovering from surgery – missing a game for the first time since 1977.
FLYING HIGH
Matt Ryan threw for five touchdowns – second-most at Boston College only to Doug Flutie – to help the Eagles beat Wake Forest 38-28. Ryan completed 32-of-52 passes, and threw for more than 400 yards against Wake Forest for the second consecutive year. No BC quarterback has thrown for as many as five touchdowns in a game since Flutie connected for six against North Carolina en route to the 1984 Heisman Trophy.
REMEMBER WHEN
Ohio State’s Jim Tressel was the coach at Youngstown State for 15 years and led the Penguins to four I-AA championships before taking over the Buckeyes in 2001.
STRONG IN DEFEAT
Mike Hart rushed for 188 yards and three touchdowns in Michigan’s 34-32 lost to Appalachian State. … Anthony Alridge had 22 carries for 205 yards and a touchdown, he also caught three passes for 88 yards and another score but Houston lost to Oregon 48-27. … Kenneth Moore tied a Wake Forest record with 15 catches – one short of the ACC record held by four players – for 126 yards and a touchdown in the Demon Deacons’ 38-28 loss to Boston College. …
THE REPLACEMENTS
Todd Boeckman completed 17-of-23 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns, in his first game replacing Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith and Ohio State beat Youngstown St. 38-6. … Notre Dame’s replacements for Brady Quinn were shut down in the Fighting Irish’s 33-3 loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday. Demetrius Jones, Evan Sharpley and Jimmy Clausen combined to go 15-for-22 for 122 yards.
SCORING SPREE
Nate Kmic rushed for four touchdowns in the first quarter as Mount Union shattered the NCAA record for points in a quarter, piling up 52 in its 75-7 rout of Averett. The defending Division III champion Purple Raiders broke the previous record of 50 points, scored by Alabama State in the second quarter against Prairie View on Oct. 26, 1991.
DEBUTS
– Michigan State rolled past Alabama-Birmingham, 55-18, giving Mark Dantonio a win in his debut as Spartan coach. UAB coach Neil Callaway also made his debut.
– Randy Shannon’s coaching debut at Miami was a breeze. Unranked entering a season for the first time since 1998, Miami beat Marshall 31-3.
– Mario Cristobal’s debut with Florida International was one to forget as the Golden Pathers were beaten by Penn State 59-0.
– UCLA defeated Stanford 45-17 to spoil the debut of Jim Harabaugh.
– Jeff Jagodzinski got a victory in his coaching debut as Boston College defeated Wake Forest 38-28.
– Air Force easily defeated South Carolina St. 34-3, to earn new coach Troy Calhoun his first victory.
– North Carolina beat James Madison 37-14, to give Butch Davis his first victory as Tarheel coach.
– Central Florida upset North Carolina State 25-23, spoiling the debut of Tom O’Brien.
– Alabama rolled over West Carolina 52-6, to give Nick Saban his first win as the Crismon Tide’s coach.
– Oklahoma crushed North Texas 79-10 making Tom Dodge a loser in his debut as coach of the Mean Green.
– Central Michigan lost to Kansas 52-7, in Butch Jones debut as coach.
– Stan Brock lost his first game as Army head coach 22-14 against Akron.
STREAKING
With a 34-32 victory over Michigan, Appalachian State has won 15 straight games, the longest streak in the nation. … Alabama beat West Carolina 52-6 to win his sixth consecutive season opener. … TCU beat Baylor 27-0 to win their ninth straight game and their fifth straight against Big 12 teams. … Steve Spurrier won his 15th straight college opener with a 28-14 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette. …
SPEAKING
“I wouldn’t call it embarrassing because that takes away from them. We’re disappointed. I can tell you that. It is one of the biggest losses ever, but give all the credit to Appalachian State.”- Michigan’s Mike Hart after the Wolverines 34-32 loss to Appalachian State.