Mafah, Clemson knock off the Irish

Phil Mafah ran for a career high 186 yards and two touchdowns in relief of the injured Will Shipley and Clemson held off No. 15 Notre Dame 31-23 to end a disheartening two-game losing streak Saturday.

The Tigers (5-4) came in with more losses in a season than it had in 13 years and still stinging from the radio criticism of “Tyler from Spartanburg,” who called out Dabo Swinney and drew a strong, even hostile rebuke from the coach that apparently fired up the whole group.

Mafah ran for scores of 41 and 1 yard, the last putting Clemson ahead 31-16 in the third quarter. Notre Dame drew within one score on Sam Hartman's 26-yard scramble.

That's when Clemson's special teams and defense closed things out. Four times after that, the Tigers downed punts inside the Notre Dame 15 — including a nifty quick kick by quarterback Cade Klubnik — and the Irish (7-3, No. 12 AP) could never get out of the hole.

Ohio State rallies to top Rutgers:

Cornerback Jordan Hancock woke up No. 1 Ohio State early in the second half with a 93-yard interception return for a touchdown and the Buckeyes rallied from their first halftime deficit of the season to beat Rutgers 35-16 at Piscataway, N.J.

Kyle McCord hit Marvin Harrison Jr. on two of his three touchdown passes and TreVeyon Henderson ran for 128 yards and a score as the Buckeyes (9-0, 6-0 Big, No. 3 in AP).

Tennessee cruises past UConn:

Joe Milton, Jr. passed for 254 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score and No. 17 Tennessee had three defensive TDs for the first time in program history in a 59-3 victory over UConn on Saturday at Knoxville, Tenn.