Ridder, No. 7 Cincinnati beat No. 9 Notre Dame
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Desmond Ridder threw two touchdown passes and ran for 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 their College Football Playoff résumé.
Cincinnati (4-0) wanted to use its first top-10 regular-season matchup as a statement game, heading into its American Athletic Conference schedule. No team from outside the Power Five conferences has ever reached the playoff. Never even came close.
To break that barrier Bearcats almost certainly needs to go undefeated, and this trip to Notre Dame (4-1) stood as the toughest test on the schedule. Not to mention the biggest stage they’ll appear on this season.
The Bearcats were not quite dominant, but they were plenty good enough in their first trip to South Bend since 1900 to snap Notre Dame’s 26-game home winning streak.
When told how loud the crowd can be at Notre Stadium this week, Ridder quipped that it wouldn’t be for long.
The senior delivered, going 19 for 32 for 297 yards. 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 6-yard TD run around left end that made it 24-13.
Cincinnati took advantage of three turnovers by Notre Dame in the first half to jump out to 17-0 lead. The miscues by the Irish were killers.
Jack Coan’s pass was intercepted in the red zone by Ahmad Gardner on ill-advised throw under pressure that ended Notre Dame first and best drive of the half.
The Irish tried freshman Tyler Buchner at quarterback for a coupe of series, hoping his mobility could spark the running game. But Buchner’s pass was picked off by DeShawn Pace while getting hit, and Pace set up Cincinnati in the red zone.
Ridder flipped a 1-yard pass to Taylor to make it 7-0 early in the second quarter.
Chris Tyree fumbled the ensuing kickoff back to Cincinnati and the Bearcats turned that into a 23-yard field goal by Cole Smith.
Ridder and the Bearcats put together their best late in the second quarter, going 80 yards for a touchdown. Ridder was 3 for 4 on the drive, each completion for more than 20 yards, including the 27-yard touchdown to Tre Tucker that beat Irish AllAmerica safety Kyle Hamilton.
NO. 1 ALABAMA 42, NO. 12 OLE MISS 21
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Brian Robinson Jr. rushed for career highs of 171 yards and four touchdowns, and Alabama mostly throttled the nation’s top offense in a victory over Mississippi.
Bryce Young passed for a couple of touchdowns for the Crimson Tide (5-0, 2-0 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), who had breezed through three nonconference games before an open date.
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 him as the second-leading Heisman candidate coming into the game, behind only Corral.
The Rebels star ran for a touchdown but was mostly held in check by a team he torched last season. Corral also passed for a touchdown, completing 22 of 32 passes for 213 yards while losing a fumble. Corral extended his streak of games with a TD pass to 16 games with 2:23 left, matching Eli Manning for the second-longest such streak at Ole Miss.
NO. 2 GEORGIA 37, NO. 8 ARKANSAS 0
ATHENS, Ga. — Zamir White rushed for two touchdowns and recovered a blocked punt for another score, and Georgia pounded Arkansas on Saturday 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.
STANFORD 31, NO. 3 OREGON 24, OT
STANFORD, Calif. — Tanner McKee threw a TD pass on an untimed down at the end of regulation to tie the game and another on the opening possession of overtime to lead Stanford past Oregon.
McKee came back after leaving for a play on the final drive of regulation with an injury to tie it on a 2-yard pass to Elijah Higgins after a holding penalty by Oregon (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12) in the end zone extended the game one play.
NO. 6 OKLAHOMA 37, KANSAS STATE 31
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Spencer Rattler threw for 243 yards and two touchdowns, Oklahoma had two crucial calls overturned in its favor after video reviews, and the Sooners recovered an onside kick with just over a minute left to hold off Kansas State.
Kennedy Brooks added 91 yards rushing and a touchdown, and Jeremiah Hall reached the end zone twice, as the Sooners (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) overcame a slew of penalties on their offensive line to beat the Wildcats for the first time in three tries.
NO. 11 OHIO STATE 52, RUTGERS 13
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — C.J. Stroud threw for 330 yards and a career-high five touchdowns after sitting out a game to rest his shoulder and Ohio State won its 20th straight Big Ten game.
Stroud connected with Chris Olave on touchdown passes of 56 and 11 yards, found Garrett Wilson on a 32-yard catch and run and hit tight ends Jeremy Ruckert and Mitch Rossi on scoring passes of 19 and 1 yard, respectively. The freshman, who threw four TD passes against Minnesota in the opener, finished 17 of 23 and did not throw an interception. Olave finished with five catches for a team-high 119 yards.
NO. 14 MICHIGAN 38, WISCONSIN 17
MADISON, Wis. — Cornelius Johnson of Greenwich caught both of Cade McNamara’s touchdown passes and Michigan remained unbeaten with a victory over Wisconsin, which lost starting quarterback Graham Mertz to a chest injury.
Wisconsin (1-3, 0-2 Big Ten) trailed 13-10 and had the ball to start the third quarter when Mertz was sacked by Daxton Hill on a third-and-9 play. Mertz and tight end Jake Ferguson both went to the locker room with chest injuries after that play, and neither returned to the game.
NO. 16 COASTAL CAROLINA 59, LA.-MONROE 6
CONWAY, S.C. — Grayson McCall threw for 212 yards on 13-of-13 passing with two touchdowns to Isaiah Likely as Coastal Carolina rolled to victory to start Sun Belt Conference play Saturday.
The Chanticleers (1-0 Sun Belt) started 5-0 for a second straight season and have won 16 of their past 17 the last two seasons.
NO. 24 WAKE FOREST 37, LOUISVILLE 34
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Nick Sciba kicked a 29-yard field goal with 22 seconds left and Wake Forest remained unbeaten.
Sam Hartman threw for 324 yards and two touchdowns to lead the offense for the Demon Deacons (5-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who got a huge boost late from Justice Ellison with several patient and chain-moving runs on the go-ahead drive.