UNDATED (AP) — Top-ranked Alabama lost several All-Americans after winning the national championship. Nick Saban appears to have replaced all of them quite nicely as the Crimson Tide opened its latest title defense with a 44-13 blowout of No. 14 Miami.
Bryce Young completed 27 of his 38 passes for 344 yards, hooking up with Cameron Latu on a pair of scoring plays. Young also buried the Hurricanes with a 94-yard touchdown pass to Jameson Williams early in the third quarter.
Young has replaced Mac Jones, who is New England’s starting quarterback. He became the first Alabama quarterback to throw four TD passes in his starting debut.
Williams had four receptions for 126 yards in his Alabama debut.
The Tide sacked D’Eriq King four times, forcing him into three turnovers and stuffing him on a goal-line stand.
In the best matchup of the day, Christopher Smith returned an interception 74 yards for a touchdown and No. 5 Georgia turned in a defensive effort for the ages, toppling third-ranked Clemson by a 10-3 margin. The Bulldogs held the Tigers to 2 yards rushing and recorded seven sacks.
Clemson didn’t score until 9:08 left in the game when a 44-yard reception by Joseph Ngata and a defensive pass interference penalty set up a 22-yard field goal by B.T. Potter.
In other top-25 action on Saturday:
— Spencer Rattler passed for 304 yards and a touchdown as second-ranked Oklahoma barely avoided a shocking upset by Tulane, 40-35. The preseason first-team AP All-American completed 30 of 39 passes, ran for a score and threw for another, but he also threw two interceptions.
— Sixth-ranked Texas A&M rolled to a 41-10 win over Kent State as Leon O’Neal Jr. had two interceptions, returning the second 85 yards for a TD. Devon Achane added two scores and finished with 124 yards on the ground.
— Datrone Young had a big interception with 2:05 left in the fourth quarter as seventh-rated Iowa State staved off upset-minded Northern Iowa, 16-10. Iowa State was in danger of joining Michigan as the only top-10 team to lose to an FCS opponent, a memorable upset by Appalachian State in 2007.
— Desmond Ridder was 20 of 25 for 295 yards and four touchdowns and No. 8 Cincinnati beat Miami of Ohio 49-14. Ridder threw an 81-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Scott on the second play from scrimmage, and Jerome Ford added 121 yards rushing yards on 12 carries.
— Anthony Brown scored on a 30-yard quarterback keeper with 2:57 left to give No. 11 Oregon a 31-24 victory over Fresno State. Oregon jumped to a 21-6 lead, but Fresno State scored two unanswered touchdowns to tie the game midway through the third quarter, then took the lead early in the fourth on Abraham Montano’s field goal.
— No. 16 LSU lost on the road as Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw for 260 yards and three touchdowns in passing UCLA past the Tigers, 38-26. Tight end Greg Dulich had 117 yards receiving, including a 75-yard touchdown catch that helped the Bruins become the first Pac-12 team in 13 years to knock off a ranked SEC school.
— Jaquan Brisker and Ji’Ayir Brown intercepted Graham Mertz deep in Penn State territory in the final 2½ minutes to preserve the 19th-ranked Nittany Lions’ 16-10 victory over No. 12 Wisconsin. The Badgers dominated time of possession but had four scoreless trips inside Penn State’s 25, including three inside the 10.
— Emory Jones’ first career start included a touchdown pass and two interceptions as No. 13 Florida posted a 35-14 victory against Florida Atlantic. Jones did much of his damage with his legs, finishing with 74 of the team’s 400 yards rushing.
— No. 15 Southern Cal opened with a 30-7 romp over San Jose State as Drake London caught a career-high 13 passes for 144 yards. Kedon Slovis passed for 263 yards and two touchdowns, with more than half of his completions finding their way to the dominant London.
— No 18 Iowa cruised to a 34-6 win over No. 17 Indiana as Riley Moss returned two first-half interceptions for touchdowns. Iowa intercepted quarterback Michael Penix Jr. three times and had a fourth wiped out by a roughing-the-passer call.
— Montana became the first FCS team to upset a ranked FBS team in five years, shocking No. 20 Washington 13-7. Montana quarterback Cam Humphrey scored the go-ahead TD on a 4-yard run early in the fourth quarter, and the Grizzlies added a short field goal with 2:54 left to cap the scoring.
— Bijan Robinson scored twice and Hudson Card threw two touchdown passes in his first career start, leading 21st-rated Texas to a 38-18 victory over No. 23 Louisiana-Lafayette. Robinson finished with 176 total yards rushing and receiving in helping Steve Sarkisian win his Longhorns head coaching debut.
