SATURDAY’S TOP 25 ROUNDUP

NO. 1 CLEMSON 21, NORTH CAROLINA 20

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Clemson stuffed North Carolina’s 2-point conversion attempt with 1:17 left and the No. 1 Tigers held off the Tar Heels.

The Tigers (5-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) had trouble all day in trying to extend their school-record winning streak to 20 games. They didn’t go ahead for good until Trevor Lawrence hit Tee Higgins on a 38-yard touchdown pass with 9:54 left, then came up with the stop after the Tar Heels went for the lead instead of a tie after Javonte Williams’ short scoring run.

The Tigers strung out Sam Howell’s option run to the right, with Xavier Thomas, James Skalski and Nolan Turner combining to bring down Howell as he turned toward the goal line.

NO. 5 OHIO STATE 48, NEBRASKA 7

LINCOLN, Neb. — Justin Fields threw for three touchdowns and ran for another for Ohio State, and Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez was intercepted on three of the Cornhuskers’ first four series.

Ohio State (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) scored on six straight possessions and led 38-0 after a dizzying first half.

Nebraska (3-2, 1-1) didn’t go over 100 yards of total offense until late in the third quarter.

Fields, the transfer from Georgia who has played himself into the first tier of Heisman Trophy candidates, threw for 212 yards and kept alive his streak of no interceptions this season. He added 72 yards rushing. He now has had a hand in 23 touchdowns, 16 through the air.

J.K. Dobbins ran for 177 yards and a TD on 24 carries and became the 11th player in Ohio State history to go over 3,000 career rushing yards.

NO. 8 WISCONSIN 24, NORTHWESTERN 15

MADISON, Wis. — Jonathan Taylor ran for 119 yards and his 11th touchdown of the season and Wisconsin got two scores from its defense.

Taylor carried 26 times to help Wisconsin (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten) avenge its 3117 loss to the Wildcats last season. The junior reached 100 yards rushing for the 26th time in 31 career games and moved into fourth place on the Badgers’ career rushing list (4,730).

After allowing 81 yards rushing through the first three games, the Wisconsin defense surrendered 97 yards on the ground to Northwestern (1-3, 0-2).

NO. 10 NOTRE DAME 35, NO. 18 VIRGINIA 20

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Julian Okwara had three sacks of Notre Dame’s eight sacks and caused a fumble that was returned for a touchdown as the Fighting Irish overcame a halftime deficit to beat Virginia.

The Fighting Irish (3-1), coming off a 23-14 loss at No. 3 Georgia, trailed 17-14 at the break and then had the Cavaliers (4-1) complete a successful onside kick to open the second half. The Notre Dame defense held, setting the tone for the second half.

Jamir Jones started the Irish defensive onslaught in the third quarter when he sacked and stripped Virginia’s Bryce Perkins of the football and defensive tackle Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa recovered it in midair before rumbling 48 yards to the Virginia 7.

NO. 14 IOWA 48, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 3

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Nate Stanley threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns, Toren Young added a career-high 131 yards rushing and Iowa improved to 4-0 for the third time in 10 years.

Brandon Smith caught both of Stanley’s TD throws. Iowa gained 644 yards, its most in coach Kirk Ferentz’s 21 seasons in charge. Iowa had 358 yards in the first half and scored on its first four drives, a stretch headlined by an 18-yarder from Stanley to Smith that made it 24-0 midway through the second quarter.

NO. 17 WASHINGTON 28, NO. 21 SO. CALIFORNIA 14

SEATTLE — Salvon Ahmed rushed for a career-high 153 yards, including an 89-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and No. 17 Washington beat No. 21 Southern California.

Ahmed missed last week’s win at BYU with a leg injury. But he was back in a big way against the Trojans, breaking off the longest run play for Washington (41, 1-1 Pac-12) in 25 years and moments after USC quarterback Matt Fink made his biggest mistake of the day.

With USC (3-2, 2-1) trailing 20-7 and driving, Fink failed to see Elijah Molden dropping into a zone and had a pass intercepted at the Washington 1 as he tried to hit Michael Pittman Jr. Two plays later, Ahmed waited for the hole to open then burst into the open field and ran away from the defense.

NO. 20 MICHIGAN 52, RUTGERS 0

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Shea Patterson accounted for three touchdowns in the first half and ran for a fourth score in the third quarter for Michigan to rout Rutgers 52-0 on Saturday.

The Wolverines (3-1, 1-1 Big Ten) enjoyed a confidence-boosting win following a humiliating loss at Wisconsin. The Scarlet Knights (1-3, 0-2) have not won a conference game since the 2017 season.

Patterson played two-plus quarters and was 17 of 23 for 276 yards with one TD and one interception.

NO. 22 UCF 56, CONNECTICUT 21

ORLANDO, Fla. — Dillon Gabriel threw for 281 yards and three touchdowns to help UCF rebound from its first regular-season loss in nearly three years with a rout of Connecticut to begin American Athletic Conference play.

The two-time defending AAC champions improved to 29-2 since the start of 2017, bouncing back from a 35-34 loss at Pittsburgh that stopped a league- and school-record 25-game regular-season win streak.

Gabriel completed 11 of 16 passes without an interception for UCF, and he threw TD passes of 73, 16 and 13 yards to Gabriel Davis while UCF (4-1, 1-0) built a 42-0 halftime lead.

UConn (1-3, 0-1) fell to 0-7 in ACC openers and has lost 12 consecutive conference games.

NO. 25 MICHIGAN STATE 40, INDIANA 31

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Matt Coghlin made a tiebreaking 21-yard field goal with 5 seconds remaining to help Michigan State beat Indiana.

After Coghlin’s kick gave the Spartans (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten) a 34-31 lead, Indiana tried to lateral its way down the field on its final offensive play, but that resulted in a fumble that Michigan State recovered for a touchdown.