Carson Beck, No. 1 Georgia Cruise Past UT Martin
Carson Beck threw for a touchdown and ran for another in his debut as starting quarterback as No. 1 Georgia overcame a sluggish start to roll past Tennessee-Martin, 48–7, in Athens, Ga., on Saturday in the season opener for both teams.Beck completed 21 of 31 passes for 294 yards, without an interception. Mekhi Mews sprinted to the end zone for a 54-yard touchdown off a Beck swing pass in the third quarter.
All-American Brock Bowers caught five passes for 77 yards, all in the first half, and put the Bulldogs on the scoreboard with a 3-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter.
Roderick Robinson II finished with 50 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. Kendall Milton added 53 yards on nine touches as the Bulldogs won their 18th straight game.
Georgia limited FCS UT-Martin to 260 yards of total offense and 15 first downs.
Kinkead Dent completed 18 of 32 passes for 128 yards. His 9-yard touchdown pass to Trevonte Rucker came in the fourth quarter.
The Skyhawks, coming off two straight Ohio Valley Conference titles and a 7–4 record last year, punted on nine of their first 10 possessions.
Trying to become the first school in the 87-year history of the AP Poll era to win three straight national championships, Georgia punted on three of its first four possessions and scored just seven points in the first 25 minutes.
But the Bulldogs surged late in the first half to take control of the game. Beck scrambled for a 4-yard touchdown run and a 14–0 lead with 4:29 remaining before the break.
Then in the final 2:17 of the half, Beck completed five straight passes, including a 25-yard strike to Dominic Lovett to set up a 23-yard field goal by Peyton Woodring, his first of two field goals in his collegiate debut.
East Carolina 3, (2) Michigan 30
No. 3 Ohio State Beats Indiana for 28th Straight Time
Miyan Williams rushed for two touchdowns to help No. 3 Ohio State pull away from pesky Indiana for a 23–3 victory in their season openers in Bloomington, Ind., on Saturday.Kyle McCord, who won the starting job for Ohio State over Devin Brown, was 20 for 33 for 239 yards and an interception in the Big Ten contest.
Williams’ second score, from 3 yards, gave the Buckeyes a 20–3 lead with 1:51 left in the third quarter after they led 10–3 at the half.
Ohio State has won 28 straight against the Hoosiers since a 27–27 tie in 1990. Indiana’s last victory was in 1988.
Brown played one series in the first half and the final drive of the game for the Buckeyes.
Chip Trayanum rushed for 57 yards on eight carries, TreVeyon Henderson had 47 on 12 carries and Williams 25 on seven.
Cade Stover led the Buckeyes with 98 yards on five catches.
All-American receiver candidate Marvin Harrison Jr. had 18 yards on two receptions.
Brendan Sorsby was 8 for 16 for 58 yards and Trayven Jackson went 1 for 5 for 24 yards for the Hoosiers.
The Buckeyes needed a 40-yard field goal by Jayden Fielding with three seconds left to carry the seven-point margin into halftime. Those points came after the Hoosiers were stopped on a fourth-and-4 pass play from the Ohio State 39-yard line with 38 seconds left.
Ohio State took a 7–0 lead on its first series, an 80-yard drive, when Williams ran for a 7-yard score midway through the first quarter.
It remained that way until Chris Freeman hit a 42-yard field goal with 6:15 remaining in the second quarter.
Fielding added a 22-yard field goal to make it 13–3 with 6:42 left in the third quarter.
He later added another from 22 yards with under five minutes to play for a 23–3 lead.
Both teams, as expected, used two quarterbacks in the first half after competitive battles heading into the season.
