Troy 24, Nebraska 19
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – B.J. Smith scored on a 26-yard run midway through the fourth quarter and Will Sunderland made an interception in the final 3 minutes, giving Troy the cushion it needed to beat Nebraska 24-19 on Saturday and denying new Cornhuskers coach Scott Frost his first win.
The Huskers (0-2) have lost their first two games for the first time since 1957 and have dropped six straight home games since beating Rutgers Sept. 23, 2017.
The Trojans (2-1) of the Sun Belt Conference took down a Power Five conference opponent for the second straight year. Last year they won at then-No. 25 LSU.
Sophomore walk-on Andrew Bunch, starting at quarterback for Nebraska in place of the injured Adrian Martinez, converted a fourth-and-8 while leading the Huskers on a 75-yard drive to pull Nebraska to 24-19 with 2:55 left.
But Sunderland stepped in front of his pass along the sideline intended for JD Spielman, starting the celebration on the Troy bench.
Troy got a 58-yard punt return for a touchdown by Cedarius Rookard while getting out to a 17-0 lead and was up 17-7 at half. But the Trojans were teetering after Nebraska kicked field goals to cut it to 17-13 in the third quarter.
After the Trojans forced a punt early in the fourth quarter, they went 62 yards in 10 plays to make it a two-score game. Kaleb Barker converted two third-and-longs, passing on one and running on the other, and Nebraska safety Aaron Williams was called for pass interference on a third-and-9 to keep the Trojans' drive alive. Smith broke through the line untouched on his way to the end zone on his TD run.
Arkansas State 29, Tulsa 20
TULSA, Okla. (AP) – Demari Medley picked off a Luke Skipper pass and returned it 53 yards for a touchdown as Arkansas State held off Tulsa to earn a 29-20 victory on Saturday night.
A week after being routed by Alabama, the Red Wolves put up 415 yards of offense on the road.
Justice Hansen completed 20 of 33 passes for 191 yards and ran for another 80 yards, including an 18-yard run for a touchdown.
Blake Grupe kicked field goals of 35- and 19-yards and Marcel Murray scored from three-yards out to help Arkansas State (2-1) take a 13-7 lead at intermission.
Corey Taylor II got the Golden Hurricane on the board with a three-yard run to take a 7-0 lead, but they did not score again until Nathan Walker booted a 22-yard field goal in the third quarter to make it 27-10.
Skipper fired 10 yards to Cole Neph and Walker kicked a 38-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 27-20, but Arkansas State stopped Keylon Stokes in the end zone for a safety to put the game out of reach.
South Alabama 41, Texas State 31
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) – Evan Orth threw two fourth-quarter touchdowns as South Alabama rallied late to beat Texas State 41-31 on Saturday night.
The Jaguars (1-2, 1-0 Sun Belt) were trailing 31-26 late in the fourth quarter when Orth capped an 80-yard drive with a 23-yard scoring strike to Jordan McCray for a 34-31 lead with 2:02 to play. Three plays into Texas State's next drive, Jalen Thompson intercepted Willie Jones III and returned it 29 yards to the Bobcats' 4-yard line. Four plays later, Orth connected with Jamarius Way for the final score.
Orth finished with 266 yards passing for the Jaguars. Tra Minter ran for 61 yards and two scores. Way had 173 yards receiving.
Willie Jones threw two touchdowns and ran for another score for the Bobcats (1-2, 0-1).
The teams traded field goals early before Jones broke for a 50-yard touchdown run, then hit Javen Banks for a 42-yard touchdown to give the Bobcats a 17-3 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
Texas A&M 48, ULM 10
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) – Kellen Mond ran for two touchdowns and threw for a third to give Texas A&M a 48-10 win over ULM on Saturday night.
Mond had a 7-yard scoring run in the second quarter and the Aggies returned a blocked field-goal attempt for a touchdown to build a 24-10 halftime lead.
Mond scrambled nine yards and hopped into the end zone untouched for his second score midway through the third quarter to extend the lead to 21 points. He connected with Jace Sternberger on a 20-yard touchdown pass that made it 41-10 with about eight minutes left.
Trayveon Williams had 128 yards rushing and Texas A&M (2-1) bounced back after losing to No. 2 Clemson 28-26 last week.
Mond, who threw for a career-high 430 yards last week, finished with 210 yards passing and 67 yards rushing.
Caleb Evans threw for 225 yards with a touchdown and an interception for ULM (2-1).
The Aggies took a 7-0 lead on a 2-yard touchdown run by Williams on their first possession. He had five carries for 49 yards to power the drive.
ULM added a field goal before Mond's first touchdown, where he pulled two defenders with him into the end zone, pushed the lead to 14-3 early in the second quarter.
ULM used a 44-yard reception by Marcus Green to move deep into Texas A&M territory but the Warhawks came away empty-handed when Daylon Mack blocked a field-goal attempt and Tyrel Dodson returned it 78 yards for a touchdown which pushed the lead to 24-3. Mack's block sent it right into Dodson's hands and he was able to dash down the field untouched.
Evans then orchestrated another long drive for ULM which featured a 34-yard completion. The Warhawks got within 24-10 at halftime when he capped that drive with a 2-yard TD pass to R.J. Turner with four seconds left in the second quarter.
#2 Clemson 38, Georgia Southern 7
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) – A week of worry at No. 2 Clemson over a powerhouse storm ended in victory in front of a supportive full house at Memorial Stadium.
The Tigers (3-0) got a career-best 162 yards rushing and two touchdowns from Travis Etienne to defeat Georgia Southern 38-7 on Saturday, capping an unusual week for Clemson - the only major college team in the Carolinas and Virginia that did not call off its game because of Florence.
Coach Dabo Swinney was grateful the weather held out and the fans showed up.
''I really didn't know what to expect,'' Swinney said. ''We almost had a full house.'' Elsewhere in South Carolina, the slow-moving tropical storm was displacing people and destroying property.
Trevor Lawrence threw for 194 yards including a 57-yard score to fellow freshman Justyn Ross in its first-ever meeting with Georgia Southern (2-1) of the Sun Belt Conference.
Clemson's defense shut down Georgia Southern's option offense. The Eagles came in fourth in the country averaging 326 yards rushing its first two games. They managed just 20 yards and one first down the first two quarters.
Georgia Southern quarterback Shai Werts, from Clinton about 90 minutes southeast of Clemson, was pleased that the Eagles worked hard throughout even in defeat. ''It's something we can learn from on the off week and get better at,'' he said.
#16 Mississippi State 56, Louisiana 10
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) – Nick Fitzgerald accounted for 350 yards of offense and six touchdowns to lead No. 16 Mississippi State to a 56-10 victory over Louisiana on Saturday night.
Fitzgerald ran for 107 yards and four touchdowns, the second time he's had four rushing touchdowns in a game. Fitzgerald also completed 14 of 21 passes 243 yards and two touchdowns.
Aeris Williams added 101 yards and a touchdown on the ground for Mississippi State (3-0). The Bulldogs totaled 607 yards of offense with 331 yards on the ground.
Louisiana's Andrew Nunez was 21 of 29 for 224 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He threw a 4-yard scoring pass to Jamarcus Bradley in the fourth quarter.
Louisiana (1-1) got on the board first with a 38-yard field goal from Kyle Pfau early in the first quarter. But it was all Mississippi State the rest of the first half. The Bulldogs scored on all five first-half possessions.
Fitzgerald was 8 of 13 passing for 171 yards and a touchdown pass to Stephen Guidry in the opening half. The fifth-year senior also rushed for 81 yards and three scores in the half.
Louisiana was 0 of 5 on third down in the opening half and also failed on all three fourth-down conversion attempts.