No. 3 Notre Dame whips No. 12 Syracuse
Ian Book returned to the starting lineup for No. 3 Notre Dame and threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns as the Fighting Irish routed No. 12 Syracuse 36-3 at Yankee Stadium on Saturday to stay on target for a trip to the College Football Playoff.
The Irish held out Book from last week's home game against Florida State with a rib injury, and he wasn't missed as Notre Dame (11-0, No. 3 in the CFP rankings) rolled with Brandon Wimbush at quarterback.
Notre Dame clearly wanted to be cautious with Book ahead of its trip to the Bronx to face highscoring Syracuse (8-3, No. 12 CFP). The junior quarterback, who took over as the starter four games into the season, looked as good as new.
The Irish had their running game bottled up much of the day, but their short-to-intermediate passing game more than made up for it. Donned in pinstripe uniforms in a tribute to the usual residents of the ballpark, Notre Dame went up 7-0 on its second possession on a 9-yard pass from Book to Dexter Williams.
The Subway Alumni, along with the bridge and tunnel crowd, packed Yankee Stadium on a 45degree day in the Bronx. The sellout crowd was announced at 48,104.
That the Fighting Irish were playing such an important game away from South Bend, Ind., did not sit well with most of their fans. Even coach Brian Kelly said it was not ideal. Part of the Shamrock Series, the off-site “home” games Notre Dame plays almost annually, the Irish's second trip to the new Yankee Stadium had been in the works for several years.
No. 8 Ohio State 52, Maryland 51, OT: Ohio State went to overtime to avoid one of the most stunning upsets of the season, beating Maryland when the host Terrapins failed to convert a 2point conversion after matching the Buckeyes' touchdown in the first extra period.
Favored by 14 1⁄ points, Associ
2 ated Press No. 8 Ohio State (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten, No. 10 CFP) trailed by two touchdowns in the third quarter and 45-38 with less than two minutes left before rallying.
After a 5-yard touchdown run by Dwayne Haskins gave the Buckeyes the lead to start overtime, Tayon Fleet-Davis scored to get the Terrapins within a point. Interim coach Matt Canada decided to end it right there, going for 2, but Tyrrell Pigrome's pass to Jeshaun Jones was off target.
The Buckeyes stayed in the hunt for the Big Ten title and a spot in the playoff. They finish the regular season next week in a game against Michigan that will decide the Big Ten East winner.
The Buckeyes never led until overtime against the upstart Terrapins (5-6, 3-5). Haskins ran for three touchdowns and was 28 for 38 for 405 yards and three TDs.
Ohio State finished with a whopping 688 yards, including 203 on the ground by J.K. Dobbins, but the defense allowed 535 yards and seven touchdowns.
Maryland freshman Anthony McFarland had touchdown runs of 81 and 75 yards in the first quarter and finished with 298 yards rushing — seven short of the school record.
No. 1 Alabama 50, The Citadel 17: Tua Tagovailoa passed for 340 yards and three touchdowns, but Alabama struggled for 30-plus minutes at home before putting away The Citadel.
The Crimson Tide (11-0) went into halftime tied at 10 with the FCS Bulldogs (4-6). Alabama scored two touchdowns in a 12second span on its way to a 27-point third quarter.
Tagovailoa completed 18 of 22 passes in three quarters, including touchdown strikes of 21 and 5 yards to Jaylen Waddle and a 68-yarder to tight end Irv Smith Jr. Tagovailoa broke AJ McCarron's school single-season record of 30 touchdown passes, reaching 31.
No. 13 Florida 63, Idaho 10: Feleipe Franks passed for 274 yards and three touchdowns — all in the first half — in Gainesville as Florida ran up 600 total yards.
Florida (8-3) rolled to a 49-0 lead at halftime. Gators defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson returned an interception 26 yards for a touchdown on the first play to start the onslaught. Four other touchdown drives took less than two minutes and the longest of the seven first-half scores came in 2:24.
Idaho dropped to 4-7.
No.14 Utah State 29, Colorado State 24: Collin Hill's apparent 34-yard touchdown pass to Preston Williams with no time left was negated by penalty, giving Utah State the victory in a wild and stunning finish to a game played in snow and freezing rain in Fort Collins, Colo.
Colorado State was flagged for illegal touching after it was determined Williams had stepped out of bounds and was the first to touch the ball when he came back inbounds and made the leaping catch between two defenders in the end zone.
Jordan Love threw a go-ahead 33-yard touchdown pass to Aaren Vaughns with 43 seconds remaing, the first offensive touchdown of the day for the Aggies (10-1, 7-0 Mountain West). That score came on the heels of Hill's 17-yard touchdown pass to Williams with 1:36 remaining for the Rams (3-8, 2-5).
No. 16 Penn State 20, Rutgers 7: Trace McSorley threw two touchdown passes to tight end Pat Freiermuth and Penn State's defense set up two touchdowns with turnovers.
The Nittany Lions (8-3, 5-3 Big Ten, No. 14 CFP) beat Rutgers (1-10, 0-7) for the 12th straight time. Rutgers has lost 10 straight.
McSorley won for ther 30th time as starter, making him the winningest quarterback in school history. The senior broke a tie with Todd Blackledge (1980-82) and Tony Sacca (1988-91). The two touchdowns increased his total — running and passing — to 101.
No. 20 Kentucky 34, Middle Tennessee State 23: Mike Edwards had two takeaways, leading to Kentucky's first two touchdowns, and the host Wildcats made several fourth-quarter stops.
Kentucky (8-3) ended a twogame slide. Josh Allen sacked Brent Stockstill for a 7-yard loss on fourth down and set up Miles Butler's 32-yard field goal with 4:01 remaining.
A face-mask penalty helped the Blue Raiders (7-4) reach the Kentucky 5 in the final minute, but consecutive sacks of Stockstill by Allen and Jamar Watson ended that final chance.
No. 21 Utah 30, Colorado 7: Jason Shelley threw for 221 yards and two touchdowns in the snow, and Utah moved closer to its first Pac-12 title game appearance.
The Utes (8-3, 6-3) will win the Pac-12 South if Arizona State lost at Oregon later Saturday or if the Sun Devils lose to Arizona next week.
A sixth consecutive loss for the Buffaloes (5-6, 2-6) capped a week in which athletic director Rick George said he hadn't made any decisions regarding coach Mike MacIntyre's employment amid a news report that his job was in jeopardy.
No. 24 Northwestern 24, Minnesota 14: Isaiah Bowser rushed for 85 yards and two touchdowns, and Northwestern turned three turnovers by Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan into 10 points.
Clayton Thorson completed 15 of 21 passes for 230 yards without a turnover and had a 13-yard touchdown run in the first half for the visiting Wildcats (7-4, 7-1 Big Ten, No. 22 CFP). They pushed their school-record road winning streak to eight and have their best conference record since 1996.
Nate Hall had two interceptions for the Wildcats. Minnesota (5-6, 2-6) fell to 4-13 in conference play under coach P.J. Fleck.
No. 25 Mississippi State 52, Arkansas 6: Nick Fitzgerald threw four touchdown passes and ran for another score to lead MSU (7-4, 3-4 Southeastern Conference, No. 21 CFP), which held Arkansas (2-9, 0-7) to 219 total yards.
In his final home game, Fitzgerald completed 9 of 14 passes for 127 yards and also ran for 85 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown. Senior Aeris Williams, who was starting in place of the injured Kylin Hill, added 104 yards rushing on 15 carries.