• No. 2 Notre Dame pulls away from No. 19 UNC.
Ian Book kept No. 2 Notre Dame’s offense moving while the Fighting Irish defense locked down Sam Howell and No. 25 North Carolina’s potent offense for the final three quarters in a 31-17 victory on Friday in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Notre Dame 31, North Carolina 17
No. 2 No. 19
Book threw for a score while the Fighting Irish defense locked down the Tar Heels for the final three quarters in a 31-17 victory on Friday. The win kept Notre Dame on course to earn a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.
Both teams scored two firstquarter touchdowns and went into halftime tied at 17, only to see Notre Dame gradually take over in a performance coach Brian Kelly called “one of those road wins that really shows the mettle of your football team.”
“It felt like it was going to be a shootout in the beginning,” said Book, adding: “Our defense did an unbelievable job in the second half and gave us a lot of opportunities, and we were able to capitalize on it.”
Book threw for 279 yards and ran for 48 yards for the Fighting Irish (9-0, 8-0 ACC, No. 2 CFP), using his mobility and elusiveness to keep plays alive on a night when both offenses frequently faced long fields.
Receiver Ben Skowronek got Notre Dame its first lead with his 13yard run around the right side midway through the third quarter. Kyren Williams ran for 124 yards — including a 47-yarder with about 51⁄ minutes left as the Irish burned clock.
Williams closed that drive with his second rushing TD, a clinching 1-yarder with 1:20 left that kept the Fighting Irish alone atop the ACC standings ahead of No. 4 Clemson and No. 10 Miami. He also had a 4yard scoring catch in the first quarter after Book corralled a low snap and scrambled to buy time before finding him on the right side.
More impressive, though, was a defensive effort that forced Howell and the high-scoring Tar Heels to work for every gain after the opening quarter.
UNC (6-3, 6-3, No. 19 CFP) sprinted to touchdowns on its first two drives, but Notre Dame surrendered only one field goal from there.
No. 13 Iowa State 23, No. 17 Texas 20: Breece Hall scored on a 3yard run with 1:25 remaining and Iowa State held off last-minute drive by Sam Ehlinger and Texas (5-3, 4-3 Big 12) in Austin to remain in first place in the Big 12.
The Cyclones (7-2, 7-1) have al
most locked up a spot in the Big 12 championship game for the first time.
Oregon State 41, No. 15 Oregon 38: Taking his first college snap after starting quarterback Tristan Gebbia limped off, Chance Nolan scored on a 1-yard, fourth-down run with 33 seconds left to give Oregon State an upset victory over Oregon (3-1 Pac-12).
Jermar Jefferson ran for 226 yards and two touchdowns to help the Beavers (2-2) win their second straight game. Jefferson has run for at least 100 yards in each of Oregon State’s four games and is on pace to hit 1,000 despite the short season.
Oregon had won seven in a row and three straight over the rival Beavers.
Iowa 26, Nebraska 20:
Tyler
Goodson ran for 87 of his 111 yards in the second half and Zach VanValkenburg recovered Adrian Martinez’s late fumble to secure a win by Iowa (4-2, 4-2 Big Ten) over Nebraska (1-4, 1-4) in Iowa City.
Stanford 24, California 23: Austin Jones ran for a pair of short touchdowns, Davis Mills threw for 205 yards and a TD, and Stanford (1-2 Pac-12) blocked a would-be tying extra point in the final minute to take back The Axe trophy by beating Bay Area rival California (0-3) in the Big Game on Friday at Berkeley.
Wyoming 45, UNLV 14: Lee Williams had three short touchdown runs, Trey Smith rushed for a career-high 164 yards with a touchdown and Wyoming (2-2, 2-2 Mountain West) rolled up 399 yards on the
ground to breeze past winless UNLV (0-5, 0-5) in Las Vegas.
Buckeyes-Illini canceled
No. 4 Ohio State’s game at Illinois today has been canceled because the Buckeyes have had a spike of COVID-19 cases this week.
The cancelation Friday came about seven hours after Ohio State announced coach Ryan Day had tested positive and wouldn’t travel with the team to Champaign, Ill.
This is the second game of the Big Ten season Ohio State has had canceled, putting the Buckeyes in a precarious position to compete for a Big Ten and national title.
Big Ten rules require teams to play at least six game this season to be eligible to play in the conference title game.