College football Saturday: Clemson tops Georgia, LSU over TCU

It was on tape, somewhere, but that’s the only thing the two coaching staffs could agree upon. Oklahoma State’s sudden departure from one of the most potent passing offenses in the country to a triple-option running attack had some precedent. Just where it came from is the debate.

“We saw their offensive coordinator run it at … California, was it? Ship? I knew it was one of the Pennsylvania schools,” Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen said in the post-game press conference

Ash finished 20-of-28 with 343 yards and four touchdowns through the air, also running eight times for 91 yards for a touchdown. As a team, Texas gained 715 total yards on the day, nearly 400 more than its opponent.

The Longhorns’ offense was impressively balanced, gaining 356 yards in the air and 359 yards on the ground. Of the team’s eight touchdowns, only one came on a play of fewer than 20 yards. Four were on plays of 50 yards or more.

The Buckeyes scored a few minutes later on another Miller pass, and we subsequently found out the first conversion was just a setup for this one.

The Buckeyes took a 23-0 lead into the second quarter, and even with a Buffalo touchdown at the start of the period, the lead seemed safe. Miller and the Buckeyes were driving around midfield when this happened.

No. 12 LSU never trailed in its opening night victory over No. 20 TCU Saturday, but it was a thrilling matchup that saw two of the top defenses in the country go at it in an early season showdown.

It was the first of Magee’s two touchdown runs in the quarter, and it would help seal the Tiger win. LSU held the TCU offense to just 259 yards of total offense. The Tigers were able to put up 448 yards of offense of their own against the vaunted Horned Frog defense.

Ever wonder what a full-body Howard Dean scream would look like? It would look like this.

“I’M NOT SURE WHAT TO DO WITH MY HANDS. OR LEGS. OR BODY.”

Update: We now have video of Holtz making the comments.

Well, Lou Holtz was not pleased, as he had harsh words for Manziel on ESPN’s “Final Verdict.”

Boyd got the scoring started early, with a four-yard run in the first quarter, and showed the crowd his moneyfingers.

Despite the high final score, there were plenty of defensive highlights to be found. Georgia entered the game with plenty of questions on the defensive side of the ball - questions that Jordan Jenkins were willing to answer emphatically.

No. 1 Alabama defeated Virginia Tech easily on Saturday, dispatching the Hokies 35-10 in their opening matchup of the season.

Jones had two more touchdowns on the day - one from a kick return and another on a reception. He became the first Alabama player in over 60 years to have two return touchdowns in one game, and as a result got his own highlight reel courtesy of the SEC:

Maybe they’re not the body-baggers anymore. Maybe they’re zombies who are bent on taking over the college football world.

“Body bag games,” a phrase coined by the late Cal State Fullerton coach Gene Murphy to describe the big-dollar staged slaughters of college football also-rans, became horror shows for more than a handful of FBS powers in the 2013 opening weekend. It began with Towson’s thrashing of Connecticut on Thursday and culminated with the sacking of San Diego State by Eastern Illinois on Saturday night.

Rice’s marching band, the Marching Owl Band (also known as The MOB), has a reputation for, well, stirring things up.

In 2007, when the Texas football team had some players facing legal issues, the MOB opened with the theme from Dragnet and had three members dressed as Longhorn players being chased by other members carrying cardboard police cars. In 2011, Texas was the target again, as the MOB spelled out $EC on the field days after Longhorn rivals Texas A&M announced its move to the Southeastern Conference.

A short story, in six parts.

Johnny Manziel enters the football game for the first time this season to riotous applause.

The Bayou Bengals won the day’s other Top 25 matchup, methodically pulling away from No. 20 TCU for three quarters, then holding on for dear life as the Horned Frogs staged a fourth-quarter comeback. Two Terrence Magee third-quarter touchdowns gave LSU a 30-17 lead.

•Clemson beats Georgia, fans chant “A-C-C!”

Covered the spread against Nicholls State. The spread was 59 points. Gambling is dumb, and flossing is good for you, but which one do you do more often, citizen?

Plays their first game against San Jose State on September 7. Probably in meetings with venture capitalists about some rich person stuff this week.

Muschamp called out the Gainesville Sun, Palm Beach Post, and GatorCountry.com as media outlets who had reported Bostwick was one of five players suspended for Florida’s opening matchup against Toledo. In truth, only four players were suspended for the game, with Bostwick not included in that group.

The Florida coach’s speech echoed Mike Gundy’s now infamous “I’m a man, I’m 40” press conference, as he asked members of the media to go after him, not his players.

Georgia Bulldogs star receiver Malcolm Mitchell suffered a knee injury in Saturday’s game against Clemson. Mitchelll apparently landed awkwardly while while celebrating Todd Gurley’s first quarter 75-yard touchdown run, according to 247Sports.

The injury appears to be serious, as the report says Mitchell’s knee was stabilized on the sidelines.

The WIldcats answered with a field goal of their own to retake the lead, then followed it up with their second pick-six of the night. Ellis intercepted Goff and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown to give Northwestern a 37-27 lead with 7:57 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The teams combined for more than 1,000 yards of offense, with Cal out-gaining Northwestern 548 yards to 508.

Hundley, a sophomore, completed 22-of-33 passes for 274 yards and two touchdowns, including a five-yard pass to Shaquelle Evans in the second quarter. Hundley also ran for 61 yards on eight carries and two touchdowns, including a 37-yard scamper to tally the game’s first score.

UCLA rolled up 647 yards of total offense, 345 of those yards coming on the ground. The Bruins scored three touchdowns in the third quarter,turning a 17-13 halftime into a blowout as UCLA outscored Nevada 41-7 in the second half.

Sankey paced the Huskies on the ground, rushing for 161 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. The Broncos struggled to get Washington off the field as the Huskies racked up 32 first downs and converted 10-of-14 third-down conversions.

For the Broncos, it was their second straight season-opening loss. Boise State got off to a slow start offensively, althougth it trailed just 10-3 at halftime. The Broncos cut the lead to 10-6 with a field goal to start the third quarter, but it was all downhill from there. The Huskies scored 28 unanswered points to close the game.

Things got interesting late, but No. 12 LSU made the plays it needed to late in the game and opened its season with a 37-27 win against No. 20 TCU.

It wasn’t the Tigers’ sharpest performance, but they were at their best when they needed to be. The Tigers scored a late touchdown to make it a two possession game. LSU didn’t give TCU much of a chance to make a final comeback, controlling the ball for all but 54 seconds during the final 7:35 of the game.

Clemson fans have every reason to be excited about their team took down No. 5 Georgia in Saturday’s showcase thriller. They also have every reason to show some conference pride after the SEC’s done nothing but show conference pride for almost the last decade.

Some weren’t too impressed by Tigers faithful storming the field, but seriously y’all, they do this every game.

Box Score Hero: Todd Gurley. The Georgia running back ran 12 times for 154 yards and two scores.

Rankings Ramifications: Clemson will almost certainly rise above Georgia, and may go up a few spots. The Bulldogs will likely fall out of the top ten, even though the loss was against a top-ten opponent on the road.

Nebraska recovered an onside kick attempt but was forced to punt with just over a minute remaining. Two holding penalties on the final possession would loom large for the Cowboys, and a last-second heave from Smith would fall incomplete.

Box Score Hero: Smith did it all for the Cowboys, racking up 475 yards of total offense. He did everything possible to score the huge road upset and came up just short. The Cornhuskers ran the ball well all night long, carrying the pigskin 63 times for 375 yards. That’s an average of six yards per carry. They were also phenomenal on third down, going 9-for-17 with their backs against the wall.

Rankings Ramifications: Texas began the week ranked 15th, and with no teams ahead of them falling via upset, it seems likely they’ll remain in the middle of the pack once the polls are released.

But Did They Cover? The Longhorns opened up as 42-point favorites, and most lines had them up to 44 points by kickoff. So yes, they covered.

Washington State started the game off well, driving 75 yards on the opening possession for a touchdown. The teams went back-and-forth during the rest of the first half with five lead changes. A field goal late in the half gave Auburn a 25-21 lead going into halftime.

Following an Auburn fumble, WSU had one final chance, but a fourth-down attempt fell incomplete and the Tigers ran out the clock for the win.

Rankings Ramifications: Neither team received any votes in the latest polls. Western Kentucky may receive a few in the next one, but nothing significant.

But Did They Cover? Western Kentucky was a three-point underdog, so yes!