Northwestern's defense pressured freshman quarterback Jared Goff into three pass interceptions and two were returned for touchdowns in his collegiate debut Saturday night as Cal fell to the Wildcats, 44-30, in Berkeley.
The three back-breaking Golden Bears' turnovers resulted in 21 Northwestern points in a game where the lead exchanged hands throughout.
Goff completed 37 of 62 passes for 436 yards and two touchdowns in what was and otherwise solid opener for the former Marin Catholic High School star. The Golden Bears ran up 539 yards of total offense.
Goff heated up in the third quarter when he threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to Chris Harper to cap a quick, five-play scoring drive. He followed with a 7-yard scoring toss to Harper and Vincenzo D'Amato's kick gave the Golden Bears a 24-20 lead with 9 minutes, 55 seconds left in the third quarter.
That's when things went sour for the freshman who won the starting job in new head coach Sonny Dykes' high-octane attack.
Collin Ellis intercepted a Goff pass and raced 56 yards for a touchdown to give Northwestern the lead, 27-24.
The teams exchanged field goals with D'Amazo booting a 38-yarder and Jeff Budzien countering with a 32-yarder to put Northwestern back in the lead, 30-27, with 8:49 left in the game.
Ellis, however, struck again. He picked off a Goff throw and returned it 40 yards for another touchdown. Budzien's kick gave Northwestern a 37-27 advantage with 7:57 to play in the contest.
Trevor Siemian came off the bench for Northwestern to complete 18 of 29 passes for 276 yards and a 19-yard scoring toss to Tony Jones. He was intercepted twice, but the the Wildcats still gained 508 total yards.
Cal running back Brendan Bigelow rushed 16 times for 65 yards. His longest gain was for 32 yards.
Bryce Treggs caught 13 of Goff's passes for 145 yards, while Harper hauled in 11.
EASTERN WASHINGTON 49, OREGON STATE 46
At Corvallis, Ore., the last time Oregon State started the season with a loss to an FCS team, it sent the Beavers off to a terrible season.
After losing to Eastern Washington on Saturday, the Beavers vowed to let that happen again.
Vernon Adams passed for 411 and ran for 107 to lead Eastern Washington to a 49-46 victory over No. 25 Oregon State. Eastern Washington became just the third FCS team to beat a ranked FBS team.
Sean Mannion threw for 422 yards and Brandin Cooks had 13 catches for 196 yards for the Beavers, who two seasons ago were similarly surprised by lower division Sacramento State. "This loss doesn't define us as a team," Beavers running back Storm Woods said. "When we lost to Sac State people were really down on themselves, as opposed to this year."
By PETE IACOBELLI
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CLEMSON, S.C. -- Tajh Boyd threw for three touchdowns and rushed for two others, Clemson's defense sacked Aaron Murray four times and the eighth-ranked Tigers stung No. 5 Georgia 38-35 Saturday night.
Boyd had scoring passes of 77 yards to Sammy Watkins, 24 yards to Zac Brooks and 9 yards to Stanton Seckinger. Boyd also added TD runs of 4 and 2 yards to win the lone matchup of top 10 teams in college football's opening weekend.
It lived up to the billing, a back-and-forth classic that should vault Boyd to the top of the Heisman watch lists and get Clemson into the top five of the rankings.
The Tigers took the lead for good, 31-28, on Chandler Catanzaro's 24-yard field goal in the third quarter. Georgia had a chip-shot attempt for a tying kick on its next possession, but couldn't get if off after Nathan Theus' bad snap.
Two series later, Boyd led a 12-play, 87-yard TD drive that ended with tight end Seckinger tip-toeing the sidelines to get in.
While Boyd soared, Murray struggled to move the Bulldogs when it counted most. He led a 64-yard, hurry up drive in the final quarter and his 1-yard TD run cut a 10-point lead to 38-35 with 1:19 left. But Clemson recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock to end Georgia's five-game series win streak.
Watkins had six catches for 127 yards while Rod McDowell finished with 132 yards on the ground in his first game replacing 1,000-yard rusher Andre Ellington.
Murray completed 20 of 29 passes for 323 yards. But threw an interception and was constantly chased around by Clemson's lightly regarded defense. The victory gives the Tigers back-to-back wins over power schools from the SEC following the 25-24 win over LSU at the Chick-Fil-A Bowl last New Year's Eve.
Tiger fans chanted "A-C-C, A-C-C," after time ran out.Boyd was the star of that bowl, too, the game's MVP. Coach Dabo Swinney declared his group a national championship team moments after the win.
Boyd was all but certain to give up his senior season for the NFL but chose to return, he said, for the chance to win games like this. The Tigers don't have a lot of stumbling blocks in their schedule -- they play South Carolina State of the FCS next week -- and might not be truly tested until Florida State plays here on Oct. 19.
Clemson pulled out the stops in the weekend's only showdown of top 10 teams. ESPN's College GameDay came to campus and the university inducted fan hero Danny Ford -- he coached the Tigers to the 1981 national championship -- into its Ring of Honor on the facing of the football stadium.
Both teams spent the past eight months hearing about each other and were jacked up from the start as Georgia's players ran through their sidelines and down toward Memorial Stadium's hill, yelling at the Tigers as they ran onto the field.
Coaches and officials stepped between to make sure things didn't go any further.
Early on, it looked like the high-flying, Techmo Bowl matchup everyone expected as Georgia and Clemson used big plays to get in the end zone. Boyd had passes of 17 yards to Seckinger and 25 to Charone Peake to set up his 4-yard scoring run.
Moments later, Gurley flashed through the Clemson defensive line for a 75-yard touchdown. Seconds after that it was Sammy Watkins turn as he grabbed Boyd's pass and raced for a 77-yard TD of his own.
Murray took control the next two times Georgia had the ball, and Keith Marshall's 4-yard run made it 14-all.
Murray was 3-of-3 passing when the Bulldogs got the ball again and Quayvon Hicks finished the 97-yard drive with a 1-yard power rush for Georgia's first lead, 21-14.
Clemson's defense kicked in midway through the second quarter, Vic Beasley sacking Murray to end one drive and linebacker Stephone Anthony jarring the ball loose on Georgia's following possession deep in Bulldogs territory.
Boyd ran for 10 yards on the scoring drive, finishing it with a 2-yard run as he stretched the ball over the goal line to make it 21-all.
The Bulldogs lost last year's second leading receiver Malcolm Mitchell to a knee injury early in the game. It doesn't get easier next week for Georgia, which hosts South Carolina.
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