Freshman Darius Walker had two fourth-quarter touchdowns and Notre Dame renewed hope for a turnaround season by upsetting No. 8 Michigan 28-20 on Saturday.
Walker, who did not play in Notre Dame's opening game, ran for 115 yards on 31 carries -- the first Irish freshman to rush for more than 100 yards since Julius Jones had 146 yards against Navy in 1999.
PHOTO: AFP
Notre Dame (1-1) earned its first win over a top-10 team since beating fifth-ranked Michigan 25-23 two years ago. Since that game, the Irish were 0-4 against top-10 teams, losing by a combined 164-27 -- including the 38-0 loss to Michigan last season.
The Wolverines (1-1) lost their opening road game for a fifth straight year.
The victory was reminiscent of how the Irish played two seasons ago in getting off to an 8-0 start. The defense kept them in the game, the defense and special teams set up touchdowns and the offense came up with big plays when it had to.
The biggest surprise, though, was the play of Walker, who ran for 61 yards on 14 carries in the fourth quarter.
The Irish were held to 11 yards rushing a week earlier in a listless loss to Brigham Young.
No. 1 Southern California 49, Colorado State 0
In Los Angeles, LenDale White ran for 123 yards on 14 carries and scored a career-high three touchdowns to lead Southern California to an overpowering victory.,
The win was USC's 22nd in 23 games and 11th straight -- the second-longest active winning streak among Division I-A schools behind Boise State's 13.
It was also the Trojans' 16th consecutive triumph at the Coliseum dating back nearly three years -- their longest winning streak at home since they won 19 straight from 1931-1933.
No. 9 Ohio State 24, Marshall 21
In Columbus, Ohio, Mike Nugent's 55-yard field goal as time expired gave the Buckeyes a victory over Marshall.
The Buckeyes (2-0) have won 13 of their last 14 games decided by a touchdown or less over the last two-plus seasons, including a 7-0 record while winning the national championship in 2002.
Ohio State took over at its own 45 after a poor punt by Marshall (0-2) with 25 seconds left and Justin Zwick completed three short passes to get close enough to give Nugent a shot.
Santonio Holmes had 10 catches for 218 yards and two TDs for Ohio State.
Fresno State 45, No. 13 Kansas State 13
In Manhattan, Kansas, Paul Pinegar threw two touchdown passes to Matt Rivera and ran for another score, and Fresno State upset Kansas State.
Dwayne Wright ran for two TDs before suffering a season ending knee injury in Fresno State's biggest win over a ranked team -- and the Wildcats' worst regular-season nonconference loss in 13 years.
Fresno State (2-0) also earned its second road win over a team from a Bowl Championship Series conference in seven days.
Kansas State (1-1) had only 2 yards of offense in the first quarter and trailed 31-14 at the half. Fresno State held star running back Darren Sproles to 37 yards on 11 carries.
No. 2 Oklahoma 63, Houston 13
In Norman, Oklahoma, Jason White threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns, Antonio Perkins tied the NCAA college record with his eighth career punt return for a score and Oklahoma cruised to a victory.,
White, the Heisman Trophy winner, completed 14 of 18 passes without an interception.
Following a 3-yard touchdown run by Jackie Battle for Houston (0-2) on its opening drive, the Sooners (2-0) scored touchdowns on each of their first seven possessions to take a 49-7 halftime lead.
Perkins put Oklahoma (2-0) ahead 42-7 with his record-tying return. After fielding Justin Laird's line-drive punt, Perkins headed up the right side of the field, shed two tacklers at the 25 and cut across the field on his way to a 41-yard return.
Perkins tied Texas Tech's Wes Welker for the NCAA career punt return mark.
No. 3 Georgia 20, South Carolina 16
In Columbia, South Carolina, David Greene struggled early but finished with 213 yards passing and two touchdown passes to lead No. 3 Georgia.
The Bulldogs (2-0, 1-0 South-eastern Conference) looked flat from the beginning and trailed South Carolina (1-1, 1-1) 16-0 before finding their rhythm late in the second quarter.
Greene's teamed with Reggie Brown for a 22-yard TD reception in the fourth quarter that put the Bulldogs up 20-16. Brown and Fred Gibson combined for 10 catches for 130 yards. Greene was 19-for-38 with one interception.
No. 6 LSU 53, Arkansas State 3
In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, JaMarcus Russell threw two touchdown pass and Marcuas Randall had another to lead LSU to an easy victory.
The defending BCS champs (2-0) showed no sign of the struggle that left them scrambling to beat Oregon State in overtime in their opener. The offense rolled up 461 total yards and scored the first six times it touched the football against the Indians (0-2).
Justin Vincent rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Joseph Addai had 95 yards and a touchdown on seven carries.
No. 7 Texas 22, Arkansas 20
In Fayetteville, Arkansas, Cedric Benson rushed for 188 yards and scored two touchdowns and No. 7 Texas took advantage of a late Arkansas fumble deep in Long-horns' territory to hold off the Razorbacks 22-20 on Saturday night.
The Longhorns turned their oldtime rivals back three times in the final 9:58 after Arkansas (1-1) closed within two. Razorback quarterback Matt Jones gave up the crucial fumble and Texas recovered at the 8 with three minutes left.
Texas (2-0) earned long-term bragging rights in a border-state rivalry that dates to the days of the old Southwest Conference.
No. 11 Florida 49, Eastern Michigan 10
In Gainesville, Florida, Chris Leak threw for 244 yards and three touchdowns in the rain, leading the Gators to a rout in their hurricane-delayed season opener.
Leak completed 16 of 25 passes before being replaced by Galvin Dickey at the start of the fourth quarter.
Ciatrick Fason rushed for 105 yards and two TDs, while DeShawn Wynn, O.J Small, Dallas Baker, Billy Latsko and Skyler Thornton all scored once for Florida.
No. 12 California 41, New Mexico State 14
In Berkeley, California, J.J. Arrington ran for 177 yards and three touchdowns, and Aaron Rodgers completed 19 of 26 passes for 260 yards and two scores for Cal.
Chase Lyman made four receptions for 111 yards with a touchdown and a two-point conversion for the Golden Bears (2-0), who played their only home game at Memorial Stadium until they host UCLA on Oct. 16.
The Aggies (0-2) were outgained 353-96 in the first half.
No. 15 Virginia 56, North Carolina 24
In Charlottesville, Virginia, Wali Lundy scored three touchdowns and Marquis Weeks returned a kickoff 100 yards against North Carolina for the second time in three years.
The Cavaliers' offensive line manhandled the Tar Heels (1-1), opening big holes for Lundy and fullback Jason Snelling as Virginia put together scoring drives of 77, 68, 97, 79, 90 and 47 yards.
Virginia (2-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) did not punt until 14:31 left in the game, and then only because a personal foul penalty moved the Cavaliers out of field goal range.
No. 16 Iowa 17, Iowa State 10
In Iowa City, Iowa, Ed Hinkel made a diving, fingertip catch for a 29-yard touchdown and Iowa stiffened on defense when it needed to most to beat its rival.
Iowa (2-0) forced Iowa State (1-1) to kick field goals four times after the Cyclones had driven deep into Hawkeye territory. But Brian Jansen, a freshman walk-on, missed three of those kicks and Iowa held on for its second straight victory over the Cyclones after losing five in a row.
No. 18 Auburn 43, Mississippi State 14
In Starkville, Mississippi, Carnell Williams ran for 122 yards and two touchdowns, and Ronnie Brown added 147 yards rushing to lead Auburn.
Jason Campbell threw two of his three touchdown passes to Anthony Mix, and Auburn scored on three of its first four possessions to give Sylvester Croom a loss in the first SEC game for the league's first black head football coach.
Auburn (2-0) won its fourth straight in the series, the last three by an average of nearly 30 points against the Bulldogs (1-1).
No. 21 Wisconsin 18, UNLV 3
In Madison, Wisconsin, Jim Leonhard returned a blocked field goal 86 yards for a score and the Badgers came up with two safeties.
The Badgers (2-0) hadn't recorded two safeties in a game since 1951 and they're the first Big Ten team to do it in 23 years, since Minnesota had two at Indiana in 1981. The first came on a high snap out of the end zone on a punt by UNLV (0-2) and the second on linebacker Mark Zalewski's sack in the end zone.
Without star running back Anthony Davis, who is out indefinitely with an eye injury, the Badgers' offense sputtered and needed 10 possessions to get into the end zone on John Stocco's 5-yard touchdown toss to Darrin Charles with 12 minutes left.
No. 22 Minnesota 37, Illinois State 21
In Minneapolis, Marion Barber III and Laurence Maroney each surpassed 100 yards rushing for the fifth time in 15 games together, and Minnesota fought off Division I-AA Illinois State.
Barber rushed 18 times for 149 yards and two touchdowns, and Maroney ran 18 times for 141 yards and a score for the Gophers (2-0). Minnesota broke the game open with a pair of 80-yard TDs in a 2:08 span midway through the third quarter.
No. 23 Maryland 45, Temple 22
In College Park, Maryland, Joel Statham completed 18 of 25 passes for 268 yards and two touchdowns for Maryland.
Sammy Maldonado ran for a career-high 106 yards and two touchdowns to help Maryland (2-0) win its 12th straight game at Byrd Stadium and improve to 5-0 against the Owls.
Quarterback Walter Washington ran for two TDs for Temple (0-2), which has lost nine straight games and 19 in a row to ranked opponents.
Indiana 30, No. 24 Oregon 24
In Eugene, Oregon, Matt LoVechhio threw for a touchdown and BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran for 91 yards and another score, to lead Indiana (2-0) to its first 2-0 start since 1996.
The Ducks (0-1) broke a string of 21-straight nonconference victories at Autzen Stadium dating back to Sept. 17, 1994, when they lost to Utah.
No. 25 Purdue 59, Ball State 7
In West Lafayette, Indiana, Kyle Orton threw for a career-high five touchdowns and ran for another to lead No. 25 Purdue to a second straight win.
Orton completed his first 15 passes and threw for 329 yards in just over two quarters of work.
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