Houston knocks off No. 3 Sooners
HOUSTON — Brandon Wilson went end line to end zone for a touchdown with an Oklahoma missed field goal and No. 15 Houston beat the No. 3 Sooners 33-23 on Saturday, looking every bit ready to compete in the Big 12.
Regardless of whether Houston ends up in the Big 12 if the conference expands, coach Tom Herman’s Cougars made an opening statement that could have season-long ramifications on the College Football Playoff.
Elusive quarterback Greg Ward Jr. passed for 321 yards and two touchdowns for Houston. Wilson, though, provided the key play in the biggest regular-season nonconference game the Cougars have played in 25 years.
When Oklahoma kicker Austin Seibert’s 54-yard field goal attempt came up just short, Wilson reached up to catch the ball while barely keeping his feet in bounds. Reminiscent of Auburn’s Kick Six against Alabama in 2013, Wilson came flying out of the end zone, hit the sideline and hurdled a teammate to score what went into the books as a 100-yard return.
(6) OHIO STATE 71
BOWLING GREEN 10
COLUMBUS, Ohio — J.T. Barrett threw six touchdown passes and Ohio State rolled up a school-record 776 yards against Bowling Green.
Eight players scored touchdowns on offense as the Buckeyes overpowered the Falcons in front of a crowd of 107,193 at sunny Ohio Stadium. The 776 yards topped the 718 yards Ohio State put up against Mount Union in 1930.
(7) MICHIGAN 63
HAWAII 3
ANN ARBOR, Mich. ) — Wilton Speight threw three touchdown passes in the first half and Michigan beat Hawaii in its most lopsided victory since 1975.
Speight threw an interception on his first snap in the Wolverines’ opener, then bounced back with TD passes to Grant Perry, Jake Butt and Amara Darboh to put Michigan up 21-0 early in the second quarter. Speight, who beat out Houston transfer John O’Korn for the job, finished 10 of 13 for 145 yards.
(17) IOWA 45
MIAMI (OHIO) 21
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Akrum Wadley ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns, LeShun Daniels added 83 yards rushing and two scores, and Iowa beat Miami (Ohio).
C.J. Beathard was 13-of-20 passing for 192 yards and a TD for the Hawkeyes.
(14) WASHINGTON 48
RUTGERS 13
SEATTLE — Jake Browning threw for 287 yards and three touchdowns, John Ross caught two scoting passses and returned a kickoff for another score in his first game since the end of the 2014 season to help Washington beat Rutgers.
The Huskies raced to a 24-0 first-quarter lead and were never threatened by the Scarlet Knights, in their first game under new coach Chris Ash.
(21) OKLAHOMA ST. 61
SE LOUISIANA 7
STILLWATER, Okla. — Jhajuan Seales caught two touchdown passes, helping Oklahoma State rout Southeastern Louisiana.
Seales finished with three catches for 61 yards.
Barry J. Sanders had 76 all-purpose yards and scored a touchdown. Sanders, whose father, Barry, won the Heisman Trophy for Oklahoma State in 1988, is a graduate transfer who played for Stanford last season.
(24) OREGON 53
UC DAVIS 28
EUGENE, Ore. — Dakota Prukop threw for 271 yards and three touchdowns in his Oregon debut and the Ducks overcame a rocky start to beat UC Davis.
Prukop, a graduate transfer from Montana State, completed 21 of 30 passes for the Ducks, while also scoring on a 1-yard keeper. He follows in the footsteps of Vernon Adams, a graduate transfer out of Eastern Washington who started for the Ducks last season but was dogged by injuries.
FRIDAY
(23) BAYLOR 55
NORTHWESTERN ST. 7
WACO, Texas — Seth Russell threw four touchdown passes in less than a half and Baylor beat an FCS opponent in its first game since the dismissal of coach Art Briles.
Russell was the top-rated FBS passer when he suffered a season-ending neck injury in the seventh game last season. He completed 14 if 20 passes for 163 yards.
(8) STANFORD 26
KANSAS STATE 13
STANFORD, Calif. — Christian McCaffrey had two long touchdown runs and Ryan Burns threw a scoring pass in his first career start to lead Stanford past Kansas State.
McCaffrey got into the act with an electrifying 35-yard touchdown run.
From wire reports