PALO ALTO >> Stanford will go into its first ACC conference game coming off its first blowout and first home win of the Troy Taylor era.

The Cardinal broke open a surprisingly tight game against FCS-level Cal Poly with 34 unanswered points en route to a 41-7 win Saturday at Stanford Stadium.

Ashton Daniels completed 19 of 23 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns and highly-touted freshman Elijah Brown threw a touchdown pass on his first possession. Stanford’s defense dominated except for one trick play that resulted in Cal Poly’s only score, and the special teams also came through. Sophomore receiver Tiger Bachmeier became the first Cardinal since Christian McCaffrey to return a punt for a touchdown, linebacker Tristan Sinclair ran 6 yards for a first down on a fake punt and 6-foot-7 defensive tackle Aristotle Taylor blocked a 41-yard field goal.

The result was expected — Stanford came in as a 35-point favorite. But the game was tied deep into the second quarter before Stanford finally pulled ahead.

SEC dominates rankings >> After the first shake-up of the college football season, the Southeastern Conference grabbed six of the top seven spots in the AP Top 25 — a first in the 88-year history of the rankings — and Notre Dame tumbled all the way to No. 18 on Sunday after being stunned at home.

Georgia received 54 out of a possible 63 first-place votes to keep a firm hold on No. 1. No. 2 Texas jumped a spot after dominating defending national champion Michigan on the road and received four first-place votes. The Longhorns have their best ranking since finishing second in 2009.

The Wolverines were down to No. 17.

MLB

Giants beat Padres >> Matt Chapman, Jerar Encarnacion and Luis Matos homered off Joe Musgrove in the six-run fourth inning and the San Francisco Giants held on to beat the San Diego Padres 7-6 to take two of three games.

Curt Casili also connected for the Giants, who had a winning record (4-3) in San Diego for the first time since 2021 and took a 6-4 lead in the season series with three games to go in San Francisco.

The Padres, who have lost three of four, lead the race for the top NL wild card.

Tigers rout A’s >> Trey Sweeney had four hits, including a home run, Ty Madden struck out seven and the Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics 9-1.

The Tigers, looking to make a late rally in the AL Wild Card race, took two out of three in Oakland and are two games above .500.

The A’s, who will play their home games in Sacramento next season ahead of a planned move to Las Vegas in 2028, drew 11,250 fans.

Lawrence Butler’s fifth-inning single was the A’s first hit, and it also extended his career-best hit streak to 18 games.

NFL

Prescott gets deal >> Dak Prescott got a new contract with the Dallas Cowboys hours before the season opener at Cleveland.

The star quarterback and the Cowboys agreed on a $240 million, four-year contract, the first in NFL history to average $60 million per season, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal hasn’t been announced.

The runner-up in NFL MVP voting was entering the final year of a $160 million, four-year contract that was a franchise record before this deal.

NASCAR

Logano wins playoff race >> Joey Logano raced his way into the second round of NASCAR’s playoffs by winning the opener in overtime at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Logano, the only two-time Cup Series champion in the 16-driver playoff field, earned an automatic berth into the next round of races. It was the 11th race of the season to end in overtime — a tie for the record set in the 2017 season.