No. 2 Notre Dame beats Syracuse 45-21 to improve to 10-0
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — 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 quarterback. The Irish (10-0, 9-0 Atlantic Coast Conference, CFP No. 2) ran their winning streak to 16 games, best on the country, and their home winning streak to 24.
Next up 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 will be a rematch against No.
4 Clemson if the Tigers beat Virginia Tech later Saturday.
Book was 24 for 37 for 285 yards, with touchdown passes of 21, 28 and 26 to Javon McKinley, who had seven receptions for 111 yards.
Book scored on runs of 28 and 17 yards and rushed for 53 yards while improving to 30-3 as a starter and passing Notre Dame greats Tom Clements, Ron Powlus and Brady Quinn for most victories as a starting quarterback.
Kyren Williams added 110 yards on 20 carries, giving him 1,011 for the season, and freshman Chris Tyree had a 94-yard TD run for Notre Dame’s final touchdown.
The Orange (1-10, 1-9) managed 414 yards on the Irish defense.
No. 3 Ohio State 52, Michigan State 12
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Justin Fields threw two touchdown passes and Haskell Garrett returned an interception for a score in Ohio State’s victory over Michigan State.
The Buckeyes (5-0 Big Ten, No. 4 CFP) 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.
Michigan State (2-4, 2-4) was coming off a win over another undefeated team — Northwestern — but the Spartans were overmatched. Rocky Lombardi was shaken up and left the game after being sacked in the second quarter, and by that time, the rout was already on.
No. 5 Texas A&M 31, Auburn 20
AUBURN, Ala. — Kellen Mond threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score and Texas A&M scored 17 points in the fourth quarter in a comeback victory over Auburn.
The Aggies (7-1 Southeastern Conference) dominated the final quarter to win their sixth straight and remain in College Football Playoff contention. The Tigers (5-4) led 20-14 entering the fourth.
Mond rebounded from his worst game of the season against LSU with a strong performance. He completed 18 of 23 for 196 yards, highlighted by two TDs to Jalen Wydermyer, and ran for 60 yards. Seth Small iced the game with a 32-yard field goal with just over a minute remaining after an earlier miss had helped Auburn remain within a score.
Isaiah Spiller had his fifth 100-yard game of the current winning streak, gaining 120 on 20 carries. Devon Achane also ran for 99 yards on just nine carries. Wydermyer caught eight passes for 89 yards.
Rice 20, No. 15 Marshall 0
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Safety Naeem Smith returned one of five Marshall interceptions for a touchdown and Rice shocked the Thundering Herd for their first loss.
The three- touchdown underdog Owls ( 2-2 Conference USA) beat a ranked opponent for the first time since 1997 despite being without their two top offensive weapons and getting outgained 245 yards to 213.
Marshall (7-1, 4-1, No. 21 CFP) saw the end of its bid to keep a perfect season going.
Rice was missing quarterback Mike Collins and leading wide receiver Austin Trammell, who did not play due to undisclosed injuries unrelated to COVID-19.
Backup quarterback JoVoni Johnson had not attempted a pass in two previous games this season. The Owls didn’t need his arm much, using its ground game behind freshman Khalan Griffin to eat up clock time against the nation’s top rushing defense.
Marshall redshirt freshman Grant Wells had by far his worst game of the season. Coming off a five-touchdown performance against Middle Tennessee on Nov. 14, Wells went 18 of 35 for 165 yards and the five interceptions.
TCU 29, No. 19 Oklahoma State 22
FORT WORTH, Texas — Max Duggan threw a go-ahead, 71-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter and ran for two more scores in the Horned Frogs’ victory over Oklahoma State.
Duggan threw for 265 yards and ran for 104 to lead the Horned Frogs (5-4 Big 12). Derius Davis caught the long TD pass in stride near the 25 with 7:56 left to give the Horned Frogs the lead.
TCU, which overcame five turnovers, stayed in front when Trevon Moehrig made a one-handed interception of a deflected pass in the end zone, and TCU had a fourth-down stop with 2:18 left after its last turnover.
Oklahoma State (6-3, 5-3), with a makeup game remaining at Baylor, wasn’t necessarily eliminated from making the Big 12 championship game in two weeks, but would need a lot of help to get there.