No. 5 Notre Dame improves to 7-0

Irish survive scare from Pitt; Michigan St. upsets Penn St.; Florida gets by Vandy

Ian Book threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Miles Boykin with 5:43 remaining and No. 5 Notre Dame remained unbeaten, holding off Pittsburgh, 19-14, on Saturday in South Bend, Ind.

The Fighting Irish are 7-0 for the first time since 2012, the year they went to the BCS title game.

Pitt (3-4) led 14-12 thanks to a long first-quarter touchdown drive and Maurice Ffrench’s 99-yard kickoff return to start the second half.

Pat Narduzzi’s Panthers were looking to upset an Associated Press top-five team for the third straight season after knocking off No. 3 Clemson in Death Valley during the 2016 season and No. 2 Miami last November in Pittsburgh. But the Irish, who were held to 80 yards rushing, prevailed behind Book, who is 4-0 as a starter since replacing Brandon Wimbush. Book threw two interceptions, and had 264 yards passing.

Kenny Pickett was 19 for 28 for 126 yards, and was sacked by Khalid Kareem — Notre Dame’s only sack of the game — for a loss of 14 yards on Pitt’s final possession to set up a fourth-and-long the Panthers could not convert.

NO. 3 OHIO STATE 30, MINNESOTA 14: Dwayne Haskins threw for 412 yards and three touchdowns and host Ohio State held off persistent Minnesota.

The Buckeyes (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) needed Blake Haubiel’s two second-half field goals and Haskins’ late touchdown pass from K.J. Hill to put away the Gophers (3-3, 0-3).

Hill made the play of the game with a turn-around, one-hand grab that he turned into a touchdown in the second quarter. He had a career-high nine catches for 187 yards.

For the second straight week, a heavy underdog came into Ohio Stadium and shut down the Buckeyes’ running game. The Gophers held tailbacks J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber to a total of 86 yards, without a single carry longer than 11. Minnesota’s Mohamed Ibrahim ran 23 times for 157 yards and two scores.

IOWA STATE 30, NO. 6 WEST VIRGINIA 14: Freshman Brock Purdy threw for 254 yards and three TDs and Iowa State handed the Mountaineers their first loss in emphatic fashion.

David Montgomery had a career-high 189 yards rushing for the Cyclones (3-3, 2-2 Big 12), who capped a wild day by beating a Top 25 team for the fifth time in seven tries.

West Virginia (5-1, 3-1) was the fourth Top 10 team to fall Saturday. LSU pounded No. 2 Georgia 36-16, No. 7 Washington fell 30-27 in overtime at No. 17 Oregon, and No. 8 Penn State lost to Michigan State 21-17.

MICHIGAN STATE 21, NO. 8 PENN STATE 17: Brian Lewerke threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Felton Davis with 19 seconds left to lift Michigan State past Penn State, making it two consecutive seasons that the Spartans used a late score to hand the Nittany Lions a second straight loss.

Lewerke completed 25 of 52 passes for 259 yards with an interception and two touchdowns for the Spartans (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten). They were coming off a loss at Northwestern.

Davis, who came back from an injury he sustained on the previous drive, finished with eight catches for 100 yards. Miles Sanders ran for 162 yards and a touchdown for the Nittany Lions (4-2, 1-2). Trace McSorley completed 19 of 32 passes for 192 yards with a touchdown to become the program's career passing yardage leader.

NO. 9 TEXAS 23, BAYLOR 17: Shane Buechele came on for injured quarterback Sam Ehlinger early in the first quarter and Texas beat Baylor when the Bears' final pass sailed through the back of the end zone.

Charlie Brewer drove the Bears from their own 3 to the Texas 17 before he had to rush his final three throws under intense pressure. The victory made Texas (6-1, 4-0 Big 12 Conference) bowl eligible.

Freshman running back Keaontay Ingram ran for 110 yards, Texas' first 100-yard rushing effort of the season. Defensive end Charles Omenihu had two sacks and was chasing Brewer on the last three plays.

NO. 10 UCF 31, MEMPHIS 30: McKenzie Milton threw for 296 yards and ran for the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter for Central Florida.

Milton's 7-yard touchdown with 12:14 left completed a comeback for the Knights (6-0, 3-0 American Athletic Conference), who trailed 30-14 with 2:04 left in the first half. The victory was UCF's 19th straight — the nation's longest winning streak — but it was by far the toughest game of the season for the Knights, who defeated their first five opponents by double-digits.

Memphis (4-3, 1-3) seemed on the way to at least have a chance for a winning field goal as the Tigers moved to the UCF 31. Memphis botched clock management in the final 30 seconds, getting hit with a motion penalty that required a clock runoff, and then Brady White completed a 9-yard pass to Tony Pollard and the seconds slipped away.

NO. 14 FLORIDA 37, VANDERBILT 27: Jordan Scarlett ran 48 yards for the go-ahead touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter, and Florida rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat Vanderbilt in a game marred by a near brawl, with both head coaches yelling as each team spilled onto the field.

An official held back Florida coach Dahn Mullen as he yelled at Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason, who was near the Gators’ sideline after checking on the Commodores defender whose helmet was knocked off by a hit by linebacker James Houston IV. Both teams spilled onto the field, drawing unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. The penalty cost the Gators their leading tackler, with Vosean Joseph ejected for his second such penalty of the first half. Two people escorted an emotional Joseph off the field.

Mullen and Mason hugged each other at midfield after the game.

That overshadowed the Gators (6-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) scoring 24 straight points after Vanderbilt jumped out to a 21-3 lead midway through the second quarter.

TENNESSEE 30, NO. 21 AUBURN 24: Jarrett Guarantano passed for 328 yards and two touchdowns and Tennessee snapped an 11-game Southeastern Conference losing streak. The Volunteers (3-3, 1-2) forced three turnovers from Auburn’s lackluster offense, intercepting two of Jarrett Stidham’s passes and getting a strip sack that resulted in touchdown by Alontae Taylor.

The Tigers (4-3, 1-3) are off to their worst SEC start since also going 1-3 in 2015.

NO. 22 TEXAS A&M 26, SOUTH CAROLINA 23: Kellen Mond threw for 353 yards and freshman Seth Small had four field goals, including the go-ahead kick in the fourth quarter to lift Texas A&M. The Aggies (5-2, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) won their third straight this season and moved to 5-0 against the Gamecocks (3-3, 2-3) since joining the league in 2012.

Mond also had a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jace Sternberger in the second quarter and, when Small hit a 32-yard field goal on the Aggies’ first drive of the second half to go up 16-0, it looked like more than enough to put away the Gamecocks, who managed just 102 yards of offense the first 30 minutes.

ARMY 52, SAN JOSE STATE 3: Kelvin Hopkins Jr. ran for 99 yards and a season-high three touchdowns and threw for a fourth, and Army beat San Jose State. Coming off a bye week and making their first trip to the West Coast in four years, the Black Knights (4-2) trailed 3-0 early in the second quarter before Hopkins and Army’s running game got going.

NORTHWESTERN 34, NEBRASKA 31, OT: Rolling along with a 10-point lead, Nebraska had its first victory under coach Scott Frost and the end of the longest losing streak in its proud history in sight. Northwestern yanked it all away. And now, the Cornhuskers are off to their worst start ever at 0-6.