Appalachian State 45, Charlotte 9
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Zac Thomas threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score and Appalachian State dominated Charlotte 45-9 on Saturday night in the first gridiron meeting of the in-state rivals.
The victory came a week after the Mountaineers lost to No. 10-ranked Penn State 45-38 in overtime.
Thomas' 5-yard TD run put the Mountaineers up 10-0 on Charlotte and his TD passes to Corey Sutton and Dominique Heath made it 24-9 at halftime after the Mountaineers outgained the 49ers 250-104.
Thomas completed all 14 of his pass attempts and hit Sutton (155 yards on three receptions) on a 90-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter. Thomas Hennigan returned a punt 59 yards for a third-quarter score and Austin Exford recovered a fumble in the end zone for a score.
Charlotte's Jonathan Cruz kicked second-quarter field goals of 46, 54 and 48 yards - the most field goals in a game for the 49ers - with the 54-yarder the longest by a freshman in school history.
ULM 21, Southern Miss 20
HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Cortez Sisco Jr. intercepted a Jack Abraham pass and returned it 46 yards with 22 seconds left in the game, preserving Louisiana Monroe’s 21-20 victory Saturday night.
Caleb Evans had 165 yards passing and threw for two touchdowns as Louisiana-Monroe (2-0) held on to edge Southern Mississippi. Marcus Green caught both scores.
Abraham threw for 378 yards and two touchdowns for the Golden Eagles (1-1) and had driven to midfield inside the final two minutes when Sisco jumped in front of the intended receiver for the pick.
Evans hit Green for a 47-yard touchdown to put UL-Monroe up 14-7 late in the first quarter. Southern Miss replied with a field goal and a touchdown and the Warhawks trailed 17-14 at halftime.
Evans brought the Warhawks back early in the third with his second scoring toss to Green for a 21-17 edge. The Golden Eagles’ Parker Shaunfield kicked a 47-yard field goal late in the quarter to cut it to 21-20 and neither team scored after that.
Georgia Southern 34, UMass 13
STATESBORO, Ga. – Shai Werts threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as he helped Georgia Southern sprint past UMass 34-13 on Saturday.
Werts accounted for 237 of Georgia Southern's 488 total yards as he threw for 154 yards and ran for another 83 yards on 14 carries. Werts was 6-of-9 passing.
The Eagles (2-0) ran the ball 19 straight times to open play before Werts hit Cam Brown in the back of the end zone with a 5-yard scoring toss to go ahead 7-3 early in the second quarter.
The Minutemen (1-1) tied the score at 10-10 after Jordan Fredericks' 1-yard TD run with 2:18 left in the first half. Werts put Georgia Southern ahead for good when he ran it in from the 3 with 35 seconds left in the half.
Tyler Bass added field goals of 41 and 50 yards for the Eagles.
UMass' Marquis Young rushed for 71 yards on 14 carries, putting him over 3,000 career rushing yards. He is just the fifth Minuteman to surpass that mark.
Coastal Carolina 47, UAB 24
CONWAY, S.C. – Kilton Anderson threw two touchdown passes and ran for another, Torrance Marable accounted for three touchdowns and Coastal Carolina shut out UAB in the second half for a 47-24 victory on Saturday night.
The Chanticleers (1-1) have won eight straight home openers.
Anderson was 11 of 18 for 167 yards passing. Marcus Outlow ran for 140 yards and two touchdowns, and Marable added another 80 yards on the ground and two touchdowns for Coastal Carolina.
A.J. Erdely, Kendall Parham, and Kingston Davis had touchdown runs for UAB.
Parham took a pitch to the left sideline, cut back inside to elude several defenders and ran 64 yards into the right corner of the endzone, and the Blazers led 21-7 early in the second quarter.
Anderson connected with Marable on a 29-yard touchdown pass, and Anderson ran for a 26-yard score to tie it at 21. Anderson threw another touchdown pass, and Marble had two scoring runs in the fourth quarter.
Troy 59, Florida A&M 7
TROY, Ala. (AP) – Kaleb Barker threw four touchdown passes and ran for another score, the Troy defense forced turnovers that led to four scores and the Trojans beat Florida A&M 59-7 on Saturday night.
Barker scored on a 1-yard keeper after Shon Spralling blocked a Rattlers' punt, then hit Damion Willis on a 2-yard TD pass after Rasool Clemons recovered a fumble. Tron Folsom's interception set up Barker's 13-yard TD pass to Willis for a 21-0 first-quarter lead.
Bishop Bonnett scored Florida A&M's only TD on a 1-yard run early in the second quarter, but Troy (1-1) poured it on from there, scoring 21 unanswered second-half points.
Barker was 14-of-23 passing for 140 yards passing, with TD passes to Deondre Douglas and Sidney Davis. Backup Sawyer Smith threw a 16-yard TD pass to Tray Eafford. B.J. Smith scored on a 3-yard run and Folsom returned a third-quarter interception 53 yards for a score.
Ryan Stanley was 15 of 27 for 208 yards passing with two interceptions for the Rattlers (1-1).
Texas State 36, Texas Southern 20
SAN MARCOS, Texas – A.J. Krawczyk returned a fumble 82 yards for a touchdown and James Sherman booted five field goals to lead Texas State to a 36-20 victory over Texas Southern on Saturday night.
James Sherman kicked a 36-yard field goal to cap the Bobcats' first drive and sandwiched a 35- and 41-yarder around a Willie Jones III 46-yard scoring strike to Keenen Brown for a 16-0 halftime lead.
Down 19-0, the Tigers drove deep into Texas State territory, but Brad Woodard fumbled after an 8-yard reception and Krawczyk scooped it up and raced to the end zone for a 26-0 lead.
The Tigers offense got untracked in the second half as Jay Christophe threw three TD passes, two of those to Tren'Davian Dickson, including a 75-yarder. Christophe had 315 yards on 21-of-40 passing. Dickson notched 159 yards on seven receptions.
Jones finished with 235 passing yards and ran for 107 yards on 18 carries. Brown had seven catches for 108 yards.
Texas State is 10-0 all-time against Texas Southern and has won 21 straight games against Southwestern Athletic Conference teams.
North Carolina State 41, Georgia State 7
RALEIGH, N.C. – Ryan Finley threw two touchdown passes, and North Carolina State defeated Georgia State 41-7 on Saturday.
Finley was 31 of 38 for 370 yards with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Thayer Thomas and a 1-yard score to Trent Pennix. His yardage total was the second-best of his career, behind only his 415-yard performance against South Carolina in last year's opener.
Reggie Gallaspy II had a short scoring run, Brady Bodine (39 yards) and Matthew McKay (2 yards) added late TDs and Christopher Dunn kicked two field goals. The Wolfpack (2-0) scored on their first three possessions, scored the game's final 41 points, rolled up 541 total yards and won their 12th straight home nonconference game.
Thomas, a redshirt freshman and former walk-on, finished with nine catches for 114 yards in his first start at slot receiver in place of Jakobi Meyers - who led the team in receiving last week but was held out with an ankle injury. Kelvin Harmon had eight receptions for 129 yards while Stephen Louis, out last week with a tight hamstring, was injured early in the fourth quarter after taking a shot to the helmet while being tackled.
Dan Ellington was 15 of 28 for 194 yards, and Destin Coates had an 8-yard touchdown run that gave the Panthers (1-1) a 7-0 lead.
''We've got to convert and score,'' coach Shawn Elliott said of a team that missed two field goals and failed on a trick play on a fourth-and-1. ''We've got to put them in the end zone. We've got to put points on the board.''
#1 Alabama 57, Arkansas State 7
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – No. 1 Alabama raced out to a 19-0 first quarter lead and defeated the Arkansas State football team 57-7 at Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday afternoon.
A-State Quarterback Justice Hansen was 15-of-36 passing for 140 yards and a touchdown while Warren Wand had 11 rushes for 60 yards. Armond Weh-Weh had four carries for 45 yards and A-State finished with 173 rushing yards on 31 carries. Kirk Merritt and Brandon Bowling led A-State with five receptions each with Merritt covering 29 yards and Bowling gaining 25 yards. Omar Bayless had a game-high 36 yards receiving for A-State on his three catches.
Darreon Jackson had a game-high 10 tackles, including six solo stops, and had a forced fumble near the Alabama goal line in the first half. Dojon Emory had the lone sack for the A-State defense and the unit combined for four tackles for loss on the game.
Alabama out-gained the Red Wolves 599-391 for the game. The Crimson Tide had 321 yards through the air with another 278 yards coming on the ground. A-State had 173 yards rushing and 218 passing yards.
The Crimson Tide scored 33 points offensively and an interception return for a touchdown saw Alabama lead 40-0 at halftime. A-State used the opening possession of the second half to get on the board as Hansen hooked up with Kendrick Edwards for a 23-yard touchdown.
Following the Red Wolves score, Alabama scored 17 more points to set the final score. A-State moved inside the red zone in the fourth quarter, but two false start penalties and a missed field goal kept A-State from scoring.
Oklahoma State 55, South Alabama 13
STILLWATER, Okla. – Taylor Cornelius completed 25 of 40 passes for 428 yards and one touchdown to help lead Oklahoma State to a 55-13 victory over South Alabama Saturday night.
Tylan Wallace (10 receptions for 166 yards and one touchdowns) and Tyron Johnson (five catches, 137 yards) each recorded breakout, career-high totals for the Cowboys (2-0).
While South Alabama (0-2) committed to stopping the Oklahoma State ground game, holding the Cowboys to just 164 yards rushing, OSU still scored four rushing touchdowns, including two by Justice Hill.
Overall, Oklahoma State outgained South Alabama 617-214 in total offense.
Evan Orth, making his first career start, completed 14 of 25 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown for the Jaguars. Receiver Kawaan Baker led South Alabama in rushing with 40 yards and one touchdown on seven carries, while also registering three receptions for 29 yards, including a 12-yard score with 2:57 left in the second quarter that pulled the Jaguars to within 24-13.