Top 25 roundup: No. 16 Michigan stuns Western Michigan on Hail Mary

By Field Level Media

Sep 06 (Field Level Media) – Bryce Underwood connected with JJ Buchanan on a 47-yard Hail Mary on the game’s final play as No. 16 Michigan survived a huge scare and defeated visiting Western Michigan 13-12 on Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Wolverines hadn’t scored since their opening drive and seemed headed for a stunning upset in Kyle Whittingham’s head coaching debut at Michigan (1-0). Underwood’s heave fell out of bounds on the previous play, but the officials ruled after a replay review that there was still one second remaining.

While the Big Ten replay center’s audio discussion during the review was not shown on the broadcast, the conference later shared the audio and accompanying video feed of the review, which appears to show Broncos safety Micah Davis touching the ball while out of bounds with one second left on the clock.

Dieter Kelly kicked four field goals for Western Michigan (0-1). Broc Lowry was 15-of-21 passing for 89 yards, and Jalen Buckley gained 62 yards on 19 carries.

No. 1 Ohio State 56, Ball State 3

Wide receiver Jeremiah Smith caught two TD passes and the Buckeyes ran through the Cardinals in Columbus, Ohio, in both teams’ season opener.

Ohio State’s prep for a showdown at No. 5 Texas turned into a highlight reel. Julian Sayin passed for 320 yards and three touchdowns, completed 21 of 25 passes and chipped in another touchdown on the ground. Smith caught eight passes for 151 yards, and Devin McCuin added six catches for 97 yards and a score. Ohio State produced three scoring drives of 90-plus yards and another of 83 while limiting Ball State to 165 total yards.

Keldric Luster hit 18 of 33 passes for 89 yards and one interception for Ball State, while Brody Boehm booted a 54-yard field goal with 1:17 left in the first half to account for the visitors’ points.

No. 2 Oregon 34, Boise State 27

Dante Moore threw three touchdown passes, including the tiebreaking scoring pass to Dakorien Moore, and the Ducks rallied from a 10-point deficit to record a victory over the Broncos at Eugene, Ore., in the season opener for both teams.

Dante Moore completed 28 of 37 passes for a career-best 378 yards, while Jeremiah McClellan caught six passes for 150 yards and a touchdown for Oregon. Dakorien Moore had six catches for 93 yards, including the go-ahead 62-yard score that put Oregon ahead with 7:51 left in the game. With the win, the Ducks ran their home nonconference winning streak to 39 games.

Maddux Madsen was 15-of-29 passing for 181 yards and three touchdowns for Boise State, which led 17-7 late in the first half and rallied twice from deficits in the second half. Cam Bates, Sire Gaines and Matt Wagner had touchdown catches for the Broncos.

No. 3 Georgia 63, Tennessee State 3

Gunner Stockton completed 15 of 16 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns to help lead the Bulldogs to a rout of the Tigers in Athens, Ga.

Stockton appeared in just five drives, leading Georgia (1-0) to touchdowns on each of them. Nate Frazier rushed for three touchdowns for Georgia, which outgained Tennessee State 660-109. Backup quarterback Ryan Puglisi threw for 109 yards and a touchdown as Georgia won its 13th consecutive season opener.

The Bulldogs led 28-0 and held a 228-0 yardage edge after one quarter behind two Frazier touchdowns in the first five minutes and receiving touchdowns from Elyiss Williams and Talyn Taylor. Tennessee State’s only score came on a 37-yard field goal from Preston Hurless with 2:08 left in the first half.

No. 5 Texas 59, Texas State 7

Arch Manning threw for 305 yards and a career-high-tying four touchdowns in two and a half quarters of action as the Longhorns rolled past the Bobcats in Austin, Texas.

Manning was 20-of-27 passing with one interception as Texas (1-0) dominated throughout to set the table for next week’s titanic clash against top-ranked Ohio State. Texas’ running back tandem of Hollywood Smothers (70 yards on 10 carries) and Raleek Brown (34 yards on 11 carries with two TDs) combined for 104 yards on the ground, and wide receiver Ryan Wingo caught seven passes for 121 yards with a touchdown, all in the first half.

Quarterback Brad Jackson led Texas State (0-1) with 177 total yards, 150 of those on 15-of-23 passing.

No. 6 Indiana 52, North Texas 16

Bloodied but unbowed, Josh Hoover made a convincing debut as the heir to Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza and the Hoosiers extended their FBS- leading winning streak to 17 games with a throttling of the Mean Green in Bloomington, Ind.

Hoover threw a touchdown on his first pass attempt, Charlie Becker caught two TD passes and defending national champion Indiana won its 16th consecutive home game. Hoover, a transfer from TCU, ended with his ninth career game with at least four TD passes.

Becker made a diving catch to give Indiana a 21-3 lead three plays after Hoover’s nose was bloodied on a 15-yard facemask penalty on North Texas’ Udoka Ezeani.

No. 8 Texas A&M 50, Missouri State 0

Marcel Reed went 21 for 30 for 233 yards and the Aggies steamrolled the Bears in College Station, Texas.

Reed threw touchdown passes to Isaiah Horton and Mario Craver and subbed out early in the fourth quarter with a 40-0 lead. Rueben Owens II led the Aggies (1-0) with 77 rushing yards on 17 attempts. Horton, a transfer from Alabama, finished with a game-high 76 receiving yards on four catches.

The Aggies’ defense terrorized Skyler Locklear and Missouri State (0-1), holding the Bears to eight yards in the second half. Anto Saka (a Northwestern transfer) recovered a fumble in his Texas A&M debut and Ryan Henderson (San Diego State) added a fourth-down stuff and a strip sack.

No. 11 LSU 51, Clemson 10

Sam Leavitt rushed for two touchdowns and passed for another, Dilin Jones rushed for two scores and No. 11 LSU’s defense dominated in a whipping of Clemson in the season opener for both teams in Baton Rouge, La.

Leavitt, a transfer from Arizona State, passed for 230 yards in less than three quarters, and he and Jones each rushed for 113 yards as LSU totaled 309 yards on the ground. Overall, LSU outgained Clemson 644-145 and gained a school-record 38 first downs in the most lopsided loss of Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney’s 19-season tenure.

Christopher Vizzina began his fourth season at Clemson by making his second career start and passed for just 83 yards with an interception that Jordan Ross returned 30 yards for a touchdown. Winston Watkins Jr. finished with seven catches for 110 yards for LSU, which scored the final 31 points of the first half for a 31-3 lead at the break.

No. 12 Texas Tech 33, Abilene Christian 10

Will Hammond threw for 298 yards and the Red Raiders’ defense held the Wildcats to 194 total yards in Lubbock, Texas.

Hammond completed 26 of 33 passes with a touchdown and an interception as Texas Tech (1-0) gained 471 total yards. J’Koby Williams had 13 carries for 71 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown. The offense settled for three field goals after getting inside the Abilene Christian 20-yard line three different times.

John David Black hit 18 of 32 passes for the Wildcats for 119 yards with an interception. Black absorbed three sacks, which helped limit Abilene Christian (0-2) to only 75 rushing yards.

No. 13 Alabama 48, East Carolina 10

The Crimson Tide scored on their first five drives and dominated the Pirates with 480 total yards in sophomore quarterback Keelon Russell’s first career start in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Russell and wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams hooked up five times for 130 yards despite a pair of drops and a lost fumble.

Alabama led 38-7 at halftime. Russell had 249 passing yards and ran for a team-high 86 yards and a touchdown.

No. 14 BYU 63, Utah Tech 7

Bear Bachmeier threw for 198 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Cougars to a blowout victory over the Trailblazers in Provo, Utah.

Bachmeier also ran for a touchdown while playing only the first half. BYU (1-0) faced little resistance from the Trailblazers in all three phases. The Cougars rolled up 521 total yards, forced four turnovers and held Utah Tech to 52 total yards in the first half. BYU has not lost to a team outside the FBS ranks since 1960.

The Trailblazers (0-2) have been outscored 117-7 over their first two games and have allowed at least 50 points in back-to-back contests for the first time since 2024. CJ Tiller threw two interceptions before being benched early in the second quarter. Backup Bronson Barben threw for 115 yards and an interception.

No. 18 Penn State 45, Marshall 0

Rocco Becht threw for 271 yards and four touchdowns as the Nittany Lions opened the Matt Campbell coaching era with a rout of the Thundering Herd at University Park, Pa.

Becht, who arrived with Campbell from Iowa State, completed 13 of 18 passes without an interception. Koby Howard caught six passes for 161 yards and a touchdown, while Iowa State transfers Brett Eskildsen, Ben Brahmer and Zay Robinson each caught scoring passes. Penn State (1-0) had 487 yards of offense compared to 147 for Marshall.

Carlos Del Rio-Wilson completed 17 of 25 passes for 102 yards and rushed for 30 yards for the Thundering Herd (0-1). Toby Payne added eight catches for 55 yards.

No. 20 Tennessee 56, Furman 9

Faizon Brandon shined in his collegiate debut as the Volunteers comfortably defeated the Paladins in Knoxville, Tenn.

Brandon, the first true freshman quarterback to start a season opener for the Volunteers (1-0) since Brent Schaeffer in 2004, was the first Southeastern Conference player with three passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in his first game since Auburn’s Cam Newton in 2010. Mike Matthews led the Volunteers’ receiving corps with 132 yards on four receptions and two scores.

Isaiah Davis rushed for a game-high 113 yards on eight carries and a score for Furman (1-1), which had 221 yards of total offense to Tennessee’s 638.

No. 22 Iowa 40, Northern Illinois 0

Kamari Moulton rushed for a career-best 183 yards and scored two touchdowns on just 11 carries to help the Hawkeyes steamroll the Huskies in Iowa City in the season opener for both teams.

Hank Brown earned the start at quarterback and completed 12 of 20 passes for 129 yards and one touchdown for Iowa. Runner-up Jeremy Hecklinski was 7-of-16 passing for 76 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Evan James returned a punt for a touchdown for the Hawkeyes, who outgained Northern Illinois 507-120 and had a 27-7 edge in first downs.

Jalen Macon started at quarterback for Northern Illinois and completed 4 of 10 passes for 17 yards. The Huskies didn’t record their initial first down until a pass interference penalty with 4:09 left in the third quarter. Yassine Falke had an interception in the end zone for Northern Illinois.

No. 23 Houston 33, Oregon State 20

Conner Weigman ran for a 1-yard touchdown with 5:01 left to help the Cougars hold off the visiting Beavers.

Weigman hit 20 of 30 passes for 305 yards and tossed an interception as Houston rolled up 533 total yards. Amare Thomas caught a game-high eight passes for 133 yards and a score. Makhi Hughes added 98 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.

Braden Atkinson helped keep Oregon State within striking distance until the final minutes, completing 29 of 48 passes for 376 yards and a score. He spread his completions among nine receivers, with freshman Jesse Legree catching five passes for 136 yards and a touchdown.

(–Field Level Media)