IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Iowa's defense came up with two second-half safeties, and the Hawkeyes opened the season with a 7-3 win over South Dakota State on Saturday.

Neither team could do much offensively. Iowa finished with 166 yards of offense, while South Dakota State had 120. The two teams combined for more punts (21) than first downs (16).

"Obviously a very unusual scoring line," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. "You've got 3 (in the first quarter), 2 (in the third quarter), 2 in the fourth. I've never been around a game like that. But we'll take it today."

Iowa ranked seventh nationally with four defensive touchdowns last season, so the Hawkeyes are used to getting points from that side of the ball. And they needed them on a day when the offense struggled.

"The standard's been set," said linebacker Jack Campbell, who recorded one of the safeties and finished with 12 tackles.

The first safety came after Iowa's Tory Taylor had his punt downed at the South Dakota State 1-yard line in the third quarter. One play later, Campbell grabbed running back Isaiah Davis after he took the handoff and brought him down one yard short of getting out of the end zone.

The second safety came in the fourth, when Iowa's Joe Evans sacked quarterback Mark Gronowski in the end zone on a second-and-11 play.

"We're trying to score as much as we can on the defensive side, however we can do it" said Iowa safety Quinn Schulte.

The Hawkeyes kept South Dakota State pinned in its own territory for most of the game. Ten of Taylor's punts were downed inside the Jackrabbits' 20-yard line, including one at the 2 and the one at the 1.

"Tory did a great job," Ferentz said. "I don't think if I've ever seen a punter so involved in a game either."

Taylor averaged 47.9 yards per punt.

"Field position was really tough for us," South Dakota State coach John Stiegelmeier said. "It's tough to go out there and mentally think we've got to go 98 yards against this defense."

Iowa took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter on Aaron Blom's 46-yard field goal. The only points for South Dakota State came on Hunter Dustman's 44-yard field goal with 20 seconds left before halftime.

Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras completed 11 of 25 passes for 109 yards. Leshon Williams had 72 rushing yards.

Gronowski was 10 of 26 passing for 87 yards. Davis had 18 carries for 50 yards.

INJURY REPORT

Iowa was without three offensive starters - wide receivers Keagan Johnson and Nico Ragaini, and running back Gavin Williams. All three missed time in preseason camp because of undisclosed injuries. Starting linebacker Jestin Jacobs left the game in the second quarter with an injury and did not return.

South Dakota State tight end Tucker Kraft, a second-team Associated Press FCS All-American last season, was injured after catching a pass in the first quarter and did not return.

THE TAKEAWAY

Iowa had one of the worst offenses in the nation last year despite a 10-win season, finishing 99th in scoring offense and 121st in total offense. Petras' struggles led to plenty of boos from the sellout crowd at Kinnick Stadium, and with in-state rival Iowa State coming in next Saturday, there will be plenty of questions for Ferentz to answer.

"I've still got a lot of confidence in him," Ferentz said. "I think the noise on the outside is probably a lot louder than it is on the inside."

South Dakota State, which fell to 2-10 all time against FBS teams, struggled to move the ball against Iowa's defense, which was one of the best in the nation last season.

BOONE, N.C. -- Drake Maye is looking like the real deal.

North Carolina's redshirt freshman quarterback continued his torrid start to the season, throwing for 352 yards and combining for five touchdowns as the Tar Heels outlasted Appalachian State 63-61 on Saturday -- despite surrendering 40 points to the Mountaineers in a wild fourth quarter.

Maye, the younger brother of former Tar Heels basketball star Luke Maye, has thrown a school-record nine touchdown passes in two career starts. He also ran for a score against the Mountaineers.

"He's a special young guy," Tar Heels coach Mack Brown said. "He's a great young quarterback who is only going to get better."

Sixth-year quarterback Chase Brice threw for 376 yards and a school-record six touchdowns -- four of those in the fourth quarter -- for Appalachian State (0-1).

The Tar Heels (2-0) won despite squandering a 20-point fourth-quarter lead and allowing the Mountaineers to gain 664 yards and score nine touchdowns on offense.

But that didn't dampen Brown's enthusiasm.

"You take a win and go," Brown said. "We were underdogs and hadn't won a road game all of last year, so anybody who thinks I'm going to be mad or disappointed over this one doesn't understand coaching. I'm excited to win against a really good team on the road."

The two teams combined for 62 points and 504 yards in the fourth quarter alone. It was one point shy of the most ever in the fourth quarter of an FBS game (Navy vs. North Texas in 2007).

Appalachian State coach Shawn Clark said he was thrilled with the fight his team showed in the fourth quarter.

"We were down 20, and our guys never quit,'' Clark said. "We're going to have a helluva football team. Our guys are hurt, and we're disappointed, but not discouraged. The future is bright at Appalachian State.''

The Tar Heels fell behind 21-7 before rattling off 34 straight points and silencing a record crowd of 40,168 at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Maye threw three TD passes in the first half, including a 10-yard TD strike to Nesbit to give the Tar Heels a 28-21 lead with one second left.

Maye made it 28 straight unanswered points for UNC with a 12-yard touchdown run to start the second half, receiving congrats from former Tar Heels and current Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell in the end zone after tiptoeing the sideline.

North Carolina seemed in control, leading 41-21 after the third quarter, but the Mountaineers climbed back into the game behind Brice, who led six TD drives in the final quarter.

Maye showed poise beyond his years in his first road start.

With the game tied at 49, he beat an all-out blitz by lofting a pass over the middle to D.J. Jones for a 42-yard touchdown to give North Carolina the lead with 2:50 left.

"They were bringing the house a couple times trying to hit up a young quarterback," Maye said. "But they forgot about D.J., who slipped out in the seam. He was wide open and I got power driven into the ground. I tried to float him up one and he took care of the rest."

But the game was far from over.

Brice responded with his fifth TD pass of the game, a 28-yard strike to Deshaun Davis with 31 seconds left. The Mountaineers went for the 2-point conversion -- and the win -- but Brice's pass sailed just over a backpedaling Davis' head.

"I had made my mind up early that we were going for two and the win,'' Clark said. "We're not going for second place at Appalachian State.''

The UNC fans celebrated an apparent win.

But when UNC's Bryson Nesbit returned the ensuing onside kick for a 43-yard touchdown -- rather than simply getting down -- it gave the Mountaineers yet another chance to tie the game trailing 63-55.

"Our coaches were yelling, 'No, get down,'" Brown said.

Sure enough, Brice found Kaedin Robinson for a 26-yard TD strike with nine seconds left to cut the lead to 63-61.

The Mountaineers went for 2 but Brice was stopped short of the end zone.

It was the most points ever scored in a UNC game since the school started football in 1888.

The Tar Heels accomplished the feat playing without standout wide receiver Josh Downs, who sat out with a lower body injury.

Downs, arguably the team's best player, had nine catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns in UNC's win over Florida A&M and led the ACC with 101 catches last season for 1,335 yards and eight TDs.

Brown said it's unclear how long Downs will be out.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

ATLANTA -- Defending national champion Georgia might have lost 15 players to the NFL draft, but the No. 3 Bulldogs looked just fine in the first game of their title defense, blasting No. 11 Oregon 49-3 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday.

Even after losing five defensive players in the first round, including No. 1 pick Travon Walker, Georgia's defense was too fast and physical for the Ducks.

After having lost the most players ever drafted from one school in NFL draft history, Georgia looked like it will still be back in the hunt for a CFP berth for the third time in Smart's seven seasons.

But Smart knows his young team still has a long way to go to get back there, even after its lopsided victory in the opener.

"Expectations are definitely already in check," Smart said. "You don't have to worry about that."

Georgia's offense, which played second fiddle to its record-setting defense last season, was much more explosive against the Ducks. Quarterback Stetson Bennett, a former walk-on who led the Bulldogs to their first national title in 41 years, completed 25 of 31 passes for a career-high 368 yards with two touchdowns.

With 21 seconds left in the first half, Bennett spun away from four Oregon defenders and somehow saw Ladd McConkey, who was wide open in the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown that gave Georgia a 28-3 lead at the half.

After starting last season as Georgia's No. 3 quarterback and being thrust into the lineup only after JT Daniels was injured, Bennett is the undisputed starter this year.

"I don't think Stetson really gets affected by anything I do, you do or anybody does," Smart said. "Stetson lives in his own world, and he does a really good job of blocking out all the noise. The guy had a flip phone, OK, in 2021. He doesn't really get into all that.

"I think that's what his kind of edge is, and he made some plays that he didn't make the right decisions on today, and he knows those. He knows his mistakes. He's got to be smart. He does things that maybe we don't ask him to do. But he did make some plays with his feet, and I think you take the good, and I'm not going to call it bad, but you take the good with his poor decisions."

Georgia scored touchdowns on each of its first seven possessions, converted its first nine third-down plays and went 6-for-6 in the red zone. The Bulldogs didn't punt until early in the fourth quarter, when freshman Brett Thorson boomed a 53-yarder.

The Ducks couldn't muster much of anything against Georgia's rebuilt defense. Oregon had 313 yards of offense, averaging 4.6 yards per play compared to the Bulldogs' 9.2. Georgia had two interceptions and stopped the Ducks on a goal-line stand at the 3-yard line with 1:22 left to play.

"We don't want to be the hunted," said safety Christopher Smith, who had one of Georgia's two interceptions. "We want to hunt."

Oregon was playing its first game under new coach Dan Lanning, who was the Bulldogs' defensive coordinator in 2021. It was a disappointing debut for Lanning, who is a first-time head coach.

"He's gonna do a really good job at Oregon," Smart said. "He's relentless. They'll bounce back from this and he knows we have better players. He'll never say that, but he knows we've got better players."

ATLANTA -- SEC commissioner Greg Sankey isn't confident a 12-team College Football Playoff will make its debut before the 2026 season.

Sankey, speaking to reporters Saturday before No. 3 Georgia's contest against No. 11 Oregon at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, said there is too much to do before the expanded playoff can take place and that every conference will have to get on the same page to make significant changes in a hurry.

"If history's a lesson to help us understand the future, it won't be easy," Sankey said. "But minds change, motivations change. ... There's a bunch of moving parts. That's where I wish we could have used the last nine months to work. We'll have to accelerate our consideration to make it happen."

On Friday, the College Football Playoff's board of managers unanimously voted to expand the playoff to 12 teams starting in 2026. But the board, which consists of 11 presidents and chancellors, encouraged the sport's commissioners to try to implement the expanded format as soon as 2024.

The 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick are scheduled to meet Thursday in Irving, Texas, to start discussions on potentially implementing the format early.

The 12-team playoff will include the six highest-ranked conference champions and six at-large teams.

The College Football Playoff working group, which included Sankey, first revealed in June 2021 that it was proposing a 12-team format. Conference commissioners seemed ready to vote to implement it, but the board of managers announced in February that the four-team model would remain in place through the end of the 12-year television contract that runs through the 2025 season.

The ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 were opposed to the expanded playoff. But following another wave of realignment, with USC and UCLA moving from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten and the Big Ten agreeing to a seven-year, $7 billion media rights deal in August, expanding the CFP once again took center stage.

"I'm probably not the one to ask what changed," Sankey said. "Others are probably incentivized because they made expansion decisions that go into effect early next year. They're probably looking at opportunities sooner rather than later. Ours is slated for 2025, and we made that decision knowing it could be a four-team playoff then. I've said repeatedly, with great meaning, that [the SEC] could have stayed at four beyond [the current deal], based on what took place the last 12 months."

Sankey said CFP expansion wouldn't necessarily change the SEC's timeline for bringing Oklahoma and Texas into the league in 2026. The Sooners and Longhorns have said they intend to remain in the Big 12 until its media-rights contract expires at the end of the 2024-25 academic year. The schools would have to pay hefty buyouts to exit earlier, unless they can reach a settlement with the Big 12.

"That is a decision to be made between the Big 12 Conference and the University of Oklahoma and University of Texas," Sankey said.

ST. PETERBURG, Fla. -- Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco is set to resume his minor league rehab assignment with Triple-A Durham on Sunday.

Franco, who went on the injured list July 10 with a right hamate bone injury that required surgery, played part of one game in mid-August for Durham but departed early due to hand soreness.

The 21-year-old Franco will likely spent all of next week playing with Durham. He took on-field batting practice off a pitching machine Friday and Saturday.

"This is definitely the best that I've felt since the injury and hope to continue well after this," Franco said through a translator before the Rays played the New York Yankees on Saturday night, "Yesterday I took a lot of swings, so we wanted to see how I feel today."

Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said Franco feeling the way he does is "probably the most important thing."

Franco also missed 23 games earlier this year with a strained right quadriceps. He has a .260 average along with five homers and 23 RBI over 58 games in 2022.

Franco signed an $182 million, 11-year contract in November that includes a club option for 2033. The deal could be worth up to $223 million with incentives if the club option is exercised.

Franco hit .288 with 18 doubles, five triples, seven homers and 39 RBI in 70 games last year. He finished third in the American League Rookie of the Year voting.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The New York Yankees placed outfielder Andrew Benintendi on the 10-day injured list with right wrist inflammation after he was hurt during Friday's 9-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

In the third inning, Benintendi, who had a leadoff double in the first, swung and missed the first pitch of his second at-bat against Rays starter Jeffrey Springs, a 90-mph sinker, and started shaking his right hand vigorously before leaving the game.

Manager Aaron Boone said Saturday that Benintendi would need further testing after undergoing an MRI that had inconclusive results.

"Right now, it's wrist inflammation," Boone said before the start of Saturday's game at Tropicana Field after being briefed on Benintendi's status. "We have to get some more tests, some more imaging and more opinions to really narrow down exactly what it is. I think there's still some questions there.

"They've got to look at some more things," he continued. "Just not sure where we thought may not be injured, so they've got to get more CT scans. I just got briefed on it a little bit, so I don't really have much for you other than he is going on the IL, but it's a little inconclusive right now exactly what."

Benintendi had struggled in his first couple of weeks since being acquired from the Kansas City Royals, with a .206 batting average and zero home runs in his first 18 games in pinstripes. But he had been one of the few Yankees hitters swinging a hot bat as of late. In his 10 previous games entering Friday night, Benintendi was hitting .325 with 2 doubles, 2 home runs and 7 RBIs.

Boone explained that the team would not have a timeline on a potential return for Benintendi until they got the results of any additional testing.

"We don't know what we have. I was literally just getting briefed on it so it's tough to know," Boone noted. "[We'll] mix and match [in the outfield]. And hopefully create an opportunity for someone, that someone kind of kicks the door in."

The Yankees recalled outfielder Estevan Florial from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as another option to platoon in the outfield with Aaron Judge, Tim Locastro, Aaron Hicks and rookie Oswaldo Cabrera. Boone said there is still no plan for designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton to return to the outfield, since he was recently activated off the IL after missing over a month with left Achilles tendinitis.

Besides Benintendi's absence, the Yankees will also be without slugging first baseman Anthony Rizzo apparently longer than anticipated by Boone.

Boone said Friday that Rizzo had an epidural after being out of the starting lineup Wednesday night due to ongoing back issues. Rizzo saw back specialist Dr. Robert Watkins, the spine consultant for most of the Los Angeles professional sports teams, and received an epidural injection on Thursday, an off-day for the Yankees.

"He did have an epidural [Thursday] in California. Really optimistic that this helps him moving forward," said Boone on Friday, the same day Rizzo flew back to New York. "There's a lot of optimism that these shots will do the trick, as far as getting the pain out of there. Hopefully, as we get ready to start the homestand, he'll be ready to go."

But Boone hedged on a possible return for Rizzo when addressing the injury on Saturday, explaining it may take a few more days of baseball activities before any potential return. "Might be a Monday [or] Tuesday ramp up. We just have to see how these next two days go," he said.

Rizzo missed four games July 5-8 while dealing with lower-back tightness, which also led him to miss five games in early August. Rizzo has described this type of injury, a recurring issue in his career, as a back spasm. The lefty struggled offensively in August, with a .208 batting average and 26 strikeouts in 21 games played, but was doing better at the plate, homering in back-to-back games last Monday and Tuesday to hit the 30-homer mark for the first time since 2017 with the Chicago Cubs.

Meanwhile, right-hander Jameson Taillon, who had to leave his start Tuesday after only two innings due to a right forearm contusion after being hit by a line drive, went through all his throwing and workout program with no issues and is slated to return to his spot in the rotation, likely Monday or Tuesday against the Minnesota Twins.

Starter Nestor Cortes Jr., who is on the IL with a low-level Grade 2 groin strain, threw to live hitters Saturday at the Yankees' Player Development complex in Tampa and bounced back well after his three-inning, 45-pitch outing.

Boone said that the lefty, on the 15-day IL since Aug. 25, is positioned to return to the rotation during the Yankees' upcoming homestand. Cortes might throw a bullpen Monday or Tuesday and that will determine his spot. The Yankees' upcoming seven-game homestand, which starts on Labor Day Monday, includes four games against Minnesota and three more against the Rays.

Starter Luis Severino, who is currently on the 60-day injured list with a right lat strain, started ramping up his rehab. Severino threw 40 pitches in his first rehab outing with the Single-A Tampa Tarpons on Friday, 22 pitches on the field during a rain-abbreviated outing, before throwing 18 more in the bullpen. Boone said he expected Severino to bounce back well and to throw in another rehab game in the minors next week. Severino is eligible to come off the IL in mid-September.

The Yankees also announced they signed right-hander Ryan Weber to a major league contract and designated left-hander Anthony Banda for assignment to make room in their 40-man roster.

Petra Kvitova says she was trying to emulate Serena Williams as she survived two match points before winning a thrilling final-set tie-break to beat ninth seed Garbine Muguruza.

"With Serena last night it was amazing how she was saving those match points and I was trying to do the same," the two-time Wimbledon champion said.

Williams saved five match points before losing to Ajla Tomljanovic on Friday.

Kvitova came from 5-2 down in the third set, saving two match points with Muguruza 6-5 ahead in the decider.

In the tie-break, Spaniard Muguruza then saved three match points before 21st seed Kvitova came through in New York.

She will face eighth seed Jessica Pegula after the American beat Yuan Yue of China 6-2 6-7 (6-8) 6-0.

British number one Cameron Norrie reached the US Open fourth round for the first time with a composed victory over Denmark's 28th seed Holger Rune.

After being distracted, Rune won one more game as Norrie maintained focus.

Seventh seed Norrie, 27, will next play Russian ninth seed Andrey Rublev or Canadian 19th seed Denis Shapovalov.

Norrie is the first Briton to reach the last 16 in New York this year, with Dan Evans hoping to join him later on Saturday.

British number two Evans, seeded 20th, plays Croatia's 2014 champion Marin Cilic at about 21:00 BST.

The pair are the only British singles players left in the New York tournament, following third-round defeats for Andy Murray and Jack Draper on Friday, along with earlier exits for Emma Raducanu and Harriet Dart in the women's draw.

Norrie stays tough amid Rune drama

Norrie made his Grand Slam breakthrough with a memorable run to the Wimbledon semi-finals and, after another straight-set victory in New York, is quietly working his way through the US Open draw.

Calm assurance on the court is one of Norrie's key strengths and this was another example of him locking in to get the job done without any fuss.

Rune, who is already earning a reputation for creating drama, began to get tetchy towards the end of the second set as his frustrations at the match slipping away from him grew.

After spurning a break point as Norrie tried to serve out the second set at 5-4, Rune became agitated by the Briton aborting his ball toss and suggested it was gamesmanship.

He remonstrated with umpire Timo Janzen, claiming Norrie was doing it with "four, five, six" seconds left on the 25-second shot clock and suggesting there should be a code violation issued to his opponent.

Norrie ignored the issue and eventually served out the set, before racing through the final set in 29 minutes.

"I stayed a lot calmer than he did a couple of times in the match. I managed to stay tough in that first set and when serving for the second set," Norrie, who has not dropped a set this week, told Amazon Prime.

"My goal was to get to two hours and start the match from there, when I got to two hours I broke to go 2-1 and now the match starts. I don't know what was going on with him."

England back Claudia MacDonald is relishing a "clean slate" after a stellar international return 10 months on from what she thought was a career-ending injury.

The 26-year-old was told in November 2021 that a serious neck injury had "probably ended her career".

She said the return was "more emotional" than expected.

"I wasn't necessarily planning for it so to be in the position to get a game under my belt was amazing and everything I could have wished for," she added.

"The last 24 hours have been really emotional, feeling excited and relieved. I'm so grateful to be back in this place and I couldn't have loved being out on the pitch any more.

"[It's a] clean slate and we just go from here and see what happens."

She's back, but where will she play?

MacDonald found out she would be able to play again in May and says doctors have told her there is now no additional risk for her compared to any other player.

Newly signed with Exeter Chiefs, she played on the wing for England at Sandy Park but can also play at scrum-half.

After shining in an energetic performance against the United States, MacDonald further adds to the difficult decisions head coach Simon Middleton must make in the back three and at scrum-half.

Jess Breach scored two tries on the right wing, while Abby Dow is set to return from injury in time for England's World Cup opener on 8 October and Ellie Kildunne, Lydia Thompson and Sarah McKenna are three more strong options.

Middleton, who will announce his 32-player World Cup squad on 20 September, says he "primarily" sees MacDonald as a scrum-half, where she faces competition in Leanne Infante, Natasha Hunt and Lucy Packer.

"You think where Claud was six months ago and where she was today - you're just so grateful," Middleton added.

"She's a great athlete and she's really translated that into training, as have a number of players, then she backed that up in the game."

Asked about selection as a whole, Middleton continued: "We learned some really valuable lessons today and we'll definitely make some decisions off the back of today."

Former PGA Tour players who have moved to LIV Golf were informed Thursday that they are ineligible to renew their Tour memberships for the 2022-23 season, according to Golf Digest.

With the new season set to begin in less than two weeks, approximately 22 LIV players who have not resigned their cards, including Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau, received letters stating, “The Tour cannot enter into a membership agreement with a player when, as here, it reasonably anticipates the player will not perform the material obligations under that agreement.”

The letter concludes: “Accordingly, your PGA Tour membership cannot and will not be renewed for the 2022-2023 PGA Tour season.”

All Tour members who signed with and subsequently teed off in a LIV event have been indefinitely suspended by the Tour. The contracts and agreements players have made with the rival league further prevent them from upholding Tour membership requirements in the future.

Phil Mickelson and six other players – formerly 11, with four withdrawing their names in recent weeks – are suing the Tour over their suspensions in an antitrust lawsuit that won’t receive summary judgement until July 23, 2023.

Mickelson asserts that his lifetime membership was earned and shouldn’t be taken away.