ATLANTA -- — Rocky Lombardi's 2-point pass to Tyrice Richie with 38 seconds remaining lifted Northern Illinois to a stunning 22-21 upset win over Georgia Tech on Saturday night.

Georgia Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference was favored by 18 1/2 points over Northern Illinois, of the Mid-American Conference.

Northern Illinois led 14-0 but had a regroup after backup quarterback Jordan Yates, playing after Jeff Sims suffered an arm injury, rallied the Yellow Jackets with three unanswered touchdowns.

Lombardi, the Michigan State transfer, was given one final possession with 2:42 remaining. He made his debut for Northern Illinois (1-0) one to remember by directing the go-ahead drive that started with a 38-yard completion to Richie.

Lombardi's 3-yard touchdown pass to Clint Ratkovich cut Georgia Tech's lead to 21-20. Northern Illinois coach Thomas Hammock made a quick decision to play for the win with a 2-point play instead of attempting a tying kick.

"Easy decision," Hammock said. "We came here to win and we expected to win and that's what we got done."

On the 2-point play, Lombardi rolled right before passing to Richie, whose leaping catch had to be reviewed. He landed with his hands outstretched and the ball took a small bounce as he hit the field. The replay indicated he kept his left hand under the ball, preventing the ball from hitting the field.

Gavin Stewart's last-second, 60-yard field goal attempt for Georgia Tech (0-1) was blocked. The block triggered a celebration by North Illinois players, who bounced onto the field from the sideline.

Yates' 4-yard touchdown run with 6:32 remaining gave the Yellow Jackets their first lead at 21-14.

Sims left the game in the second quarter with a left arm injury. His left arm was in a sling as he was out of uniform and watched on the sideline in the second half.

Waylee fumbled when hit by Wesley Walker in the fourth quarter and Quez Jackson recovered to set up Georgia Tech's go-ahead touchdown.

Lombardi threw a 5-yard scoring pass to tight end Miles Joiner in the second quarter to push the Northern Illinois lead to 14-0.
Sims struggled with his passing, completing 3 of 7 attempts for 21 yards. Sims overthrew an open Nate McCollum for a possible touchdown pass in the first quarter.

Northern Illinois linebacker Lance Deveaux Jr. picked up a Jordan Mason fumble and ran into the end zone for an apparent touchdown and 20-0 lead. A long review led to the touchdown call on the field being overturned because Mason's knee was down before he lost the ball.

The reversal opened the way for Yates to lead a 16-play, 97-yard drive. Yates gained first downs on three third-down runs of nine yards or longer before completing the 22-yard pass to Kyric McGowan. It was Yates' first career touchdown pass.

The Yellow Jackets were stopped at the Northern Illinois 2 early in the second half when a video review determined McGowan's left foot was out of bounds on a 2-yard catch initially ruled a touchdown.

Dontae Smith's 15-yard touchdown run on his first carry of the game tied the score with 7:44 remaining. Yates' 53-yard pass to Malachi Carter set up the score.

Northern Illinois safety Devin Lafayette had a brace placed on his left leg following a collision with a teammate late in the first half. Lafayette's teammates knelt near him as an ambulance was driven onto the field and he was placed on a stretcher.

TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo used all three phases of the game to win its season opener, a 49-10 victory over Norfolk State before 21,783 fans at the Glass Bowl Saturday night.

The Rockets' special teams set the tone with two touchdowns off blocked punts, while the defense held the Spartans in check all night. Norfolk State managed just 272 yards of total offense and was held to 5-of-15 on third down plays.

Toledo's offense was balanced and efficient, racking up 205 rushing yards and 236 passing yards. Sophomore quarterback Carter Bradley was 8-of-11 for 184 yards and one TD. Redshirt freshman Dequan Finn hit on 3-of-4 passes and led the Rockets with 82 yards rushing, including a 24-yard TD run in the second quarter.

Freshman Maxen Hook made a big impact on special teams, scooping up a blocked punt for a 25-yard score and then blocking a punt that was returned for a TD by junior Justin Clark.

"Tonight was a great night for our football team," head coach Jason Candle said. "I'm proud of our guys, they played with great attitude and energy. Wins are difficult to come by in Division I football. The energy was infectious in the Glass Bowl tonight, that's something we've really missed here over the course of the last year. It felt good to have something resembling normal football."

The Wolverines (1-0) won the game easily, but they may have lost their best player for a while.

Ronnie Bell was hurt on a punt return in the second quarter and kept weight off his right leg as he was helped off the field by a teammate and staff member. The senior receiver was later carted off the field and up the tunnel toward the team’s locker room to be further evaluated.

The Broncos (0-1) started strong — making it 7-all on La’Darius Jefferson’s 2-yard run and trailing by just three points after the first quarter — but could not sustain success on either side of the ball.

“We moved the ball fairly well,” Western Michigan coach Tim Lester said. “We just didn’t finish drives, and we didn’t protect our QB well enough.”

Michigan pulled away with 17 points in the second quarter, scoring on Bell’s catch, Hassan Haskins’ 22-yard run and Jake Moody’s 20-yard field goal.

Blake Corum, who had 111 yards rushing, opened the scoring with a 14-yard reception and his 30-yard touchdown run put the Wolverines ahead 40-7 early in the final quarter.

Kaleb Eleby was 20 of 37 for 191 with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Corey Crooms with 3:30 left in the rout.

“The biggest positive was Kaleb was a little flighty early, but he calmed down,” Lester said. “I was very proud of the poise of that kid because this was his first Power Five game, and it’s faster. He got hit a couple times, and he kept getting up, kept getting up.”

No. 8 Cincinnati 49, Miami 14

CINCINNATI (AP) — Desmond Ridder was 20 of 25 for 295 yards and four touchdowns and No. 8 Cincinnati beat Miami of Ohio 49-14 on Saturday in the opener for both teams.

The Bearcats tied the series that began in 1888 at 59-59-7.

Ridder threw an 81-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Scott on the second play from scrimmage. It was the longest TD toss of his career.

Ridder also ran six times for 31 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown carry. The fifth-year senior had one interception.

Jerome Ford added 121 yards rushing yards on 12 carries, scoring on a 21-yard run in the second quarter.

“They were very well-prepared,” Miami coach Chuck Martin said about Cincinnati. “They executed on both sides of the ball.”

Backup quarterback AJ Mayer started for the RedHawks. Mayer played in place of Brett Gabbert, who injured a knee in the preseason. Gabbert returned only to suffer an injury to his thumb that prevented his participation.

“When you’re less talented and you don’t execute, you’re looking at 35-0 by halftime,” Martin said.

Miami scored on its 11th possession with 3:20 left in the game on a 19-yard run by Kenny Tracy. Prior to breaking the shutout, the Redhawks had 10 possessions, six ended in punts. Four possession ended on downs, with two of them inside the Cincinnati 20. Miami head coach Chuck Martin passed up field goal opportunities.

John Saunders picked off Cincinnati backup quarterback Evan Prater’s pass and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown.

Mayer was 9 of 29 attempts for 109 yards. Keyon Mozee rushed 15 times for 80 yards for the Redhawks.

Cincinnati scored five touchdowns in the first half. Miami got no closer than the Cincinnati 32 on six possessions.

The Tigers hadn’t played a nonconference game in two seasons, and they hadn’t had a full house at Faurot Field in nearly as long. And none of that had happened for Drinkwitz, who took over prior to the pandemic-infected season a year ago.

Indeed, it wasn’t until Tyler Badie’s long run in the fourth quarter that allowed him to finish with 197 yards on the ground that the Tigers were able to breathe easy. Badie finished with TDs on the ground and through the air, and Connor Bazelak threw for 257 yards and two scores, helping the Tigers beat the Chippewas 34-24 in the opener for both teams.

Washington transfer Jacob Sirmon threw for 292 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions for Central Michigan. Lew Nichols III, the reigning Mid-American Conference freshman of the year, finished with 135 yards rushing and a score.

He also did it without Jim McElwain on the sideline.

The Central Michigan coach, no stranger to the SEC from his time in Florida, underwent an emergency appendectomy on Wednesday. His doctors told him not to make the trip Saturday, leaving him to watch from afar as longtime assistant and newly minted associate head coach Tim Skipper handled game day.

“I’m very proud of those guys,” Skipper said. “We came here on a mission, to get a ‘W’ and play hard and gain some respect, and we definitely did most of that. We wanted that ‘W’, but we’ll get those. We’ll get back to work and get them.”

The Tigers opened with a 63-yard pass to Boo Smith before Badie’s 12-yard touchdown run on the very next play, but the Chippewas countered by going 75 yards in just five plays before JaCorey Sullivan’s tying touchdown catch.

Just when it appeared the defenses were showing up, Central Michigan put together an 88-yard drive that Nichols capped with an 18-yard run. And the Tigers promptly answered when Bazelak found Badie from 30 yards out for a score.

Both teams squandered scoring opportunities early in the second half — the Tigers turned it over on downs in the Central Michigan red zone, and Sirmon threw a pick in the opposite red zone. But the Tigers finally were able to establish breathing room late in the third quarter, when Young scooted 32 yards to give them a 24-14 lead.

Sirmon, who was sacked nine times, was briefly knocked from the game on a hard hit by Missouri’s Jaylon Carlies early in the fourth quarter. His understudy, Daniel Richardson, promptly threw a touchdown pass to Sullivan to pull the Chippewas within a field goal again, but Bazelak’s second TD toss with 7:58 left effectively put the game away.

ATHENS, Ohio -- — Sean Tucker set a career high with 181 rushing yards and a touchdown as Syracuse pulled away from Ohio in the second half for a 29-9 win Saturday.

The Orange scored nine points in the first half and never looked back. Tucker broke free for a 47-yard run on Syracuse's second offensive play put the Orange in the red zone and Tommy DeVito scampered for a 6-yard score.

Syracuse took advantage of a muffed kickoff and forced a safety by tackling De'Montre Tuggle in the end zone.

DeVito played his first game after suffering a season-ending leg injury in Syracuse's fourth game of the 2020 season, connecting on 11 of 17 passes for 92 yards.

The Bobcats failed to score a touchdown in Tim Albin's debut as head coach. Albin succeeds Frank Solich after 16 years as the team's offensive coordinator.

Stephen Johnson, a transfer from Oklahoma, made three field goals of more than 22 yards after missing a 50-yard attempt on Ohio's opening drive

Jerome Buckner led all receivers with 102 yards on seven receptions to lead the Bobcats.

AUBURN, Ala. -- — Bo Nix passed for 275 yards and three touchdowns in just over a half, and Auburn gave new coach Bryan Harsin a 60-10 cakewalk in his debut against Akron Saturday night in the season opener for both teams.

It was a promising beginning even if it came against five-touchdown underdogs, especially for an offense and quarterback that had drawn some criticism the past couple of years.

Nix was nearly flawless his first time running the offense of Harsin and coordinator Mike Bobo, going 20-of-22 passing while hitting a couple of wide-open receivers for touchdowns. Auburn sprinted to a 37-0 halftime lead and scored on its first eight drives, reaching the end zone on seven of them.

Tailback Tank Bigsby, last year's Southeastern Conference freshman of the year, gave the Tigers some balance. He ran for 119 yards and two touchdowns on just 13 carries.

Shaun Shivers had touchdowns receiving and rushing. Freshman Jarquez Hunter ran for 110 yards and a last-minute score.

Nix only played one series into the second half, giving way to LSU transfer T.J. Finley. The third-year Auburn starter completed his first 11 passes.

The Tigers outgained Akron 612-212 in total yards.

Akron turned to Kato Nelson at quarterback after he missed last season following shoulder surgery, though coach Tom Arth had stayed mum on his starter during the week. Nelson and the Zips offense were stymied. He completed 9 of 14 passes for 62 yards.
Backup DJ Irons had far more success, completing all 13 of his passes for 129 yards and a touchdown and leading a late field goal drive.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- — Leon O'Neal Jr. had two interceptions, returning the second one 85 yards for a touchdown, and Devon Achane added two scores to help No. 6 Texas A&M beat Kent State 41-10 on Saturday night.
It's Texas A&M's ninth consecutive victory after ending last season with an eight-game winning streak.

O'Neal and Achane's big performances helped make up for a mistake-riddled night by Haynes King, who threw three interceptions in his first career start.

O'Neal's first interception came just before halftime when he picked off Dustin Crum's pass in the end zone. With about eight minutes left in the third, O'Neal jumped in front of a receiver for his second pick. He weaved around a couple of Kent State players and dashed untouched for the score, capping the play by diving into the end zone to make it 20-3.

King took over this year for Kellen Mond, the team's starter for the past three seasons who's now with the Minnesota Vikings. King looked good at times but often overthrew receivers and his first two interceptions came throwing into tight coverage in the second quarter. He was 21 of 33 for 292 yards and threw two touchdown passes to Ainias Smith.

Crum threw for 89 yards before he was replaced by Collin Schlee in the fourth quarter. Schlee scored on a 1-yard run with about eight minutes left to cut it to 34-10.

Achane displayed the speed that allows him to double as a sprinter on Texas A&M's track team when he ran 63 yards for a touchdown that extended the lead to 27-3 with about four minutes remaining in the third. He added a 1-yard scoring run in the fourth and finished with 124 yards rushing.

Isaiah Spiller had 113 yards rushing for the Aggies and Smith had 100 yards receiving.

King found Caleb Chapman for a 53-yard gain on the possession after Achane's first TD, but King's pass was tipped and intercepted by Khalib Jones two plays later to end the drive.

Smith's second touchdown came on a 14-yard reception that made it 34-3 with about 11 minutes left.

The Aggies took a 7-0 lead when Smith grabbed a 4-yard pass from King on the first drive.

Kent State cut the lead to 4 on a 30-yard field goal by Andrew Glass before Seth Small kicked a 49-yard field goal for Texas A&M to make it 10-3.

King has interceptions on consecutive possessions in the second quarter with the second one giving the Golden Flashes the ball at their 36. Kent State had a chance to tie it on the ensuing drive, but O'Neal's first interception of the game preserved the lead.