Ducks dominate Tennessee 59-14
By ANNE M. PETERSON
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AP Sports Writer
EUGENE, Ore. — Oregon’s Marcus Mariota had no idea he had thrown for more than 400 yards against Tennessee until he got to the locker room after the game and some of his teammates pointed it out.
The low-key sophomore finished with a career-high 456 yards passing, including four touchdowns, in the second-ranked Ducks’ 59-14 victory Saturday.
“It’s pretty cool, I guess,” he said.
Mariota, who completed 23 of 33 passes, was the first Oregon quarterback to throw for more than 400 yards in a game since Kellen Clemens in 2005.
His yardage ties for the third-most in a game in school history, and he easily extended his string of at least one touchdown in all of his 16 games for Oregon. The streak is third among active quarterbacks.
Mariota said it was never Oregon’s plan to throw that much against the Vols.
“It just happened,” he said, “and we went for it.”
To the tune of handing the Volunteers their worst varsity loss since a 48-0 defeat to Mississippi State in 1910.
Freshman Johnny Mundt, who replaced ailing tight end Colt Lyerla, had five catches for 121 yards and two TDs for the Ducks (3-0). Josh Huff added six catches for 125 yards and a score.
Oregon’s sloppy play at the start — four penalties for 35 yards in the first quarter — helped Tennessee (2-1) take an early lead, but it was fleeting and the Ducks led 38-7 at halftime.
Justin Worley completed 13 of 25 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown for the Volunteers, who opened the season with easy home wins over Austin Peay and Western Kentucky. But Tennessee could not keep up with the speedy Ducks, who had 687 yards in total offense compared to 316 for the Vols.
Oregon was the first of a tough stretch for the Volunteers and first-year coach Butch Jones: No. 18 Florida, No. 9 Georgia, No. 13 South Carolina and No. 1 Alabama are among Tennessee’s next five opponents.
“It’s unacceptable whether you lose by two or you lose by what we lost by. We’re here to win,” Jones said. “It better hurt.”
Tennessee drove 80 yards in six plays and scored on Worley’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Jason Croom to go up 7-0.
After Mariota’s 19-yard run got the Ducks to the Tennessee 9-yard line, a fumble and a sack pushed Oregon back to the 15. De’Anthony Thomas appeared to have a 4-yard touchdown catch on fourth down, but it was called back because of pass interference on Oregon and the Ducks settled for a 38-yard field goal by Matt Wogan.
Oregon pulled in front before the first quarter ended with Mariota’s 16-yard pass to Mundt. Lyerla was a surprise absence, apparently because of a stomach virus. Oregon would not confirm the reason for his absence.
After Mariota’s 9-yard touchdown run extended the lead, he connected with Josh Huff who ran untouched for a 54-yard scoring reception.
NO. 4 OHIO ST. 52
CALIFORNIA 34
BERKELEY, Calif. — Kenny Guiton threw three of his four touchdown passes in the first six minutes of his first career start and Ohio State rolled to its 15th straight victory with an easy victory over California.
Guiton, a fifth-year senior, got the start in place of injured Braxton Miller, and there was no drop-off in performance for the Buckeyes (3-0).
Guiton connected with Devin Smith on a 90-yard pass on Ohio State’s second offensive play for the longest play from scrimmage in school history. He added a 47-yard touchdown to Smith and a 1-yarder to Chris Fields on fourth-and-goal as Ohio State jumped out to a 21-0 lead over the Golden Bears (1-2) less than halfway through the first quarter.
Guiton completed 21 of 32 passes for 276 yards and added 92 yards rushing to lead the Buckeyes.
NO. 5 STANFORD 34
ARMY 20
WEST POINT, N.Y. — Kevin Hogan threw for three touchdowns and Tyler Gaffney had two touchdowns and 132 yards rushing to lead Stanford over Army.
The Cardinal (2-0) entered the game as 30-point favorites but had their hands full from the opening kickoff, falling behind 6-0 as the smaller Black Knights (1-2) challenged at every turn.
Hogan’s 23-yard touchdown pass to Gaffney after an Army turnover gave Stanford a 27-13 lead late in the third quarter and the Cardinal averted an embarrassing loss. Army has not defeated a ranked team since a 17-14 win over No. 15 Air Force on Nov. 4, 1972.
Ty Montgomery had six catches for 130 yards and one score, while Hogan was 11 of 18 for 188 yards passing for Stanford.
Terry Baggett led Army with 96 yards rushing on nine carries.
NO. 7 LOUISVILLE 27
KENTUCKY 13
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Senorise Perry ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns, Teddy Bridgewater overcame a shaky start to pass for 250 yards and Louisville scored on four consecutive drives to pull away from rival Kentucky for the win.
The Cardinals’ defense forced three turnovers, including two in their territory to preserve a win that required more work after easy wins over Ohio and Eastern Kentucky.
Bridgewater connected with DeVante Parker for a 13-yard touchdown just before halftime that opened things up for Louisville (3-0). Perry followed with second-half TD runs of 1 and 36 yards sandwiched around John Wallace’s 21-yard field goal that provided a cushion.
Alex Montgomery caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Jalen Whitlow and Joe Mansour kicked two field goals for Kentucky (1-2).
NO. 8 LSU 45, KENT ST. 13
BATON ROUGE, La. — Zach Mettenberger passed for three touchdowns, Jeremy Hill ran for two and LSU easily defeated Kent State.
Hill rushed 11 times for 117 yards, all in the first two quarters, as LSU (3-0) looked sound in its final tuneup before opening Southeastern Conference play against Auburn next weekend.
Mettenberger connected with Jarvis Landry on touchdown passes of 21 and 31 yards. His other scoring pass went for 5 yards to Odell Beckham Jr.
Terrance Magee added a 12-yard scoring run.
NO. 10 FLORIDA ST. 62
NEVADA 7
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Jameis Winston accounted for three touchdowns, Florida State’s four tailbacks all scored and the Seminoles routed Nevada.
FSU (2-0) looked just as good in its home opener as it did to start the season 12 days ago. The Seminoles thumped Pitt 41-13 on the road, a game in which Winston grabbed headlines with a nearly flawless performance. This time he shared the spotlight with his running backs.
Devonta Freeman ran for 109 yards and a touchdown. James Wilder Jr. added 45 yards and a score.
Karlos Williams may have been the most impressive of the bunch. The former safety, who moved to offense after the opener, ran eight times for 110 yards and a score. His 65-yard scamper made it 31-7 early in the third quarter.
Nevada (1-2) turned Winston’s first career interception into a touchdown.
NO. 11 MICHIGAN 28
AKRON 24
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Fitzgerald Toussaint scored a go-ahead, two-yard touchdown with 2:49 left and Michigan made a desperately needed stop on the final play to hold against Akron.
College football’s winningest program avoided getting upset at home — as it did against Appalachian State and Toledo — by a Mid-American Conference team that hasn’t won a road game in nearly five years and was expected to lose by more than five touchdowns.
The Wolverines (3-0) trailed twice in the second half — including with 4:10 left when Kyle Pohl threw a one-yard TD — and allowed the Zips (1-2) to get to the Michigan 4 on the game’s final drive.
Pohl was pressured and hit by Brennen Beyer on the final play, leading to an incomplete pass in the end zone as time expired on fourth down.
Michigan won its 17th straight at home for the longest streak among BCS conference teams.
NO. 13 SO. CAROLINA 35
VANDERBILT 25
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Connor Shaw passed for three scores, Jadeveon Clowney forced a fumble and South Carolina withstood Vanderbilt’s rally from a four-touchdown deficit.
The win was the 13th straight at home for the Gamecocks (2-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference), who are tied with Georgia for the second-longest active streak in the nation. South Carolina appeared to have this one finished early, scoring on its first four possessions to lead 28-0. It still led 35-10 when it opened the second half with Shaw’s final TD pass, a 33-yarder to Brandon Wilds.
That’s when the Commodores (1-2, 0-2) threw a scare into the Gamecocks, aided by a fumbled kickoff and punt by South Carolina. Vanderbilt scored twice in a 13-second span of the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 35-25. The Commodores reached the Gamecocks 5 after recovering a fumbled punt, but threw a goal-line interception.
NO. 14 OKLAHOMA 51
TULSA 20
NORMAN, Okla. — Blake Bell passed for 413 yards and four touchdowns in his first start as quarterback for Oklahoma to lead the Sooners past Tulsa.
Sterling Shepard caught eight passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns — all career highs — and Jaz Reynolds had 109 yards receiving and one score for Oklahoma (3-0). The Sooners scored on their first five possessions against Tulsa (1-2) to continue their dominance in the series, having won 12 of the last 13 games between the in-state rivals.
NO. 16 UCLA 41
NO. 23 NEBRASKA 21
LINCOLN, Neb. — Brett Hundley threw three touchdown passes and UCLA wiped out an 18-point deficit to beat Nebraska, stunning a record Memorial Stadium crowd of 91,471.
The win came six days after UCLA receiver Nick Pasquale was killed when he was struck by a vehicle while walking in his hometown and a day before coaches and teammates travel to San Clemente, Calif., for his memorial service.
The Bruins (2-0) wore No. 36 patches on their jerseys in memory of Pasquale. The Huskers (2-1) wore No. 36 decals on their helmets, and there was a moment of silence held before the game.
The 18 points marked the biggest deficit overcome by a Nebraska opponent in Lincoln since Washington State, according to the university yearbook, erased a 20-0 halftime deficit to win 21-20 in 1920. Memorial Stadium opened in 1923.
NO. 19 WASHINGTON 34
ILLINOIS 24
CHICAGO — Keith Price threw for 342 yards and two touchdowns, Bishop Sankey ran for a career-high 208 yards as Washington beat Illinois at Soldier Field.
Josh Shirley added four sacks and the Huskies came out on top after dropping seven of nine away from home. They hadn’t won on the road outside the Pac-12 since beating Syracuse in 2007.
Washington (2-0) had a tougher time in this one after keeping high-powered Boise State without a touchdown in a 38-6 win two weeks ago. The Huskies built a 21-point lead in the third quarter and hung on, sending Illinois (2-1) to its sixth straight loss against ranked opponents.
The Illini cut it to 31-24 on Aaron Bailey’s 10-yard run with 9:10 remaining, but Washington’s Travis Coons kicked a 32-yard field goal with 4:44 left. Gregory Ducre then picked off a deep pass by Nathan Scheelhaase to seal the win.
