Coastal Carolina, making its debut as a Football Bowl Subdivision team and member of the Sun Belt Conference, scored a 38-28 victory over the University of Massachusetts Saturday night at Brooks Stadium in Conway, S.C.
Osharmar Abercrombie rushed for 149 yards and a pair of touchdowns on runs of 4 and 7 yards to lead the Chanticleers, while Dalton Demos added a pair of TD runs.
Andrew Ford led the Minutemen (0-2) by completing 25 of 41 passes for 316 yards and a 21-yard TD pass to Andy Isabella (6 catches, 101 yards).
UMass senior tight end Adam Breneman led all receivers with nine receptions for 126 yards to top 1,000 receiving yards with the Minutemen before leaving the game in the third quarter with a knee injury.
Maryland 51, Texas 41 — Tyrrell Pigrome passed for two touchdowns and ran for another before leaving with an injury and Maryland stunned No. 23 Texas in Austin, spoiling the debut of Longhorns coach Tom Herman.
Pigrome had to be helped off late in the third quarter after twisting his knee, but freshman Kasim Hill came in and led the Terrapins to two fourth-quarter touchdown drives.
Maryland led, 27-7, in the second quarter, and then held off a Texas rally to snap a 17-game losing streak to ranked opponents, the third-longest streak among Power Five conference teams.
The Longhorns scored three non-offensive touchdowns: an interception return and blocked kick return by Holton Hill and a 91-yard punt return by Reggie Hemphill-Mapps.
But those highlights couldn’t deliver a win for Herman, who was brought from Houston to replace Charlie Strong after three straight losing seasons.
Texas had its same old problems, giving up a special teams touchdown, missed field goals, and a defense that was physically battered all game and give up big plays.
Shane Buechele passed for 375 yards for Texas.
The Terps pounded Texas with an impressive running game that rolled up 263 yards in a huge win for second-year coach D.J. Durkin.
Southern Cal 49, Western Michigan 31 — Ronald Jones II rushed for the tiebreaking 37-yard touchdown with 6:57 to play, and the No. 4 Trojans rallied from a second-half deficit against Western Michigan in Los Angeles.
Jones rushed for 159 yards and three scores, while freshman Stephen Carr added 69 yards rushing and two TDs in his debut for the Trojans.
Marvell Tell returned an interception 37 yards for a TD with 3:13 to play as USC won its 10th consecutive game despite major trouble from the defending MAC champion Broncos.
Clemson 56, Kent State 3 — Faced with replacing quarterback Deshaun Watson for the defending national champions, Kelly Bryant went 16 of 22 for 236 yards and a touchdown and ran for 77 yards in his first game as Clemson’s starter as the No. 5 Tigers cruised in their season opener.
Clemson had 13 players catch a pass and five different players rush for touchdowns as the Tigers gained 665 yards total offense.
Bryant had a perfectly placed 61-yard touchdown pass to Deon Cain on his second drive. He mirrored Watson’s running ability, taking off for a 47-yard run after all his receivers were covered. And he showed the ‘‘swag’’ that coach Dabo Swinney promised to fans skittish about Watson’s departure.
Bryant led Clemson on an 89-yard touchdown drive that put Clemson ahead 35-3 to start the second half, and then Swinney played his backups.
The Golden Flashes (0-1) were without coach Paul Haynes, who missed the game for medical reasons. They gained just 119 yards.
Penn State 52, Akron 0 — Saquon Barkley racked up 226 total yards and two touchdowns to lead the No. 6 Nittany Lions to a convincing shutout win over Akron in both teams’ season opener in State College, Pa.
Quarterback Trace McSorley was 18 of 25 for 280 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception.
Although it rained heavily early in the game at Beaver Stadium, a soggy field and leaky Akron defense couldn’t slow Penn State’s pair of Heisman Trophy candidates. They combined for 371 total yards and four scores in the first half to put the game out of reach.
Tight end Mike Gesicki added six catches for 58 yards and two touchdowns for Penn State, DeAndre Thompkins scored on a 61-yard punt return and backup quarterback Tommy Stevens ran for a fourth-quarter touchdown. Tyler Davis made a 47-yard field goal for the Nittany Lions, who’ve scored 35 or more points in eight straight games. That’s the longest active streak among Power 5 teams and in program history.
Much of that can be attributed to Barkley’s dazzling skill.
He helped set up Penn State’s touchdown when McSorley targeted him with a third-and-10 pass early in the first. Barkley, running to his left, hauled in the short toss, stopped on a dime, stutter-stepped through two defenders and cut back across the field, where he eluded three more for a 17-yard gain. McSorley zipped his first touchdown pass to Gesicki two plays later.
A reloaded Penn State defense did its part. The Zips punted 11 times and quarterback Thomas Woodson was intercepted on the other drive. The Zips crossed midfield just once, needing a fourth- down stop on defense to set up favorable field position.
Woodson completed 12 of 23 passes for 71 yards.
Oklahoma 56, Texas-El Paso 7 —Baker Mayfield passed for 329 yards and three touchdowns in one half of action to help the No. 7 Sooners rout UTEP.
Mayfield completed 16 straight passes to start the game. He didn’t miss until just under four minutes remained in the second quarter and completed 19 of 20 overall.
The Sooners rolled up 676 yards of offense in their first game under head coach Lincoln Riley, 33, who was promoted from offensive coordinator after Bob Stoops stepped down in June.
Mark Andrews had career highs of seven catches and 134 yards, all in the first half. Jeff Badet, a transfer from Kentucky, added 91 yards on four catches as the Sooners warmed up for a showdown next weekend at No. 2 Ohio State.
Michigan 33, Florida 17 — Quinn Nordin became the first Michigan kicker to make two 50-yard field goals in one game, one of them in a quick go-ahead spurt after halftime in Arlington, Texas, and the 11th-ranked Wolverines handed 17th-ranked Florida its first season-opening loss in nearly three decades.
The Gators had won 27 consecutive season openers, the nation’s longest such streak, since a home loss to Mississippi in 1989.
Michigan trailed 17-13 at halftime before scoring three times in the first six minutes of the second half.
After Karan Higdon’s 3-yard TD run capped a half-opening 75-yard, 10-yard drive, Ambry Thomas forced and recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. That set up a 30-yard field goal by Quinn, who then made a 50-yarder after Michigan recovered another fumble.
Nordin made four field goals, including a 55-yarder in the first half. He missed two attempts wide right in the fourth quarter, one of those from 52 yards.
The nation’s No. 1 kicker in the 2016 recruiting class, Nordin had initially committed to Penn State but signed with the Wolverines after a home visit that included a sleepover by Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh.
Florida’s only touchdowns came when Duke Dawson and CJ Henderson returned interceptions for touchdowns. Those came on consecutive throws by Michigan starting quarterback Wilton Speight in the second quarter.
South Carolina 35, North Carolina State 28 — Deebo Samuel returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a score and caught two touchdown passes from Jake Bentley as the Gamecocks defeated the Wolfpack in the season opener for both teams in Charlotte, N.C.
Bentley threw for 215 yards and three touchdowns, including strikes of 39 and 6 yards to Samuel as the Gamecocks won their 17th season opener in the last 18 years.
Gamecocks safety D.J. Smith broke up a pass from Ryan Finley in the end zone with six seconds left to seal the win.
Finley threw for 415 yards and two touchdowns on 45-of-64 passing for NC State. Jaylen Samuels had 15 catches for 81 yards and a touchdown and Kelvin Harmon had 10 for 114 yards for the Wolfpack.
South Carolina won despite being limited to 31 yards rushing on 21 carries and being outgained, 504-246.
California 35, North Carolina 30 — In Chapel Hill, N.C., Ross Bowers threw for 363 yards and four touchdowns in his first college start, helping Cal rally from a 17-7 second-quarter deficit to beat the host Tar Heels in the first game under coach Justin Wilcox.
Bowers, a sophomore, had never thrown a pass in a college game and had to win a preseason battle.
But he shook off two interceptions and came up with several good throws to help Cal win its first East Coast day game since 2012.
Vic Wharton III had five catches for 156 yards for Cal, which trailed 17-7 in the second quarter. But a targeting penalty on UNC’s Jalen Dalton extended a drive to set up Wharton’s 67-yard score just before halftime, a game-changing sequence that helped Cal outscore UNC 28-7.
Michael Carter scored twice for UNC (0-1), which started LSU graduate transfer Brandon Harris at quarterback but leaned more on redshirt freshman Chazz Surratt.
Notre Dame 49, Temple 16 — Brandon Wimbush, a junior making his first career start, threw for two touchdowns and ran for 106 yards and another touchdown to lead the Fighting Irish over Temple in South Bend, Ind.
The score on the second play of the game was set up by a 33-yard pass from Wimbush to St. Brown. Adams also had a 60-yard run to set up Notre Dame’s third touchdown, a 12-yard pass by Wimbush to Weisher.
Adams reached the 100-yard mark in six carries, matching his career best. He also needed six runs to pass that mark against Wake Forest in 2015. Six of Adams’ 12 career rushing touchdowns have been for 35 or more yards.
The Irish, with four returning starts on the offensive line, rushed for 422 yards. It was the most yards rushing for Notre Dame since running for 457 in a 62-27 win over Massachusetts in 2015. The Irish finished with 606 yards total offense to 330 for Temple.
First-year Temple coach Geoff Collins had indicated he might use as many as three quarterbacks, but stuck with Marchi, who was 19-of-35 passing for 245 yards.
Missouri 72, Missouri St. 43 — Drew Lock had a record-setting day, throwing for 521 yards and seven touchdowns as the Tigers romped in their season opener in Colombia, Mo.
The previous passing touchdown record was five, shared by Chase Daniel, Maty Mauk, and Lock. The previous yardage record was 480, set by Jeff Handy against Oklahoma State in 1992.
Miami 41, Bethune-Cookman 13 — Malik Rosier passed for 217 yards and three touchdowns in his debut as Miami’s full-time starting quarterback, and Mark Walton ran for 148 yards and two touchdowns for the No. 18 Hurricanes.
Rosier completed 17 of 28 passes for Miami, which scored on five of its first six possessions. He spread the ball to nine different receivers and went 12 for 14 in one stretch. in his first start since Oct. 31, 2015.
Braxton Berrios, Lawrence Cager and Darrell Langham had touchdown catches for Miami.
Pittsburgh 28, Youngstown St. 21 — Jester Weah hauled in an 11-yard touchdown pass on the opening possession of overtime to give the host Panthers the lead. Bricen Garner picked off Youngstown State’s Hunter Wells in the end zone to help Pitt, which blew a 21-point halftime lead, hold on for the victory.
Virginia 28, William & Mary 10 — Kurt Benkert threw for 262 yards and three touchdown passes as the Cavaliers gave second-year coach Bronco Mendenhall a much more encouraging start than a season ago, when Virginia was dominated, 37-20, by Richmond, like William & Mary a member of the FCS.