Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book sparked the Irish to a 31-17 win over North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. on Friday. Gerry Broome/Associated Press
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Ian Book kept No. 2 Notre Dame’s offense moving while the Fighting Irish defense locked down Sam Howell and No. 25 North Carolina’s potent offense for the final three quarters in a 31-17 victory on Friday.
Book threw for 279 yards and a score and ran for 48 yards for the Fighting Irish (9-0, 8-0 ACC, No. 2 CFP), using his mobility and elusiveness to keep plays alive on a night when both offenses frequently faced long fields.
Receiver Ben Skowronek got Notre Dame its first lead with his 13-yard run around the right side midway through the third quarter. Kyren Williams ran for 124 yards – including a 47-yarder with about 51/2 minutes left as the Irish burned clock and sealed the game
Williams closed that drive with his second rushing TD, a clinching 1-yarder with 1:20 left that kept the Fighting Irish alone atop the ACC standings ahead of No. 4 Clemson and No. 10 Miami.
More impressively, though, was a defensive effort that forced Howell and the high-scoring Tar Heels to work for every gain after the opening quarter.
UNC (6-3, 6-3) sprinted to touchdowns on its first two drives, but Notre Dame surrendered only one field goal from there. The Tar Heels came in averaging 43 points and 563 yards, yet they were unable to buy time for Howell to push downfield for big gains nor open running lanes for a pair of backs averaging better than 100 yards rushing each in Javonte Williams and Michael Carter.
OHIO STATE: The team’s game at Illinois has been canceled because the No. 3 Buckeyes have had a spike of COVID-19 cases this week.
The cancelation came about sevens hours after the school announced Coach Ryan Day had tested positive and would not be available to coach if the Buckeyes played.
The team did not travel Friday to Champaign, Illinois, as scheduled so additional COVID-19 testing could be conducted. After finding returning positive tests, the game was called. This is the second game of the Big Ten season Ohio State has had canceled. Big Ten rules require teams to play at least six game in this abbreviated season to be eligible to play in the Big Ten championship game unless the average for all teams drops below six. Ohio State (4-0) has only two game remaining on its regular-season schedule.
VANDERBILT: Women’s soccer player Sarah Fuller will don a football uniform Saturday for Vanderbilt and is poised to become the first woman to play in a Power 5 game when the Commodores visit Missouri.
“Let’s make history,” senior Sarah Fuller wrote Friday on Twitter with a photo of herself wearing a football jersey with a soccer ball between her feet while holding a football in her hands.
No woman has appeared in an Southeastern Conference football game or for any Power 5 football team. Liz Heaston became the first woman to score with two extra points for Willamette in NAIA on Oct. 18, 1997.
Vanderbilt kicker Sarah Fuller adjusts her helmet during practice on Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn. Fuller, a goalkeeper on the Commodores’ women’s soccer team, will wear a football uniform for Vanderbilt Saturday. Vanderbilt Athletics via AP
Katie Hnida was the first woman to score at the Football Bowl Subdivision level with two extra points for New Mexico on Aug. 30, 2003. April Goss was the second with an extra point for Kent State in 2015. Tonya Butler was the first woman to kick a field goal in an NCAA game for Division II West Alabama on Sept. 13, 2003.
A senior from Wylie, Texas, Fuller made three saves last weekend as Vanderbilt upset top-seeded Arkansas 3-1 in women’s soccer to capture the program’s first Southeastern Conference Tournament title since 1994. Fuller played every minute of the tournament and said it’s an honor Vanderbilt called on her to help out.
She’ll be wearing “Play Like A Girl” on the back of her helmet.
“I think it’s amazing and incredible. But I’m also trying to separate that because I know this is a job I need to do and I want to help the team out and I want to do the best that I can,” Fuller said. “Placing that historical aspect aside just helps me focus in on what I need to do. I don’t want to let them down in anyway.
COVID-19 protocols and restrictions have left Coach Derek Mason with a limited number of specialists available against Missouri. That’s why he reached out to soccer coach Darren Ambrose for some help.
(15) IOWA STATE 23, (20) TEXAS 20: Breece Hall scored on a 3-yard run with 1:25 remaining, and No. 15 Iowa State (7-2, 7-1 Big 12) held off last-minute drive by Sam Ehlinger and No. 20 Texas (5-3, 4-3) to remain in first place in the Big 12.
After Iowa State sacked Ehlinger on third down, Texas’ Cameron Dicker barely missed left with a 58-yard field goal attempt as time expired. The Cyclones have almost locked up a spot in the Big 12 championship game for the first time.
Hall gained 91 yards on 20 carries, his first game under 100 this season, but had 30 on the final 69-yard touchdown drive. Quarterback Brock Purdy connected with tight ends Charlie Kolar and Dylan Soehner for the other 39 yards.
LIBERTY 45, UMASS 0: Malik Willis passed for three touchdowns in the first half and Liberty blanked winless UMass 45-0 on Friday in Lynchburg, Virginia, rebounding from a stinging one-point loss in its previous game.
Liberty (9-1), which outgained the Minutemen 629-227, scored touchdowns on four straight drives and added a field goal in the waning seconds of the first half to build a 31-0 halftime lead, adding another field goal and two more TDs on five second-half possessions.
The Minutemen (0-4) end a truncated season. The school had originally opted not to play during the coronavirus pandemic but changed course in September, managing to schedule four games. UMass was outscored 161-16.
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