San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
BEARCATS GET PAST IRISH
Cincinnati wanted to use the first top-10, regular-season matchup in program history as a chance to show it belongs among the nation’s best before heading into its American Athletic Conference schedule. Mission accomplished. Desmond Ridder threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score late in the fourth quarter as No. 7 Cincinnati capitalized on its big opportunity and beat No. 9 Notre Dame 24-13 on Saturday in a game the Bearcats hope can be the centerpiece of a College Football Playoff résumé.
“We didn’t just beat a top-10 team, we beat a topfive program,” Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell said.
The Bearcats were not quite dominant, but they were plenty good enough in their first trip to South Bend, Ind., since 1900 to snap Notre Dame’s 26-game home winning streak.
Ridder went 19-for-32 for 297 yards passing. He hooked up with Alec Pierce six times for 144 yards, and was at his best after Notre Dame cut the lead to 17-13 with 8:20 left in the fourth quarter.
Ridder went 3-for-3, with a bullet down the middle for 36 yards to Leonard Taylor, on the ensuing drive.
He capped it off with a 6yard TD run around left end that made it 24-13 with 5:08 left.
“That’s the Desmond Ridder factor,” Fickell said.
No. 1 Alabama 42, No. 12 Mississippi 21: Brian Robinson Jr. rushed for career highs of 171 yards and four touchdowns, and host Alabama mostly throttled the nation’s top offense.
Bryce Young passed for a couple of touchdowns for the Crimson Tide (5-0, 2-0
No. 7 Cincinnati 24, No. 9 Notre Dame 13
Southeastern Conference) but the ’Bama defense and ground game stole some of the thunder from a matchup of the two leading Heisman Trophy contenders coming into the game.
Alabama turned to Robinson to play keep away from Matt Corral and the offense of the Rebels (3-1, 0-1). The Tide’s fifth-year senior carried 36 times and picked up the first 100-yard game of his career.
Young completed 21 of 27 passes for 241 yards and was intercepted once for Alabama, which led 28-0 at halftime.
Oddsmakers had Young as the second-leading Heisman candidate coming into the game, behind only Corral, who ran for a touchdown and passed for another, completing 22 of 32 passes for 213 yards while losing a fumble.
No. 2 Georgia 37, No. 8 Arkansas 0: Zamir White rushed for two touchdowns and recovered a blocked punt for another score, and Georgia pounded visiting Arkansas in the Bulldogs’ second consecutive shutout.
Georgia (5-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) raced to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter despite playing without quarterback JT Daniels, who was held out with a right lat injury.
The Bulldogs rushed for 273 yards and wore down the Arkansas (4-1, 1-1) defense, holding the ball for 36 minutes.
Navy 34, UCF 30: Tai Lavatai returned from a two-game injury absence to lead host Navy back from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit for the Midshipmen’s first victory this season.
With Navy trailing 30-27, Diego Fabot knocked the ball out of Brandon Johnson’s hands after a 20-yard reception and Taylor Robinson recovered at the Navy 47.
Eleven plays and over five minutes later, Isaac Ruoss ran in from the 4-yard line to give the Midshipmen the lead with 3:09 left.
The victory was the first for Navy (1-3, 1-1) in three meetings with the Knights (2-2, 0-1) since joining the American Athletic Conference in 2015, the final league team the Midshipmen were winless against.