NCAA Football Recap September 19
Here's the latest recap from NCAA Football games played on Saturday, September 19th from the Associated Press
- Trevor Lawrence threw for three touchdowns in just nine passing attempts, and No. 1 Clemson beat The Citadel 49-0. Lawrence also rushed for his third TD already this season, leading the way as the Tigers 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. Lawrence was 8 for 9 for 168 yards, including scoring passes of 54 and 17 yards to Frank Ladson Jr. and 44 yards to Amari Rodgers.
- Ian Book ran for three first-half touchdowns and No. 7 Notre Dame won its 20th straight home game 52-0 against South Florida. 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.
- D'Eriq King threw three touchdown passes and No. 17 Miami used big plays to beat No. 18 Louisville 47-34 on Saturday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams. King threw a 75-yarder touchdown pass to Jaylon Knighton in the third quarter, a series after Cam'ron Harris ran 75 yards for a score. Miami led 20-6 at halftime before Louisville scored twice in a wild third to get within seven.
- Ricky Person Jr. scored the short go-ahead touchdown with 5:51 left to help North Carolina State edge Wake Forest 45-42 on Saturday night in the Wolfpack's delayed season debut. Person ran for 99 yards and two scores. N.C. State opened the eighth season under Dave Doeren a week later than originally scheduled due to a coronavirus-related postponement. Kenneth Walker III ran for 131 yards and three touchdowns to lead Wake Forest. Ja'Sir Taylor picked off a third-quarter pass from N.C. State quarterback Bailey Hockman and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown.
- For the second straight weekend, the Big Ten made news without playing. Last week, the conference was in the process of putting together a restart plan for its football season. On Saturday, the Big Ten released its schedule 3.0 and, notably, Nebraska seemed to get the toughest redraw. Meanwhile, Big Ten favorite Ohio State appeared to catch a break in the eight-game schedule. Elsewhere, No. 14 UCF has new Heisman Trophy contender from Hawaii and No. 17 Miami's offense is a big-play machine.
- Kenny Pickett threw for two touchdowns and ran for another TD, and No. 25 Pittsburgh's defense did the rest as the Panthers beat Syracuse 21-10. Pitt limited the Orange 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. The Panthers sacked Culpepper and starter Tommy DeVito seven times, rarely letting the quarterbacks get comfortable. Pitt has won 14 of its last 16 meetings with the Orange.
- Phil Jurkovec threw for 300 yards and two touchdowns, Zay Flowers had 162 receiving yards, and Boston College beat Duke 26-6 to give Jeff Hafley a win in his first game as a head coach. Hafley, who served as Ohio State's co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach last season, replaced the fired Steve Addazio in December 2019. 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.
- Florida State coach Mike Norvell has tested positive for the coronavirus and won't coach the Seminoles in-person this week as they prepare for Miami. Norvell says he tested positive Friday but is feeling fine. Deputy head coach Chris Thomsen is taking over his duties, but the first-year Florida State head coach still intends to contribute. FSU's athletic director says he's been in contact with the Atlantic Coast Conference and Miami and they don't believe the game is in jeopardy. Meanwhile, Memphis announced it needs another week off and canceled its game against Texas-San Antonio scheduled for Friday. The Tigers were supposed to play Houston this weekend but that game was postponed after a COVID-19 outbreak among Memphis' players. UTSA will play Middle Tennessee instead Friday.