Sep 6, 2022 5 min read

Georgia moved up to No. 2 in the first Associated Press college football poll of the regular season, passing Ohio State, after the defending national champions dominated their opener.

Alabama remained No. 1 in the AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank released Tuesday, receiving 44 of 63 first-place votes from the media panel and 1,552 points.

The Bulldogs narrowed the gap on the Crimson Tide after beating Oregon 49-3 Saturday. Georgia received 17 first-place votes.

Ohio State slipped to No. 3 and received two first-place votes. Michigan moved up four spots to No. 4.

Clemson dropped a spot to No. 5.

Florida debuted at No. 12 after its thrilling victory at home against Utah on Saturday night. The Utes slipped six spots to No. 13 after the loss.

The rest of the top 10 was Texas A&M at No. 6, followed by Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Baylor and Southern California.

USC is in the top 10 for the first time since the final regular-season poll of 2017, when the Trojans were eighth.

The eighth-ranked Fighting Irish dropped three spots out of the top five after losing 21-10 at Ohio State.

Wake Forest’s Hartman medically cleared: Wake Forest ultimately had to go just one game without star Sam Hartman.

The school said Tuesday that the fifth-year quarterback has been medically cleared to play in the 23rd-ranked Demon Deacons’ trip to Vanderbilt this weekend after receiving treatment for a blood clot. The news came roughly a month since Wake Forest said Hartman would be out indefinitely due to what it described at the time only as a non-football medical issue.

Tuesday’s statement included details on Hartman’s condition, treatment and recovery. He missed last week’s opener against VMI, but coach Dave Clawson said he had been throwing and practiced both Sunday and Tuesday.

Hartman was ranked as one of the nation’s top quarterbacks last season for a team that reached the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.

In a statement, Julie A. Freischlag, the dean of the Wake Forest’s medical school and a vascular surgeon, said Hartman developed the clot in the subclavian vein, located near the collarbone. It’s known as Paget-Schroetter syndrome, or “effort thrombosis,” and Freischlag said doctors believe it was caused by a previous infection that eventually led to inflammation.

Hartman had a procedure Aug. 9 to remove the clot, as well as surgery to eliminate pressure in the vein and dilate it.

Freischlag said a follow-up ultrasound showed “the clot was gone, the blood flow was good and he felt great. Blood thinner therapies were discontinued once they became medically unnecessary and he is medically cleared to return to full competition.”

Hartman led last season’s Demon Deacons to 11 wins, tying a program record and claiming the ACC’s Atlantic Division title.

Big 12 block party: The Big 12 held a block party during the opening week of the season with multiple touchdowns scored on special teams.

There were four punt returns for touchdowns, including two after blocked punts. A blocked field goal turned into a fifth score. And another blocked punt led to a quick TD one play later.

Granted, half of the opponents were members of the Championship Subdivision, but it does show what the Big 12 is capable of on special teams this season.

According to the league, it’s the second time in its 27-year history that there were four TDs scored off of punts in the same week. The other occurred in 2002. Nationally, it’s the most among FBS conferences since the ACC had five punt-related TDs in one week in 2018.

Baylor’s Gavin Holmes returned a punt 72 yards for a score in a 69-10 win over Albany. Derius Davis gave TCU a spark when he ran back a punt 60 yards for a TD. He also scored on a 27-yard reverse to give new coach Sonny Dykes his first win, 38-13 over Colorado.

Kansas State’s Seth Porter blocked a South Dakota punt and teammate Desmond Purnell picked it up and ran 17 yards untouched into the end zone in the Wildcats’ 34-0 win.

No one was having more fun than West Virginia’s CJ Donaldson. The 240-pound freshman certainly had quite a debut in a 38-31 loss to Pitt.

Donaldson wasn’t even on the depth chart for West Virginia’s opener. He arrived on campus as a tight end, and it was discussed that he would get some action at wide receiver and running back. He ended up being all over the place.

In the third quarter, Donaldson blocked a punt deep in Pittsburgh territory. He lined up right of center and made a beeline to the left as Pitt’s Sam Vander Haar, a redshirt freshman, took several steps to his right.

“We’d been practicing it all week,” Donaldson said. “We’d been seeing they had a new punter and a new snapper, so their timing was not as perfect as it would be. So we called a ‘full-go’ call. And I saw him running out to the right and he was holding it.”

West Virginia recovered and Donaldson scored on a 5-yard run on the next play, carrying several Panthers into the end zone.

Donaldson had been inserted at running back early in the second quarter as a change-of-pace option for starter Tony Mathis and backup Justin Johnson. His first carry was a 44-yard run that set up West Virginia’s first touchdown. Donaldson finished with seven carries for 125 yards, the second-best performance among Big 12 backs behind the 126 yards by Deuce Vaughn of Kansas State.