College football roundup: Notre Dame rolls, Oklahoma State avoids upset
Ian Book ran for three first-half touchdowns and No. 7 Notre Dame won its 20th consecutive game at South Bend, Ind., 52-0 against South Florida, on Saturday.
The Fighting Irish (2-0) led 35-0 at halftime and for the second year in a row posted a 52-point shutout. Book capped the opening drive with 4-yard touchdown run and freshman Chris Tyree scored from a yard out about five minutes later.
It never got better for the first-year coach Jeff Scott’s Bulls (1-1), who were a late add to Notre Dame’s schedule after the Irish joined the Atlantic Coast Conference for this off season in a pandemic.
C’Bo Flemister ran for a career-best 127 yards for Notre Dame as the Irish spread the touches around between starter Kyren Williams (62 yards on 10 carries) and Tyree (65 on eight).
Book is the first quarterback in Notre Dame’s modern era to run for three touchdowns in one half. He added 143 yards on 12-of-19 passing before exiting with 2:21 left in the third quarter as freshman Drew Pyne took over.
Jafar Armstrong added a 5-yard TD run to close out the scoring for the Irish.
Pac-12 presidents and chancellors intend to meet Thursday to determine whether the football season will begin before Jan. 1.
Meanwhile, the Irish defense limited USF to 65 yards in the first half and 231 total while breaking in three new starters.
at Clemson 49, The Citadel 0: Trevor Lawrence threw nine passes Saturday, and three of them went for touchdowns. It was that kind of day for No. 1 Clemson.
Lawrence and star running back Travis Etienne got plenty of rest as the top-ranked Tigers rolled to victory over The Citadel (0-2). Lawrence was 8 for 9 for 168 yards, including first-half scoring passes of 54 and 17 yards to Frank Ladson Jr. and 44 yards to Amari Rodgers.
Lawrence also rushed for his third TD already this season, leading the way as the Tigers (2-0) improved to 35-0 against teams from the Football Championship Subdivision. Clemson came out fast, stayed sharp and played just about everybody available in the runaway victory.
at No. 11 Oklahoma State 16, Tulsa 7: Chuba Hubbard was limited to 35 yards in the first half but scored on a 3-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter to lift the Cowboys to the win in a season opener for both schools.
Trailing 7-3 late in the third quarter, Oklahoma State offense received a big offensive spark when the Cowboys’ third quarterback, true freshman Shane Illingworth, entered the game and immediately connected on his first three passes, including the two longest plays of the day, hitting Tylan Wallace for receptions of 36 and 29 yards.
Illingworth completed 4 of 5 passes for 74 yards in just over a quarter of work, helping Wallace end up with four receptions for 94 yards. Freshman Alex Hale made three field goals, two in the fourth quarter, from 27, 40 and 29 yards.
For Tulsa, Zach Smith completed 18 of 28 passes for 164 yards and one touchdown, a 16-yard toss to Josh Johnson with 1:38 left in the first half that put the Golden Hurricane up 7-3.
at No. 13 Cincinnati 55, Austin Peay 20: Gerrid Doaks scored four touchdowns, including a career-high three rushing TDs, in the Bearcats’ season opener.
Desmond Ridder passed for 196 yards and two TDs for Cincinnati in a game that originally was scheduled for Sept. 3. It was the latest start for a Bearcats season since 1968 when they played at Texas Tech on Sept. 21.
Cincinnati (1-0) has high hopes for this year after it went 11-3 last season and ranked No. 21 in the final AP poll. It quickly jumped all over the Governors.
No. 14 Central Florida 49, at Georgia Tech 21: Dillon Gabriel threw for a career-best 417 yards and four touchdowns to lead Central Florida to victory in the Knights’ season opener Saturday.
After giving up a long return on the opening kickoff, UCF rebounded behind its left-handed sophomore to beat a Georgia Tech team (1-1) that was looking to build on a big road win in its first game.
Tre Nixon and Marlon Williams each hauled in a pair of TD passes as Gabriel eclipsed his previous career high of 365 yards in a game last season at East Carolina. He finished 27 of 41, also eclipsing his career high for completions and matching his mark for most scoring passes in a game.
at No. 19 Louisiana Lafayette 34, Georgia State 31: Elijah Mitchell rushed for 164 yards, including the winning touchdown in overtime, as the Ragin’ Cajuns improved to 2-0.
Louisiana Lafayette (1-0 Sun Belt Conference) was ranked for the first time since 1943 following last week’s 20-point win at Iowa State. Louisiana-Lafayette was a 17-point favorite, but trailed 14-7 at intermission and Levi Lewis then threw an interception on the opening drive of the second half.
The Panthers (0-1, 0-1) answered by taking a 21-7 lead on Marcus Carroll’s 2-yard run, but the lead didn’t last long.
at Marshall 17, No. 23 Appalachian State 7: Brenden Knox rushed for 138 yards and a touchdown and quarterback Grant Wells came up with back-to-back big plays when Marshall needed them in the win.
Marshall (2-0) beat a ranked opponent for the first time since winning at No. 6 Kansas State in 2003. It also was the Thundering Herd’s first win over a ranked opponent at home since 1976. Appalachian State (1-1) squandered a couple of late opportunities and was held scoreless in the second half.
at No. 25 Pittsburgh 21, Syracuse 10: Kenny Pickett threw for two touchdowns and ran for another score, and the Panthers’ defense did the rest.
USC’s Mike Bohn and UCLA’s Martin Jarmond hear from state and L.A. County health officials, who say they won’t prevent teams from holding full contact practices.
Pitt (2-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) limited the Orange (0-2, 0-2) to 171 total yards, 69 of them coming on backup quarterback Rex Culpepper’s second-quarter touchdown strike to a streaking Taj Harris. Otherwise, Syracuse mustered very little against the Panthers’ dominant front seven.
Boston College 26, at Duke 6: Phil Jurkovec threw for 300 yards and two touchdowns, Zay Flowers had 162 receiving yards, to give Jeff Hafley a win in his first game as a head coach.
Jurkovec, the former four-star quarterback who transferred to Boston College from Notre Dame in the offseason, led the Eagles (1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) to a touchdown on their first drive, only to see the offense sputter. But, gradually, Jurkovec started to find his rhythm.
Despite tallying 351 total yards, Duke’s offense was unable to capitalize in Boston College territory. Chase Brice completed 23 of 42 passes for 217 yards and two interceptions for the Blue Devils (0-2, 0-2).
Navy 27, at Tulane 24: Jamale Carothers rushed for 125 yards, Daniel Davies kicked a 33-yard field goal as time expired, and Navy rallied from a 24-0 third-quarter deficit to beat Tulane 27-24 on Saturday.
Navy (1-1, 1-0 American), which lost its opener 55-3 to BYU, ran just two plays in Tulane territory in the first half and looked in danger of being blown out again late in the second quarter.
Tulane (1-1, 0-1) was threatening to build on its 24-point lead before Cameron Kinley intercepted Tulane quarterback Keon Howard at the Navy 3. The turnover looked far more consequential as the game wore on and Navy stunningly seized control of the game in the second half, when the Midshipmen outgained the Green Wave 291 yards to 82.
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