Arkansas State 48, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 3
JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) — Justice Hansen threw for five touchdowns as Arkansas State rolled past Arkansas-Pine Bluff 48-3 on Saturday night.
Hansen racked up 336 yards passing for the Red Wolves (1-1) before backup Logan Bonner took over in the fourth.
Hansen made good on a UAPB interception by Blaise Taylor during the first drive of the game with a 38-yard scoring strike to Christian Booker for a quick 7-0 lead. Hansen threw another touchdown to Blake Mack and Warren Wand ran it in from 12 yards out and Arkansas State led 20-3 at halftime.
The aerial assault continued in the second half with a 73-yard scoring throw to Justin McInnis, followed by touchdown passes to Omar Bayless and Jonathan Adams Jr. for a 41-3 advantage late in the third quarter.
UAPB's only points came on a 30-yard field goal by Jamie Gillan midway through the second quarter.
Brandon Duncan threw for 140 yards for the Golden Lions (1-2) and was intercepted three times.
South Alabama 45, Alabama A&M 0
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Dallas Davis threw for 255 yards and two touchdowns to help South Alabama roll past Alabama A&M 45-0 on Saturday night.
Xavier Johnson punched in two short touchdowns, both in the first half, Gus Nave returned a blocked field goal 83 yards for a TD and Rocel McWilliams recovered a fumble in the Alabama A&M end zone for another score to help notch South Alabama's largest-ever margin of victory against an NCAA Division I opponent.
Gavin Patterson put the Jaguars on the board midway through the first quarter with a 19-yard field goal.
Filling in for the injured Cole Garvin, who is out with an ankle injury, Davis finished 9 of 12 for 255 yards, including a 66-yard touchdown throw to Sa'Mory Collier. Davis also had a TD pass to Jahmmir Taylor.
The Jaguar defense held Alabama A&M (0-3) to just 172 total yards and recorded its first shutout since 2010.
Appalachian State 20, Texas State 13
SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) — Taylor Lamb accounted for 209 total yards and threw for a touchdown and the Appalachian State offense shook off a slow start to help the Mountaineers beat Texas State 20-13 on Saturday night.
Lamb was 17-of-28 passing for 167 yards and added five carries for 42 yards while Terrance Upshaw had 60 yards rushing and a touchdown for Appalachian State (2-1, 1-0 Sun Belt).
The Mountaineers had 29 total yards, and three three-and-outs, after their first five possessions before closing the first half with a 12-play, 74-yard drive— capped by Lamb's 6-yard TD pass to Thomas Hennigan — that trimmed their deficit to 10-7 just seconds before halftime. Appalachian State then scored on its first three possessions of the second half: Michael Rubino kicked field goals of 27 and 46 yards and Upshaw had a 1-yard TD run as the Mountaineers took a 20-13 lead with 6:48 to play.
Texas State (1-2, 0-1) recovered a fumble by Lamb with 2:26 left and went 98 yards on 14 plays before Elijah King was tackled by A.J. Howard at the 1 and time expired.
Damian Williams threw for 260 yards and a score and King had six receptions for 112 yards for the Bobcats.
Troy 27, New Mexico State 24
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — Brandon Silvers threw for 286 yards and one touchdown and rushed for another score as Troy held off a late New Mexico State charge for a 27-24 Sun Belt Conference win on Saturday night.
Troy (2-1, 1-0) led 20-3 after Jamarius Henderson's 3-yard scoring run with 12:27 left in the third quarter. New Mexico State (1-2, 0-1) responded quickly as Tyler Rogers hit Izaiah Lottie on a 46-yard scoring strike and six minutes later passed to Jaleel Scott from the 5 to close to 20-16.
Troy answered with Silvers' 32 yard run for a score and a 27-16 lead with 17 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Aggies responded when Rogers threw to Lottie from the nine and he ran in to close to within three points with 9:49 left. The NMSU defense held but so did the Troy defense and then the Trojans held the ball for the final 6:15 to grab the win.
Rogers threw for 331 yards and three touchdowns.
Southern Miss 28, ULM 17
MONROE, La. (AP) — Ito Smith ran for a career-high 219 yards and Kwadra Griggs threw for three touchdowns to lead Southern Mississippi to a 28-17 win over ULM on Saturday night.
Smith, who had 27 carries, had a 27-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter to put the Golden Eagles on top 14-7. He also surpassed 5,000 all-purpose yards, second in school history.
Griggs, in his second start, connected with Korey Robertson for a 15-yard touchdown to open the second. The duo hooked up again for a 20-yard score late in the second quarter to make it 21-10 at the half.
After Caleb Evans broke loose for a 67-yard score for the Warhawks (0-2) to cut the deficit to 21-17, Griggs capped a 9-play, 79-yard drive on the next possession with a 42-yard scoring pass to Allenzae Staggers. From there the defense took over, limiting Louisiana Monroe to 3 of 16 on third-down conversions and holding Evans and Garrett Smith to 11 of 27 passing for 112 yards.
Texas A&M 45, Louisiana 21
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Louisiana (1-2) led 21-14 at halftime before Texas A&M scored 31 consecutive points en route to the victory.
''We just talked about that in the locker room, that we were like two different teams,'' said Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin in regard to the Aggies' Jekyll and Hyde showing. ''We're a work in progress.''
After much of the first half went wrong for A&M, the third quarter went entirely right, as the Aggies (2-1) scored 17 points in that span to grab the lead for good.
''In the second half they made some adjustments, they put a lot of people in the box to stop the run,'' Cajuns coach Mark Hudspeth said. ''They were determined to make us throw the football to win the game, and we just didn't have that offensive rhythm in the second half that we had in the first half.''
Freshman Aggies quarterback Kellen Mond, in beginning to live up to his preseason hype as a five-star prospect, collected a five-yard touchdown run and threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to fellow freshman Camron Buckley in the decisive third quarter.
UAB 30, Coastal Carolina 23
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Spencer Brown ran for two touchdowns as UAB defeated Coastal Carolina 30-23 on Saturday.
Brown finished with 51 yards on 16 carries for the Blazers (2-1). A.J. Erdely threw for 102 yards and ran for a touchdown.
Erdely's score came on a seven-yard run after taking his team 79 yards in nine plays on the first drive of the game. Brown took it in from 11 yards out to make it 13-0 with 18 seconds left in the quarter. Nick Vogel's extra point attempt was blocked and recovered by Coastal Carolina's Preston Carey who returned it for two points, cutting the Blazers lead to 13-2. They led 16-5 at halftime.
Carlos Stephens ran for a 26-yard touchdown to stretch it to 23-5 with 12:57 to go in the third and Brown added another score in the fourth to make it 30-16 with 2:54 left.
Tyler Keane threw for 75 yards for the Chanticleers (1-1) and was intercepted three times.
Western Michigan 37, Idaho 28
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — Jon Wassink ran for a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to lift Western Michigan to a come-from-behind win over Idaho, 37-28 Saturday night.
Matt Linehan scrambled in from 3 yards out to put the Vandals in the lead, 21-19 with 3:39 left in the third quarter, then made it a 28-19 advantage by hitting Alfonso Onunwor with a 39-yard scoring strike with 1:03 left in the period.
Wassink capped a seven-play, 80-yard drive, scampering the final 22 yards, cutting the Vandals' lead to two points, then capped a six-play, 33-yard drive with a 1-yard run for the lead. After Giovanni Ricci scored the two-point conversion, the Broncos held a 34-28 lead.
Josh Grant kicked a 29-yard field goal for Western Michigan to set the final margin.
Linehan was 16 of 26 passing for 229 yards and three touchdowns for Idaho.
Wissink completed 21 of 31 for 212 yards and a score.
#5 Penn State 56, Georgia State 0
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Trace McSorley threw a Beaver Stadium-record 85-yard touchdown pass to Saquon Barkley for one of his four scoring strikes and also ran for a touchdown in No. 5 Penn State's 56-0 victory over Georgia State 56-0 on Saturday night.
A week after a shaky start against Pittsburgh, McSorley bounced back in a rare prime-time game against a non-Power Five school. He completed 14 of 19 passes for 258 yards in the first half to help Penn State (3-0) take a 35-0 lead.
McSorley finished 18 of 23 for 309 yards. Barkley had 226 all-purpose yards and wasn't fazed by an awkward hit that sent him laboring to the sideline in the second quarter.
Barkley returned to the game after a brief evaluation but wasn't needed much longer. Penn State (3-0) rested most of its starters after scoring on its first drive of the second half.
Backup quarterback Tommy Stevens caught a touchdown pass and threw one, and DaeSean Hamilton, Brandon Polk and Saeed Blacknall added touchdown receptions for Penn State.
Miles Sanders ran one in while Barkley was being evaluated for a potential injury, and Andre Robinson added a late rushing touchdown for Penn State.
Conner Manning completed 16 of 29 passes for 133 yards for Georgia State (0-2) with three interceptions. The Panthers also lost two fumbles and Penn State turned all five turnovers into touchdowns.