AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Quinn Ewers passed for 260 yards and three touchdowns and No. 4 Texas rolled past Colorado State 52-0 on Saturday in the opener for both teams.

Ewers connected with Matthew Golden for a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter, and had another strike to Isaiah Bond as the Longhorns built a 31-0 lead by halftime.

A big question for Texas heading into this season was just how quickly Ewers and Texas would find their rhythm in a passing attack that lost the top five receivers from the 2023 Big 12 championship team. Texas joined the Southeastern Conference this year.

Golden transferred from Houston and Bond from Alabama, and Ewers and his rebuilt receiving corps easily carved up the Rams. After a slow start that included a stalled drive and an interception on Texas’ first three possessions, Texas scored 24 points in the second quarter.

Ewers spread passes around 10 different receiving and had 248 yards passing by halftime. He completed 20 of 27 passes before leaving the game for Arch Manning midway through the third quarter.

Manning’s first drive started with a 40-yard pass to Johntay Cook II. It ended with Manning’s first career TD pass, a scrambling 5-yard toss to Silas Bolden, another transfer from Oregon State, that made it 45-0.

The takeaway

Colorado State: The Rams have an elite receiver in Tory Horton, but he shut down by a smothering Texas defense. Horton had five catches for 31 yards and the only deep ball thrown his way was intercepted. Colorado State did not cross the Texas 49 until the final two minutes.

Texas: Coming off last season’s appearance in the College Football Playoff, Texas has its highest season-opening ranking since 2010 and Saturday was a breeze against the overmatched Rams. The lofty ranking and expectations will be put to the test next week at No. 9 Michigan, and later when the Longhorns eventually start their first Southeastern Conference schedule against Mississippi State on Sept. 28.

Up next

Colorado State: Hosts Northern Colorado on Sept. 7

Texas: At No. 9 Michigan on Sept. 7 in the first matchup between the two historic powerhouse programs since the 2004 Rose Bowl.

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The Kalen DeBoer era is finally here. Alabama football is set to face off with Western Kentucky on Saturday to open the 2024 season, DeBoer’s first game as the Crimson Tide’s head coach since he replaced the retired Nick Saban in January.

Western Kentucky makes the trip to Tuscaloosa out of Conference USA. The Hilltoppers will be led by starting quarterback TJ Finley, who has previously faced off with the Tide while playing for Auburn and LSU earlier in his career.

Kickoff is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. CT at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game will be aired on ESPN.

Follow along here for live updates as the game begins.

Pregame

— Alabama has released its depth chart ahead of Saturday’s game. Here’s the offensive and defensive two-deeps.

— Offensive guard Jaeden Roberts is in uniform with a heavily padded left hand.

— Wilkin Formby goes with the first-team offensive line during pregame warmups.

— Kadyn Proctor left the field with Alabama’s training staff during warmups.

— Alabama wins the coin toss and defers to the second half. Western Kentucky will receive the opening kickoff.

1st quarter

15:00

— Touchback on the opening kickoff. WKU takes over on the Alabama 25-yard line.

— WKU’s headset communications aren’t working, so Alabama removes its as well.

— Que Robinson rocks WKU quarterback TJ Finley for a third-down sack. Hilltoppers punt, Alabama will start on its own 31.

12:50

— Elijah Pritchett gets the start at left tackle.

— Alabama goes three-and-out. Tide will punt. WKU will begin on its own 20.

11:20

— WKU begins on its own 20-yard line.

— Keon Sabb picks off Finley.

10:48

— Alabama starts out on the WKU 16.

— Jalen Milroe runs 12 yards for the first Alabama touchdown of the DeBoer era. Tide leads 7-0 with 10:07 left after the extra point.

Though the Arkansas Razorbacks won on the field against the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions, the Golden Lions’ band won the fans in the stands.

On Thursday, the Arkansas-Pine Bluff band — named the “Marching Musical Machine of the Mid-South” — performed a rendition of WWE star Cody Rhodes’ theme song, “Kingdom,” during the game.

Rhodes fought Kevin Owens in the undisputed WWE title match at the Bash in Berlin on Saturday. Rhodes defeated Owens to remain the undisputed WWE champion.

Prior to his match, Rhodes heard the band’s rendition of his theme song and expressed his excitement about the performance. He said he would play the band’s version once or twice in the locker room.

Berlin had me already fired up for #WWEBash

But THIS may be played once or twice in the locker room before my match today.

Awesome stuff @UAPBM4 ❤️ https://t.co/cYA5lcG8Lw

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) August 31, 2024

The band’s full performance went viral on X and received over 866,000 views as of Saturday evening.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff director of bands John Graham said the band members were doubtful at first once they received the piece in practice. But as they rehearsed the song, they began to love it.

“When our arranger put the song on paper for us, I looked at it [and] some of the students were shaking their heads thinking, ‘No, why are we playing this’ and then we started rehearsing it, the piece came alive,” Graham told ESPN.

“I said, ‘This is going to go.’”

“Kingdom” wasn’t arranged for the Golden Lions-Razorbacks game, but instead as a piece that could be used later in the season. However, Graham saw the Arkansas game as the perfect opportunity to debut the song in the stands.

When Graham gave the downbeat for the band to play the song, excitement filled the stadium.

“As soon as I dropped the hammer and we started playing, I looked over and saw fans reacting like, ‘They’re playing “Kingdom,”‘” Graham said. “I saw them standing up with excitement and positive reactions, and I told myself, ‘We’re in here now.’ It was a beautiful moment.”