Sam Leavitt rushed for two touchdowns and passed for another, Dilin Jones rushed for two scores and No. 11 LSU’s defense dominated in a 51-10 whipping of Clemson in the season opener for both teams Saturday night in Baton Rouge, La.

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The game started nearly two hours late because of a weather delay, but once it got under way it didn’t take long for former Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin’s debut at LSU to turn into a celebration. Leavitt, a transfer from Arizona State, passed for 230 yards in less than three quarters, and he and Jones each rushed for 113 yards as LSU totaled 309 yards on the ground.

Overall, LSU outgained Clemson 644-145 and gained a school-record 37 first downs in the most lopsided loss in Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney’s 19 seasons.

Christopher Vizzina began his fourth season at Clemson by making his second career start and passed for just 83 yards with an interception that Jordan Ross returned 30 yards for a touchdown. Freshman Tait Reynolds replaced Vizzina late in the second quarter and passed for 22 yards before Vizzina returned in the fourth quarter.

LSU’s first possession of the second half ended with a 32-yard touchdown pass from Leavitt to Winston Watkins Jr., who finished with seven catches for 110 yards, producing a 38-3 lead. Jones’ 12-yard scoring run on the hosts’ next possession pushed the lead to 44-3 at the end of the third quarter.

Landen Clark replaced Leavitt and threw a 30-yard scoring pass to Phillip Wright III. David Eziomume ran 11 yards for Clemson’s only touchdown to complete the scoring late in the fourth quarter.

Clemson’s Nolan Hauser and LSU’s Scott Starzyk matched 49-yard field goals early in the first quarter.

Jones rushed for a 1-yard touchdown and a 10-3 lead before Ross made his pick-six for a 17-3 lead at the end of the first quarter. Leavitt ran 8 yards for a touchdown and 13 yards for another as LSU built a 31-3 halftime lead.

No. 2 Oregon rallies, avoids upset by Boise State

Dante Moore threw three touchdown passes, including the tiebreaking scoring pass to Dakorien Moore, and No. 2 Oregon rallied from a 10-point deficit to record a 34-27 victory over Boise State on Saturday afternoon at Eugene, Ore., in the season opener for both teams.

Dante Moore completed 28 of 37 passes for a career-best 378 yards, while Jeremiah McClellan caught six passes for 150 yards and a touchdown for the Ducks. Dakorien Moore had six catches for 93 yards, including the go-ahead 62-yard score that put Oregon ahead with 7:51 left in the game.

Jordan Davison rushed for 90 yards and a touchdown, Jamari Johnson caught a scoring pass and Evan Stewart had eight catches for 72 yards for Oregon.

Maddux Madsen was 15-of-29 passing for 181 yards and three touchdowns for Boise State. Cam Bates, Sire Gaines and Matt Wagner had scoring catches for the Broncos.

Oregon outgained Boise State 497-274 while running its home nonconference winning streak to 39 games. Kellen Moore-led Boise State in 2008 was the most recent nonconference road team to win at Autzen Stadium.

The winning Moore-to-Moore connection came when Dakorien caught the ball just around the Boise State 42-yard line. Two Broncos collided and he had an easy run down the field for the winning points.

Oregon struggled early, but scored a touchdown just before halftime and carried the momentum into the third quarter. Gage Hurych booted a 26-yard field goal to tie it at 17 with 11:30 left in the third.

Nearly six minutes later, the Ducks took their first lead at 24-17 as Dante Moore connected on an 8-yard scoring pass to McClellan to complete a crisp six-play, 87-yard drive.

The Broncos responded with an eight-play, 75-yard drive. On fourth-and-three from the Ducks’ 7, Madsen threaded a scoring pass to Wagner to tie the score with 1:20 remaining in the period.

Oregon moved back ahead when Hurych kicked a 43-yard field goal on the second play of the fourth quarter. But Boise State answered on Canaan Moore’s 35-yard field goal to tie it at 27 with 8:45 to play.

Earlier, Madsen tossed a 13-yard scoring pass to Bates as the Broncos traveled 75 yards on 11 plays on the first possession of the game.

Oregon knotted the score on Davison’s 1-yard scoring run with 11:17 left in the first half.

Stewart fumbled a punt less than a minute later and Arthur De Boachie recovered to give the Broncos a short field.

On the next play, Madsen tossed a short pass to Gaines, who broke a tackle at the 30 and raced down the left side to complete a 38-yard scoring play with 10:14 left in the half.

Boise State increased its lead to 17-7 when Canaan Moore booted a 29-yard field goal with 2:48 remaining.

Dante Moore tossed a 27-yard scoring pass to Johnson with 19 seconds left to move the Ducks within three.

Kamari Moulton has career day, No. 22 Iowa rips Northern Illinois

Kamari Moulton rushed for a career-best 183 yards and scored two touchdowns on just 11 carries to help No. 22 Iowa steamroll Northern Illinois 40-0 on Saturday afternoon in Iowa City in the season opener for both teams.

Hank Brown earned the start at quarterback and completed 12 of 20 passes for 129 yards and one touchdown for the Hawkeyes. Runner-up Jeremy Hecklinski was 7-of-16 passing for 76 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Evan James returned a punt for a touchdown for Iowa, which outgained Northern Illinois 507-120 and had a 27-7 edge in first downs. Tony Diaz had seven catches for 84 yards and one touchdown and Xavier Williams also had a scoring reception.

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Jalen Macon started at quarterback for Northern Illinois and completed 4 of 10 passes for 17 yards. Taron Dickens also played for the Huskies and was 9-of-14 passing for 96 yards and one interception.

Yassine Falke had an interception in the end zone for NIU.

The Huskies recorded their initial first down of the contest when Iowa’s Rashad Godfrey Jr. was flagged for pass interference with 4:09 left in the third quarter.

The Hawkeyes kept the identity of their starting quarterback a mystery all week. Brown took the field for the game’s first drive and moved Iowa 75 yards on 10 plays. The touchdown came when Brown hit Diaz on a 6-yard pass.

Moulton took over for the next two scores. He ran through a big hole for a 50-yard touchdown with 6:46 left in the first and added a 37-yard scoring scamper to make it 20-0 with 4:10 left in the quarter.

Hecklinski was the quarterback when the Hawkeyes made it 27-0. He tossed an 8-yard scoring pass to Williams with 7:40 left in the second quarter.

Brown was back to drive the Hawkeyes to field goals of 45 and 34 yards from Caden Buhr to make it 33-0 at the half.

Iowa had a 372-24 edge in total offense at the break.

The Hawkeyes had a chance to push the lead to 40, but Hecklinski was intercepted in the end zone by Falke with 5:17 left in the third quarter.

Less than three minutes later, Iowa got that touchdown when James fielded a punt and navigated 77 yards to the end zone.

Hail Mary saves No. 16 Michigan from upset loss to Western Michigan

Bryce Underwood connected with JJ Buchanan on a 47-yard Hail Mary on the game’s final play as No. 16 Michigan survived a huge scare and defeated Western Michigan 13-12 in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Saturday.

The Wolverines hadn’t scored since their opening drive and seemed headed for a stunning upset in Kyle Whittingham’s head coaching debut. Western Michigan appeared to have pulled off its first-ever win over Michigan in nine attempts on the previous play when Underwood’s heave fell out of bounds but the officials ruled there was still one second remaining.

A 28-yard pass to Buchanan put Michigan (1-0) in Broncos territory.

Underwood passed for 170 yards and rushed for a team-high 47 yards on nine carries, including Michigan’s other touchdown. Buchanan caught six passes for 126 yards.

Dieter Kelly kicked four field goals for Western Michigan (0-1). Broc Lowry passed for 89 yards, and Jalen Buckley gained 62 yards on 19 carries.

The Wolverines’ offense got off to a good start, driving 75 yards on 11 plays during their first possession. Underwood completed all five of his passes for 61 yards before scoring on a 1-yard run on fourth-and-goal.

Western Michigan also scored on its first drive on Kelly’s 52-yard field goal.

A turnover allowed the Broncos to pull within a point. Dillon Moore intercepted an Underwood pass and went out of bounds at the Michigan 26-yard line with nine seconds left in the half. Kelly’s 45-yard field attempt on the final play of the half just cleared the crossbar, leaving the Wolverines clinging to a 7-6 halftime lead.

Western Michigan started a drive at its own 8-yard line with 9:05 left in the third quarter and still had possession when the fourth quarter began. The 20-play drive finally ended with 10:25 remaining on Kelly’s 39-yard field goal.

After another Wolverines punt, the Broncos chewed up more time before punting it back to Michigan, which started the possession from its 7-yard line with 3:10 left. Underwood scampered for 13 yards on the third play of the drive but Josh Franklin forced a fumble and Kedrick Burley recovered at the Wolverines’ 31-yard line.

Western Michigan picked up one first down before Kelly made a 33-yard attempt with 35 seconds remaining for a 12-7 lead.

Bear Bachmeier, No. 14 BYU throttle Utah Tech

Bear Bachmeier threw for 198 yards and three touchdowns to lead No. 14 BYU to a 63-7 victory over Utah Tech in Provo, Utah, on Saturday night.

Bachmeier also ran for a touchdown while playing only the first half for the Cougars. BYU (1-0) faced little resistance from the Trailblazers in all three phases. The Cougars rolled up 521 total yards and averaged 7.7 yards per play. They also forced four turnovers and held Utah Tech to only 52 total yards in the first half.

BYU has not lost to a team outside the FBS ranks since 1960.

The Trailblazers (0-2) have been outscored 117-7 over their first two games and have allowed at least 50 points in back-to-back contests for the first time since 2024. .

CJ Tiller threw two interceptions before being benched early in the second quarter. Backup quarterback Bronson Barben threw for 115 yards and an interception.

Therrian Alexander III snagged an interception at the Utah Tech 32 on the game’s first play. His takeaway set up a 9-yard run from Legend Glasker off a fly sweep that put BYU on the board less than two minutes into the game.

It set the stage for a dominant half that followed.

BYU put the game away early in the second quarter after turning back-to-back turnovers into touchdowns.

BYU’s Tausili Akana recovered a fumble at the Utah Tech 30 after Tiller mishandled a snap with 31 seconds left in the first quarter. Glasker found the end zone again two plays later, racing 26 yards for the score after reeling in a short pass. Evan Johnson then intercepted Tiller at the BYU 35 on Utah Tech’s ensuing drive. His takeaway set up a 9-yard scoring run from Preston Rex five plays later.

BYU eventually built its lead to 56-0 with 12:30 left in the third quarter. The Cougars scored on the opening play of the second half when Cannon DeVries returned a kickoff 100 yards for his team’s seventh touchdown of the game.

Utah Tech running back Ace Chatman ended the shutout with a 1 yard scoring run with 4:45 to go in the third.

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