No. 25 Southern California’s 45-31 victory late Saturday night over Michigan State brought a scary scene late in the second quarter.
MSU linebacker Wayne Matthews III, who played for Old Dominion from 2021-23, was taken off the field on a backboard late in the first half at the Los Angeles Coliseum after colliding helmet-to-helmet while trying to tackle USC’s Waymond Jordan.
Matthews, a third-team All-Sun Belt player in 2023 who’s in his second year with the Spartans, was taken to a trauma center, where his motor skills were intact.
Sunday afternoon, the Maryland native posted on X @WayneM9_, “Thank you for all your prayers and support! I’m doing a lot better now! I’ll be back in no time.”
Jayden Maiava threw three touchdown passes and rushed for two more scores, and Makai Lemon caught a scoring pass and ran for another TD for USC (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten). Jordan rushed for 157 yards in a fourth straight comfortable victory for USC.
Long Beach, California, native Aidan Chiles threw three touchdown passes and rushed for another score for the Spartans (3-1, 0-1).
More Top 25/Nation
No. 11 Oklahoma 24, No. 22 Auburn 17: John Mateer passed for 271 yards as Oklahoma beat Auburn and former Sooners quarterback Jackson Arnold in Norman. Mateer, who transferred from Washington State to replace Arnold, scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 9-yard run with 4:54 remaining.
Arnold led Oklahoma during last year’s upset of Alabama before transferring. He couldn’t replicate that magic against the Sooners, in part because they set a school record by sacking him 10 times. He passed for 220 yards and a touchdown.
Isaiah Sategna had career highs of nine catches and 127 yards for the Sooners (4-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference). Eric Singleton had 60 yards on nine catches for the Tigers (3-1, 0-1).
No. 3 LSU 56, Southeastern Louisiana 10: Garrett Nussmeier threw three touchdown passes and ran for a fourth in Baton Rouge. The Tigers (4-0) erupted for 28 points in the second quarter against the FCS Lions (2-2) to put the game out of reach in only the third meeting between the schools.
No. 8 Texas 55, Sam Houston State 0: Arch Manning passed for 309 yards and three touchdowns in his sharpest game of the season so far. After entering with just 55% completions for the year, he was 18 of 21 and also ran for two first-half touchdowns as the host Longhorns improved to 3-1. The Bearkats fell to 0-4.
No. 19 Indiana 63, No. 9 Illinois 10: Fernando Mendoza threw five touchdown passes on 21-of-23 accuracy, and D’Angelo Ponds scooped up the punt he blocked and returned it 11 yards for a score in Bloomington.
Salem High graduate Kaelon Black added 89 yards rushing and one TD for the Hoosiers (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten), while Elijah Sarratt caught nine passes for 92 yards and two scores. Like Ponds, Black and Sarratt were among the transfers who followed coach Curt Cignetti to the Hoosiers from James Madison.
Quarterback Luke Altmeyer of Illinois (3-1, 0-1) was sacked seven times, five in the first half.
No. 20 Vanderbilt 70, Georgia State 21: Diego Pavia threw for 245 yards and a touchdown, and Vanderbilt (4-0) scored its most points in 107 years. Pavia also rushed for 86 yards and a TD for the Commodores, who lost 36-32 last season in Atlanta to Georgia State (1-3).
No. 24 Notre Dame 56, Purdue 30: Jadarian Price scored four touchdowns, including a 100-yard kickoff return, as the host Irish (1-2) garnered their first win of the season. The Irish beat the Boilermakers (2-2) for the 10th straight time and leads the series 61-26-2.
Price carried the ball nine times for 74 yards and three scores, and he finished with 216 all-purpose yards.
No. 23 Missouri 29, South Carolina 20: Ahmad Hardy rushed for 138 yards and a touchdown as the Tigers (4-0, 1-0 SEC) posted their 14th consecutive home victory. Beau Pribula threw for 171 yards and a touchdown, and Jamal Roberts added a touchdown run.
LaNorris Sellers had 302 yards passing and two touchdowns for the Gamecocks (2-2, 0-2), but he missed a couple of open receivers in the fourth quarter.
Brigham Young 34, East Carolina 13: Evan Johnson had a goal-line interception, followed by a short pick-six for the Cougars (3-0) on ECU’s next throw in Greenville, North Carolina. The Pirates dropped to 2-2. ECU’s Katin Houser scored on a keeper in the fourth quarter to mark the first TD allowed by BYU in three games.
ACC
No. 4 Miami 26, Florida 7: Mark Fletcher Jr. rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown and Marty Brown added two rushing scores for Miami (4-0), which is 10-0 at home since the start of last season. Brown’s 1-yard plunge with 4:08 left sealed the win.
Florida’s Jadan Baugh scored a 7-yard touchdown run, but the Gators were 0 for 13 on third down and fell to 1-3, dropping embattled coach Billy Napier’s record with the Gators to 20-22.
No. 7 Florida State 66, Kent State 10: Tommy Castellanos passed for 205 yards and had two of eight rushing touchdowns for the Seminoles (3-0) in a rout in Tallahassee. FSU ran for a single-game school-record 498 yards and surpassed last season’s win total. FSU had as many touchdowns against Kent State as it did in 12 games in 2024.
No. 18 Georgia Tech 45, Temple 24: Haynes King threw for 161 yards and two touchdowns, Malachi Hosley ran for two touchdowns, and the Yellow Jackets (4-0), playing their first home game as a ranked team since 2015, beat the Owls (2-2).
Duke 45, North Carolina State 33: Darian Mensah threw three touchdown passes as the host Blue Devils (2-2, 1-0 ACC) snapped a two-game losing streak, overcoming a 13-point deficit to the Wolfpack (3-1, 1-1).
Anderson Castle added three rushing touchdowns, including a clinching 66-yard dash on third down with 2:19 remaining. CJ Bailey tossed two touchdown passes to Terrell Anderson but was intercepted three times for the Wolfpack.
Central Florida 34, North Carolina 9: Tayven Jackson threw for 223 yards and provided a passing and rushing touchdown for the Knights (3-0) in Orlando.
Bill Belichick’s Tar Heels (2-2) threw two critical interceptions and could not gain much ground before quarterback Gio Lopez left the game in the third quarter with an apparent right leg injury. Max Johnson then completed 11 of 19 passes for 67 yards.
San Diego State 34, California 0: Chris Johnson returned an interception 97 yards for a touchdown and Dwayne McDougle had a 35-yard fumble return for a score as the host Aztecs (2-1) stunned the Bears (3-1).
State/military
Richmond 38, VMI 14: Jamaal Brown rushed for a career-high 153 yards, Andrew King added another 100 yards on the ground, and Isaiah Dawson had two touchdowns for the Spiders at Robins Stadium. They ran for 541 yards.
Richmond (2-2) took a 14-7 lead before the game went into a lightning delay with 5:48 remaining in the first quarter. The game was suspended for more than three hours.
Once play resumed, VMI scored on a pass to Owen Sweeney to tie the game at 14. Sweeney scored both touchdowns for the Keydets, totaling 106 yards.
Richmond quarterback Kyle Wickersham threw a 13-yard pass to Isaiah Dawson to regain the lead for good.
Richmond moved to 47-40-5 over VMI (1-3), dating back to 1893. The last time the two teams had met was in 2015, a 42-10 victory for Richmond. Danny Rocco, now coaching the Keydets, was then coaching the Spiders.
Boise State 49, Air Force 37: Dylan Riley ran for 171 yards and four touchdowns and caught a 75-yard touchdown pass for the Broncos (2-1, 1-0 Mountain West) in Colorado.
The only lead for the Falcons (1-2, 0-2) was 7-0. After they tied the game at 21 barely a minute into the second half, Malik Sherod scored on a 40-yard run for the Broncos.
Liam Szarka was 13-of-18 passing for 242 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 111 yards and another score for the Falcons.
Virginia State 34, Winston-Salem State 33: Rashaan Matthews Jr. passed for four touchdowns in a road victory by the Trojans (2-2, 1-0 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association) over the Rams (2-2, 0-1) at Bowman Gray Stadium.
Former King’s Fork High player Jason Cole recovered a fumble for VSU, which led 34-20 before Winston-Salem scored two touchdowns. The Rams missed a potentially tying PAT kick with 5:55 remaining.
Virginia Union 28, Johnson C. Smith 10: Curtis Allen rushed for three touchdowns and 108 yards on 23 carries for the Panthers (2-1, 1-0 CIAA) against the Bulls (3-1, 0-1) before 7,504 in Richmond. Woodside High graduate Ricky Key Jr. led VUU with 64 yards receiving.
Randolph-Macon 27, Bridgewater 3: Eight sacks helped the Yellow Jackets (2-1, 1-0) beat the host Eagles (0-3, 0-1) and extend their Old Dominion Athletic Conference winning streak to 27 games.
More state scores
Shorter 57, Virginia U. of Lynchburg 20
Southern Virginia 42, Keystone 0
Hampden-Sydney 42, Shenandoah 7
Randolph-Macon 27, Bridgewater 3
Washington and Lee 35, Guilford 7
Wingate 28, UVA Wise 7
