Te’o makes a return to Notre Dame
Former Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o, runnerup to Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel for the Heisman Trophy in 2012, made his first public appearance on campus in nearly a decade since it was disclosed he was the victim of a bizarre high-profile catfishing scheme involving a fake girlfriend.
“It’s always good to be home. There’s no place like home. But I want to make this real clear. It’s not about me. It’s not about one person. It’s about this whole family,” Te’o said speaking to fans before Notre Dame’s game against California.
Te’o received an enthusiastic response from fans. He attended Mass with the team at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on campus and then walked with the team before the game to the stadium. He stopped briefly with coach Marcus Freeman to address the crowd, with Touchdown Jesus as a backdrop.
“This team needs all of us,” Te’o said. “It’s easy to jump on the bandwagon when everything is going great. It’s easy to get on when everything is right. But what I want to know is, who is with me? Who is going to get off that wagon and start pushing with me? That’s why I am here.”
Te’o high-fived fans as he walked through the crowd, stopping briefly for photos. Te’o then took questions from the media in the press box before the game. He said it was his fourth time back at Notre Dame since news broke about the hoax. Te’o said he’s been pleasantly surprised by the response he received from the Netflix documentary “Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist.” He said he was anxious about it because he didn’t want to talk about it again.
“All the facts are out there and I’m happy with it because it’s factual . ... Since Day 1, it’s been nothing but positive,” he said.
Levis helps Kentucky shut out Youngstown State: An effective combination of punishing defense and Will Levis’ arm helped quell any concerns about No. 9 Kentucky letting down after a big victory.
Levis accounted for three touchdowns, Kavosiey Smoke ran for a score and the Wildcats shook off a slow start to shut out Youngstown State 31-0 on Saturday.
Boosted by its first top-10 ranking since October 2007, the Wildcats (3-0) followed up last week’s 26-16 Southeastern Conference win at Florida by physically dominating the FCS Penguins (2-1) in the inaugural meeting.
Shapen, Reese lead Baylor to win over Texas St: Baylor quarterback Blake Shapen was racing untouched to the end zone while running back Richard Reese was being tackled in the backfield on fourth-and-1 just before halftime.
That bootleg was the punctuating play for the 17th-ranked Bears, who beat Texas State 42-7 on Saturday and avoided becoming another Top 25 team to lose at home to a Sun Belt Conference team.
Shapen took off to the right after the fake handoff, and past a over-pursuing safety, for that 35-yard touchdown that came right after Texas State (1-2) had closed to 14-7 on Layne Hatcher’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Ashtyn Hawkins with 1:59 left in the first half.
Reese, a true freshman, ran 19 times for 156 yards and three touchdowns. Shapen completed 15 of 26 passes for 184 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Corum scores 5 TDs, Michigan routs Connecticut: Blake Corum matched
a school record with five touchdowns, helping No. 4 Michigan beat Connecticut 59-0 Saturday for its third straight rout to open the season.
Corum is not ready to celebrate. “I don’t know how good we are,” he acknowledged. “We look good. I feel like we’re going to be great, but I can’t tell yet. I can tell from the look of things, the sky is the limit for this offense.”
Corum started the scoring barrage with a 20-yard run on the game’s opening drive and had three 1-yard scores before halftime. His 11-yard touchdown late in the third quarter tied the singlegame school record set by Ron Johnson in 1968 and equaled by Hassan Haskins in last year’s win over Ohio State.
The Wolverines (3-0) led 38-0 at halftime before coasting in the second half of a game that looked a lot like their first two tune-ups, when they beat Colorado State 51-7 and Hawaii 56-10.
UCLA escapes upset bid by South Alabama: Nicholas Barr-Mira kicked a 24-yard field goal on the final play of the game and UCLA escaped South Alabama’s upset bid with a 32-31 win Saturday. The Jaguars looked to be in control of becoming the fourth Sun Belt Conference team in two weeks to beat a Power Five team, but were done in when a trick play went awry. The Jaguars tried a fake field goal with 2:52 remaining but Tanner McGee was sacked by Carl Jones Jr., giving the Bruins the ball at the 33.
UCLA drove 61 yards in 10 plays, culminating in Barr-Mira’s second field goal of the day. Dorian Thompson-Robinson completed 20 of 30 passes for 263 yards and three touchdowns as the Bruins start 3-0 for the first time since 2015.