Saturday, October 1
South Alabama 42, #19 San Diego State 24
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) Cole Garvin threw for 241 yards and three touchdowns and South Alabama beat No. 19 San Diego State 42-24 on Saturday night.
Garvin, the sophomore Marshall transfer starting in place of injured Dallas Davis, threw touchdown passes of 37 yards to Kevin Kutchera, 79 yards to tight end Gerald Everett, and 6 yards to Josh McGee.
''We had a great week of practice,'' Garvin said. ''I was nervous until I got on the field. I mean, I haven't played in three years. But we had a great game plan and my receivers made some great, great catches.''
San Diego State's Donnel Pumphrey ran for 156 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries. He broke 100 yards rushing for the 25th time and went over 5,000 yards to become the Mountain West's career leader.
Jaguars coach Joey Jones said the plan was to keep Pumphrey hemmed in.
''Our defense believes in themselves,'' Jones said. ''We had a plan to keep him off the perimeter and they played their tails off tonight.''
It was a back and forth for most of the game, with the teams trading scores into the fourth quarter.
But after South Alabama (3-2) took a 28-24 lead on Garvin's strike to McGee in the left corner of the end zone with 11:58 left, a bad punt snap on the Aztecs next possession set South Alabama up at the San Diego State 3 and Dami Ayola took it in from there for a 35-24 bulge.
It got worse for the Aztecs (3-1) on the ensuing drive when South Alabama's Devon Earl returned a fumble 80 yards for a touchdown to seal it with 4:17 to go.
South Alabama's other score came on Tyreis Thomas' pinballing 12-yard run. On Everett's TD, he outraced the secondary the final 45 yards down the left sideline to the end zone.
San Diego State scored on Rashaad Penny's 15-yard run, Pumphrey's 7-yarder, John Baron II's field goal, a short TD pass from Christian Chapman to Kahale Warring, and a 2-point conversion throw to David Wells.
Appalachian State 17, Georgia State 3
BOONE, N.C. (AP) Jalin Moore ran for 45 of 159 yards for a touchdown to break a scoreless tie in the third quarter and Appalachian State intercepted four passes in beating Georgia State 17-3 on Saturday in a Sun Belt opener.
Moore weaved through the Panthers defense to score with 13:32 left in the third quarter.
Michael Rubino added a 42-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter before Rogier ten Lohuis gave Georgia State (0-4, 0-1) its only points with a 43-yard field goal. But the Mountaineers (3-2, 1-0) took the ensuing kickoff and used up nearly six minutes before Taylor Lamb threw 12 yards to Shaedon Meadors for the final margin with 3:16 remaining.
Moore finished with 159 yards on 28 carries for Appalachian State, the preseason Sun Belt favorite, which has now won 14 of its last 15 conference games and returns 17 of 22 starters from last year's 11-2 squad.
Georgia State senior Robert Davis became the Panthers' all-time leading receiver, making five catches to raise his career total to 179 and pass former teammate Albert Wilson (175, 2010-13).
Troy 34, Idaho 13
MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) Brandon Silvers threw for three touchdowns and Jordan Chunn ran for 137 yards and a score as Troy beat Idaho in the Vandals' Sun Belt Conference opener Saturday.
Idaho scored early, with Austin Rehkow kicking field goals from 21- and 42-yards out to take a 6-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
Troy responded with gusto. Silvers threw 36 yards to Tevaris McCormick and 14 yards to Emanuel Thompson to make it 14-6 after one quarter and Chunn powered in from 12-yards out in the second quarter to make it 21-6 at intermission.
Troy (4-1, 2-0 Sun Belt) out-gained Idaho 530-255, limiting the Vandals to just 89 net rushing yards.
Silvers was 31 of 42 passing for 373 yards, but was intercepted twice.
Matt Linehan was 19 of 34 for Idaho (2-3, 0-1), amassing 166 yards, including a 22-yard pass to Trent Cowan to open the fourth quarter.
Auburn 58, UL Monroe 7
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) Sean White threw for 239 yards and two touchdowns, Kerryon Johnson rushed for 146 yards and a pair of scores, and Auburn beat UL Monroe on Saturday 58-7.
Auburn (3-2) kept the momentum from last week's win over LSU going, as the Tigers scored touchdowns on eight of their 11 drives against the overmatched Warhawks (1-3). Auburn raced out to an early 28-0 lead behind White's 3-yard rushing touchdown, his 48-yard pass to freshman Kyle Davis, and Johnson's two short-yardage runs. ULM got on the board with a 2-yard touchdown pass as time expired in the first half, but didn't score again.
White finished 14-of-17 in two-and-a-half quarters of action with a quarterback rating of 239.3 before giving way to backup John Franklin III midway through the third quarter. Franklin scored on his second play, an 80-yard dash up the middle, to extend Auburn's lead to 49-7.
The Tigers outgained ULM 688-251. Auburn racked up 309 yards in the third quarter alone, the same amount it gained in the entire first half.
Texas State 48, Incarnate Word 17
SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) Tyler Jones passed for a school-record 475 yards and a career-high five touchdowns and Texas State beat Incarnate Word 48-17 Saturday night.
The Bobcats (2-2) were outscored 106-6 in their two previous games against then-No. 24 Arkansas and No. 6 Houston, but totaled 670 yards offense against the Cardinals (1-4), including a school-record 540 yards passing.
The Cardinals led on Broderick Reeves' 47-yard run in the opening quarter but Jones then threw scoring passes of 11 yards to Gabe Schrade, 44 to Thurman Morbley and 16 to Eric Luna for a 21-10 halftime lead.
Jones, who finished 31-of-40 passing, added an 11-yard score to Schrade and a 46-yarder to PJ Anderson in the second half. Morbley finished with 133 yards on six catches.
Desmond Hite rushed for 107 yards on eight carries for the Cardinals, including a 71-yard score.
The game was the first meeting between schools that are a 50-mile drive apart on Interstate 35.
New Mexico State 37, UL Lafayette 31 (2OT)
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) Sebastian Anderson had a game-winning fumble recovery in the end zone in double overtime to give New Mexico State a 37-31 win over Louisiana Lafayette on Saturday night.
The Ragin' Cajuns missed a field goal on the first possession of the second overtime. Then New Mexico State's Larry Rose III fumbled just before the goal line and Anderson, an offensive lineman, recovered it for the winning score.
Tyler Rogers threw for two touchdowns for the Aggies (2-3, 1-1 Sun Belt).
The Aggies were up 24-21 in the fourth when Louisiana Lafayette's Steve Artigue hit a 47-yard field goal to tie it up with 2:58 to play. The Aggies drove it 72 yards, but Parker Davidson missed a 20-yarder as time expired in regulation.
Anthony Jennings threw for 143 yards and a score for the Ragin' Cajuns (2-3, 1-1).