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Top 25 Roundup

No. 5 Ohio State 77, Oregon State 31

COLUMBUS, Ohio — With coach Urban Meyer serving a suspension, new starting quarterback Dwayne Haskins Jr. had a record-setting day, throwing five touchdown passes to help Ohio State rout Oregon State in the opener for both teams.

The Buckeyes shook off Meyer’s first absence from the Ohio State sideline in six years, scoring on five on the first six possessions and overcoming some defensive sloppiness.

Meyer will be allowed to return to practice Monday, although his suspension by the university will last for two more games. He was sanctioned after an investigation showed he mismanaged former assistant Zach Smith, who was accused of domestic violence and other bad behavior.

No. 2 Clemson 48, Furman 7

CLEMSON, S.C. — Freshman Trevor Lawrence threw three touchdown passes and Clemson scored on all five of his drives in the season-opening rout. Lawrence was going 9 for 15 for 137 yards and no interceptions, and senior starter Kelly Bryant was 10 for 16 for 127 yards and a touchdown and ran five times for 44 yards and another score.

No. 3 Georgia 45, Austin Peay 0

ATHENS, Ga. — Jake Fromm threw two scoring passes while sharing time with freshman Justin Fields and Georgia showed off some new firepower.

Georgia flashed big-play potential, including a 59-yard touchdown pass from Fromm to Mecole Hardman and a 72-yard scoring run by Demetris Robertson, who was making his debut. Fromm completed 12 of 16 passes for 157 yards, including a 10-yard scoring pass to Riley Ridley.

Fields completed 7 of 8 passes for 63 yards, including a 12-yard scoring pass to Isaac Nauta. Fields also had three carries for 33 yards in his first opportunity to flash his dual-threat talents. Walk-on quarterback Matthew Downing played most of the second half.

No. 7 Oklahoma 63, Florida Atlantic 14

NORMAN, Okla. — Kyler Murray, taking over for Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield, passed for 209 yards and two touchdowns to lead Oklahoma.

Murray connected on 9 of 11 passes in just under one half. The first-round Major League Baseball draft pick also ran for 23 yards on four carries. It was Murray’s second college start since transferring from Texas A&M after the 2015 season.

No. 9 Auburn 21, No. 6 Washington 16

ATLANTA — Jatarvious Whitlow ran 10 yards for a touchdown with 6:15 remaining and the Auburn defense came through at the end, leading the Tigers in the opener.

Trailing 16-15 after missing a two-point conversion on their opening drive of the game, Auburn drove 76 yards in 10 plays for the winning score. Jarrett Stidham kept the drive going early with a 12-yard pass to Chandler Cox on third-and-9. Then, facing third-and-7 deep in Washington territory, Auburn handed off inside to Whitlow, who knocked over a Washington defender as he smashed into the end zone.

Washington drove to the Auburn 37 with plenty of time to pull off the comeback, but Myles Gaskin was thrown for a 3-yard loss and Jake Browning was stymied by a fierce pass rush on back-to-back plays to preserve the Tigers’ victory.

Stidham was 26 of 36 for 273 yards for Auburn, including a 10-yard touchdown pass to Sal Cannella, who made a leaping grab in the end zone before landing flat on his back. Browning was 18 of 32 for 296 yards.

No. 15 USC 43, UNLV 21

LOS ANGELES — JT Daniels, the second freshman to start at quarterback in a season opener ever for USC, threw for 282 yards, and had a 43-yard touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown.

Daniels was 22 of 35, with fellow freshman St. Brown making seven receptions for 98 yards. The former Mater Dei High School teammates connected for their first college touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter.

No. 16 TCU 55, Southern 7

FORT WORTH, Texas — Shawn Robinson threw three touchdown passss and ran for two more scores while playing only the first half in TCU’s opening blowout.

The Horned Frogs scored on their first six drives to take a 38-7 lead before fellow sophomore Michael Collins, a former transfer from Penn, took over after halftime.

Derius Davis caught a 12-yard scoring pass from Robinson and the true freshman later returned a punt 73 yards for a score as the Frogs won their 17th consecutive home opener under coach Gary Patterson.

No. 22 Boise State 56, Troy 20

TROY, Ala. — Brett Rypien passed for 305 yards and four touchdowns, and Sean Modster had 167 yards receiving, to lead No. 22 Boise State to an opening victory over Troy on Saturday night.

The Broncos raced to a 35-7 halftime lead over a Trojans team coming off an 11-win season, largely with the Rypien-to-Modster connection. Then, Tyler Horton and Boise State’s defense mostly took over the scoring for the second half against Troy.

No. 18 Mississippi State 63, Stephen F. Austin 6

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Keytaon Thompson threw for 364 yards and five touchdowns, Mississippi State had 17 tackles for a loss and the 18th-ranked Bulldogs cruised in their opener.

Joe Moorhead won his first game as Mississippi State’s head coach, and the playbook showed some of the downfield passing prowess he’s promised over the past months. The Bulldogs had completions of 53, 84, 27 and 30 yards for touchdowns.

Thompson, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound sophomore, made his second career start. He was pressed into action after senior Nick Fitzgerald was suspended for the season opener for a “violation of team policy” that Moorhead said happened in March.

Thompson also ran for 109 yards and two touchdowns.

Mississippi State’s offense had success from the moment it stepped on the field. The first play was Thompson’s short swing pass to Kylin Hill, who went nearly untouched for a 53-yard touchdown. Later in the first quarter, Thompson found a completely uncovered Osirus Mitchell for an 84-yard touchdown, which was the longest pass completion for the Bulldogs in 14 years.

The Associated Press

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