Fighting Irish slam Orange at Yankee Stadium
No. 3 Notre Dame cruises to 36-3 victory; Utah State prevails with stunning finish
Ian Book returned to the starting lineup for No. 3 Notre Dame and threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns as the Fighting Irish routed No. 12 Syracuse 36-3 at Yankee Stadium in New York on Saturday to stay on target for a trip to the College Football Playoff.
The Fighting Irish held out Book from last week's home game against Florida State with a rib injury, and he wasn't missed as Notre Dame (11-0, No. 3 CFP) rolled with Brandon Wimbush at quarterback.
Notre Dame clearly wanted to be cautious with Book ahead of its trip to the Bronx to face high-scoring Syracuse (8-3, No. 12 CFP). The junior quarterback, who took over as the starter four games into the season, looked good as new.
The Irish had their running game bottled up much of the day, but their short-tointermediate passing game more than made up for it. Donned in pinstripe uniforms in a tribute to the usual residents of the ballpark, Notre Dame went up 7-0 on its second possession on a 9-yard pass from Book to Dexter Williams.
The Subway Alumni, along with the bridge and tunnel crowd, packed Yankee Stadium on a 45-degree day in the Bronx. The sellout crowd was announced at 48,104.
That the Fighting Irish were playing such an important game away from South Bend, Indiana, did not sit well with most of their fans. Even coach Brian Kelly said it was not ideal. Part of the Shamrock Series, the off-site “home” games Notre Dame plays almost annually, the Irish's second trip to the new Yankee Stadium had been in the works for several years.
NO. 23 UTAH STATE 29, COLORADO STATE 24: Collin Hill's apparent 34-yard touchdown pass to Preston Williams with no time left was negated by penalty, giving Utah State the victory in a wild and stunning finish to a game played in snow and freezing rain.
Colorado State was flagged for illegal touching after it was determined Williams had stepped out of bounds and was the first to touch the ball when he came back in bounds and made the leaping catch between two defenders in the end zone.
Jordan Love threw a go-ahead 33-yard touchdown pass to Aaren Vaughns with 43 seconds remaing, the first offensive touchdown of the day for the Aggies (10-1, 7-0 Mountain West). That score came on the heels of Hill's 17-yard touchdown pass to Williams with 1:36 remaining for the Rams (3-8, 2-5).
NO. 4 MICHIGAN 31, INDIANA 20: Karan Higdon ran for a go-ahead touchdown early in the third quarter and Jake Moody set a Michigan record with six field goals.
The Wolverines (10-1, 8-0 Big Ten, No. 4 CFP) looked sluggish and it may have had something to do with looking ahead to next week's game at No. 9 Ohio State, where they need a win to reach the Big Ten championship game for the first time.
NO. 5 GEORGIA 66, UMASS 27: Freshman Justin Fields threw two scoring passes and ran for another touchdown, Tyler Simmons had rushing and receiving scores, and Georgia (10-1) protected its playoff hopes.
Another freshman, James Cook ran for 76 yards on only three carries, including his first two career scoring runs, from 26 and 27 yards. Georgia gained 701 yards, including 426 yards on the ground, and never punted. Fields led the Bulldogs with 100 yards rushing, including a career-long run of 47 yards and a 3-yard scoring run. He completed 5 of 8 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
NO. 14 PENN STATE 20, RUTGERS 7: Trace McSorley threw two touchdown passes to tight end Pat Freiermuth and Penn State's defense set up two touchdowns with turnovers.
The Nittany Lions (8-3, 5-3 Big Ten, No. 14 CFP) beat Rutgers (1-10, 0-7) for the 12th straight time. Rutgers has lost 10 straight.
McSorley won for ther 30th time as starter, making him the winningest quarterback in school history.
NO. 15 FLORIDA 63, IDAHO 10: Feleipe Franks passed for 274 yards and three touchdowns — all in the first half — and Florida ran up 600 total yards.
Florida (8-3) rolled to a 49-0 lead at halftime. Gators defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson returned an interception 26 yards for a touchdown on the first play to start the onslaught. Four other touchdown drives took less than two minutes and the longest of the seven first-half scores came in 2:24.
Idaho dropped to 4-7.
Mike Edwards had two takeaways leading to Kentucky's first two touchdowns, and the Wildcats made several fourth-quarter defensive stops.
Kentucky (8-3) ended a two-game slide. Josh Allen sacked Brent Stockstill for a 7-yard loss on fourth down and set up Miles Butler's 32-yard field goal with 4:01 remaining.
A facemask penalty helped the Blue Raiders (7-4) reach the Kentucky 5 in the final minute, but consecutive sacks of Stockstill by Allen and Jamar Watson ended that final chance.
NO. 19 UTAH 30, COLORADO 7: Jason Shelley threw for 221 yards and two touchdowns in the snow, and Utah moved closer to its first Pac-12 title game appearance.
The Utes (8-3, 6-3) will win the Pac-12 South if Arizona State loses at Oregon later Saturday or if the Sun Devils lose to Arizona next week.
A sixth consecutive loss for the Buffaloes (5-6, 2-6) capped a week in which athletic director Rick George said he hadn't made any decisions regarding coach Mike MacIntyre's employment amid a news report that his job was in jeopardy.
Deondre Francois threw a 74-yard touchdown pass to Tamorrion Terry with 1:49 left and Florida State beat Boston College to keep its bowl hopes alive.
Francois was 19 of 39 for 322 yards, shaking off two first-half interceptions for his fourth 300-yard game of the season. Cam Akers had 19 carries for 110 yards for the Seminoles (5-6, 3-5 Atlantic Coast Conference). It was Florida State's first victory in six attempts against Top 25 teams this season.
NO. 22 NORTHWESTERN 24, MINNESOTA 14: Isaiah Bowser rushed for 85 yards and two touchdowns and Northwestern turned three turnovers by Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan into 10 points.
Clayton Thorson completed 15 of 21 passes for 230 yards without a turnover and had a 13-yard touchdown run in the first half for the Wildcats (7-4, 7-1 Big Ten). They pushed their school-record road winning streak to eight and have their best conference record since 1996.
Nate Hall had two interceptions for the Wildcats. Minnesota 5-6, 2-6), who fell to 4-13 in conference play under coach P.J. Fleck.
NO. 21 MISSISSIPPI STATE 52, ARKANSAS 6: Nick Fitzgerald threw four touchdown passes and ran for another score to lead Mississippi State.
Mississippi State (7-4, 3-4 Southeastern Conference) held Arkansas (2-9, 0-7) to 219 total yards.