Ohio State wide receiver Evan Spencer, right, tries to escape the grasp of Florida A&M cornerback Patrick Aiken during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kenny Guiton again starred in place of the injured Braxton Miller, setting a school record with six touchdown passes — all in the first half — to lead No. 4 Ohio State to a 76-0 victory against Florida A&M on Saturday.
It was the most lopsided Ohio State win since 1935.
The Buckeyes (4-0) needed a total of four offensive plays and 46 seconds to go up 21-0 in the opening 6 minutes and never looked back. It was an epic mismatch between a team with national-title aspirations and a Football Championship Subdivision member getting a $900,000 guarantee.
FAMU (1-3), which suffered its worst loss ever, trailed 48-0 before picking up its initial first down in the second quarter.
Guiton completed 24 of 34 passes for 215 yards. His TD passes went to five different receivers.
The game was Ohio State’s last tuneup before opening Big Ten play next week against No. 24 Wisconsin at home on Saturday night.
The last time the Buckeyes won by such a large margin was an 85-7 victory over Drake in 1935. They had not won a shutout by such a landslide since a 76-0 win at Western Reserve in 1934.
The Rattlers’ biggest previous margin of defeat was 73-6 to Tuskegee in 1926. They lost to Oklahoma 69-13 a year ago and South Florida 70-17 in 2011.
Ohio State had a 34-2 edge in first downs and a 603-80 differential in yards.
NO. 7 LOUISVILLE 72, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL 0
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Teddy Bridgewater threw four touchdown passes and Louisville’s defense allowed a school-record 30 yards, helping the Cardinals blow out Florida International.
It was the highest scoring game for the Cardinals (4-0) since a 73-10 victory over Murray State in 2007. It also matched the school’s fifth-largest margin of victory.
Bridgewater hit DeVante Parker for two TD passes and Gerald Christian and Eli Rogers for one apiece before Will Gardner came on and passed to Michaelee Harris for another score in the fourth quarter. Dominique Brown, Senorise Perry, Michael Dyer and Brandon Radcliff rushed for TDs.
Charles Gaines returned the second-half kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown, and recovered a muffed punt to set up Bridgewater’s second TD pass in the second quarter. Bridgewater had 212 yards on 17-of-22 passing, part of Louisville’s 464-yard effort against winless FIU (0-4).
NO. 9 GEORGIA 45, NORTH TEXAS 21
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Aaron Murray threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for another score to lead Georgia over pesky North Texas.
Murray overcame an early interception in the end zone, hooking up with freshman Reggie Davis on a 98-yard TD — the longest pass play in school history. Arthur Lynch and Chris Conley also had touchdown catches for the Bulldogs (2-1).
The Mean Green (2-2) came in as a 33-point underdog, but big plays on special teams helped make a game of it. Brelan Chancellor returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, and Zac Whitfield fell on a blocked punt in the end zone early in the second half to stunningly tie the game at 21.
Murray made sure the Bulldogs avoided the upset when he scored on a 1-yard sneak and went to Conley on a 4-yard TD pass.
NO. 17 WASHINGTON 56, IDAHO ST. 0
SEATTLE (AP) — Keith Price threw for 213 yards and three touchdowns in less than a half, Deontae Cooper scored his first career touchdown after three major knee surgeries, and Washington routed Idaho State in the Huskies’ final tuneup before the start of Pac-12 play.
Bishop Sankey, the national leader in yards rushing per game, barely broke a sweat against the Bengals (2-1) of the FCS. Sankey saw action on the Huskies’ first three series and scored on a 3-yard TD run in the first quarter. Sankey finished with 77 yards on four carries.
Price played a little more than 1½ quarters, throwing TD passes of 1, 6 and 5 yards and adding a 1-yard TD run as the Huskies (3-0) led 42-0 at halftime. It was the second straight season they overwhelmed a lower division opponent in the first half.
Last year, Washington led Portland State 45-0 at halftime.
NO. 18 NORTHWESTERN 35, MAINE 21
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Linebacker Damien Proby and defensive end Dean Lowry each had an interception return for a touchdown to lead Northwestern over Maine.
Northwestern improved to 4-0 as it wrapped up its non-conference slate, but this was not the consistent, steady performance coach Pat Fitzgerald was looking for heading into Big Ten play. If not for the interception returns, Maine (3-1) could have been in line for an upset down the stretch.
Running back Mike Trumpy and quarterback Kain Colter each had rushing TDs for Northwestern.
Marcus Wasilewski was 25-for-40 for 237 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for Maine, which had a 379 to 373 edge over the Wildcats in total yards.
Northwestern had posted better than 500 yards of offense in each of its first two games against California and Syracuse.
NO. 19 FLORIDA 31, TENNESSEE 17
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — After starting quarterback Jeff Driskel was lost to a season-ending ankle injury, Tyler Murphy led Florida to five scores in a somewhat ugly game, helping the Gators open Southeastern Conference play with a victory over Tennessee.
Murphy had a 52-yard touchdown throw to Solomon Patton, a swing pass that went the distance, and made several plays with his legs as Florida (2-1, 1-0) won its ninth straight in the series. Murphy’s 7-yard TD scamper in the fourth quarter made it 31-10 and sent fans scrambling for the exits.
The Volunteers (2-2, 0-1) had hoped to rebound from an embarrassing 59-14 loss at No. 2 Oregon a week ago, but they left Gainesville with another double-digit setback.
Murphy completed 8 of 14 passes for 134 yards. He also ran 10 times for 84 yards. His biggest mistake was taking a snap off his facemask, a botched play that resulted in a fumble.
NO. 20 BAYLOR 70, LOUISIANA MONROE 7
WACO, Texas (AP) — Bryce Petty threw for 351 yards with four touchdowns and ran 2 yards for another score, and Baylor kept piling up the points in a win over Louisiana-Monroe.
The fast-paced Bears (3-0) had seven offensive touchdowns in the 10 drives Petty played. Those TD drives took a total of 6 minutes.
Baylor is the first FBS team since LSU in 1930 to open a season with at least 60 points in three consecutive games, according to STATS. Those Tigers had at least 70 points in each of those games — Baylor scored 69 in its opener before 70 points in each of its last two.
The Bears finished with 781 total yards, matching the school record they set in their last game, two weeks ago in a 70-13 win over Buffalo.
ULM (2-2) suffered its worst defeat since a 73-7 drubbing at Auburn in 2003.
NO. 22 NOTRE DAME 17, MICHIGAN ST. 13
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Cam McDaniel scored on a 7-yard run following a questionable pass interference call, one of several penalties that hurt Michigan State, and Notre Dame beat the Spartans for its 10th straight home win.
The Fighting Irish (3-1) also took advantage of another questionable pass interference call in the first half that set up a 2-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Rees to TJ Jones and a holding penalty that kept alive a drive that led to a 41-yard field goal by Kyle Brindza. The Spartans (3-1) had 10 penalties for 115 yards by the Big Ten officials.
But Michigan State made some costly mistakes of its own, including a trick play after the Spartans gained some momentum. After opening the second half with a field goal, receiver R.J. Shelton threw a pass that was intercepted by Matthias Farley and led to Notre Dame’s go-ahead touchdown.
NO. 24 WISCONSIN 41, PURDUE 10
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Melvin Gordon ran for three touchdowns, James White added 145 yards rushing and a 70-yard score, and Wisconsin opened Big Ten play with a win over Purdue.
Gordon scored from 5 and 27 yards in the first half before capping the opening drive of the second half with a 15-yard touchdown run to give Wisconsin (3-1, 1-0) a 31-10 lead.
Nose guard Warren Herring had a sack and three tackles, and linebacker Chris Borland had six stops and a pass breakup at the goal line with the game still close in the first half.
Wisconsin moved on nicely from last week’s stunning 32-30 loss to Arizona State, after officials mishandled the final seconds to deprive the Badgers of a game-winning field-goal try.
Quarterback Rob Henry’s 22-yard scramble for a score on what appeared to be a busted play provided one of the few highlights for the Boilermakers (1-3, 0-1).
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