Florida quarterback Emory Jones (5) pushes his way past the Alabama defense including defensive back DeMarcco Hellams (2) for a 5-yard touchdown run during the second half of Saturday's game in Gainesville. (AP photo)

Bryce Young’s first collegiate road start was a rousing success, a three-touchdown performance that helped top-ranked Alabama hold off No. 11 Florida 31-29 in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams Saturday.

The defending national champion Crimson Tide (3-0, 1-0) stopped a 2-point conversion with 3:10 left and extended its winning streak to 17, making it 32 in a row against teams from the SEC’s Eastern Division.

The Gators (2-1, 0-1) have dropped eight straight in the series and fell to 0-5 against No. 1-ranked teams at Florida Field.

This one was closer than oddsmakers and just about everyone else expected, with 14 1/2-point underdog Florida having a chance to tie the game in the closing minutes despite playing without dynamic backup quarterback Anthony Richardson.

That never became the case even though the Gators trailed 21-3 at the end of the first quarter. Young built the lead with TD passes to Jase McClellan, Jahleel Billingsley and Brian Johnson.

The Gators rallied and were in position to tie late. Dameon Pierce capped a 75-yard drive with a 17-yard run that made it 31-29. But fellow running back Malik Davis failed to get the 3 yards needed on the 2-point conversion.

In other Top 15 games:

NO. 2 GEORGIA 40, SOUTH CAROLINA 13

JT Daniels returned to the lineup with three touchdown passes, Georgia’s fearsome defense nearly made it three straight games without allowing a TD and the Bulldogs romped past South Carolina.

Daniels completed 23 of 31 for 303 yards, including scoring throws of 43 yards to Jermaine Burton, 38 yards to freshman Adonai Mitchell and 4 yards to James Cook.

NO. 3 OKLAHOMA 23, NEBRASKA 16

Spencer Rattler passed for a touchdown and ran for another and Oklahoma held on to beat Nebraska.

Celebrating the 50-year anniversary of the “Game of the Century” — No. 1 Nebraska’s 35-31 win over No. 2 Oklahoma in 1971 — the teams rewarded their nostalgic fans with a competitive contest.

In the first meeting between the former conference rivals since 2010, Nebraska got the ball trailing by a touchdown with 57 seconds remaining and no timeouts. The Cornhuskers could not manage a first down.

NO. 4 OREGON 48, STONY BROOK 7

Freshman Ty Thompson threw two second-half touchdown passes and No. 4 Oregon overcame a sluggish start to beat Stony Brook in a game delayed because of lightning.

Ducks starter Anthony Brown threw for a touchdown and ran for another but left the game at halftime after he was sacked twice to close out the second quarter. It was unclear if he was injured.

The Ducks, coming off their big win last weekend at Ohio State, improved to 3-0 as they head into Pac-12 play next weekend.

NO. 5 IOWA 30, KENT STATE 7

Tyler Goodson ran for a career-high 153 yards and three touchdowns and Iowa beat Kent State.

The Hawkeyes (3-0) have won nine straight games. They have won 14th consecutive nonconference games, the second-longest current streak in the nation.

Goodson had a 46-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to give Iowa a 9-0 lead, then added a 35-yard scoring run in the third quarter. He had a 2-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to close the scoring.

NO. 6 CLEMSON 14, GA. TECH 8

Will Shipley ran for two touchdowns and Clemson had a goal-line stand in the final seconds to hold off Georgia Tech.

The Yellow Jackets (1-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) had a chance to force overtime after recovering an onside kick with 1:19 to play. But they were held out of the end zone on four plays from the Clemson 2 in the closing seconds — the last when linebacker James Skalski tackled Dylan Deveney a yard short.

NO. 7 TEXAS A&M 34, NEW MEXICO 0

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Zach Calzada threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start. The victory extends A&M’s winning streak to 11 games and gives the Aggies a 3-0 start for the first time since opening the 2016 season with six consecutive wins.

Calzada was thrust into the job last weekend against Colorado when Haynes King was injured on A&M’s second possession. King had surgery this week to repair a broken right leg, leaving Calzada to run the offense.

Calzada looked more comfortable, and the Aggies moved the ball much better Saturday than last week while scoring just 10 points in a win over the Buffaloes. They eclipsed their total points from that game in the first six minutes of this one and built a 24-point lead by halftime.

Terry Wilson, a transfer from Kentucky who had 559 yards passing in the first two games, threw for just 33 yards Saturday for New Mexico (2-1) while being hurried and harassed all day.

NO. 8 CINCINNATI 38, INDIANA 24

Desmond Ridder threw the go-ahead touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter, then scored on a 7-yard TD run. Jerome Ford ran for two scores and Tre Tucker scored on a 99-yard kickoff return as the Bearcats (3-0) won their first road game of the season. They’ve won 12 of 13 since the start of 2020.

NO. 9 OHIO STATE 41, TULSA 20

TreVeyon Henderson broke Archie Griffin’s 49-year-old freshman rushing record, romping for 277 yards and three touchdowns to help Ohio State beat Tulsa.

Henderson scored on runs of 5, 48 and 52 yards, which managed to paper over some of the same weaknesses Ohio State showed in a 32-25 loss to Oregon last week that sent the Buckeyes tumbling in the AP Top 25 poll.

NO. 10 PENN STATE 28, AUBURN 20

Jaquan Brisker broke up a desperation pass toward the end zone by Auburn’s Bo Nix as time expired and Penn State held on to beat Auburn.

Sean Clifford completed 28 of 32 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns as Penn State (3-0) welcomed back its white out crowd to Beaver Stadium for a rare visit from a Southeastern Conference team.

Jahan Dotson added 10 catches for 78 yards and a touchdown, tight end Brenton Strange caught a touchdown and tight end Tyler Warren and Noah Cain ran for scores to help the Nittany Lions beat an SEC opponent for the first time since.

NO. 12 NOTRE DAME 27, PURDUE 13

Kyren Williams had two long touchdown plays, the second a 51-yard run with 6:05 remaining, and Notre Dame held off Purdue for its 26th straight victory at home.

The victory was the 105th in Brian Kelly’s 12-year career at Notre Dame, tying him with Knute Rockne as the winningest coach in school history. The Fighting Irish won their eighth straight over Purdue and first since 2014.

WEST VIRGINIA 27, NO. 15 VIRGINIA TECH 21

Jarret Doege threw two touchdown passes, Leddie Brown rushed for 106 yards and a score and West Virginia survived Virginia Tech’s furious rally from a 20-point deficit.

The Mountaineers (2-1) built a 27-7-point lead midway through the third quarter but saw that mostly evaporate due to Virginia Tech’s Braxton Burmeister.

NEW ENGLAND

BOSTON COLLEGE 28,TEMPLE 3

Pat Garwo, Travis Levy and Dennis Grosel scored rushing touchdowns and Boston College cruised

Grosel – who stepped into the quarterback spot following the injury to starter Phil Jurkovec during last week’s win over UMass – also added a touchdown pass to Jaden Williams.

The Eagles defense recorded four sacks of Owls quarterback Justin Lynch, who was under constant pressure the entire afternoon. Boston College was especially effective on 3rd down, where they held Temple to 3-for-14 overall.

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