STARS
-Matt Ryan completed 32-of-52 passes for a career-high 408 yards and five touchdowns and Boston College beat Wake Forest 38-28.
-Armanti Edwards threw for 227 yards, three scores and rushed for another in Appalachian State’s 34-32 win over Michigan.
-Tim Tebow threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another as Florida crushed Western Kentucky 49-3.
-Nate Kmic rushed for four touchdowns and finished with 151 yards on seven carries in Mount Union’s record-breaking 75-7 win over Averett.
-Tashard Choice rushed for a career-high 196 yards and two touchdowns and Georgia Tech beat Notre Dame 33-3.
-Ben Olson threw five touchdown passes in UCLA’s 45-17 victory over Stanford.
-Marlon Lucky rushed for a career-high 233 yards and three touchdowns in Nebraska’s 52-10 rout of Nevada.
– Penn State linebacker Sean Lee led the defense with seven tackles, a forced fumble and a sack in a 59-0 rout of Florida International.
-Jehuu Caulcrick ran for 93 yards and a career-high four touchdowns as Michigan State rolled past Alabama-Birmingham, 55-18.
BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE
Julian Rauch’s 24-yard field goal with 26 seconds left put Appalachian State ahead of Michigan and Corey Lynch blocked a field goal in the final seconds to seal one of college football’s biggest upsets. The two-time defending champions from college football’s former Division I-AA beat Michigan 34-32. No Division I-AA team had beaten a team ranked in The Associated Press poll from 1989-2006.
HURTING
Ohio State’s starting defensive end Lawrence Wilson broke his right leg midway through the second quarter against Youngstown State. … Illinois quarterback Juice Williams left the game against Missouri early in the second quarter after taking a shot to the head. Williams ran to the right side and took what appeared to be a helmet-to-helmet hit from Missouri’s Hardy Ricks. No penalty was called. He was replaced by redshirt freshman Eddie McGee.
DYNAMIC DUO
Pat White threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores, and Steve Slaton scored four times in No. 3 West Virginia’s 62-24 rout of Western Michigan. It was the Mountaineers’ highest scoring game since an 80-7 win over Rutgers in 2001. White finished 10-of-18 for 192 yards and 97 yards rushing, while Slaton finished with 109 yards.
IRISH STING
Georgia Tech’s defense shut down Notre Dame in a 33-3 victory. The only score for Notre Dame came on a 24-yard field goal by Brandon Walker in the third quarter. The Fighting Irish were held to minus-8 yards rushing.
HEALING
After 4 1/2 months of mourning, No. 9 Virginia Tech struggled to beat East Carolina 17-7, even hearing boos from a home crowd that honored a plea not to jeer the Pirates. The Hokies appeared a bit overwhelmed by the burden of what they’ll face all year: rallying a school that is desperate to move on from the worst mass shooting in modern American history. The 32 victims of April’s campus massacre were honored in a heart-tugging pregame ceremony, which was followed by an uninspiring performance on the field.
ONE NITTANY LION
Penn State welcomed 80-year-old Joe Paterno back to the sidelines with a suffocating show of defense. The 17th-ranked Nittany Lions routed Florida International 59-0, as Paterno made his first appearance on the sidelines since breaking his left leg last year at Wisconsin. A cart took Paterno off the field at Wisconsin last November after two players ran into him on the sideline in a violent collision. He spent the next week at home while recovering from surgery – missing a game for the first time since 1977.
FLYING HIGH
Matt Ryan threw for five touchdowns – second-most at Boston College only to Doug Flutie – to help the Eagles beat Wake Forest 38-28. Ryan completed 32-of-52 passes, and threw for more than 400 yards against Wake Forest for the second consecutive year. No BC quarterback has thrown for as many as five touchdowns in a game since Flutie connected for six against North Carolina en route to the 1984 Heisman Trophy.
REMEMBER WHEN
Ohio State’s Jim Tressel was the coach at Youngstown State for 15 years and led the Penguins to four I-AA championships before taking over the Buckeyes in 2001.
STRONG IN DEFEAT
Mike Hart rushed for 188 yards and three touchdowns in Michigan’s 34-32 lost to Appalachian State. … Anthony Alridge had 22 carries for 205 yards and a touchdown, he also caught three passes for 88 yards and another score but Houston lost to Oregon 48-27. … Kenneth Moore tied a Wake Forest record with 15 catches – one short of the ACC record held by four players – for 126 yards and a touchdown in the Demon Deacons 38-28 loss to Boston College. …
THE REPLACEMENTS
Todd Boeckman completed 17-of-23 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns, in his first game replacing Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith and Ohio State beat Youngstown St. 38-6. … Notre Dame’s replacements for Brady Quinn were shut down in the Fighting Irish’s 33-3 loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday. Demetrius Jones, Evan Sharpley and Jimmy Clausen combined to go 15-for-22 for a 130 yards.
SCORING SPREE
Nate Kmic rushed for four touchdowns in the first quarter as Mount Union shattered the NCAA record for points in a quarter, piling up 52 in its 75-7 rout of Averett. The defending Division III champion Purple Raiders broke the previous record of 50 points, scored by Alabama State in the second quarter against Prairie View on Oct. 26, 1991.
DEBUTS
– Michigan State rolled past Alabama-Birmingham, 55-18, giving Mark Dantonio a win in his debut as Spartan coach. UAB coach Neil Callaway also made his debut.
– Randy Shannon’s coaching debut at Miami was a breeze. Unranked entering a season for the first time since 1998, Miami beat Marshall 31-3.
– Mario Cristobal’s debut with Florida International was one to forget as the Golden Pathers were beaten by Penn State 59-0.
– UCLA defeated Stanford 45-17 to spoil the debut of Jim Harabaugh.
– Jeff Jagodzinski got a victory in his coaching debut as Boston College defeated Wake Forest 38-28.
– Air Force easily defeated South Carolina St. 34-3, to earn new coach Troy Calhoun his first victory.
STREAKING
With a 34-32 victory over Michigan, Appalachian State has won 15 straight games, the longest streak in the nation. …
SPEAKING
“I wouldn’t call it embarrassing because that takes away from them. We’re disappointed. I can tell you that. “It is one of the biggest losses ever, but give all the credit to Appalachian State.”- Michigan’s Mike Hart after the Wolverines 34-32 loss to Appalachian State.