Tar Heels run with little resistance to wax Wolfpack
No. 14 North Carolina 48, No. 23 N.C. State 21
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Javonte Williams ran for 160 yards and three touchdowns to help North Carolina win Saturday’s renewal of a longtime state rivalry.
Michael Carter ran for 106 yards and a score for the Tar Heels (4-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who used a runthrough-and-over-tacklers ground game that helped them take control in the third quarter. UNC ran for 326 yards and finished with 578 overall, bouncing back from an upset loss at Florida State to beat the Wolfpack (4-2, 4-2) by a lopsided margin for the second straight season.
Sam Howell threw for 252 yards and a TD for the Tar Heels, while Dyami Brown had 105 yards on a career-best seven catches.
The Wolfpack had little go right offensively in its first game without injured starting quarterback Devin Leary. Bailey Hockman started but was pulled after three series for true freshman Ben Finley, only to see the Wolfpack go back to Hockman in the third after Finley — whose older brother Ryan was a star quarterback for N.C. State — threw two interceptions and
lost a fumble on a sack.
No. 1 Clemson 47, Syracuse 21
CLEMSON, S.C. — Trevor Lawrence threw two touchdown passes and Travis Etienne ran for three scores for the Tigers, who shook off a sluggish performance to win their 27th straight ACC game.
The Tigers opened 6-0 for the sixth straight season, but it took a late burst to get it done — just like usual against Syracuse (1-5, 1-4).
The Orange was the last ACC team to defeat the Tigers (5-0 ACC), scoring a 27-24 home victory in 2017. A year later at Death Valley, Syracuse again looked primed for an upset as it held a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter before Clemson’s 27-23 escape to keep its national championship season intact.
Despite entering as about 45-point underdogs, coach Dino Babers and Syracuse kept the Tigers out of sync much of the game and were down just
27-21 late in the third quarter.
But Andrew Booth Jr.’s fumble recovery and touchdown run after Rex Culpepper was sacked late in the third quarter turned the game in Clemson’s favor for good.
Louisville 48, Florida State 16
LOUISVILLE, Ky. —Javian Hawkins ran for a season-best 174 yards and a career-high three touchdowns for Louisville, which snapped a four-game losing streak.
The Cardinals (2-4, 1-4) took advantage of a yielding Seminoles defense to amass 410 of their 569 total yards in the first half. Five plays went for at least 35 yards in the half, helping the Cardinals take a 31-14 lead.
FSU’s Jordan Travis, who transferred from Louisville two seasons ago, recovered his fumble after a botched handoff and ran it in 15 yards to give the Seminoles (2-4, 1-4) a 7-0 lead 2:30 into the game. But Louisville responded quickly, needing just 2:01 to tie it on a 9-yard run by Hawkins, one of his 16 carries on the day. That was the start of 28 straight points for Louisville.
No. 3 Notre Dame 45, Pitt 3
PITTSBURGH —Ian Book passed for 312 yards and three touchdowns — two of them to graduate transfer Ben Skowronek — as the Irish overwhelmed reeling Pitt.
A week after scuffling its way past Louisville, Notre Dame (5-0, 4-0) had no such issues while handling the Panthers (3-4, 2-4) their fourth consecutive loss. Book hit Skowronek for a 34-yard score on Fighting Irish's first possession, and Pitt — playing without injured senior quarterback Kenny Pickett for a second straight week — simply could not keep up.
Notre Dame's massive offensive line held its own against one of the nation's best passrushing teams.
Linebacker Bo Bauer's first collegiate interception set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Kyren Williams that pushed the lead to 21-3 with 1:29 left in the first half.
Soon after that, Irish sophomore defensive lineman Isaiah Foskey blocked a punt, and chased the ball into the end zone to make it 28-3.