Notre Dame hands No. 16 Syracuse second straight loss

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Brandon Joseph returned an interception 29 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the game, tailback Audric Estimé rushed for 123 yards and scored twice in the fourth quarter to thwart a Syracuse rally, and Notre Dame defeated the No. 16 Orange 41-24 on Saturday.

Notre Dame (5-3) has won five of six since opening the season with two losses and has 26 consecutive regular-season wins against ACC opponents. The Fighting Irish have played their best football on the road, including a 45-32 win at No. 21 North Carolina despite five TD passes by UNC quarterback Drake Maye.

Logan Diggs scored on a 3-yard run in the second quarter and Notre Dame quarterback Drew Pyne threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Thomas with 17 seconds left in the second period. Pyne was 9 of 19 passing for 116 yards.

NO. 2 OHIO STATE 44, NO. 13 PENN STATE 31

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — J.T. Tuimoloau had a strip sack to set up Ohio State for a separation-score in the fourth quarter and then a pick-6 to cap a spectacular performance by the defensive end as the Buckeyes erased afourth-quarter deficit to beat No. 13 Penn State 44-31 Saturday.

C.J. Stroud found his groove for Ohio State in the fourth quarter and finished with 354 yards passing as the Buckeyes (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) ran their winning streak in the rivalry to six in a row — none by more than 13 points.

As has often been the case when these teams get together lately, the Buckeyes were a double-digit

favorite and the Nittany Lions (6-2, 3-2) played them tough.

In this case, though, Penn State didn't just hang around. The Nittany Lions went up 21-16 with 9:26 remaining in the fourth quarter on a tough 1-yard touchdown run by Kaytron Allen on fourth down.

Ohio State outscored Penn State 28-3 the rest of the way, with Tuimoloau providing the key play after the Buckeyes went up 23-21.

NO. 7 TCU 41, WEST VIRGINIA 31

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Max Duggan threw three

touchdown passes, Kendre Miller ran for 120 yards and a score and TCU used big plays on offense to beat West Virginia to remain unbeaten.

The Horned Frogs (8-0, 5-0 Big 12) didn't need a comeback from a doubledigit deficit like they did in their two previous games. Duggan staked TCU to a 28-21 halftime lead and that held up.

But West Virginia (3-5, 1-4), which was coming off a season-low 282 yards of offense in a lopsided loss at last week at Texas Tech, gave the Horned Frogs a fight.

Bryan M. Bennett / Getty Images Notre Dame’s Brandon Joseph intercepts a pass during the fourth quarter against Syracuse on Saturday. The play was called back due to a penalty.