Dalton leads TCU past Oregon State

Andy Dalton ran for two touchdowns and threw for another score to make up for his two interceptions and No. 6 TCU (1-0) opened the season with a 30-21 victory over No. 24 Oregon State (0-1) on Saturday night at Arlington, Texas.

Eight months after Dalton threw three interceptions in a Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State that soured the Horned Frogs' breakthrough season, he scored on a 3-yard keeper at the end of the third quarter to put TCU ahead for good. Both his turnovers led to OSU touchdowns.

Dalton became TCU's winningest quarterback, his 30th victory snapping a tie with "Slingin' Sammy" Baugh, who had held the mark alone since the mid-1930s until being matched last year after the Frogs' first undefeated regular season since 1938.

No. 1 Alabama 48, San Jose State 3: At Tuscaloosa, Ala., Trent Richardson ran for two touchdowns and Greg McElroy passed for 218 yards to help Alabama (1-0) beat San Jose State (0-1).

Alabama outgained the Spartans 591-175.

No. 4 Florida 34, Miami (Ohio) 12: At Gainesville, Fla., Jeff Demps had a long scoring run, John Brantley added a fluky touchdown pass late and Florida (1-0) overcame an error-filled game to beat Miami (Ohio) (0-1).

The Gators used four interceptions, several red-zone stops and two late touchdowns to avoid a meltdown.

No. 5 Texas 34, Rice 17: At Houston, Tre' Newton ran for three touchdowns, leading Texas (1-0) past Rice (0-1).

Texas was stopped on fourth down at the 1-yard line on its first drive and settled for a 51-yard field goal on the second after another stalled drive. The Longhorns finally got going on their first full drive of the second quarter taking a 10-3 lead on a 1-yard TD run by Newton.

No. 7 Oklahoma 31, Utah State 24: At Norman, Okla., DeMarco Murray ran for 218 yards and two touchdowns and converted a key fourth down, helping Oklahoma (1-0) survive an unexpected scare from Utah State (0-1).

Jamell Fleming secured the 800th win in the program's history by intercepting Diondre Borel's pass in the final 5 minutes, dragging his feet to stay inbounds near the sideline.

No. 8 Nebraska 49, Western Kentucky 10: At Lincoln, Neb., Taylor Martinez ran for 127 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 136 yards in a sensational debut that led Nebraska (1-0) past Western Kentucky (0-1).

No. 9 Iowa 37, Eastern Illinois 7: At Iowa City, Iowa, Adam Robinson ran for 109 yards and three touchdowns in the first half and Iowa (1-0) beat Eastern Illinois (0-1).

No. 11 Oregon 72, New Mexico 0: At Eugene, Ore., Kenjon Barner ran for a career-high 147 yards and four touchdowns before catching another score and Oregon (1-0) beat New Mexico (0-1).

Quarterback Darron Thomas, making his debut at starter for Oregon, completed 13 of 23 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns. The Ducks had a record 720 yards in total offense.

No. 12 Wisconsin 41, UNLV 21: At Las Vegas, John Clay and Monte Hall each ran for two touchdowns to lead Wisconsin (1-0) past UNLV (0-1).

No. 16 Georgia Tech 41, South Carolina State 10: At Atlanta, quarterback Joshua Nesbitt ran for 130 yards and three touchdowns, Roddy Jones added two scoring runs and Georgia Tech (1-0) beat South Carolina State (0-1).

No. 17 Arkansas 44, Tennessee Tech 3: At Fayetteville, Ark., Ryan Mallett looked like a Heisman Trophy candidate, throwing for 301 yards and three touchdowns to lead Arkansas (1-0) past Tennessee Tech (0-1).

No. 21 LSU 30, No. 18 North Carolina 24: At Atlanta, against all odds, undermanned North Carolina (0-1) nearly rallied from a 20-point halftime deficit before losing to LSU.

Patrick Peterson had 257 yards - including an 87-yard touchdown - on kickoff and punt returns, leading LSU (1-0) to a 30-10 halftime lead. Not surprising, given the Tar Heels were missing 13 key players because of an NCAA investigation over relationships with agents and possible academic violations.

No. 19 Penn State 44, Youngstown State 14: At State College, Pa., freshman Rob Bolden threw for 239 yards and two touchdowns and Chaz Powell had a 100-yard kickoff return for a score for Penn State (1-0) in a win over Youngstown State (0-1).

No. 20 Florida State 59, Samford 6: At Tallahassee, Fla., Christian Ponder threw four first-half touchdown passes and Greg Reid returned a punt 74 yards for another score as Florida State (1-0) celebrated Jimbo Fisher's coaching debut with a rout of Samford (0-1).

No. 22 Auburn 52, Arkansas State 26: At Auburn, Ala., Cam Newton ran for 171 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 186 yards and three more scores to help Auburn (1-0) beat Arkansas State (0-1).

No. 23 Georgia 55, Louisiana-Lafayette 7: At Athens, Ga., Aaron Murray passed for three touchdowns and ran for another in his first college game to lead Georgia (1-0) past Louisiana-Lafayette (0-1).

No. 25 West Virginia 31, Coastal Carolina 0: At Morgantown, W.Va., Geno Smith threw two touchdown passes and Noel Devine rushed for 111 yards and a score for West Virginia (1-0) in a rout of Coastal Carolina (0-1).