SEC West strong in Saturday showdowns

Alabama wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, left, catches a 25-yard touchdown pass in front of Louisville cornerback Rodjay Burns (10) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

— Alabama doesn't rebuild. The Crimson Tide simply reload.

College Football Playoff hero Tua Tagovailoa threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third in his first college start, helping top-ranked and defending national champions open the season with a 51-14 rout of Louisville on Saturday night.

Essentially ending the debate — at least for now — about whether he or Jalen Hurts should be the Crimson Tide's No. 1 quarterback, Tagovailoa scored on a 9-yard run while also completing 12 of 16 passes for 227 yards without an interception.

"I thought there were a lot of things we did well and I also think there are a lot of things we need to fix," Alabama coach Nick Saban said.

"The effort of our players, the intensity that they played well, they executed very well on a lot of plays," Saban added. "I'm really proud of the way they came out and played and executed in the game. But I also think it's pretty obvious we need to do a lot of things better."

Although Tagovailoa came off the bench to lead Alabama to a come-from-behind victory over Georgia in the CFP championship game last January, coach Nick Saban provided no public indication of who would be the starter against Louisville (0-1) until Tagovailoa trotted onto the field following the opening kickoff.

Saban said the decision to begin with the sophomore from Ewa Beach, Hawaii was made earlier in the week, but the plan was to play Hurts, too.

And, the coach added, that's also his intention moving forward.

"I talked to the quarterbacks before practice on Thursday and they both knew exactly what the situation was going to be in the game," Saban said.

"I wanted Tua to play somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 plays and then we we're going to put Jalen in the game. It didn't matter when it was or what the score was," the coach added. "We wanted Tua to get the experience of running the two-minute (offense) so we put him back in there before the half. We're going to continue to have both these guys be weapons for us on offense because I think they can."

Hurts, 26-2 as a starter over the past two seasons, threw for 2,081 yards and 17 touchdowns while rushing for 855 yards and eight more TDs a year ago.

Saban maintained throughout preseason camp that Alabama was fortunate to have two quality quarterbacks and tried deflect attention from the QB debate by talking about the challenge the Crimson Tide faces in revamping a defense that lost eight starters from last season.

Tagovailoa was sacked on the game's second play, but pretty much had his way against the Louisville defense from there.

Jerry Jeudy had TD receptions of 11 and 25 yards, and Josh Jacobs scored on an 18-yard run and 77-yard kickoff return for the Crimson Tide.

Hurts played two series in the first half and re-entered the game in the third quarter with the defending national champions up 41-7.

"We did some good things with (both quarterbacks)," Saban said, "and there are some things we need to improve."

Jawon Pass, who's replacing 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson for Louisville, completed 20 of 39 passes for 252 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, including TDs of 12 yards to Kemari Averett and 8 yards to Tutu Atwell. The red-shirt sophomore's second interception was return 45 yards for a touchdown by Alabama's Shyheim Carter

The Cardinals fell to 0-4 all-time against teams ranked No. 1.

"The biggest thing we have to do from this is learn," Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said, adding that's one reason he played Pass the entire game.

"It was never a question of taking him out of the game. He needed to stay in and get all those reps," Petrino said. "He's going to have a great career here. This was a hard opener, there's no question about that."

Alabama has won 74 consecutive games against unranked teams under Saban. It's the longest streak in FBS history. The Crimson Tide hasn't lost to an unranked opponent since falling to Auburn in November 2007.

Petrino, meanwhile, is 0-5 vs. Alabama. He's 7-2 in season openers with Louisville.

Auburn 21, Washington 16

ATLANTA — The Auburn Tigers had some bad memories from their last two trips to Atlanta.

They headed home from this one feeling a whole lot better.

With a performance that didn't earn a bunch of style points but will look awfully good on the resume, No. 9 Auburn rallied for a 21-16 victory over No. 6 Washington when Jatarvious Whitlow ran 10 yards for a touchdown with 6:15 remaining Saturday.

The Auburn defense came through at the end, preserving the win with a fierce pass rush against Jake Browning.

"We talked about overcoming adversity," Tigers coach Gus Malzahn said. "Last season we didn't win hardly any close games. We knew this game was going to come down to the end."

The Tigers closed last season with back-to-back losses at Mercedes-Benz Stadium — first to Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championship game, then to Central Florida in the Peach Bowl.

They were facing another disappointment, trailing 16-15 after scoring a touchdown on their opening possession of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game but missing a surprise two-point conversion.

Jarrett Stidham got Auburn rolling with a 12-yard pass to Chandler Cox on third-and-9. Then, facing third-and-7 deep in Washington territory, Auburn handed off inside to Whitlow, who knocked over a Washington safety as he barreled into the end zone to cap a 10-play, 76-yard drive.

"It was an amazing feeling," said Whitlow, part of the group trying to replace workhorse runner Kerryon Johnson, who's now in the NFL. "I'm so grateful that the coaches have confidence in me in that situation."

Washington drove to the Auburn 37 with plenty of time to pull off the comeback, but Myles Gaskin was thrown for a 3-yard loss and Browning was left running for his life on the Huskies' last two offensive plays. Big Kat Bryant sacked the quarterback for another 3-yard setback, and safety Smoke Monday finished it off with a blitz that forced Browning to just fling the ball away , resulting in an intentional grounding penalty.

Stidham was 26 of 36 for 273 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown pass to Sal Cannella, who made a leaping grab in the end zone before landing flat on his back .

Browning, looking to bounce back from a disappointing junior season, completed 18 of 32 for 296 yards. He was picked off once but connected with Quinten Pounds on a 13-yard touchdown in the final minute of the first half .

"We're not into moral victories," Browning said. "We came here to win, and we didn't."

Peyton Henry put the Huskies ahead for the first time with his third field goal, a 30-yarder that clanked off the right upright but ricocheted through with 14:06 remaining.

Both teams squandered scoring chances.

Anders Carlson, taking over from older brother Daniel as Auburn's kicker, connected on three field goals — including a 53-yarder — but missed from 33 and 54 yards.

Washington was kicking itself after coming away from a first-and-goal with no points. On third down at the 3, Browning rolled right looking to make a pitch only to be smacked by Nick Poe. The ball squirted free and Auburn's Darrell Williams fell on it at the 20.

"That's where we lost the game," Browning said. "I went to pitch it. The guy put his hand out and blocked it. I've got to take the loss and take the field goal."

Ole Miss 47, Texas Tech 27

HOUSTON — Just after Mississippi piled up more than 500 yards in a blowout of Texas Tech on Saturday quarterback Jordan Ta'amu was asked about his group of receivers led by A.J. Brown, DaMarkus Lodge and D.K. Metcalf.

"They're so talented," he said. "They're the best in the nation. I believe that in my heart. I'm grateful they're on my side and I can throw to them."

On Saturday the Rebels showed that they have a pretty good running game, too.

Ta'amu threw for 336 yards and two touchdowns and Scottie Phillips ran for a career-high 204 yards and two more scores to give Mississippi the 47-27 win.

Phillips said having such a talented group of receivers helps him out.

"They spread everything out and it gives me a lot more running room," he said. "We've got a veteran o-line and that makes my job a whole lot easier."

Phillips extended Mississippi's lead to 37-20 when scampered 65 yards for a touchdown with about seven minutes left in the third quarter.

Da'Leon Ward's second touchdown on a 9-yard run got Texas Tech within 10 later in the third, but Ta'amu found Brown for a 34-yard touchdown pass on the second play of the fourth quarter to make it 44-27.

Ole Miss coach Matt Luke liked the way Ta'amu spread the ball around on Saturday.

"We go to space and if they want to double-team one we're able to go to the others so I think that's pretty unique," Luke said. "It did work out with a lot of balance and that's good."

Texas Tech freshman Alan Bowman was 29 of 49 for 273 yards and a touchdown after taking over late in the first quarter when starter McLane Carter was injured.

"True freshman, first game, that type of atmosphere, just took a while I think for him to settle in," coach Kliff Kingsbury said. "I was proud of how he protected the football, that's what we asked him to do. Protect the ball. Led some nice drives, a couple we'd like to have back, but I thought overall he handled himself well."

Ta'amu got things going early when he connected with Metcalf for a 58-yard touchdown pass on the second play of the game.

The Red Raiders evened it up when Ward ran 15 yards for a score on their first possession. That touchdown was set up when T.J. Vasher made an Odell Beckham-esque one-handed catch for a 31-yard gain two plays earlier. Vasher grabbed the ball with his right hand as he leapt above the defender and secured it with both hands before crashing to the turf near the sideline.

Ole Miss regained the lead quickly when Jaylon Jones returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown.

The Rebels were up 17-7 when Carter was injured when he was tackled by a pair of defenders on a run for no gain. He tried to remain in the game but fell to the ground at the line and was helped off the field and then carted to the locker room. Kingsbury said it was a left ankle injury, but said he didn't have any details on the severity of the injury.

Mississippi's first touchdown from Phillips, a run of 39 yards, came next to make it 24-7 late in the first quarter.

Bowman made a nice throw under heavy pressure for a 14-yard TD pass to Ja'Deion High to cut the lead to 27-17 about two minutes before halftime.