• Syracuse ran 95 plays and piled up 596 total yards — 470 through the air by quarterback Ryan Nassib — and couldn’t win. The Orange fell to Northwestern, 42-41, after Syracuse had scored 28 straight to take a late lead. Nassib’s 44 completions topped the school record by 15.

• Smart scheduling by New Mexico got the Bob Davie era off to a good start. Remember two years ago when the Lobos opened at Oregon with a 72-0 smack down? New Mexico beat Southern 66-21 The Jaguars are members of the Football Championship Subdivision (Division I-AA), but that didn’t matter last year when New Mexico lost to Sam Houston State.

• Was Georgia bad enough in a 45-23 victory over Buffalo to give the next opponent, Missouri, confidence? Yes, said Bulldogs Coach Mark Richt. “I mean we better play better than that next week, or we’ll be riding home sad.”

• So much for the stadium renovation party at California. The Golden Bears spent last season at AT Ballpark while the school upgraded Memorial Stadium. But Nevada pulled off the 31-24 victory with quarterback Cody Fajardo passing for 230 yards and rushing for 101 yards.

• Not a good re-start for former Kansas quarterback Jordan Webb, who passed for 176 yards in a 22-17 loss to Colorado State.

West Virginia beat Marshall 69-34 and had 413 total yards — in the first half. A very Big 12-like effort by the program coached by a former Big 12 assistant coach, Dana Holgorsen.

Two years ago, Maryland fired Ralph Friedgen after the Terrapins qualified for a bowl for the fourth time in five years. Not good enough, so the Terps hired Randy Edsall, who had just taken Connecticut to the Fiesta Bowl. The transition was a disaster as Maryland wound up 2-10. The Terps will have to do much more than Saturday’s 7-6 victory over William and Mary to change perceptions. The game ball goes to kicker Brad Craddock, whose extra point with 10 minutes left proved to be the winner.

Braxton Miller rushed for 161 yards, the most ever by an Ohio State quarterback, and added 207 passing yards in a 56-10 triumph over Miami (Ohio), expected to compete for a MAC division crown. “I just wanted it to be a good day for Ohio State football,” said coach Urban Meyer in his Buckeyes’ debut. “I believe it was.”

First alert of the season goes to Iowa for its 18-17 escape of Northern Illinois at Soldier Field in Chicago. Running back Damon Bullock was terrific with 150 rushing yards, and he scored the game-winner from 23. But James Vandenberg was sacked six times in the offense guided by new coordinator Greg Davis.

33 Idaho State’s streak of consecutive road losses continued with a 49-21 setback at Air Force. The Bengals, who last won a roadie in 2006, play at Nebraska in three weeks.