Irish almost get rocked

Notre Dame escapes again with last-minute win over Toledo

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jack Coan hit Michael Mayer for an 18-yard touchdown pass with 1:09 remaining for the third lead change in a wild fourth quarter and No. 8 Notre Dame held off determined Toledo 32-29 Saturday.

The victory preserved a 25-game home winning streak for Notre Dame (2-0, 1-0 independent) and came after the Rockets (1-1, 0-1 MAC) had taken a 29-24 lead on freshman quarterback Dequan Finn’s 26-yard bootleg TD run with 1:35 remaining. Finn split playing time with sophomore Carter Bradley, who threw for 213 yards.

Coan, who threw for 366 yards and four touchdowns in Notre Dame’s season-opening 41-38 overtime victory at Florida State last Sunday, shared playing time with true freshman Tyler Buchner. But he directed the three-play, 75-yard scoring drive, which took just 26 seconds with the aid of two Toledo penalties.

Despite being sacked six times, intercepted once by Chris McDonald for a touchdown and fumbling the ball away on another drive, Coan threw for 239 yards and two touchdowns, both to Mayer. Buchner rushed for 68 yards on seven carries and was 3-for-3 passing for 68 yards, including a 55-yard TD pass to Chris Tyree that gave the Fighting Irish a 24-16 lead with 10:57 to play.

Toledo answered with an 8-yard TD run by Bryant

Koback with 7:48 left to pull the Rockets to within two. Then, after Kyren Williams fumbled for Notre Dame, the Rockets went 73 yards to the end zone, with Finn putting his team ahead.

The Irish were their own worst enemy in the first half. The Rockets went to the locker room up 16-14 after McDonald’s interception of Coan’s pass intended for Mayer and his 27-yard return for a touchdown with 46 seconds remaining. Toledo’s other points in the half came on three field goals by Thomas Cluckey.

Purdue 49, Connecticut 0:

Jack Plummer threw four touchdown passes in the first half, three to wide receiver David Bell, as the Boilermakers rolled over winless UConn at Pratt & Whitney Stadium.

After punting on its first possession, Purdue (2-0) scored touchdowns on each of its next five to take a 35-0 lead at halftime.

“While things weren’t as great as we wanted on the first series or two, we found a way to regroup and played well from there,” Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said.

The Boilermakers, a 34-point favorite by most sports books, scored two more touchdowns with their first two drives in the second half with many second-stringers in the lineup.

Plummer completed 16 of his 20 passes, racking up 245 yards and four touchdowns. Bell caught six of the passes for 121 yards and three touchdowns. Both were replaced to start the second half.

Brennan Armstrong threw for five touchdowns and

Virginia 42, Illinois 14:

became the third quarterback in program history to pass for over 400 yards as Virginia beat Illinois. It snapped Virginia’s 13-game losing streak in non-conference games against Power Five opponents.

Armstrong threw for 171 yards and two touchdowns in the opening quarter, connecting with tight end Jelani Woods for a 32-yard score and wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks from 28-yards out, for a 14-0 lead.

Northwesterm 24, Indiana State 6:

Evan Hull ran for 119 yards and two touchdowns and Northwestern beat Indiana State.Hull led the way for a Wildcats rushing unit that surpassed last week’s 117 total yards against Michigan State at the half and finished with 209.

He ran for 51 yards on the team’s opening drive and capped it with a 3-yard touchdown run.

Oregon 35, Ohio State 28:

C.J. Verdell ran for 161 yards and had three touchdowns as shorthanded No. 12 Oregon exploited a porous Ohio State defense to upset the No. 3 Buckeyes for their first regular-season loss in nearly three years.

Ohio State (1-1) never led the game it was favored to win by 14 ½ points despite gaudy numbers from freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud. Its front seven struggled to contain Verdell, control the edge and get after Ducks quarterback Anthony Brown in front.

The Ducks (2-0) were without star defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux and linebacker Justin Flowe.