COLUMBUS, Ohio — Justin Fields made some mistakes that quarterbacks make when they haven’t played much. The much-ballyhooed Georgia transfer also showed flashes of how good he might be and why he was a five-star recruit.
Fields, who saw limited action as a freshman last season sitting behind Jake Fromm, threw four touchdown passes and ran for a score in his first game for Ohio State, leading the fifth-ranked Buckeyes over Florida Atlantic, 45-21, on Saturday in the season opener.
Fields made it look easy early, engineering touchdown on Ohio State’s first four drives, including his 51-yard scoring run on the Buckeyes’ first possession.
The Buckeyes’ offense sputtered in the second and third quarters behind its relatively inexperienced leader. Fields stayed in the game for all but the last offensive series, finishing 18-for-25 for 234 yards.
ATLANTA — Tua Tagovailoa threw for 336 yards and four touchdowns as No. 2 Alabama overcame a sluggish start to blow out Duke.
Returning to the stadium where they won the Southeastern Conference title last December and the national championship two seasons ago, the Crimson Tide (1-0) was held scoreless in the first quarter — which happened only one time in 2018.
SEATTLE — Jacob Eason threw for 349 yards and four touchdowns in his first game in nearly two years in his Washington debut.
Taking his first snaps since the 2017 season when he lost the starting job at Georgia to Jake Fromm, Eason showed no rust, carving up one of the top FCS programs in the country. Eason completed 27 of 36 passes and led Washington (1-0) on touchdown drives on four of its first five possessions.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Sean Clifford completed 14 of 23 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns to lead Penn State.
Making his first career start, Clifford chipped in 57 rushing yards on seven carries and hooked up with receiver KJ Hamler for scoring strikes of 36 and 21 yards.
AMES, Iowa — Sheldon Croney Jr. scored from a yard out in triple overtime and Iowa State rallied to beat Northern Iowa.
La’Michael Pettway had a pair of touchdown catches for the Cyclones (1-0), who barely survived the season’s first major upset after entering the year ranked for the first time since 1978.
LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska scored two defensive touchdowns and one on special teams to bail out a sluggish offense.
The five-touchdown favorite Huskers led only 14-7 at halftime and totaled just 66 yards in the second half. But their defense had five takeaways, the biggest one Eric Lee Jr.’s 38-yard interception return for a touchdown, and JD Spielman ran back a punt 76 yards to make it a three-touchdown game early in the third quarter.
STANFORD, Calif. — K.J. Costello threw a 2-yard touchdown pass before getting knocked out of the season opener on a late hit and Stanford went on to beat Northwestern.
Costello completed 16 of 20 passes for 152 yards and the TD pass to Michael Wilson that capped a 90-yard drive in the second quarter for the Cardinal (1-0). But his day ended early when he was hit with a forearm to the facemask while sliding on a scramble by Earnest Brown IV with just 2 seconds remaining in the first half.
Brown was called for a late hit that set up Jet Toner’s 51-yard field goal but wasn’t ejected for targeting. Costello stayed down on the turf for a few minutes before being helped to the locker room. He didn’t return to the game and there was no immediate word on his condition.
Northwestern also lost a quarterback with TJ Green leaving with a leg injury in the third quarter after being sacked and losing a fumble on a play in the red zone. Green had replaced the ineffective former Clemson five-star recruit Hunter Johnson late in the first half.
Johnson came back in to finish and went 6 for 17 for 55 yards and two interceptions. He also lost a fumble that Stanford’s Jordan Fox recovered in the end zone for a touchdown that sealed the game with 20 seconds remaining.