Murray stars in Georgia victory over South Carolina

NEW YORK: Aaron Murray threw for 309 yards and four touchdowns, No. 11 Georgia’s beleaguered defense finally came up with a stop, and the Bulldogs defeated No. 6 South Carolina 41-30 on Saturday for an early edge in the Southeastern Conference East.
Coming off a 38-35 loss at Clemson, Georgia could not afford another defeat if it wanted to remain a serious contender for a national title.
Murray took care of that, turning in one of the best games of his career. The fifth-year senior capped his stellar day for the Bulldogs (1-1, 1-0 SEC) with an 85-yard touchdown pass to Justin Scott-Wesley with 13 minutes remaining.
The defense made sure it stood up, stuffing Mike Davis on fourth-and-goal from inside the 1.

No. 2 Oregon 59 Virginia 10: De’Anthony Thomas ran for 124 yards and three touchdowns, Marcus Mariota threw for two touchdowns and ran 71 yards for another score, and Oregon started fast and completely manhandled Virginia.
The Ducks (2-0), who gained a school-record 772 yards last week in beating Nicholls State, looked capable of doing it again against a Virginia defense that hoped to keep the Cavaliers in the game. Oregon finished with 557 yards and did all its scoring while possessing the ball for just 21:25.
Virginia (1-1) got an early look at what it was up against as Mariota dropped back on a third-and-5 on the opening series, then bolted up the middle untouched, going 71 yards for a touchdown.
No. 3 Ohio St. 42 San Diego State 7: Kenny Guiton took over when Braxton Miller left with a sprained left knee, running for one touchdown and passing for two while leading Ohio State over San Diego State.
Miller watched the last three quarters from the sideline after being sandwiched between two tacklers on the Buckeyes’ seventh offensive play. The Buckeyes (2-0) didn’t need him.
Guiton, who helped save Ohio State’s 12-0 season a year ago, had the most playing time he’s ever had in a game.
No. 4 Clemson 52 South Carolina State 13: Tajh Boyd ran for a touchdown and Clemson returned two interceptions for scores for the first time in program history in a win over FCS opponent South Carolina State.
Boyd finished 14-of-23 passing for 169 yards after accounting for five TDs a week ago and becoming a prime Heisman Trophy contender as the Tigers (2-0) defeated No. 11 Georgia 38-35.
In this one, Boyd scored Clemson’s first touchdown and played only a half against the Bulldogs (0-2) before finding a spot on the Death Valley sidelines next to offensive coordinator Chad Morris.
No. 5 Stanford 34 San Jose State 13: Tyler Gaffney ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns in an impressive return after playing baseball in the minors last year, leading Stanford to a season-opening win.
With career-rushing leader Stepfan Taylor in the NFL now, Gaffney made sure the defending Pac-12 and Rose Bowl champions kept the ground game going strong. The Cardinal scored on their first three possessions and forced prolific passer David Fales to toss short passes for little gain.
Kevin Hogan threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns for Stanford in front of an announced sellout crowd of 50,424 — the largest since 50,425 showed up for Southern California in 2008.
No. 7 Texas A&M 65 Sam Houston State 28: Johnny Manziel threw for 426 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score in less than three quarters to give Texas A&M a win over Sam Houston State.
The Heisman Trophy winner played about a quarter more than he did last week when he sat out the first half for A&M (2-0) serving a suspension for what the school called an “inadvertent” violation of NCAA rules involving signing autographs.
The Aggies’ suspension-depleted defense was burned for several big plays by the Bearkats, the FCS runner-up the last two seasons, in the final tuneup before next week’s rematch with No. 1 Alabama.
No. 8 Louisville 44 Eastern Kentucky 7: Teddy Bridgewater threw for 397 yards and four touchdowns, and Louisville routed Eastern Kentucky on a day the Cardinals’ defense just missed it second straight shutout.
Linebacker Preston Brown had two sacks for Louisville, and Calvin Pryor had an interception as Louisville limited Eastern Kentucky (1-1) to 76 yards of total offense in the first half.
Following the noon kickoff, Louisville (2-0) settled for a pair of field goals from John Wallace after turnovers gave the offense short fields.
No. 9 LSU 56 UAB 17: Zach Mettenberger passed for an LSU single-game record five touchdowns, receiver Odell Beckham Jr. scored one of his four touchdowns on a 100-yard field goal return, and the Tigers overwhelmed UAB.
LSU coach Les Miles also decided to end running back Jeremy Hill’s benching in the second quarter of the second game of the season. Hill, who was arrested last spring for landing a punch outside a bar, scored on a 3-yard run on his first carry.
Mettenberger finished 16 of 19 for 282 yards and was not intercepted.