It wasn’t a full slate, but we did have college football last weekend.
If you were in a cave, or just not paying attention because the schedule was so lite, then you missed unranked Georgia Tech taking down No. 10 Florida State, 24-21, in what was also the ACC opener for both programs on an as-time-expired field goal in the Aer Lingus Kickoff Classic in Dublin, Ireland, a pretty cool concept.
Here’s our recap (KNOCKED OFF IN DUBLIN! | Tech slips by ‘Noles | The Football Beat), and here at The Football Beat, we’re a fan of this game. Let’s hope Kansas State and Iowa State put on as good of a show next season. Who knows, at this point, if it’ll be a conference game, though, the way realignment is in college football?
- Hawaii 35, Delaware State 14: In the late game that we couldn’t find on TV (just being honest), Hawaii quarterback Brayden Schager threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more, going 17-of-34 for 203 yards, as the Rainbow Warriors won their season opener at home.
On the receiving end of Schager’s TD’s: Tamatoa Mokiao-Atimalala, an 11-yard score and prior to that, Dekel Crowdus, a 29-yarder.
Hawaii also got a punt return for a touchdown by Tylan Hines.
DSU quarterback Marqui Adams went 17-of-28 for 156 yards and a touchdown, a 10-yarder with 12 seconds left in the half that allowed State to go into the half down just seven (14-7).
They would tie the game on the first possession of the second half on an eight-play, 75-yard drive – a 46-yard pass from Adams to Ryan Lee would lead to a 6-yard touchdown run by Jaden Sutton. But that would be as close as DSU would get.
- SMU 29, Nevada 24: In Reno, Nevada, some late-game heroics by SMU quarterback Preston Stone and R.J. Maryland saved them, allowing the Mustangs to escape and win their 2024 season opener – as oddly-placed members of a new-look ACC.
Stone found Maryland for a 35-yard touchdown with 1:18 left in the game, the go-ahead and eventual game-winning score to beat Nevada.
The score was the second of two in the final two minutes. The other: a 4-yard touchdown run by Brashard Smith that got SMU within three (24-21).
Oh, and there was this little nugget: Nevada quarterback Brendon Lewis couldn’t get away from SMU defensive lineman Anthony Booker Jr., who wrangled him in the end zone for a safety. That made it 24-23, Nevada, with eight minutes left.
SMU would get the ball back at its own 17 with 3:31 left in the game for the eventual nine-play, 83-yard drive.
Stone went 17-of-30 for 254 yards, the touchdown and also threw an interception.
Maryland is the son of former Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Russell Maryland, also a former University of Miami standout. Maryland caught eight passes for 162 yards, including the game-winning score.
Penalties were killer for SMU: 11 of them for 125 yards.
Coach Rhett Lashlee was unimpressed. “That’s probably the most undisciplined game we’ve played since I’ve been here,” Lashlee told media afterward. “Self-inflicted wounds that made it really hard on our offense in the first half to get anything going.”
Lewis went 14-of-26 for 132 yards, a touchdown pass to tight end Jace Henry (5 yards), and another to Cortez Braham Jr. (10 yards) He also led Nevada in rushing with 77 yards.
- Florida A&M 24, Norfolk State 23: Two-time transfer quarterback Daniel Richardson may have finally found a home at Florida A&M.
Richardson threw three touchdown passes for the Rattlers, two to Jamari Gassett, and they needed all three to get by Norfolk State by one point, 24-23, in Atlanta in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge on Saturday night, a game that was also the first for James Colzie III as FAMU’s coach.
Richardson had 20-yard pass to Thad Franklin Jr. in the first half. He a 55-yard pass to Jamari Gassett in the third quarter to put his team in front, 17-14. Later in the third, he and Gassett connected again, this time from 9 yards out, to put the Rattlers in front, 24-17.
It would tighten up. NSU got within a point on a 2-yard run by Kevon King, with 6 ½ minutes left, but the Rattlers’ Jameel Sanders blocked the extra point. Sanders was called for offsides, and NSU decided to go for two.
That might have been a bad move. The two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving Norfolk a point short. The Rattlers got the ball back and were able to run out the clock.
Richardson finished 22-of-30 for 286 yards, and Gassett had eight catches for 110, and the two touchdowns.
King, for NSU, finished with 146 rushing yards and the two scores on 14 carries and Daniels went 7-of-9 for 142 yards.
