No. 6 Notre Dame overcomes slow start, beats UMass 62-27

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — No. 6 Notre Dame was struggling with winless Massachusetts until an electrifying 50yard punt return by C.J. Sanders.

Sanders cut at the 35-yard line to avoid two Minutemen defenders and made another cut at the 10 before racing into the end zone with 3:21 left in the first half to give the Fighting Irish a 28-20 lead.

They never looked back.

DeShone Kizer threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Chris Brown with 6 seconds left in the first half to give the Irish a 35-20 halftime lead. C.J. Prosise, who rushed for 149 yards and two touchdowns, added a 16-yard scoring run and freshman Dexter Williams added a 14-yard TD run to break open the game as the Irish won 62-27.

Marquis Young had an 83-yard touchdown run for the Minutemen, and Sekai Lindsay and Jamal Wilson added 1-yard TD runs and Shakur Nesmith added a 33-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter.

Notre Dame improved to 4-0 for the second straight season, the third time in six seasons under coach Brian Kelly. Massachusetts fell to 0-3 for the fourth straight season since moving up to the FBS level.

The 62 points were the most by the Irish since a 62-0 win over Rutgers in 1996 in Lou Holtz’s final home game as Notre Dame coach.

The Irish rushed for 457 yards, marking the fourth straight game of rushing for more than 200 yards.

DeShone Kizer was 15 of 22 passing for 207 yards with two touchdowns and one interception and freshman quarterback Brandon Wimbush was 3 of 5 passing for 17 yards and scored on a 58-yard run late in the third quarter. Will Fuller added his sixth touchdown catch of the season for the Irish.

The Irish got backups in on both offense and defense in the second half, giving starters some rest heading into the game at No. 11 Clemson on Saturday.

Massachusetts burned the Notre Dame defense for several big plays to keep the game closer than expected throughout most of the first half.

Blake Frohnapfel was 20 of 40 passing for 233 yards with one interception and Tajae Sharpe had eight catches for 83 yards. Backup Ross Comis was 8-of-8 passing for 69 yards with a touchdown as the Minutemen finished with 450 yards total offense.

The Irish had trouble putting the Minutemen away until a punt by Tyler Newsome was downed on the Massachusetts 1-yard line with the Irish leading 21-20. The Irish held Massachusetts to one yard on three plays, leading to Sanders’ punt return.

The Minutemen drove to the 46 on their next possession, but after a pair of incomplete passes by Frohnapfel, he was sacked for a 13-yard loss by Irish defensive lineman Sheldon Day. The Irish drove 10 plays in 1:21, with Kizer throwing a 7-yard touchdown pass to Brown in the end zone.

Prosise got the Irish going early with a 57yard touchdown run. He appeared to be stopped for no gain when he suddenly halted, cut to the inside, broke to the outside and ran up the left sideline before diving in for the score. He became the first Notre Dame player with three straight 100-yard games since Darius Walker did it in 2005.

Nevada 24, Buffalo 21: James Butler ran for 177 yards and a touchdown, Don Jackson added 113 yards and two scores and Nevada beat Buffalo 24-21 on Saturday.

Jackson’s second TD run gave the Wolfpack (2-2) a 24-13 lead with 10:25 left in the fourth quarter.

Buffalo (2-2) answered with an eight-play, 75-yard TD-scoring drive and punctuated it with a 2-point conversion to pull within 24-21 only 2:19 later.

The Bulls defense then forced two Nevada punts down the stretch, but their offense turned it over both times and the Wolfpack were able to run out the clock.

Nevada fell behind early, but Butler had a 91-yard carry through the middle of the defense and immediately followed with a 5-yard TD run to even the score at 7. Jackson added a 55-yard TD run before the end of the first quarter to give the Wolfpack the lead for good at 14-7.

Marshall 36, Kent State 29

2OT: Chase Litton passed for two touchdowns, Tony Pittman ran for 129 yards and two scores and Marshall rallied to beat Kent State 36-29 Saturday in double overtime.

Shane Haynes tied it at 22 at the end of regulation with a 33 yard field goal and the Golden Flashes (1-3) took a 29-22 overtime lead after Colin Reardon hit Brice Fackler on a 12-yard TD pass.

But Litton replied with a 3-yard TD pass to Davonte Allen on fourth and goal to tie it at 29, then Pittman scored on a 7-yard run on Marshall’s (3-1) next possession in double overtime.

Litton was 14 of 36 for 151 yards and two interceptions and a 17-yard TD pass to Ryan Yurachek. Deandre Reaves returned a kickoff 93 yards for a score.

Reardon threw two TD passes, Trayion Durham had 114 yards and a TD on 31 carries and Antwan Dixon scored on a 47-yard run. Army 58, E. Michigan 36: Joe Walker and Aaron Kemper had touchdown runs Saturday night and Army ended a season-opening losing streak with a 58-36 victory over Eastern Michigan.

Walker’s 63-yard run early in the game gave the Black Knights (1-3) the lead for good and Kemper added a 56-yard scoring run in the second quarter to help Army lead 29-17 at the half.

The Eagles (1-3) trailed 36-30 late in the third quarter but Army answered with two Drue Harris’ touchdown runs. A.J. Schurr added a pair of keepers for scores.

Kemper had 147 yards on 13 carries to lead Army, which got a touchdown run from John Trainor. Ahmad Bradshaw had a 10-yard touchdown pass to Edgar Poe before leaving the game with an apparent injury.

Darius Jackson rushed for 141 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Brogan Roback was 28 for 40 for 291 yards and two touchdowns for Eastern Michigan. Toledo 37, Arkansas State 7: Terry Swanson ran for two short touchdowns, Jameson Vest kicked three field goals and Toledo remained undefeated with a 37-7 win over Arkansas State on Saturday night.

The Rockets, off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2005, held Arkansas State (1-3) to minus 14 yards rushing and had six sacks.

The Red Wolves offense had been averaging 414 total yards and 32 points per game. Their lone touchdown came on a 92-yard kickoff return by J.D. McKissic, who finished with a school-record 211 return yards.

Toledo outgained Arkansas State 477 yards to 209 in total offense, running 98 plays.

Phillip Ely passed for 308 yards and Cody Thompson caught five for 112 yards for the Rockets. Swanson and Damion Jones-Moore combined for 35 carries and three TDs in a clock-eating run game.

James Tarbary passed for 223 yards for Arkansas State but was intercepted three times.