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Houston • Houston coach Tom Herman and the Cougars are past the point of proving they are for real.

Shocking the world is for the real underdogs and if a Power Five conference happens to take note of what Houston is doing that's fine.

Whatever.

"We were prepared to win. We expected to win. We train to win," Herman said. "It wasn't about making a statement, it was about going 1-0 the first week of the season."

Greg Ward Jr., Brandon Wilson and the 15th-ranked Cougars looked every bit ready to compete in the Big 12 — or any other conference for that matter — in a 33-23 victory against No. 3 Oklahoma on Saturday.

Houston is one of 11 schools that will meet with Big 12 officials starting next week to make a pitch to the Power Five conference that is pondering expansion.

Regardless of whether Houston (1-0) ends up in the Big 12, the Cougars' latest surprising win could have season-long ramifications on the College Football Playoff.

"We're not your typical Group of Five program," Houston athletic director Hunter Yurachek said.

The elusive quarterback Ward passed for 321 yards and two touchdowns. Wilson, though, provided the key play in the biggest regular-season nonconference game the Cougars have played in 25 years and Houston's third victory in school history against a top-three team.

The versatile senior defensive back went end line to end zone to score a touchdown with a short 54-yard field goal attempt to give Houston 26-17 lead with 8:28 left in the third quarter.

Wilson reached up to catch the ball, barely keeping his feet in bounds. Reminiscent of Auburn's Kick Six against Alabama in 2013, Wilson went flying out of the end zone 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."

Herman said he was looking for penalty flags.

"I was thinking this is too good to be true, surely there's a flag somewhere," Herman said.

Oklahoma called a timeout before trying the kick, which Herman said allowed Houston to see the Sooners' personnel and set up for the return.

"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 (Seibert) make that quite a few times."

No. 2 Clemson 19, Auburn 13 • In Auburn, Ala., Deshaun Watson passed for 248 yards, including 174 to Mike Williams in his return from an injury, and Clemson escaped with a victory over Auburn. Clemson struggled to put the away the opener even though Auburn produced little offense for much of the game while swapping three quarterbacks in and out. Finally, Watson hit former walk-on receiver Hunter Renfrow in the back of the end zone on third and goal from the 16 with 9:59 left in the fourth quarter. Ben Boulware's subsequent goal line interception only provided a temporary reprieve for a team that made the national championship game last season. Auburn finally got a touchdown with 3:22 left on a 9-yard direct snap run by Kerryon Johnson and Clemson's failed fourth-down try deep in Auburn territory set up another shot with 40 seconds and 85 yards to go. Sean White drove the offense to the Clemson 40, but two desperation heaves into the end zone fell incomplete, with the second getting batted around.

Wisconsin 16, No. 5 LSU 14 • In Green Bay, Wis., Rafael Gaglianone kicked a 47-yard field goal with 3:47 left, and Wisconsin staved off No. 5 LSU's desperate last-ditch drive for a 16-14 win in a game that dealt an early blow to the fifth-ranked Tigers' national title hopes. 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 vicious blind-side hit on Wisconsin's D'Cota Dixon after the safety sealed the win with an interception with 57 seconds left. Wisconsin's defense delivered in the clutch to back up the strong-legged Gaglianone. Heisman Trophy hopeful Leonard Fournette ran for 138 yards on 23 carries but limped off on his final carry, a 15-yard run with less than 2 minutes left. Les Miles' first loss in a season opener in his 12 years as LSU coach will surely put him back on the dreaded hot seat. He was nearly run out of Baton Rouge after a 9-3 season in 2015.

No. 6 Ohio State 77, Bowling Green 10 • In Columbus, Ohio, J.T. Barrett threw six touchdown passes and Ohio State rolled up a school record 776 yards. Eight players scored touchdowns on offense as the Buckeyes (1-0) overpowered the Falcons (0-1) in front of a crowd of 107,193. The 776 yards topped the 718 yards Ohio State put up against Mount Union in 1930. Barrett also set a school record with seven TDs overall — six passing, one running. The junior was 21 for 31 for 349 yards and ran for 30 yards before giving way to Joe Burrow with 6:30 left in the third quarter.

No. 7 Michigan 63, Hawaii 3 • In Ann Arbor, Mich., Wilton Speight threw three touchdown passes in the first half and Michigan went on to rout Hawaii (0-2) for its most lopsided victory since 1975.Speight threw an interception on his first snap and bounced back with TD passes to Grant Perry, Jake Butt and Amara Darboh to put the Wolverines (1-0) up 21-0 early in the second quarter. Speight finished 10 of 13 for 145 yards. Freshman Chris Evans had two TD runs and finished with 112 yards rushing. Delano Hill and Channing Stribling each returned an interception for a score.

No. 13 TCU 59, South Dakota State 41 • In Fort Worth, Texas, 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 in a victory over South Dakota State. Playing his first game since a 59-0 loss to Alabama that cost Hill the starting job at Texas A&M two years ago, the junior transfer bounced back from interceptions on consecutive passes that led to a 10-point lead for the lower-division Jackrabbits. Turpin started the recovery from the surprising second-quarter deficit with his return, sparking the Frogs to their 15th straight win in a home opener since losing to Northwestern State in Gary Patterson's first season as head coach. The 5-foot-9 speedster added a 33-yard run and had 177 all-purpose yards. Hill was 33 of 49 for 439 yards with two touchdown passes, ran for three scores and converted a critical third down with a 13-yard scramble in the fourth quarter. That drive ended on a 46-yard scoring pass to Taj Williams for a 52-41 lead. Williams had 11 catches for 158 yards.

No. 17 Iowa 45, Miami (Ohio) 21 • In Iowa City, Iowa, Akrum Wadley ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns, LeShun Daniels added 83 yards rushing and two scores, and the Hawkeyes beat the RedHawks. C.J. Beathard was 13 of 20 passing for 192 yards and a touchdown for the Hawkeyes (1-0), who were sloppy on defense in the second half. Daniels and Wadley each scored twice in the first half, and Jerminic Smith's 12-yard TD reception put the Hawkeyes up 35-7 in the third quarter. The RedHawks (0-1) then had touchdown drives of 75 and 74 yards.

No. 18 Georgia 33, No. 22 North Carolina 24 • In Atlanta, 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 Georgia's victory over North Carolina in Kirby Smart's debut as the Bulldogs' coach. Chubb scored a pair of touchdowns for Georgia, sending the largely red-clad crowd at the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game 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. Leaving no doubt he was fully recovered from a horrific knee injury that looked like it might be career-threatening, Chubb carried a staggering 32 times and was every bit as dominating as the Heisman-touted back he was before.

No. 21 Okla. St. 61, SE Louisiana 7 • In Stillwater, Okla., Jhajuan Seales caught two touchdown passes and finished with three catches for 61 yards in the opener for both teams. Barry J. Sanders had 76 all-purpose yards and scored a touchdown for the Cowboys. Sanders, whose father, Barry, won the Heisman Trophy for Oklahoma State in 1988, is a graduate transfer who played for Stanford last season. Mason Rudolph completed 18 of 26 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns for the Cowboys. Kaelyn Henderson ran 13 times for 68 yards and a TD for the Lions.

No. 25 Florida 24, UMass 7 • In Gainesville, Fla., Luke Del Rio threw two touchdown passes in his first career start, and Florida did just enough to extend the nation's longest winning streak in season openers to 27. It was far from the offensive resurgence the Gators were hoping for after ending last season with three consecutive losses. Retired coach Steve Spurrier provided most of Florida's early highlights. After having Florida Field named after him and then leading a pre-game cheer, Spurrier posed like Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt.