Dawgs beat Irish
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Davin Bellamy and Lorenzo Carter led a swarming Georgia defense, and the No. 15 Bulldogs got just enough plays from an offense starting a freshman quarterback to beat No. 24 Notre Dame 20-19 on Saturday night in their first road trip to this part of country in more than five decades.
The first regular-season meeting between the storied programs was a hard-hitting, penalty filled tug-of-war.
Rodrigo Blankenship kicked a 30-yard field goal with 3:39 remaining to give the Bulldogs (2-0) a one-point lead, and that was enough for Carter and company.
Georgia stopped Brandon Wimbush and the Fighting Irish (1-1) on downs once. Then, on Notre Dame’s final drive, Bellamy blindsided the quarterback and Carter — who had a sack-and-strip play earlier in the second half — recovered the fumble with 1:27 left to seal it.
› No. 3 Clemson 14, Auburn 6
CLEMSON, S.C. — Kelly Bryant ran for two touchdowns after getting knocked hard to the ground, and defensive end Austin Bryant had four of thirdranked Clemson’s 11 sacks.
This was billed as an early showcase between elite teams with dreams of making the College Football Playoff.
Instead, Clemson’s Bryants never gave Auburn (1-1) much of a chance.
Bryant, making his second career start at quarterback for last season’s national champion, appeared to be seriously hurt when he remained on the ground after a hit by Dontavius Russell. But after a few moments in the medical tent, Bryant returned to direct a pair of touchdown drives that gave Clemson (2-0) the lead for good.
Bryant’s 3-yard run right before halftime put Clemson ahead 7-6. He finished the next possession with a spinning, 27-yard burst.
› No. 5 Oklahoma 31, No. 2 Ohio State 16
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Baker Mayfield threw three touchdown passes and connected with seven receivers as Oklahoma (2-0) pulled away late to beat the Buckeyes (1-1).
Dimitri Flowers made seven catches for 98 yards for the Sooners, who were tied 3-all at halftime but never trailed in the fourth quarter.
› No. 4 Penn State 33, Pittsburgh 14
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — It probably wasn’t the degree of revenge Penn State (2-0) craved, and it almost certainly wasn’t the most impressive performance the Nittany Lions will produce this season.
Still, they played well enough to defeat Pitt (1-1) at Beaver Stadium, even though neither of Penn State’s marquee offensive players — running back Saquon Barkley and quarterback Trace McSorley — had particularly impressive showings. Barkley carried 14 times for 88 yards while McSorley was 15-for-28 passing for 164 yards and ran for 65 more on eight carries.
› No. 7 Washington 63, Montana 7
SEATTLE — Dante Pettis weaved his way 67 yards for the seventh punt return touchdown of his career, Jake Browning threw for 259 yards and two touchdowns and the Huskies rolled past Montana.
Pettis set a Pac-12 record, taking a punt back for a score for the second straight game. Pettis’ 61-yard return in the season opener against Rutgers last week tied him with DeSean Jackson for the Pac-12 mark and ignited Washington (2-0) after a sluggish start. Montana dropped to 1-1.
› No. 8 Michigan 36, Cincinnati 14
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Ty Isaac ran for a career-high 133 yards and Wilton Speight threw two touchdowns to help Michigan pull away and beat Cincinnati.
The Wolverines (2-0) led by just three points early in the second half before scoring 19 unanswered points to turn a closely contested game into a lopsided one. The Bearcats (1-1) failed to take advantage of Michigan’s many mistakes and made some miscues of their own to spoil an upset bid.
› No. 9 Wisconsin 31, Florida Atlantic 14
MADISON, Wis. — Freshman Jonathan Taylor ran for 223 yards and three touchdowns and Alex Hornibrook threw for 201 yards and a score as Wisconsin pulled away slowly from Florida Atlantic.
The bigger Badgers (2-0) wore down the Owls (0-2) despite some middling play in the middle of the game.
› No. 17 Louisville 47, North Carolina 35
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — No matter how well North Carolina played offensively against Louisville, it could not stop Lamar Jackson.
The 2016 Heisman Trophy winner generated 525 total yards, the most by a single player against North Carolina (0-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), and he had six touchdowns (three passing and three rushing).
The game went back and forth, though, and the Cardinals (2-0, 1-0) didn’t put it away until late in the fourth quarter. Down 33-28 and facing fourthand-1 from Louisville’s 30-yard line, the Tar Heels decided to go for it. But transfer quarterback Brandon Harris threw an incomplete pass, and the Tar Heels turned the ball over on downs.
Louisville took over, and Jackson engineered a fiveplay, 70-yard touchdown drive in just less than two minutes to put the Cardinals ahead 40-28. On its next drive, North Carolina got the ball to Louisville’s 3-yard line but could not score.
› No. 18 Virginia Tech 27, Delaware 0
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Greg Stroman returned a punt for a touchdown, and Josh Jackson threw two scoring passes to carry Virginia Tech to victory over Delaware.
Stroman broke a scoreless game late in the first quarter when he fielded a punt, made a nice cut to dodge a would-be tackler and went untouched for a 61-yard touchdown. He became the first player in Virginia Tech history to return a punt for a touchdown in three consecutive seasons.
The Hokies (2-0), coming off a last-second win over West Virginia, struggled offensively for much of the game, but they got scoring strikes of 4 and 28 yards from Jackson. The latter one went to Cam Phillips, who broke free on a post pattern to give the Hokies breathing room in the fourth quarter.
Jackson completed 16 of 27 passes for 222 yards to help drop Delaware to 1-1.
› No. 19 Kansas State 55, Charlotte 7
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Kendall Adams scored two defensive touchdowns in the first half to propel Kansas State over Charlotte.
The Wildcats (2-0) led 14-0 midway through the first quarter before Adams took a 30-yard interception up the far sideline and made it 21-0. The pick was Adams first of the season. With just more than four minutes remaining before halftime, Adams was in the right place again as he picked up a fumble from 46 yards out to make the score 31-7.
On offense, the Wildcats were just as effective with Alex Barnes, Jesse Ertz and Winston Dimel all scoring a touchdown on the ground against Charlotte (0-2).