THURSDAY, SEPT. 1
PENN STATE 35, PURDUE 31: Sean Clifford capped a masterful final drive by throwing a 10-yard TD pass to Keyvone Lee with 57 seconds left Thursday night rallying Penn State to a 35-31 victory over Purdue. Penn State has won 10 straight in the series and six of its last seven season openers. Purdue hasn’t beaten the Nittany Lions since 2004. [FULL RECAP]
MINNESOTA 38, New Mexico State 0: Mo Ibrahim rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns for Minnesota in his seamless comeback from a season-ending injury in the opener a year ago, and the Gophers overwhelmed New Mexico State 38-0 on Thursday night. [FULL RECAP]
FRIDAY, SEPT. 2
MICHIGAN STATE 35, Western Michigan 13: Payton Thorne capped three straight drives with touchdown passes in the first half and threw for a fourth score in the final quarter to help Michigan State pull away and beat Western Michigan 35-13 on Friday night. [FULL RECAP]
INDIANA 23, ILLINOIS 20: Connor Bazelak took Indiana on a 75-yard scoring march on its final series and Shaun Shivers capped it by scoring on a 1-yard run with 23 seconds left to give the Hoosiers a 23-20 victory over Illinois on Friday night. [FULL RECAP]
SATURDAY, SEPT. 3
IOWA 7, South Dakota State 3: Iowa’s defense came up with two second-half safeties, and the Hawkeyes opened the season with a 7-3 win over South Dakota State on Saturday. Iowa finished with 166 yards of offense, while South Dakota State had 120. The two teams combined for more punts (21) than first downs (16). [FULL RECAP]
MARYLAND 31, Buffalo 10: Roman Hemby ran for 114 yards and two touchdowns, including a 70-yard sprint in the first minute of the second half that helped Maryland pull away to a 31-10 victory over Buffalo on Saturday. [FULL RECAP]
MICHIGAN 51, Colorado State 7: Cade McNamara had a lackluster performance that was made moot by a dominant defense as No. 8 Michigan routed Colorado State 51-7 Saturday. McNamara started 1 of 5 and finished 9 of 18 for 136 yards, a total boosted by a short pass he threw that Roman Wilson turned into a 61-yard touchdown early in the first quarter. [FULL RECAP]
RUTGERS 22, Boston College 21: Al-Shadee Salaam scored on a 22-yard run with 2:43 to play, lifting Rutgers to a 22-21 comeback victory over Boston College on Saturday in the schools’ season openers. Aron Cruickshank had a 26-yard TD run and Kyle Monangai a 1-yarder for Rutgers. [FULL RECAP]
NEBRASKA 38, North Dakota 17: Anthony Grant ran for 189 yards and two touchdowns, with the second one breaking a tie late in the third quarter and helping Nebraska defeat North Dakota 38-17 on Saturday. [FULL RECAP]
WISCONSIN 38, Illinois State 0: Braelon Allen had a 96-yard touchdown scamper for the longest run from scrimmage in Wisconsin history and John Torchio had the school’s longest interception return as the 18th-ranked Badgers opened their season with a 38-0 rout of Illinois State on Saturday night. [FULL RECAP]
OHIO STATE 21, Notre Dame 10: C.J. Stroud threw two touchdown passes and Ohio State’s revamped defense gave its vaunted offense time to find its groove as the second-ranked Buckeyes beat No. 5 Notre Dame 21-10 on Saturday night. [FULL RECAP]
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