SEC
MISSOURI 72, MISSOURI STATE 43
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The gold standard of quarterbacks at Missouri is Chase Daniel, who holds most of the school's passing records. Drew Lock grabbed a few of his own Saturday, setting single-game marks for touchdown passes and passing yards as the Tigers beat Missouri State 72-43 in the season opener.
Lock threw for 521 yards and seven touchdowns.
"It's really cool to break these records," said Lock, a junior. "Thinking about all the guys that played quarterback in my position that I grew up watching, idolizing. I was tied with them last year, now I get to bump up ahead of them."
The previous passing touchdown record was five, shared by Daniel, Maty Mauk and Lock. The previous yardage record was 480, set by Jeff Handy against Oklahoma State in 1992.
When Lock threw his sixth touchdown pass, Daniel, Missouri's starting quarterback from 2006-08 and now a backup for the New Orleans Saints, tweeted, "Records are meant to be broken!!"
While Lock's exploits were a nice bonus for Missouri, the fact he was still piling up statistics in the fourth quarter was a troubling sign that the MU defense couldn't get enough stops to turn a game against an FCS opponent into a blowout. The Bears hung right with the Tigers for most of the first half, leading 35-34 in the second quarter, and piled up 492 yards.
"We've got a lot of work to do," Missouri Coach Barry Odom said. "I don't want to have a lot of Arena Football scores as we keep going on this deal. We've got to get it fixed on that side."
Odom, who calls the defensive signals, said he greatly simplified things at halftime, sticking almost entirely with the base defense. Missouri State scored just one touchdown in the second half after trailing 48-35 at the break.
Missouri, which racked up a school-record 815 total yards, never slowed down after scoring on the first play from scrimmage. Lock threw a quick perimeter pass to Johnathon Johnson, and Johnson veered around a downfield block from Dimetrios Mason and raced 65 yards down the right sideline to the end zone. Lock completed 21 of 34 passes and spread the touchdowns to five receivers.
J'Mon Moore had four catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns, and Johnson had five receptions for 116 yards and two scores. Damarea Crockett (Little Rock Christian), who surpassed 1,000 rushing yards last year as a true freshman, carried 18 times for 202 yards and two TDs.
"I feel like that's the best part of this offense -- how many weapons we've got out on the perimeter, in the backfield," Johnson said. "We've got a lot of weapons that we can use, a lot of stuff we can do with them."
Missouri State showed off its playmakers, as well. The Bears scored touchdowns on their first three drives -- including scoring runs of 75 and 34 yards by Calan Crowder. With 5:32 left in the second quarter, Malik Earl's 89-yard tackle-breaking touchdown reception on a third-and-24 play gave Missouri State a 35-34 lead.
Earl had eight catches for 163 yards, and Crowder rushed 11 times for 124 yards. Sophomore quarterback Peyton Huslig completed 24 of 35 passes for 353 yards and two touchdowns in his first start.
"He did a really good job," Missouri State Coach Dave Steckel said of Huslig. "He's got this calm confidence about himself that really helped guide the offense to keep coming back and answering."
SOUTH CAROLINA 35,
N.C. STATE 28
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Deebo Samuel returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a score and caught two touchdown passes from Jake Bentley as South Carolina defeated North Carolina State in the season opener for both teams.
Bentley threw for 215 yards and 3 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 on fourth and goal with six seconds left to preserve the victory.
Finley threw for 415 yards and 2 touchdowns on 45-of-64 passing for North Carolina State. Jaylen Samuels had 15 catches for 81 yards and 1 touchdown and Kelvin Harmon had 10 for 114 yards for the Wolfpack.
KENTUCKY 24,
SOUTHERN MISS 17
HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Stephen Johnson threw for 176 yards and a touchdown and Kentucky’s defense recovered two crucial fumbles in the second half to lead the Wildcats over Southern Mississippi. Kentucky was clinging to a 17-10 lead in the third quarter when Darius West slammed his helmet into Southern Miss quarterback Kwadra Griggs’ arm, forcing a fumble that Denzil Ware scooped up and ran 20 yards for the touchdown.
Then with the Wildcats leading 24-17 in the fourth quarter, the Kentucky defense killed another Southern Miss drive when Chris Westry forced a fumble that was recovered by Courtney Love at midfield.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 49,
CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 0
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Nick Fitzgerald threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score to lead Mississippi State to a victory over Charleston Southern.
Mississippi State racked up 555 yards of offense with 29 first downs and almost a 50-50 split on yards rushing and passing.
Charleston Southern mustered only 33 total yards and 2 first downs against an MSU defense that allowed an average of 459 yards per game last season. With 9 tackles for a loss, 1 sack and 2 safeties, the Bulldog unit carried the day.
Fitzgerald was 16 for 29 for 239 yards, throwing touchdown passes to Gabe Myles and Deddrick Thomas. Aeris Williams led all rushers with 83 yards and a touchdown. Dontavian Lee also rushed for a touchdown.
GEORGIA 31,
APPALACHIAN STATE 10
ATHENS, Ga. — Freshman Jake Fromm led three first-half touchdown drives after starting quarterback Jacob Eason hurt his left knee, helping Georgia beat Appalachian State.
Fromm completed 10 of 15 passes for 143 yards and 1 touchdown.
Nick Chubb ran for 96 yards, including scoring runs of 1 and 7 yards. Sony Michel added 87 yards rushing and 1 touchdown for Georgia.
NO. 12 AUBURN 41,
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 7
AUBURN, Ala. — Jarrett Stidham threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score in his debut for No. 12 Auburn in a victory over Georgia Southern.
The Tigers used a smothering defense to overcome three turnovers — including a fumble returned for a touchdown — plus an injury to tailback Kerryon Johnson and the absence of top runner Kamryn Pettway. Pettway, wide receiver Kyle Davis and backup quarterback Sean White all were held out for undisclosed reasons in the opener for both teams.
The news got worse when Johnson pulled up short on what appeared destined to be his second long touchdown of the first half. He left with an apparent right hamstring injury and didn’t return after gaining 136 yards with a 60-yard touchdown scamper.
Stidham scored on a 14-yard run and passed for 19-yard touchdowns to Ryan Davis and Will Hastings. He finished 14-of-24 passing for 185 yards with an interception.
OLE MISS 47,
SOUTH ALABAMA 27
OXFORD, Miss. — Mississippi quarterback Shea Patterson threw for 429 yards and four touchdowns, giving Matt Luke a successful debut as head coach as the Rebels defeated South Alabama.
Luke’s successful opener provided a moment of relief for a program plagued with off-season issues. Head coach Hugh Freeze resigned in July after revelations surfaced regarding his personal conduct and the outcome of a prolonged NCAA investigation is scheduled to be resolved this month.
Those concerns disappeared as Patterson completed touchdown throws of 71 and 77 yards to A.J. Brown in the opening three minutes of the second half. De-Markus Lodge had touchdown receptions of 5 and 14 yards in the first and third quarters, respectively.
VANDERBILT 28,
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 6
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Kyle Shurmur threw for 296 yards and tied his career high with three touchdowns as the Commodores beat Middle Tennessee. The Commodores snapped a five-year skid in season openers to give Coach Derek Mason his first victory to kick off his fourth season in charge. They also won their third consecutive against the Conference USA school 37 miles from Nashville. Vanderbilt came out throwing with Shurmur, and the junior quarterback didn’t disappoint. He completed 13 of his first 14 passes, including a 37-yard TD pass to Kalija Lipscomb to cap the opening drive. He added a 4-yard TD pass to Lipscomb for a 21-0 lead minutes into the second quarter.
NO. 13 LSU 27, BYU 0
NEW ORLEANS — Derrius Guice rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns, and No. 13 LSU never allowed BYU’s offense to cross midfield in a rout of the Cougars.
While Louisiana native Ed Orgeron was able to celebrate a largely stress-free victory in his maiden season opener as LSU’s head coach, he also saw his offense squander scoring chances that could have made the result even more lopsided.
Operating an overhauled scheme under new coordinator Matt Canada, LSU piled up enormous statistical advantages but stalled four times inside the BYU 20 — twice coming away with no points, once because of a missed field goal and once because of a failed run on fourth-and-goal from the 1.
Sports on 09/03/2017