Michigan wide receiver Roman Wilson (1) makes a touchdown reception against East Carolina defensive back Julius Wood (4) during Saturday’s game in Ann Arbor, Mich.. (AP photo)
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — J.J. McCarthy walked alongside his teammates in a single-file formation as each player raised an arm over their head, letting suspended Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh know his players were thinking about him.
“That was definitely a tribute to coach Harbaugh,” McCarthy said after throwing three touchdown passes to Roman Wilson to help the second-ranked Wolverines rout East Carolina 30-3 on Saturday. “That was pretty cool to do that.”
Michigan (1-0) was without Harbaugh, who began serving a school-imposed, three-game suspension for breaking NCAA rules.
McCarthy showed up at Michigan Stadium wearing a blue shirt backward, writing “FREE” in black on white athletic tape and placing it on his chest above Harbaugh’s name. He put the shirt back on after the game.
“I just want my coach back,” McCarthy said. “It’s as simple as that.”
McCarthy probably made his coach proud, completing 26 of 30 passes for 280 yards and throwing a touchdown pass to Wilson in each of the first three quarters. He completed 15 straight passes in the first half, the longest streak by a Michigan quarterback since 2015, according to Sportsradar.
McCarthy said he felt much different than he did a year ago when he was coming off a shoulder injury and competing with Cade McNamara to be the team’s starting quarterback.
“This one felt effortless,” he said.
All-America running back Blake Corum, coming off knee surgery, ran for 73 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. He showed his speed is back on 37- and 21-yard runs.
“It felt great being back out there, making some cuts and some long runs,” Corum said. “That was my first time, honestly, getting hit since the Ohio State game.”
The Pirates (0-1) were overmatched as expected against a team with national championship aspirations that’s coming off two straight Big Ten titles and trips to the College Football Playoff.
Mason Garcia was 11-of-18 passing for 80 yards and had a deflected pass picked off by Mike Sainristil. Garcia shared time with Alex Flinn, who was 6 of 11 for 52 yards.
“Mason made some mistakes early,” coach Mike Houston said. “Alex played really well in the second quarter. Alex made some mistakes in the third quarter, and I was really excited about how Mason finished the ballgame.”
The Pirates avoided a shutout with Andrew Conrad’s 33-yard field goal as time expired.
No. 19 Wisconsin 38, Buffalo 17
MADISON, Wis. — Chez Mellusi ran for 157 yards and two touchdowns, Braelon Allen added 141 yards and two more scores and Wisconsin started the first season of Luke Fickell’s coaching tenure with a victory over Buffalo (0-1).
Mellusi, a Clemson transfer who came to Wisconsin in 2021, had an 89-yard touchdown run in which he navigated through the defense to make it 21-10 in the third quarter. He had 13 carries.
Allen had 14 rushes, and caught seven passes for 25 yards. His 37-yard touchdown run extended the lead to 28-10 in the third.
SMU transfer Tanner Mordecai threw for 189 yards and a touchdown, and two interceptions, in his first start for the Badgers (1-0).
No. 25 Iowa 24, Utah State 14
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Cade McNamara threw for 191 yards and two touchdowns in his Iowa debut to help the Hawkeyes beat Utah State.
The touchdowns came on Iowa’s first two offensive possessions, and the Hawkeyes (1-0) didn’t get into the end zone again until Kaleb Johnson’s 3-yard run in the fourth quarter. Iowa, which had one of the worst offenses in the nation last season, finished with 284 yards.
Utah State (0-1) got field goals from William Testa and Elliott Nimrod and a 16-yard touchdown pass from Cooper Legas to Terrell Vaughn late in the fourth quarter.
No. 7 Penn State 38, West Virginia 15
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Drew Allar threw for 325 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start to help Penn State beat West Virginia.
KeAndre Lambert-Smith caught two touchdown passes — including a 72-yard dart launched with a simple flick of Allar’s wrist on his second attempt of the game — while Nick Singleton added a rushing touchdown.
Malik McClain caught another midway through the fourth quarter for the Nittany Lions, who pulled away after leading 14-7 at halftime.
Backup Beau Pribula ran for a touchdown with six seconds left and kicker Alex Felkins added a 25-yard field goal.
It was the first time the two regional rivals played since meeting every year from 1947 until 1992.
Maryland 38, Towson 6
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Taulia Tagovailoa threw for three touchdowns and ran for one in the first half of Maryland’s 38-6 rout of Towson on Saturday.
The Terrapins (1-0) had little trouble pulling away from a Towson team playing its first game under coach Pete Shinnick. Maryland leaned on its veteran quarterback, with Tagovailoa throwing for 260 yards in under three quarters, and the offense looked mostly sharp against this FCS opponent.
Corey Dyches had six catches for 108 yards and a touchdown for the Terps.
The Terrapins have high hopes in coach Michael Locksley’s fifth season at the helm. They’re coming off an eight-win campaign last year and have a talented, experienced quarterback in Tagovailoa. He opened the scoring with a 23-yard touchdown run.
Tagovailoa struck twice more in the first quarter with a 23-yard TD pass to Dyches and a 24-yarder to Jeshaun Jones. He added a 13-yard scoring toss to Kaden Prather with 14 seconds left in the half to make it 28-3.
Roman Hemby scored on a 9-yard run in the third quarter.
Tagovailoa had 32 pass attempts in the first half and only one in the second before he was replaced by Billy Edwards Jr.
Nathan Kent threw for 128 yards for Towson (0-1).
Fresno State 39, Purdue 35
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Mikey Keene threw for four touchdowns Saturday to lead Fresno State to a 39-35 win over Purdue in the season opener for both teams.
Keene, a transfer from Central Florida, threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Erik Brooks with 58 seconds left for the game winner. Keene connected on 31 of 44 passes for 366 yards. Brooks had nine catches for 170 yards.
“He lit us up,” Purdue first-year coach Ryan Walters said of Keene.
Fresno State had a 13-minute edge in time of possession. While the Bulldogs converted 11 of 17 third downs, Purdue was 3 of 12 on third down and 2 of 4 on fourth-down conversions.
“We have to do a better job on third downs on both sides of the ball,” Walters said.
Purdue, which led 28-17 early in the third quarter, managed to regain the lead at 35-32 on Devin Mockabee’s 11-yard TD run with 4:36 to go.
Malik Sherrod went wide from 1-yard out early in the fourth quarter to give the Bulldogs a 32-28 lead. Mockobee was stopped on fourth-and-goal at the Fresno State 1 with 8:13 left.
Fresno State’s Dylan Lynch missed a 20-yard field goal but redeemed himself by hitting a 52-yarder as time expired in the first half to narrow the Bulldogs’ halftime deficit to 21-17.
The Bulldogs trimmed the deficit to 28-25 with 6:44 remaining in the third quarter when Keene connected with Jaelen Gill for an 18-yard TD pass and the conversion pass to Jalen Moss.
“We had very few penalties,” Fresno State coach Jeff Tedford said. “I thought we played a clean game. The offensive line did a good job. That’s a tough, physical team we played.”
The Bulldogs were penalized four times for 35 yards.
In his Purdue debut, Hudson Card, a Texas transfer, completed 17 of 30 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns, including an 84-yard TD pass to Deion Burks.
“There are some plays I wish I had back along with some decision-making,” Card said. “We’ll have to look at film and learn from it. Give credit to Fresno State, they came ready to play. Everything we want to accomplish is still in front of us.”
Walters echoed that opinion.
“It’s game one with new staff and a new scheme. We’ll evaluate everything. I’m confident we’ll get better in game 2,” said Walters, who replaced Jeff Brohm after he left to take the job at Louisville, his alma mater.
Purdue’s one bright spot defensively was an interception by freshman defensive back Dillon Thieneman in the fourth quarter.
