Wisconsin ruins LSU’s opener; S. Alabama jolts Mississippi St.

Wisconsin 16, No. 5 LSU 14: In Green Bay, Rafael Gaglianone kicked a 47-yard field goal with 3:47 left, and Wisconsin staved off LSU’s desperate last-ditch drive in a game that dealt an early blow to the Tigers’ national title hopes.

LSU’s frustration was on full display at the end, when offensive lineman Josh Boutte was ejected for a flagrant foul after a vicious blind-side hit on Wisconsin’s D'Cota Dixon after the safety sealed the win with an interception with 57 seconds left.

LSU’s Heisman Trophy hopeful Leonard Fournette ran for 138 yards on 23 carries. Les Miles’ first loss in a season opener in his 12 years as LSU coach will put him back on the hot seat. He was nearly run out of Baton Rouge after a 9-3 season in 2015.

Tigers quarterback Brendan Harris struggled, going 12 of 21 for 131 yards with two interceptions and a score. Wisconsin’s Corey Clement ran for 86 yards and a TD on 21 carries.

No. 6 Ohio State 77, Bowling Green 10: Ohio State scored 10 offensive touchdowns and rolled up a school-record 776 yards in beating visiting Bowling Green.

Quarterback J.T. Barrett broke a school record in having a hand in seven touchdowns — six passing and one running. The junior was 21-for-31 for 349 yards and rushed for 30 more before giving way to Joe Burrow with 6:30 left in the third quarter.

No. 7 Michigan 63, Hawaii 3: Wilton Speight threw an interception on his first snap as a starter. When henext took the field, Michigan was backed up to its 2. No problem.

Speight led the host Wolverines on a 98-yard touchdown drive, capping it with his first of three straight touchdown passes in the win, their most lopsided victory since 1975.

The Wolverines (1-0) did not reveal their quarterback until the game began.

No. 15 Houston 33, No. 3 Oklahoma 23: Elusive quarterback Greg Ward Jr. passed for 321 yards and two touchdowns for host Houston. Brandon Wilson, though, provided the key play in the biggest regular-season nonconference game the Cougars have played in 25 years.

No. 24 Oregon 53, UC Davis 28: Dakota Prukop made his debut, throwing for 271 yards and three touchdowns, and the host Ducks overcame a rocky start. Royce Freeman rushed for 87 yards and two scores for Oregon.

SEC

Texas A&M 31, No. 16 UCLA 24 (OT): Trevor

The Aggies had a fourth-and-1 from the 1 in OT when Knight waltzed into the end zone. Texas A&M sealed the victory when Justin Evans knocked down Josh Rosen’s pass at the goal line on fourth down.

Rosen threw three interceptions while working under heavy pressure.

South Alabama 21, Mississippi State 20: South Alabama held off the host Bulldogs when Westin Graves’ 28-yard field goal try smacked off the upright in the final seconds.

Facing a team favored by four touchdowns, Jaguars quarterback Dallas Davis capped a late comeback by throwing a 4-yard touchdown pass to Gerald Everett with 57 seconds left.

Down 17-0 at halftime and still trailing 20-7 in the fourth quarter, South Alabama rallied with 99-yard and 71-yard TD drives.

Davis, a sophomore, completed 24 of 34 passes for 285 yards and two scores. He also had a highlight-reel run in the second half, hurdling Brandon Bryant on the way to another big gain. The Jaguars beat an SEC team for the first time in school history.

No. 18 Georgia 33, No. 22 North Carolina 24: In Atlanta, Nick Chubb rushed for 222 yards in his return from a gruesome knee injury, including a 55-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter that clinched Georgia’s victory in Kirby Smart’s debut as the Bulldogs’ coach.

Chubb broke loose down the right sideline with 3:34 left and the Bulldogs clinging to a two-point lead. Leaving no doubt he was fully recovered, Chubb carried 32 times and was every bit as dominating as the Heisman-touted back he was before.

West Virginia 26, Missouri 11: Quarterback Skyler Howard played through a rib injury and Rushel Shell missed most of the second half with leg cramps, yet host West Virginia still broke a five-game skid to Southeastern Conference teams.

State

Purdue 45, Eastern Kentucky 24: Leroy Clark and Gelen Robinson’s first-quarter interceptions helped Purdue build an early 21-0 lead, and the host Boilermakers outlasted the visiting Colonels.

Clark’s interception of Maty Mauk, the fifth-year graduate transfer quarterback from Missouri, set up Purdue’s second touchdown and a 14-0 lead, and Robinson’s 78-yard interception return for a score made it 21-0 with 3:31 left in the first quarter.

Eastern Kentucky outgained Purdue 284-243 during the first 30 minutes, but first-year Eastern Kentucky coach Mark Elder said, “You are not going to have a chance to win many games with three turnovers in the first quarter.”

James Madison 80, Morehead State: Bryan Schor and Taylor Woods each rushed for three touchdowns as host James Madison ripped Morehead State, setting several offensive records in Mike Houston’s coaching debut.

Illinois 52, Murray State 3: Wes Lunt threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns and Kendrick Foster ran for a pair of 56-yard touchdowns to give new Illinois coach Lovie Smith his first win in Champaign. The Illini (1-0) opened up a 35-3 halftime lead. Illinois sacked Murray State (0-1) quarterbacks KD Humphries and Cameron Birse six times.

Charleston Southern 57, Kentucky State 7: Senior Reginal Harris was a bright spot for the Thorobreds with 76 yards rushing and 32 receiving, but the host Buccaneers ruled.

Friday night

Toledo 31, Arkansas State 10: Former Franklin County star Logan Woodside passed for three touchdowns and a career-high 371 yards in the Rockets’ season-opening win in Jonesboro, Ark. Woodside hit on 23 of his 31 throws.

This story was originally published September 3, 2016 at 10:28 PM with the headline "Wisconsin ruins LSU’s opener; S. Alabama jolts Mississippi St.."