Marshall falls for first time this season

Rice was offended when Marshall’s offense stayed on the field on fourth down inside the Owls’ 30-yard line on the first series of the game.

The Rice defense held — and took its frustrations out on the Thundering Herd the rest of the game.

Safety Naeem Smith returned one of five Marshall interceptions for a touchdown, and Rice shocked the 15th-ranked Thundering Herd 20-0 Saturday for Marshall’s first loss.

The three-touchdown underdog Owls (2-2, 2-2 Conference USA) beat a top-25 opponent for the first time since 1997 despite being without their two top offensive weapons and getting outgained 245 yards to 213.

Another for the Book: Ian Book threw three touchdown passes and ran for two scores in his final home game at Notre Dame, leading the second-ranked Fighting Irish to a 45-21 victory over Syracuse on Saturday.

The fifth-year senior led the Irish to a victory as a starter for the 30th time, the most ever for a Notre Dame QB. The Irish (10-0, 9-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) ran their winning streak to 16 games, best in the country, and their home winning streak to 24.

Next for the Irish, who are playing this season in a pandemic as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, is the Dec. 19 league championship game in Charlotte, North Carolina. It likely will be a rematch against No. 4 Clemson, which the Irish defeated in South Bend in the regular season.

Another Fields day: Justin Fields threw two touchdown passes and Haskell Garrett returned an interception for a score in Ohio State’s 52-12 victory over Michigan State.

The Buckeyes (5-0 Big Ten, No. 4 in the CFP rankings) were able to take the field after a coronavirus-related cancellation the previous weekend. They were without coach Ryan Day and a few other members of the staff. Ohio State also had a list of 23 unavailable players, but none of that seemed to faze the Buckeyes. Fields also ran for two scores.

Now the big question is whether Ohio State’s regular-season finale against Michigan next weekend will be played. The Wolverines did not play this weekend for virus-related reasons. The concern for the Buckeyes is that they could fall short of the six-game threshold to be eligible for the Big Ten title game.

Next man up for Texas Tech: Texas Tech linebacker Colin Schooler says the “next man up” approach in this COVID-19 college football season applies to coaches as much as players.

The Red Raiders overcame four turnovers to prove it.

Receiver Myles Price took a reverse 70 yards for Texas Tech’s only touchdown and Jonathan Garibay kicked a go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter of a 16-13 victory over winless Kansas on Saturday, with Red Raiders coach Matt Wells watching from home after testing positive for the virus.

Defensive coordinator Keith Patterson filled in, and his defense stopped Kansas (0-9, 0-8 Big 12) on fourth down four times, including twice in the final five minutes to preserve the victory.

Wild finish in Missouri win: When Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz saw his team fall behind Arkansas on the most improbable 2-point conversion imaginable, he turned to quarterback Connor Bazelak with a simple message.

“Let’s go win the game,” Drinkwitz told the freshman.

Bazelak drove the Tigers down the field in the final 43 seconds and then turned the game over to freshman kicker Harrison Mevis, who drilled a 32-yard field goal as time expired to lift Missouri to a 50-48 victory Saturday.

The Tigers (5-3) trailed by 14 points in the fourth quarter, charged back to take a seven-point advantage and then surrendered the lead in the final minute.

Arkansas quarterback K.J. Jefferson, who started in place of the injured Feleipe Franks, threw a touchdown pass to Mike Woods to cut the Missouri lead to one point. Coach Sam Pittman decided to go for 2 rather than tie the game. Jefferson floated a soft pass toward Woods cutting across the back of the end zone. It went right into the hands of Missouri linebacker Jamal Brooks, then right out of Brooks’ hands and into the arms of Woods.

Wildcats clinch Big Ten West without playing:

Despite not playing Saturday, No. 14 Northwestern clinched the Big Ten West Division title for a berth in the conference championship game.

This is the second time in three seasons the Wildcats (5-1) have won the division title; they lost to Ohio State 45-24 in the 2018 Big Ten final. The 2020 title game is scheduled for Dec. 19 in Indianapolis. Northwestern qualified without competing because of Big Ten rules for how many games must be played to be eligible. Only three games needed to be played Saturday for the Wildcats to clinch.