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No. 6 Notre Dame edges North Carolina; No. 11 Oklahoma tops Texas

Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson (5) scrambles against North Carolina defenders Sam Smiley, left, and Dajaun Drennon on Saturday afternoon.
(Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images)
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Everett Golson threw three touchdown passes to overcome his three turnovers that led to North Carolina scores and No. 6 Notre Dame remained unbeaten with a 50-43 victory Saturday in South Bend, Ind.

North Carolina’s Marquise Williams threw two touchdown passes, ran for another score and caught a 23-yard TD pass from receiver Quinshad Davis late in the third quarter to give the Tar Heels a 36-35 lead.

But a roughing-the-center penalty against the Tar Heels (2-4) kept alive a Notre Dame drive that led to a nine-yard TD pass from Golson to Amir Carlisle. Then, Irish cornerback Cole Luke intercepted a pass to set up Tarean Folston’s third touchdown.

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Williams threw an 18-yard TD pass to Mack Williams with 47 seconds left, but North Carolina failed to recover the onside kick.

The Irish (6-0) are at No. 1 Florida State (6-0) next week. Notre Dame’s last game against a No. 1 team was against USC in 2005.

No. 11 Oklahoma 31, Texas 26

Alex Ross had a 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, Zack Sanchez scored on a 43-yard interception return and the Sooners came away winners in the Red River rivalry at Dallas.

Oklahoma (5-1, 2-1 Big 12) used those big returns to go ahead to stay despite only 29 total yards of offense in the first half. Trevor Knight threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Sterling Shepard and Samaje Perine had a 13-yard TD run in the final 20 minutes.

Tyrone Swoopes threw his second touchdown pass to John Harris and ran 12 yards for a score for the Longhorns (2-4, 1-2) in a span of 3 1/2 minutes in the fourth quarter

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No. 8 Michigan State 45, Purdue 31Connor Cook threw three touchdown passes, Nick Hill ran for two scores and a late interception return for a touchdown allowed the Spartans to collect the win at West Lafayette, Ind.

Purdue’s defense just couldn’t stop Michigan State, which amassed 532 total yards. It looked like the Spartans had taken control with a 38-17 lead with two TDs in the third quarter.

Akeem Hunt scored on runs of 52 yards and 3 yards in the fourth to make it 38-31. But Darien Harris closed out the last chance for Purdue (3-4, 1-1 Big Ten) with a 15-yard interception return for the game-sealing score. The Spartans (5-1, 2-0) have won four straight overall, including seven straight conference road games. They tied the school record with a sixth straight win in the series.

No. 1 Florida State 38, Syracuse 20

With more distractions swirling around him, Jameis Winston was nearly flawless, throwing for 317 yards and three touchdowns while Mario Pender scored twice to lead the top-ranked Seminoles to the win at Syracuse.

Florida State (6-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) has won a school-record 22 straight games, the longest streak in the nation, and 19 in a row in the conference.

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The Orange (2-4, 0-2 ACC) lost their fourth straight, again saddled by too many failures in the red zone, scoring one touchdown in four trips inside the Florida State 20 behind two rookie quarterbacks who combined to throw three interceptions.

Rarely pressured, Winston finished 30 of 36 and earned his fifth 300-yard passing game on the road. Tight end Nick O’Leary had a career-high eight catches for 97 yards and one touchdown.

No. 7 Alabama 14, Arkansas 13

Blake Sims threw two touchdown passes in Fayetteville, Ark., to help the Crimson Tide avoid a second consecutive Southeastern Conference loss.

The Crimson Tide (5-1, 2-1), coming off a 23-17 loss at Mississippi, struggled for much of the game — fumbling four times. Sims put Alabama up with a 6-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter.

Alabama hasn’t lost two straight SEC games since the 2007 season, Nick Saban’s first year as coach.

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The loss is the 15th straight in SEC play for the Razorbacks (3-3, 0-3), who have yet to win a conference game under second-year Coach Bret Bielema.

Brandon Allen was 21 of 40 for 246 yards for Arkansas.

No. 16 Oklahoma State 27, Kansas 20

Tyreek Hill returned a kickoff 99 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown to help the Cowboys hold off the upset-minded Jayhawks in Lawrence, Kan.

Daxx Garman threw for 161 yards with a touchdown an interception, and Desmond Roland ran for 87 yards and another score as the Cowboys (5-1, 3-0 Big 12) were nearly caught looking ahead to next week’s showdown with ninth-ranked TCU.

Michael Cummings threw for 288 yards and ran for a touchdown in his first start for Kansas (2-4, 0-3) since 2012. Corey Avery also ran for a score for the Jayhawks.

Oklahoma State led 20-7 at halftime, but the Jayhawks rallied to tie the game 20-all late in the fourth quarter in their first home game under interim coach Clint Bowen.

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No. 19 East Carolina 28, South Florida 17

Shane Carden led three long second-half touchdown drives and the Pirates shrugged off a slow start to come back and win at Tampa, Fla.

The Pirates (5-1, 2-0) overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to remain unbeaten in American Athletic Conference play and are off to their best start since 1999.

USF (2-4, 1-1) faded in the second half against a ranked team for the second straight game. The Bulls were tied 3-3 at the half before losing 27-10 at Wisconsin.

Carden completed 13 of 15 passes for 134 yards while leading scoring drives of 84, 86 and 79 yards on East Carolina’s first three possessions of the second half.

Marquez Grayson’s 24-yard TD run trimmed USF’s lead to 17-14 late in the third quarter. Breon Allen’s 4-yard scoring run put ECU ahead 21-17 early in the fourth.

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Duke 31, No. 22 Georgia Tech 25

Anthony Boone threw for 123 yards and a touchdown, Josh Sneed rushed for 102 yards and a score, and the Blue Devils snapped a 10-year losing streak against the Yellow Jackets with the win in Atlanta.

Backup quarterback Thomas Sirk had a couple of short TD runs for the Blue Devils (5-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won in Atlanta for the first time since 1994 and showed they aren’t going to give up their Coastal Division title without a fight.

With a week off to prepare for the triple-option offense, Duke took advantage of three huge second-half turnovers by the Yellow Jackets (5-1, 2-1).

Justin Thomas threw a pair of interceptions — one deep in Duke territory — and Zach Laskey fumbled.

With Duke up 14-12, the second-half kickoff was delayed 1 hour, 17 minutes by thunderstorms. When play finally resumed, Duke was clearly the better-prepared team.

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Miami 55, Cincinnati 34

Duke Johnson became Miami’s career leader in all-purpose yards, Brad Kaaya threw three touchdown passes plus ran for another and the Hurricanes came up with a big win at Miami Gardens, Fla.

Phillip Dorsett caught two long touchdown passes for Miami, Clive Walford also had a touchdown catch and Tyriq McCord added a 46-yard interception return for another score for the Hurricanes — who have topped Cincinnati 11 straight times.

Johnson finished with 162 rushing yards on only 10 carries and Joe Yearby added 113 on eight carries for Miami (4-3), giving the Hurricanes two 100-yard runners in the same game for the first time since 2003. Gus Edwards had a 40-yard touchdown run with 9:02 remaining for Miami.

Playing with bruised ribs, Gunner Kiel completed 31 of 57 passes for 355 yards and three touchdowns for the Bearcats (2-3), but was also intercepted three times. Miami outgained Cincinnati 621-422.

Clemson 23, Louisville 17

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Ammon Lakip bounced through the go-ahead, 40-yard field goal and the Tigers stopped the Cardinals on a fourth and goal from its 2 with 21 seconds left for the win at Clemson, S.C.

The Tigers (4-2, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) held on despite losing freshman phenom quarterback Deshaun Watson to injury in the second quarter. But it took a dramatic late stop to do it after Will Gardner’s 73-yard pass to James Quick put the Cardinals (5-2, 3-2) on Clemson’s 8 with 1:08 left.

Gardner was forced to spike the ball on third down to stop the clock at the Tigers 2 on third down. After rolling right on the final play, defensive tackle DeShawn Williams batted away the pass. Clemson’s Cole Stoudt ran a final play from the 1 and Tigers fans filled the field in celebration.

Iowa 45, Indiana 29

Jake Rudock threw for 210 yards and two touchdowns and the Hawkeyes rolled at Iowa City for their third consecutive victory.

Mark Weisman had a pair of short TD runs for the Hawkeyes (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten), who scored all but seven of their points in the first half.

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Iowa scored 28 points in the first quarter — surpassing its total in each of its first four games against Power 5 schools — and led by as much as 21. Indiana pulled within 28-21, but Weisman closed the first half on a 1-yard TD run to give Iowa a 38-21 lead.

Tevin Coleman had 219 yards rushing for Indiana (3-3, 0-2), including TD runs of 83, 69 and 45 yards. Hoosiers quarterback Nate Sudfeld left with an apparent injury in the first half and never returned.

Wisconsin 38, Illinois 28

Melvin Gordon rushed for 175 yards and four touchdowns while Corey Clement added 164 yards and a 72-yard score for the Badgers at Madison, Wis.

Gordon padded his resume for a potential Heisman Trophy candidacy with another highlight-reel performance. The junior eclipsed 1,000 yards on the season in just Wisconsin’s sixth game, a school record.

Wisconsin (4-2, 1-1 Big Ten) started Joel Stave at quarterback, but Gordon did most of the damage against the league’s worst rushing defense.

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Illinois (3-4, 0-3) did rally in the fourth quarter with backup Aaron Bailey at quarterback. He led them to two scores to get within 38-28 with about 3 minutes left before Illinois recovered an onside kick.

But Bailey threw an interception with 2 minutes left to seal Wisconsin’s win.

Minnesota 24, Northwestern 17

Jalen Myrick returned a kickoff 100 yards in the fourth quarter to atone for a penalty on the previous drive and help the Golden Gophers to the win at Minneapolis.

Mitch Leidner was 10 for 15 for 153 yards and ran for two touchdowns and David Cobb added 97 yards rushing on 30 carries for the Golden Gophers (5-1, 2-0 Big Ten), who didn’t lose any momentum during the bye week after a convincing win at Michigan.

After Northwestern (3-3, 2-1) drove 97 yards to tie the game at 17 midway through the fourth quarter, Myrick raced through a big hole on the left side and out-ran the Wildcats down the sideline for the winning score. Justin Jackson rushed for 106 yards and Trevor Siemian completed 32 of 50 passes for 269 yards with a touchdown and an interception for Northwestern.

Navy 51, Virginia Military institute 14

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Tago Smith ran for a score and passed for another, Noah Copeland scored on a run and a pass, and the Midshipmen’s defense chipped in nine points in the rout at Annapolis, Md.

Smith, a sophomore, started for the second time this season — both Navy wins — in place of Keenan Reynolds. With a bye week coming up, Reynolds was held out to rest after incurring both knee and shoulder injuries.

Navy ended a three-game losing streak.

Copeland’s 64-yard run on Navy’s third offensive play jump-started an offense that, coupled with two defensive scores, built a 37-7 halftime lead.

Copeland finished with 107 yards rushing on eight carries and also scored on a 16-yard pass from Smith, Navy’s fourth score over the final 5:19 of the first half.

Smith finished with three completions in five attempts for 82 yards passing.

Rice 41, Army 21

Driphus Jackson completed 15 of 21 passes for 209 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Owls to the victory at West Point, N.Y.

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Rice’s defense recovered two Army fumbles and held Army to a 5-for-13 mark on third-down conversions.

Army (2-4) received the ball to open the second half but Rice’s Christian Covington recovered a Angel Santiago fumble on the fifth play of the drive. Jackson completed a 41-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Taylor on the next play as Rice (3-3) surged ahead 31-14 with 12:30 remaining in the third quarter.

Rice’s Darik Dillard rushed for 71 yards on eight carries and scored on a 15-yard run with 12:37 remaining in the second quarter. Dillard caught a 10-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter for his only reception of the game.

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