San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
NO. 4 NOTRE DAME ABLE TO UPSET NO. 1 CLEMSON
Fighting Irish tie it in final minute, then win it in second OT.
Kyren Williams had a 3yard touchdown run in the second overtime and No. 4 Notre Dame shut down topranked Clemson with a couple of sacks to seal a 47-40 win Saturday night, the Fighting Irish’s first victory over a No. 1 in 27 years.
Clemson (7-1, 6-1) had won 36 straight regular-season games and had not lost to an Atlantic Coast Conference team since 2017. The Fighting Irish (7-0, 6-0), playing in the ACC only because of the pandemic, snapped both streaks and sparked fans to storm the field in a celebration that most definitely did not meet the CDC’S social-distancing guidelines.
It will go down as one of Notre Dame’s most memorable victories, and considering the setting, probably it’s most bizarre.
“I had told our team in our walk-through today, ‘Just want you to know when we win this game the fans are going to storm the field,’ ” Irish coach Brian Kelly said.
Williams ran for 140 yards and three touchdowns and Ian Book, the fifth-year senior quarterback, led a 91-yard drive in the final two minutes of regulation to tie it at 33 on a 4-yard touchdown pass to Avery Davis with 22 seconds left.
After Williams gave Notre Dame the lead on the first possession of the second OT, the Irish pushed Clemson back with back-to-back sacks on DJ Uaigalelei by Adetokumbo Ogundeji and Daelin Hayes on the first two plays.
The big freshman quarterback completed two passes after the secondand-39, but the final one was way short of the line to gain and a couple of laterals didn’t help.
The Fighting Irish have won 13 straight games, snapped an 11-game losing streak against top-five teams and beat a No. 1 for the first time since taking down Florida State in 1993 at Notre Dame Stadium.
Uiagalelei, starting in place for Trevor Lawrence for a second straight week, passed for 439 yards, the most ever by an Notre Dame opponent. Lawrence was on the sideline for this one, a few days out of isolation after having COVID-19.
They might just see each other again in the ACC championship game in December.
“We didn’t win the game, but you saw what this team is made of,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “This team is made of the right stuff.”
No. 8 Florida 44, No. 5 Georgia 28: Kyle Trask had another four-touchdown night, becoming the first quarterback in Southeastern Conference history to accomplish the feat in five consecutive games, and the Gators beat the Bulldogs (4-2) in Jacksonville, Fla.
The Gators (4-1) ended a three-game losing streak in the rivalry known as the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” — it was Mullen’s most significant victory in three years in Gainesville — and now have a stranglehold on the SEC’S East Division.
No. 6 Cincinnati 38, Houston 10: Gerrid Doaks rushed for a career-high 184 yards and one TD, Desmond Ridder ran for three scores and threw for another and the Bearcats (6-0, 4-0 AAC) extended their school-record home winning streak to 18 games by routing the Cougars (2-3, 2-2).
No. 15 Coastal Carolina 23, South Alabama 6:
Grayson Mccall threw for 203 yards and a score, Massimo Biscardi had three field goals and host Coastal Carolina beat South Alabama to improve to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the Sun Belt. The Jaguars fell to 3-4 and 2-2.
No. 16 Marshall 51, Massachusetts 10: Grant Wells threw three touchdown passes, Brenden Knox ran for two scores and the Thundering Herd (6-0) pummeled the Minutemen (0-2). The game was added to Marshall’s schedule last month after several other opponents had previously pulled out due to the coronavirus pandemic.
No. 18 SMU 47, Temple 23:
Shane Buechele threw four touchdown passes, two to Tyler Page, and the visiting Mustangs (7-1, 4-1 AAC) broke away from the Owls (1-4, 1-4). Temple was missing 15 players who were in COVID-19 protocol.
No. 25 Liberty 38, Virginia Tech 35: Alex Barbir hit a career-long 51-yard field goal with a second left to lift the Flames to 7-0 for the first time in program history. Barbir had a 59-yard attempt blocked with 8 seconds left, and Virginia Tech’s Jermaine Waller returned it to the end zone for what appeared to be the winning score for the host Hokies (4-3). But officials ruled Virginia Tech called a timeout before the attempt. Liberty then went for it on fourth-and-6 from the 41. Malik Willis found CJ Yarbrough for an 8-yard gain with 5 seconds left, allowing Barbir to come out for the 51-yarder.