HOUSTON — Brandon Wilson went end line to end zone to score a touchdown with an Oklahoma missed field goal and No. 15 Houston beat the third-ranked Sooners 33-23 Saturday, looking every bit ready to compete in the Big 12.

Regardless of whether Houston (1-0) ends up in the Big 12 if the conference expands, Coach Tom Herman’s Cougars made an opening statement that could have season-long ramifications on the College Football Playoff.

Oklahoma cornerback Dakota Austin, left, and Houston wide receiver Chance Allen reach for a pass that fell incomplete in the second half of Houston's 33-23 victory at home Saturday. Associated Press/George Bridges

Elusive quarterback Greg Ward Jr. passed for 321 yards and two touchdowns for Houston. Wilson, though, provided the key play in the biggest regular-season nonconference game the Cougars have played in 25 years.

When Oklahoma kicker Austin Seibert’s 54-yard field goal attempt came up just short, Wilson reached up to catch the ball while barely keeping his feet in bounds. Reminiscent of Auburn’s Kick Six against Alabama in 2013, Wilson came flying out of the end zone, hit the sideline and hurdled a fallen teammate to score what went into the books as a 100-yard return.

“I thought I stepped out, but I didn’t,” Wilson said. “I just saw the green grass and I scored.”

Wilson’s dash made it 26-17 Cougars with 8:28 left in the third quarter.

“I was just looking for flags,” Herman said. “It looked too good to be true.”

Oklahoma called a timeout before trying the kick, which Herman said allowed Houston to set up for the return the Cougars practice about once a week.

“You know you have to cover it, but the personnel on the field isn’t the best cover guys because the best cover guys wouldn’t be able to protect the field goal. So you’re in a little bit of a dilemma,” Sooners Coach Bob Stoops said. “I don’t really second-guess. I’ve seen Austin make that quite a few times.”

Baker Mayfield threw for 323 yards and two scores for defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma (0-1).

(1) ALABAMA 52, (20) USC 6: Freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts threw two touchdown passes to ArDarius Stewart and ran for two more scores, and the Crimson Tide opened defense of their national championship with a win at Arlington, Texas.

WISCONSIN 16, (5) LSU 14: Rafael Gaglianone kicked a 47-yard field goal with 3:47 left, and Wisconsin staved off LSU’s desperate last-ditch drive to win at Green Bay, Wisconsin.

LSU’s frustration was on full display at the end of the game, when offensive lineman Josh Boutte was ejected for a flagrant foul after a blind-side hit on Wisconsin’s D’Cota Dixon after the safety sealed the victory with an interception with 57 seconds left.

Heisman Trophy hopeful Leonard Fournette ran for 138 yards on 23 carries, but limped off on his final carry for LSU with less than 2 minutes left.

(6) OHIO STATE 77, BOWLING GREEN 10: J.T. Barrett threw six touchdown passes and the Buckeyes rolled up a school-record 776 yards at home.

Eight players scored touchdowns on offense as Ohio State (1-0) overpowered the Falcons in front of a crowd of 107,193 at sunny Ohio Stadium.

Barrett also set a school record with seven touchdowns overall – six passing, one running.

(7) MICHIGAN 63, HAWAII 3: Wilton Speight threw three touchdown passes in the first half and host Michigan went on to rout Hawaii for its most lopsided victory since 1975.

The Wolverines (1-0) did not reveal who would start at quarterback until the game began. It looked like the right decision was made, leading to Michigan’s most decisive win since beating Northwestern by 69 points four decades ago.

(13) TCU 59, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 41: Kenny Hill accounted for five touchdowns after a shaky start in his TCU debut, KaVontae Turpin returned a punt 81 yards for a score and the Horned Frogs pulled away late at Fort Worth, Texas.

(14) WASHINGTON 48, RUTGERS 13: Jake Browning threw for 287 yards and three touchdowns, John Ross caught two scoring passes and returned a kickoff for another touchdown in his first game since the end of the 2014 season to help Washington win in Seattle.

The Huskies raced to a 24-0 first-quarter lead and were never threatened by the rebuilding Scarlet Knights, in their first game under new coach Chris Ash.

TEXAS A&M 31, (16) UCLA 24: Graduate transfer Trevor Knight threw for 239 yards and a touchdown and ran for two more scores, including one in overtime, to lead Texas A&M past UCLA at College Station, Texas, in his debut with the Aggies.

The Aggies had a fourth-and-1 from the 1 in overtime when Knight waltzed into the end zone untouched for the score. Texas A&M sealed the victory when Justin Evans knocked down Josh Rosen’s pass at the goal line on fourth down.

UCLA overcame a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter, tying the game on a 62-yard pass by Rosen and a 2-point conversion with 2:39 left.

(17) IOWA 45, MIAMI (OHIO) 21: Akrum Wadley ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns, LeShun Daniels added 83 yards rushing and two scores, and Iowa beat Miami (Ohio) at home.

C.J. Beathard was 13 of 20 passing for 192 yards and a touchdown for the Hawkeyes.

(18) GEORGIA 33, (22) NORTH CAROLINA 24: Nick Chubb rushed for 222 yards in his return from a gruesome knee injury, including a 55-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter that clinched the Bulldogs’ win over North Carolina at Atlanta in Kirby Smart’s debut as Georgia’s coach.

Chubb scored a pair of touchdowns for the Bulldogs, sending the largely red-clad crowd into delirium when he broke loose down the right sideline with 3:34 remaining and the Bulldogs clinging to a two-point lead over the Tar Heels.

(21) OKLAHOMA STATE 61, SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA 7: Jhajuan Seales caught two touchdown passes, helping Oklahoma State rout visiting Southeastern Louisiana.

Barry J. Sanders had 76 all-purpose yards and scored a touchdown. Sanders, whose father, Barry, won the Heisman Trophy for Oklahoma State in 1988, is a graduate transfer from Stanford. The younger Sanders scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter.

(24) OREGON 53, UC DAVIS 28: Dakota Prukop made his debut for Oregon, throwing for 271 yards and three touchdowns, and the host Ducks overcame a rocky start to defeat UC Davis.

Royce Freeman rushed for 87 yards and two scores for the Ducks, who have won five straight season openers.

(25) FLORIDA 24, UMASS 7: Luke Del Rio threw two touchdown passes in his first career start, and host Florida did just enough to extend the nation’s longest winning streak in season openers to 27.

Related Stories