Baton Rouge, La. ? LSU got lucky, and Nick Saban knew it.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do as a team,” the Tigers’ coach said. “I think everyone knows that.”

Oregon State’s Alexis Serna missed three extra points Saturday night, including one that would have forced a second overtime, and No. 4 LSU escaped with a 22-21 victory over the Beavers in the season opener.

“It was a crazy finish,” LSU defensive end Marcus Spears said. “We fought as long as we could fight, and fortunately he missed that extra point. I’d like to think that we had something to do with that. We got a lot of pressure up the middle and I guess he took his eye off it.”

The defending BCS champion Tigers trailed throughout the game, were shut out in the first half and behind 15-7 with 1:38 left.

The Tigers seemed sure to lose when they drove to the Oregon State 2 and failed to score with 3:39 left. But their defense gave them another shot.

LSU got the ball back for their final possession of regulation with 1:38 left. After JaMarcus Russell threw two incompletions, he hooked up with Dwayne Bowe for a 26-yarder then a 38-yard touchdown to cut Oregon State’s lead to 15-13 with 1:05 left.

“I told the QB to trust me,” Bowe said. “I said I’m not even going to run the route you call, I’m just going to get open. I was able to do that and in two plays I scored.”

On the conversion, Russell ran to the left, stretched out the football and leaped into the end zone for two points to tie it at 15 and force overtime.

No. 3 Georgia 48, Ga. Southern 28

Athens, Ga. — Danny Ware rushed for 135 yards and three touchdown in his college debut for the Bulldogs. Ware was the first freshman running back to start his first game at Georgia since 1943. He opened the scoring for Georgia with a 10-yard touchdown run. He added a three-yard scoring run early in the third quarter, helping the Bulldogs pull away from a close game at halftime.

No. 8 Michigan 43, Miami of Ohio 10

Ann Arbor, Mich. — Freshman Chad Henne threw two touchdowns in a surprising start for Michigan, leading the Wolverines past Miami of Ohio to end the nation’s longest winning streak. Henne was 14-of-24 for 142 yards with one interception. The RedHawks (1-1) had won 14 straight games, 13 times last year with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. His replacement, Josh Betts, was 18-of-36 for 201 yards with four interceptions and a fumble.

No. 9 Ohio State 27, Cincinnati 6

Columbus, Ohio — Lydell Ross rushed for 141 yards and a touchdown, and Ohio State’s swarming defense stymied Cincinnati. Bearcats coach Mark Dantonio lost his debut to his former employer. He was defensive coordinator for the Buckeyes for three years.

No. 10 West Virginia 56, East Carolina 23

Morgantown, W.Va. — Kay-Jay Harris rushed for a school-record 337 yards and four touchdowns for the Mountaineers. Harris broke the school record of 291 yards set by Kerry Marbury in 1971 against Temple. It also was a Big East record, eclipsing the mark of 299 set by Miami’s Edgerrin James in 1998 against UCLA.

No. 13 California 56, Air Force 14

Air Force Academy, Colo. — J.J. Arrington ran for 181 yards and three touchdowns, and Aaron Rodgers threw for 208 yards and a touchdown to help California pull away from Air Force in the second half.

No. 15 Clemson 37, Wake Forest 30, 2OT

Clemson, S.C. — Charlie Whitehurst threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Browning in the second overtime that lifted Clemson to an Atlantic Coast Conference victory. The Deacons rallied for 24 straight points and led 27-19 after Chris Barclay’s 50-yard touchdown run with 12:20 to go. The teams traded field goals in the first extra session. Then Whitehurst found Browning on a screen pass.

No. 16 Virginia 44, Temple 14

Philadelphia — Wali Lundy ran for 104 yards and three touchdowns, and Alvin Pearman returned a punt 70 yards for a score to lead the Cavaliers to an easy opening win. The Owls had more fumbles (four) than third-down conversions (two) and lost to a Top 25 team for the 18th straight time.

No. 17 Auburn 31, Louisiana-Monroe 0

Auburn, Ala. — Jason Campbell passed for two touchdowns and Carnell Williams ran for 103 yards as the Tigers unveiled a new West Coast offense. Auburn’s new system sputtered at times but still fared better than in last year’s opening shutout defeat to Southern California that set the stage for a disappointing season.

No. 19 Iowa 39, Kent State 7

Iowa City, Iowa — Drew Tate threw two touchdowns in his first start, and No. 19 Iowa turned in a dominating defensive performance. The Hawkeyes held the Golden Flashes to 110 total yards and minus-13 yards rushing. Kent State, playing without suspended quarterback Josh Cribbs, crossed midfield just once, late in the third quarter.

No. 21 Wisconsin 34, Central Florida 6

Madison, Wis. — John Stocco threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score in his first start for the Badgers. Anthony Davis rushed for 78 yards and a touchdown for the Badgers but left late in the first half after taking a hard hit at the end of a 21-yard run. UCF coach George O’Leary missed his first game with the Golden Knights to attend his mother’s funeral in New York.

No. 22 Maryland 23, Northern Illinois 20

College Park, Md. — Nick Novak became the leading scorer in Atlantic Coast Conference history, kicking three field goals and two conversions to rescue the erratic Maryland offense. Novak kicked field goals of 43, 34, and 44 yards. His 11-point night gave him a career total of 335, breaking the record of 326 set by Scott Bentley of Florida State.

No. 25 Minnesota 63, Toledo 21

Minneapolis — Bryan Cupito was 10-of-12 for 279 yards and a touchdown in his first start, and Minnesota’s running backs picked up where they left off last season. Marion Barber III and Laurence Maroney, looking to become the first tandem in NCAA history to rush for 1,000 yards each in consecutive seasons, scored two TDs apiece before halftime to help Minnesota build a 42-7 lead in the opener for both teams. The Gophers finished with 704 total yards, the second most in school history.

Big 12

No. 2 Oklahoma 40, Bowling Green 24

Norman, Okla. — Kejuan Jones rushed for a career-high 148 yards and a touchdown and Mark Clayton caught two of Jason White’s three touchdown passes for the Sooners. White, the returning Heisman Trophy winner, completed 21 of 31 passes for 238 yards, but also threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown.

No. 7 Texas 65, N. Texas 0

Austin, Texas — Cedric Benson ran for 181 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Longhorns’ punishing rushing attack. Benson, who ranks third in career yards at Texas behind Heisman Trophy winners Ricky Williams and Earl Campbell, had 141 yards as Texas cruised to a 44-0 halftime lead.

No. 12 Kansas State 27, W. Kentucky 13

Manhattan — Darren Sproles ran for 221 yards and a touchdown on 42 carries, leading Kansas State past I-AA Western Kentucky.

No. 18 Missouri 52, Arkansas State 20

Columbia, Mo. — Brad Smith threw for 233 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 63 yards and another score for Missouri. Smith, a junior who ran for 1,406 yards and passed for 1,977 last season, averaged 10.5 yards on six carries and scored on a 34-yard second-quarter run. He completed 14 of 22 passes, with the three touchdowns and one interception.

Oklahoma State 31, UCLA 20

Pasadena, Calif. — Vernand Morency rushed for 261 yards and two touchdowns, and Oklahoma State beat UCLA in the season opener for both teams.

Colorado 27, Colorado St. 24

Boulder, Colo. — Bobby Purify ran for 189 yards and a touchdown, and J.J. Billingsley made a game-saving tackle as time expired, helping Colorado hold off Colorado State.

Texas Tech 27, SMU 13

Dallas — Sonny Cumbie, the latest quarterback plugged into Texas Tech’s passing machine, threw for 470 yards and four touchdowns, yet most of the scoring came in the second half as the Red Raiders slowly pulled away from Southern Methodist.

Nebraska 56, Western Illinois 17

Lincoln, Neb. — Joe Dailey threw for four touchdowns and ran for two others, and Cory Ross and Tierre Green each rushed for more than 100 yards to lead Nebraska to victory in new coach Bill Callahan’s debut.

Iowa State 23, N. Iowa 0

Ames, Iowa — Iowa State beat Northern Iowa for its first victory since a 48-20 win over Ohio on Sept. 6, 2003.

UAB 56, Baylor 14

Birmingham, Ala. — Darrell Hackney threw three touchdown passes and ran for one score to lead UAB over Baylor in both teams’ season-opener.