Notre Dame’s Audric Estimé celebrates as he scores during Saturday’s game against Central Michigan in South Bend, Ind. (AP photo)
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Sam Hartman threw three touchdown passes to move into seventh place on major college football’s career list and No. 9 Notre Dame pulled away from Central Michigan in the second half for a 41-17 victory Saturday.
Notre Dame (4-0) now awaits a top-10 showdown with No. 6 Ohio State next Saturday.
Hartman now has 123 career touchdown passes. He passed Aaron Murray of Georgia and Ty Detmer of BYU and is tied with Oklahoma’s Landry Jones at No. 7 all-time.
Hartman finished with 330 yards passing and powered into the end zone from the 1 in the third quarter.
Audric Estime rushed for 176 yards on 20 carries and scored a touchdown for the Irish, who outscored Central Michigan 20-3 after leading 21-14 at halftime.
Blending a quick-strike aerial attack and a methodical ground game, Notre Dame outgained Central Michigan 578-268.
Hartman struck early, connecting with Tobias Merriweather for a 75-yard touchdown pass on Notre Dame’s fourth play of the game. He also fired a 76-yard TD pass to Chris Tyree in the second quarter and passed 4 yards to Holden Staes for a score in the fourth quarter.
Jase Bauer, starting at quarterback for Central Michigan (1-2) in place of Bert Emanuel, Jr. (illness), plunged into the end zone from the 1 with 17 seconds left in the second quarter to cap a nine-play, 83-yard drive that trimmed the Notre Dame lead to seven at halftime.
No. 1 Georgia 24, South Carolina 14
ATHENS, Ga. — Carson Beck passed for 269 yards, Daijun Edwards, Dillon Bell and Cash Jones ran for second-half touchdowns, and Georgia rallied from 11 points down to beat South Carolina.
The two-time reigning national champion Bulldogs won their 20th consecutive game in uncharacteristic fashion, trotting off to a smattering of boos from their home fans and facing their biggest halftime deficit in nearly three years.
But Georgia (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) played like a champ after the teams returned to the field on a soggy, gloomy day between the hedges.
The defense totally shut down Spencer Rattler and the Gamecocks (1-2, 0-1), who couldn’t build on their 14-3 lead at the break. They managed just 129 yards over the final two quarters, with Rattler held to 6 of 24 passing for 104 yards with two interceptions.
No. 3 Florida State 31, Boston College 29
BOSTON— DJ Lundy intercepted a pass to set up his own 1-yard touchdown run and Florida State scored four unanswered touchdowns to build a 21-point lead but then blew almost all of it, surviving a late Boston College charge.
Boston College set a school record for penalties, missed an extra point, went for 2 after another touchdown and failed, and opted not to kick a field goal from the Seminoles 5 when trailing by 15 points early in the fourth quarter. But the Eagles still trailed by only 2 points with the ball in the final three minutes before Kalen DeLoach sacked Thomas Castellanos on third down to stall BC’s last possession.
The Eagles would have gotten the ball back with about a minute left after stopping Florida State on third down, but they were called for face masking on the tackle — their 18th penalty of the game.
Jordan Travis completed 16 of 24 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 38 yards for the Seminoles (3-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference). Thomas Castellanos threw for 305 yards and one touchdown and ran for 95 and another score for BC (1-2, 0-1),
No. 12 Utah 31, Weber State 7
SALT LAKE CITY — Nate Johnson threw for 193 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score in his first start, helping Utah to a victory over Weber State in another game without Cameron Rising.
Though he is practicing without limits, Rising still hasn’t suited up for the Utes (3-0) since tearing an ACL in the Rose Bowl last season.
Weber State’s Damon Bankston, who came in as the leading rusher in FCS game at 132 yards per game, was held to 59 yards on eight carries. The running back had 47 of those on a second-quarter carry that set up the only score for the Wildcats (2-1).
No. 14 LSU 41, Mississippi State 14
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Malik Nabers set career highs with 13 catches for 239 yards and scored two touchdowns, Jayden Daniels ran for two scores, and LSU beat Mississippi State.
The Tigers (2-1) outgained the Bulldogs 310-79 in the first half on the way to a 24-7 lead.
Will Rogers had his worst game as a starting quarterback at Mississippi State (2-1) as the senior was 11 of 28 for 103 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. It was the fewest completions and yardage Rogers has had as a starter.
Missouri 30, No. 15 Kansas State 27
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Harrison Mevis kicked a 61-yard field goal with no time remaining Saturday, sending Missouri to a field-storming, come-from-behind victory over Kansas State in a nonconference showdown of former Big 12 rivals.
The Tigers (3-0) had a chance to give their big-legged kicker a shorter attempt after Brady Cook had driven them into Kansas State territory in the final seconds. But after huddling on the sideline, Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz was too slow getting his field-goal unit onto the field, and the delay-of-game penalty pushed the Tigers back 5 yards.
Cook proceeded to throw an incomplete pass in the final seconds, but it left just enough time for Mevis to make some magic.
Will Howard threw for 270 yards and three touchdowns with an interception for the Wildcats (2-1).
No. 16 Oregon State 26, San Diego State 9
CORVALLIS, Ore. — DJ Uiagalelei passed for 284 yards and a touchdown, ran for a touchdown for the third consecutive game, and Oregon State’s defense had seven sacks in a win over San Diego State.
In his third game as the Beavers’ starting quarterback after transferring from Clemson, Uiagalelei completed 14 of 30 passes and had two interceptions.
Damien Martinez anchored Oregon State’s running game with 102 yards.
The Beavers (3-0) kept the Aztecs (2-2) out of the end zone until the fourth quarter.
No. 20 North Carolina 31, Minnesota 13
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Drake Maye threw for a season-high 414 yards to go with two touchdowns, Nate McCollum flirted with a single-game UNC receiving record and North Carolina pushed past Minnesota.
Maye overcame two interceptions and ultimately provided the only reliable source of offense for the Tar Heels (3-0), who were unable to run the ball against one of nation’s top defenses.
Darius Taylor ran for 138 yards and a touchdown shortly before halftime to lead Minnesota (2-1).
