Mack Brown told ESPN on Saturday he’s not resigning after an emotional locker room scene with his players following North Carolina’s embarrassing 70-50 loss to James Madison, which is in only its third season as an FBS school.

Brown, a College Football Hall of Famer, said he told the players that it was his fault and would step away if he couldn’t get things fixed. The 70 points were the most ever given up by the Tar Heels, who fell to 3-1.

“I’m not resigning. I’ll be back at work Monday,” Brown told ESPN.

Brown, 73, is in his sixth season at North Carolina. He told ESPN he was aware of some reports and that messages in emotional locker rooms can be misconstrued, but was adamant that he’s not stepping down.

Brown has led UNC to winning records in four of his five seasons. The Tar Heels won eight games last season and nine the season before when they finished first in the ACC’s Coastal Division. Brown was at Texas for 16 seasons and won a national championship in 2005 and played for another in 2009. He resigned under pressure following the 2013 season, and after taking a break from coaching, returned in 2019 to North Carolina for his second stint in Chapel Hill. Brown was North Carolina’s coach from 1988 to 1997.

The Tar Heels travel to rival Duke next Saturday.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan kept pounding the ball and pounding the ball. And when it mattered most, No. 11 USC couldn’t stop it.

Powered by running back Kalel Mullings, who scored the winning touchdown in the final seconds, the defending national champion Wolverines rumbled to a 27-24 victory in their Big Ten opener Saturday.

“That’s a representation of who we are,” Mullings said of Michigan’s run-heavy game plan. “Just grit and grinding up … grinding meat that whole time.”

The Wolverines rushed for 290 yards, including 79 on the final drive. Mullings got all eight carries and broke through a pair of tackles for a 63-yard run that put Michigan in the red zone. He finished off the drive with a 1-yard scoring plunge on fourth-and-goal with 37 seconds remaining.

“A will to not give in,” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said of his senior back. “A will to want it more than them. To want it more than the man who’s trying to tackle him.”

The No. 18 Wolverines (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) prevailed despite passing for only 32 yards, their fewest in a game since 1987, according to ESPN Research. Michigan’s 32 yards through the air were the fewest by any FBS team in a win over a top-15 opponent since 2014, when Florida beat Georgia with 27 rushing yards.

“Love it,” said Moore, a former college offensive lineman at Oklahoma. “You want to throw the ball, but when you can run the ball effectively, you bring [the defense] down.”

Mullings finished with a career-high 159 yards on 17 rushes, scoring another touchdown in the first quarter with a 53-yard dash through the middle of the USC defense.

Donovan Edwards added 74 yards on the ground, including a 41-yard touchdown run. But his fumble in the fourth quarter gave USC (2-1, 0-1) the ball deep in Michigan territory, and Miller Moss‘ 24-yard touchdown toss to Ja’Kobi Lane handed the Trojans their first lead of the game with just over 7 minutes to go.

Michigan turned back to Mullings the rest of the way. And Moore said the Wolverines put the game in the hands of Mullings and the offensive line, especially on fourth-and-goal.

“The game’s on the line,” Moore said, “whatcha gonna do?”

Mullings followed fullback Max Bredeson, who delivered the kickout block, clearing the way for Mullings to barrel in for the winning score.

“We knew we were going to get it,” quarterback Alex Orji said. “That was just confidence. Do or die, backs against the wall.”

The Wolverines changed starting quarterbacks this week, moving from Davis Warren to Orji. Warren had thrown six interceptions in three games, including three last weekend against Arkansas State. Orji had only seven career passing attempts coming into the game, and attempted only 12 passes against USC, completing seven of them. But Orji rushed for 43 yards, giving the Wolverines an offensive identity they had been lacking, especially in a 31-12 loss to Texas in their second game.

Michigan rushed for 199 yards in the first half alone, the most USC had surrendered in a first half since Lincoln Riley became its coach in 2022.

“Schematically, we knew they were going to run the ball,” USC linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold said, “and it was just mano a mano who could win — and they just did.”

With an inexperienced quarterback, Moore said he challenged his team to be more physical against the Trojans. The Wolverines didn’t have All-America tight end Colston Loveland, who missed the game with an undisclosed injury. That put even more onus on the running game.

“The guys responded,” Moore said. “So proud of what they did and how they played.”

ESPN’s Paolo Uggetti contributed to this report.

STILLWATER, Ok. — With veteran quarterback Cam Rising sidelined for a second straight week, No. 12 Utah turned to backup quarterback Isaac Wilson at Boone Pickens Stadium Saturday, then leaned on the true freshman passer to land a statement victory in the program’s inaugural Big 12 game.

In his second career start, Wilson went 17-of-29 for 207 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, delivering a series of key moments and lifting the Utes in a 22-19 win over No. 14 Oklahoma State to become the first true freshman quarterback starter to beat an AP Top 25 opponent in program history.

“I like that he just kept hanging in there and never got down on himself,” said Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham. “Threw a couple of picks. Didn’t flinch. You saw his ability to run. He ripped off that 40- or 50-yard run. That was huge at that point in time. Dipped his shoulder and made another tough run down in the red zone that got us a first down. He’s just a competitor.”

Ahead of one of the most anticipated games on the 2024 Big 12 schedule, ESPN reported Saturday that Rising would be a game-time decision against Oklahoma State. The seventh-year passer has not played since injuring his throwing hand against Baylor on Sept. 7. Wilson made his first career start against Utah State in Week 3, completing 20 of his 33 passes for 239 yards and three touchdowns in Rising’s place during a 38-21 road victory.

Whittingham told reporters that the two quarterbacks split practice reps during Utah’s Week 3 preparation for Oklahoma State. On Saturday, Rising wore a protective glove on his throwing hand and took starter’s reps in pregame warmups before the Utes made the decision to go with Wilson on the road in a top-15 matchup of Big 12 College Football Playoff hopefuls.

“When he’s ready, he’ll be ready,” Whittingham said of Rising’s status. “That’s all I can say. We were hoping he’d be ready this week.”

“It was literally a game-time decision,” Whittingham continued. “Not gameday; It was game-time. We came into the locker room after all the warmups, had a little conference and decided that the guy who gave us the best chance to win was Isaac. Cam agreed. That’s what we did and that’s the direction we went.”

Whittingham said Utah was “without question” the more physical team Saturday after the Utes outgained Oklahoma State 249-48 on the ground and held onto the football for 42:26 of game time. Sixth-year running back Micah Bernad led the rushing attack, totaling a career-high 182 rushing yards to become the first Utah rusher to eclipse 150 yards rushing since Zack Moss gained 160 yards against Stanford in 2018.

But the play of Wilson, the brother of former BYU and current Denver Broncos quarterback Zach Wilson, was integral to a win that further cemented Utah as early Big 12 favorites this fall.

A high school state champion and ESPN’s 13th-ranked pocket passer in the 2024 class, Wilson began his second career start with a pair of incompletions before Oklahoma State safety Trey Rucker intercepted Wilson’s first downfield throw of the day to end Utah’s second offensive series.

The shaky start offered a window into Wilson’s poise and maturity. The 6-foot-2, 202-pound quarterback followed the interception with completions on 11 of his next 14 passes, including five throws of 15-plus yards. Later in the game, Wilson’s confident read was the difference on a 45-yard touchdown throw to tight end Brant Kuithe on what proved to be the decisive score before the Utes fended off a late Oklahoma State comeback bid.

But Wilson’s best moments Saturday came when the young passer used his legs. Facing fourth-and-short in the second quarter, Wilson barreled through Cowboys cornerback Korie Black, keeping alive an 11-play, 62-yard touchdown drive that ate 6:28 of game clock.

Wilson showed off his speed minutes after halftime when he left the pocket and burst beyond the Oklahoma State defense for a 48-yard run. He turned to his legs again for a fourth-down conversion in the fourth quarter, another in a series of decisive plays Wilson executed on a day Utah converted on four of its five fourth-down attempts to topple its first top-15 opponent since 2018.

“The team’s trusting me so I have to go make a play,” Wilson said when asked where he drew his confidence in pressure situations. “They were giving us zero-coverage pretty much the whole game. No one was man up on me. So when I broke that pocket I knew it was going to be there.”

Utah’s smooth transition at quarterback was a stark contrast to the quarterbacking debacle that unfolded on the opposite sideline Saturday.

Seventh-year Oklahoma State quarterback Alan Bowman opened with completions on four of his first 10 throws, then completed just two of his next 12 attempts before halftime, finishing the first half 8-of-22 for 89 yards and an interception. With the Cowboys trailing 10-3 at the break, Mike Gundy opened the second half with redshirt sophomore quarterback Garet Rangel under center.

Across the four series Rangel oversaw, the Cowboys gained 32 yards and one first down across 15 plays while Utah built a 22-3 advantage during the early stages of the fourth quarter. Bowman later re-entered the game with 9:26 remaining and was intercepted on his second series before completing his final eight passes with a pair of touchdowns as Oklahoma State mounted a late comeback, gaining 127 yards on their final two offensive drives.

The Cowboys offense that exploded in the closing stages only made the unit that struggled so mightily for the initial 55 minutes all the more perplexing. Despite Bowman’s inconsistent performance and temporary benching, Gundy committed to the veteran passer as Oklahoma State’s starter moving forward as the Cowboys stare down a Week 5 trip to No. 13 Kansas State.

“Sometimes you got to get a guy out and calm him down a little bit,” Gundy said. “…I just felt like we weren’t getting good play and we needed a relief pitcher. Get somebody else in there. And Garret had a tough day. So you switch back.”