Top 25 roundup: No. 1 Florida State opens title defense with win over Oklahoma State
Jameis Winston threw for 370 yards and scored on a sparkling 28-yard run, and No. 1 Florida State opened defense of its national title with a 37-31 victory Saturday night over Oklahoma State on the same field where this year’s champion will be crowned.
Winston wasn’t nearly as efficient as he was in the college debut that jump-started his Heisman Trophy season a year ago, but made plays when he had to as the Seminoles (1-0) tied a school record with their 17th straight victory.
The Cowboys (0-1) were 19-point underdogs in the $1.2 billion home of the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas, but stayed close when J.W. Walsh matched Winston’s scoring run with a 24-yard sprint and dive across the goal line to get within 27-24 early in the fourth quarter.
“To be able to battle back the way we did with all the young guys taking the field for us, it was good to see,” said Walsh, who had 203 yards passing and led the Cowboys with 51 yards on the ground. “We’re looking forward to the rest of the season.”
(2) Alabama 33, West Virginia 23: Blake Sims was good enough in his first start at quarterback for the Crimson Tide, getting plenty of help from Amari Cooper, T.J. Yeldon and Derrick Henry, as they held off the Mountaineers in Atlanta.
Sims was 24-for-33 for 250 yards and added 42 running, playing every meaningful series. The fifth-year senior beat out Florida State transfer Jake Coker for the start.
(4) Oklahoma 48, Louisiana Tech 16: Trevor Knight passed for 252 yards and a touchdown and Keith Ford had 117 yards from scrimmage and scored two touchdowns to help the Sooners defeat the Bulldogs in Norman, Oklahoma.
(5) Ohio State 34, Navy 17: Redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett threw for 226 yards and two touchdowns in his college debut, and the Buckeyes beat Navy in Baltimore for its 25th consecutive regular-season victory.
(6) Auburn 45, Arkansas 21: Jeremy Johnson passed for 243 yards and two touchdowns in the first half and Nick Marshall returned from suspension with a 19-yard scoring run to lift the Tigers to a opening victory over the Razorbacks in Auburn, Alabama.
(12) Georgia 45, (16) Clemson 21: Todd Gurley ran for 198 yards and three touchdowns, returned a kickoff 100 yards for another score, and the Bulldogs gained some style points in the national race with a victory over the Tigers in Athens, Georgia.
(13) LSU 28, (14) Wisconsin 24: Kenny Hilliard scored on a 28-yard touchdown run to cap a fourth-quarter rally for the Tigers in a win over the Badgers at NRG Stadium in Houston.
The Tigers trailed 24-21 when Jalen Mills intercepted Tanner McEvoy’s pass at the LSU 47 with 11:04 left. Hilliard ran for 53 yards on the ensuing drive, capping it with a sprint through a hole on the right side.
The Tigers extended the nation’s longest regular-season nonconference winning streak to 46 games after coming back from a 24-7 deficit in the fourth quarter.
(17) Notre Dame 48, Rice 17: Everett Golson threw touchdown passes of 75 and 53 yards and ran for three more scores in his return after missing the 2013 season for academic impropriety, leading the Irish to a victory over the Owls in South Bend, Indiana. Golson was 14-of-22 passing for 295 yards and ran for 41 yards on 12 carries.
(20) Kansas State 55, Stephen F. Austin 16: Jake Waters threw for 223 yards and accounted for four touchdowns and Charles Jones ran for a pair of scores as the Wildcats State pounded the Lumberjacks in Manhattan, Kansas.
Waters threw touchdown passes to Tyler Lockett and Kody Cook while also running for two TDs as the Wildcats improved to 21-2 in season openers under longtime coach Bill Snyder.
(22) Nebraska 55, Florida Atlantic 7: Ameer Abdullah ran for a career-high 232 yards, Tommy Armstrong Jr. passed for a career-high 271 yards and two TDs, and the Cornhuskers defeated the Owls in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers rushed for 498 of their 784 total yards, the fifth-most in their program’s 125-year history. They won their 29th straight opener, the longest streak in the nation.
(23) North Carolina 56, Liberty 29: Marquise Williams accounted for four touchdowns while Jeff Schoettmer returned an interception for a score during North Carolina’s game-turning flurry, helping the Tar Heels beat the Flames in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Schoettmer’s 19-yard return came during a run of four touchdowns in fewer than 4 minutes, which jolted the Tar Heels out of a sluggish and mistake-prone performance in the season opener.
(24) Missouri 38, South Dakota State 18: Maty Mauk threw for 178 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Tigers past the Jackrabbits in the season opener for both teams in Columbia, Missouri. Mauk seemed at ease early, finding receiver Darius White crossing behind the Jackrabbits’ defense for a 44-yard touchdown pass just 50 seconds into the game. The Tigers extended their lead to 21-10 at halftime and never trailed.