Greg McElroy matched a career high with three scoring passes for the Crimson Tide (3-0). They led, 28-0, roughly 10 minutes in and looked completely at ease inside a crimson-coated stadium named for former Alabama coach Wallace Wade.

With Ingram and defensive end Marcell Dareus back in the lineup, the Tide never were in danger of being upset and enter next week’s SEC opener at No. 12 Arkansas having won 17 straight.

Ingram took his first carry 48 yards, surpassed the 100-yard mark two carries later, and scored on rushes of 1 and 17 yards.

McElroy finished 14 of 20 for 258 yards in 2 1/2 quarters of work. Julio Jones caught five passes for 106 yards with a score, and Trent Richardson returned a kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown. Richardson also added a 45-yard scoring run for Alabama.

The Crimson Tide finished with their most points since scoring 62 against Tulane in 1991, and they gained 626 total yards — the first time since 1989 that they rolled up at least 600. Their 45 first-half points were their most in any half since 1973, and the offense was so efficient that it didn’t face a third down until the third quarter.

Sean Renfree was 17 of 37 for 144 yards for Duke. His 13-yard touchdown pass to Austin Kelly with 29 seconds left in the first half was the first TD of the season allowed by Alabama.

But it wasn’t nearly enough to prevent the Blue Devils (1-2) from losing their 41st straight against a ranked opponent and falling to 0-11 against No. 1.

Ingram, the 2009 Heisman winner who spent the last two weeks recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, certainly made up for lost time.

He took a handoff on the first snap of the game, shook off an attempted tackle by Matt Daniels, and darted down the right sideline to the Duke 12, setting up McElroy’s scoring pass to Darius Hanks. That made it 7-0 less than 80 seconds in.

Ingram began Alabama’s third series with a 50-yard run through a gaping hole on the left side, eclipsing 100 yards for the game, and capped that drive with a 1-yard dive to make it 21-0.

West Virginia 31, Maryland 17 — Geno Smith threw a career-high four TD passes, Noel Devine rushed for a season-high 131 yards, and the No. 21 Mountaineers (3-0) held the Terrapins (2-1) to minus-10 yards rushing in Morgantown, W.Va.

Smith, a sophomore making his third career start, had two scoring tosses apiece to sophomore Tavon Austin and redshirt freshman Stedman Bailey as West Virginia jumped ahead, 28-0, early in the third quarter.

Florida State 34, BYU 10 — Chris Thompson went 83 yards for a TD on his first carry of the game, Ty Jones scored twice, and the Seminoles (2-1) put away the Cougars (1-2) in the second half in Tallahassee, Fla.

Florida State held BYU to 191 total yards — 39 after halftime — and racked up eight sacks.

Georgia Tech 30, North Carolina 24 — Joshua Nesbitt ran for a TD and threw for another to help the visiting Yellow Jackets (2-1, 1-0) slip past the shorthanded Tar Heels (0-2, 0-1), who were missing 12 players because of an ongoing NCAA investigation.

Virginia Tech 49, East Carolina 27 — The host Hokies (1-2) picked up their first win in a disappointing season by scoring 28 unanswered points in the second half. David Wilson ran for two scores in the third quarter.