San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
IRISH TAKE FIRST ACC GAME
Kyren Williams was ready to go in his starting debut at running back for Notre Dame.
The No. 10 Irish rode the sophomore’s big day to a 2713 victory over visiting Duke on Saturday at rainy Notre Dame Stadium in the season and Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.
“I’ve been getting a lot of reps,” Williams, who ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns in his first start on 19 carries and also was Notre Dame’s leading receiver with two receptions totaling 93 yards, one a 75-yarder in the first half on a screen play.
“It took a couple of drives for me to finally relax and breathe.”
Coach Brian Kelly was impressed with Williams’ performance, aided by 263 passing yards by grad quarterback Ian Book.
“That was a pretty good opener for (Williams); there’s a lot he can build off of this,” Kelly said about the speedy Williams, who saw limited action last season as a freshman.
It took the Irish time to get going but once they did there was no looking back
“We knew it was going to be a grind, but they hung in there,” added Kelly on a day when the school announced a four-year contract extension through the 2024 season and he improved to 9-2 in openers. “We played much better football in the second half.”
The victory was Notre Dame’s 19th straight at home and the first for the Fighting Irish in a conference after 132 years as an independent. Because of COVID-19, the Irish are playing this season as a member of the ACC.
The school announced a crowd of 10,097, 90 percent of them students, attended the game in the 77,622-seat stadium where fans were wearing masks and socially distanced.
“Hats off to Duke, they had a good scheme,” Book said. “I thought our offensive line did a great job. I had a little
No. 10 Notre Dame 27, Duke 13
bit of a slow start but the team carried me until I got back to where I needed to be.”
A successful 14-yard run on a fake punt by Jay Bramblett in the second quarter was later followed by Williams’ 1-yard scoring run that allowed the Irish to overcome a 3-0 deficit after the first quarter.
Williams’ second TD came on a fourth-and-inches play from the Duke 26 when he took a handoff from Book, cut left outside of the blocks of tackle Liam Eichenberg and guard Aaron Banks and burst into the end zone for a 17-6 Irish lead in the third quarter.
Book completed 19 of 31 passes, one a 17-yard TD pass to Avery Davis early in the fourth quarter that increased the Irish lead to 24-13.
No. 1 Clemson 37, Wake Forest 13: Trevor Lawrence threw for 351 yards and combined for three touchdowns, and visiting Clemson continued its domination of Wake Forest.
No. 5 Oklahoma 48, Missouri State 0: Spencer Rattler threw for 290 yards and four touchdowns in his first start for host Oklahoma.
No. 14 Texas 59, UTEP 3: Sam Ehlinger threw a 78yard touchdown to Joshua Moore on the first play and had career-high five scoring passes in the first half, as host Texas
UTEP.
No. 18 North Carolina 31, Syracuse 6: Javonte Williams ran for three fourth-quarter touchdowns and host UNC overcame a mistake-filled performance to beat Syracuse in the season and ACC opener for both teams.
Louisiana-lafayette 31, No. 23 Iowa State 14: Visiting Louisiana-lafayette got kick and punt returns for touchdowns to help secure one of its biggest wins in program history.
Georgia Tech 16, Florida State 13: True freshman Jeff Sims, who was once a Florida State commitment, threw for 277 yards and a touchdown as visiting Georgia Tech defeated the Seminoles.
Arkansas State 35, Kansas State 31: Jonathan Adams Jr. caught a career-high three touchdown passes, including the game-winner with 38 seconds remaining, and Arkansas State defeated host Kansas State for the Red Wolves’ first win over a Power 5 opponent in a dozen years.
Texas Tech 35, Houston Baptist 33: Alan Bowman threw for 430 yards and two touchdowns and Texas Tech stopped FCS team Houston Baptist on a 2-point conversion attempt late in the fourth quarter. For Houston Baptist, Bailey Zappe threw for 567 yards and four touchdowns and Westview High product Ben Ratzlaff had seven catches for 105 yards. rolled past