STARS

— Denard Robinson dashed for 197 yards, setting a school record for a quarterback, and threw for 186 more as Michigan beat Connecticut 30-10. Robinson ran for one touchdown and passed for another TD.

— Patrick Peterson had 257 yards on kickoff and punt returns as No. 21 LSU held off undermanned No. 18 North Carolina 30-24.

— Greg McElroy completed 13 of 15 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown as No. 1 Alabama downed San Jose State 48-3.

— Redshirt freshman Taylor Martinez ran for 127 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 136 yards to lead No. 8 Nebraska over Western Kentucky 49-10. Huskers coach Bo Pelini kept the identity of his starting QB hush-hush until right before gametime.

— Cam Newton ran for 171 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 186 yards and three more scores as No. 22 Auburn beat Arkansas State 52-26. He is a junior college transfer who started his career at Florida.

— DeMarco Murray ran for 218 yards and two touchdowns as No. 7 Oklahoma stopped Utah State 31-24.

— Andy Dalton became the winningest quarterback in TCU history, running for two TDs and throwing for another as the No. 6 Horned Frogs beat Oregon State 30-21. His 30th win moved him past “Slingin’ Sammy” Baugh, who had held the mark alone since the mid-1930s.

— Cliff Harris set an No. 11 Oregon record by returning two punts for touchdowns, scoring from 61 and 64 yards in a 72-0 romp over New Mexico.

— Daniel Thomas ran for 235 yards and two touchdowns as Kansas State rallied past UCLA 31-22.

— Backup quarterback Tyler Russell tied a school record with four touchdown passes in his debut and Mississippi State beat Memphis 49-7.

— Tre’ Newton ran for three touchdowns to help No. 5 Texas beat Rice 34-17.

— Joshua Nesbitt ran for 130 yards and three touchdowns as No. 16 Georgia Tech beat South Carolina State 41-10.

— Freshman Rob Bolden passed for 239 yards and two TDs to lead No. 19 Penn State past Youngstown State 44-14.

— Coty Blanchard completed a 2-point conversion pass to Calvin Middleton in double overtime as Jacksonville State stunned Mississippi 49-48. Blanchard threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Kevyn Cooper on fourth-and-15 to pull within 48-47 in the second overtime.

DEBUT U.

Brian Kelly was a winner in his debut as the Notre Dame coach, 23-12 over Purdue. The win at Notre Dame Stadium made Fighting Irish coaches a 26-3 in their openers, dating back more than a century — the only three to lose were Frank E. Hering in 1896 (4-0 loss to Chicago Physicians and Surgeons), Elmer Layden in 1934 (7-6 to Texas) and Lou Holtz in 1986 (a 24-23 defeat by Michigan. … Long a coach-in-waiting, Jimbo Fisher took over Florida State and debuted with a 59-6 win over Samford. It was the first time in 34 years the Seminoles’ season started without Bobby Bowden — he was not in attendance. … Joker Phillips also won in his first game as a head coach as Kentucky beat Louisville 23-16. The loss spoiled the debut for Louisville coach Charlie Strong, a former Florida assistant. … Turner Gill started his career as the Kansas coach with a thud, losing to FCS school North Dakota State 6-3.

QUITE A CROWD

The crowd of 113,090 at the Big House for Michigan’s 30-10 win over Connecticut was the largest for a football game in the United States. The previous mark was 112,118 — also at Michigan Stadium — in 2003, the last time the Wolverines beat rival Ohio State.

STARTING OFF

Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert had a mixed day in his first college start during a win over Rice. He finished 14 of 23 for 172 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions, bouncing a couple of passes and showing a nice touch on others. Gilbert filled in for an injured Colt McCoy in last season’s BCS championship game and threw four INTs against Alabama. … Ryan Mallett, considered one of the best players in the country, threw for 301 yards and three TDs to lead Arkansas over Tennessee Tech 44-3. … Washington QB Jake Locker began what he hopes will be a big senior season with a loss, 23-17 at BYU. He threw for 266 yards, but threw a pair of incompletes on fourth downs later in the fourth quarter that could have put the Huskies ahead.

ROUTE 72

Coming off a Rose Bowl appearance as the Pac-10 champions, Oregon opened its season by thumping New Mexico 72-0. The Ducks rolled up a school-record 720 yards of offense, and probably could’ve made it more lopsided — they led 59-0 at halftime. … Montana was a point better, beating Western State 73-2. That game might’ve been more one-sided, too, had it not been shortened by 5 1/2 minutes because of lightning.

BIG TEN RULES

In the only scheduled game between Big Ten and SEC opponents, Northwestern beat Vanderbilt 23-15. Chances are the conferences will face each other a few more times in bowl season.

SCARY

Air Force’s 65-21 win over Northwestern State was delayed 40 minutes as three players were taken off the field on stretchers with neck injuries. Air Force cornerback Reggie Rembert had feeling in all extremities; Demons safety Lance Lacoste felt pain in his neck and offensive guard Josh Cunningham had a possible concussion. Both Demons players were checked at a hospital, and were set to travel home with the team.

DEFENSE!

West Virginia posted its first home shutout since 1997, blanking Coastal Carolina 31-0. … Carl Gettis made a leaping one-handed interception and downed a punt at the 1 to help Missouri rally past Illinois 23-13.

REMEMBER US?

Appalachian State is still making things interesting in its openers. In 2007, the Mountaineers stunned Michigan. This year, they overcame a 21-point deficit in the fourth quarter and beat Chattanooga 42-41.

TROPHIES AND TRINKETS

Kentucky held off rival Louisville 23-16 Saturday, keeping the Governor’s Cup for the fourth straight season. … Colorado topped Colorado State 24-3 in the annual Rocky Mountain Showdown.

POLLING PLACE

The next Associated Press Top 25 poll will be released Tuesday afternoon. Will No. 11 Oregon’s romp impress voters, does No. 15 Pitt drop out after its overtime loss at Utah, and how about Notre Dame?

NEXT UP

— Still left over from the opening weekend: No. 3 Boise State vs. No. 10 Virginia Tech on Monday night in Landover, Md. The Broncos might be at a deficit — a request to let their team mascot horse run onto FedEx Field has been denied. So the mostly white buckskin paint named Willy stays home.

— Next week’s schedule features a pair of matchups sure to stir memories from past championship games: Joe Paterno and Penn State visit Alabama, and Florida State travels to Oklahoma.

QUOTES

“Hopefully there are many more of those to come.” — Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly, given the game ball after his debut, a 23-12 win over Purdue.

— “I didn’t imagine the offense’s incompetence that we experienced today.” — Florida coach Urban Meyer after a 34-12 win over Miami (Ohio) in the Gators’ first game in a long time without Tim Tebow.