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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, October 7, 2007

Notre Dame beats UCLA to end five-game skid

Associated Press

PASADENA, Calif. — Notre Dame fought its way out of one of the worst slumps in school history.

Jimmy Clausen scored on a sneak and Maurice Crum returned a fumble 34 yards for another touchdown during a 50-second span of the third quarter and the Fighting Irish won for the first time this season, 20-6 over UCLA yesterday.

"When you're 0-5, everyone in the country is laughing at you," Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said. "The only thing you can do is do something about it on the field."

The Irish did.

After a school-record 0-5 start, they won to avoid matching their longest losing streak. The victory was their first in eight games dating back to last season, and the only other time the Irish lost eight straight was in 1960, when they won their opener and didn't win again until the final game of the season.

Notre Dame (1-5) knocked out UCLA (4-2) quarterback Ben Olson with a knee injury late in the first quarter, then pressured freshman redshirt McLeod Bethel-Thompson into mistakes the rest of the game.

Oregon State 31, Arizona 16: Yvenson Bernard ran for 140 yards and a pair of touchdowns, then caught a pass for another score as the Beavers (3-3, 1-2 Pac-10) built an early lead in cruising past the Wildcats (2-4, 1-2) at Corvallis, Ore.

ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE

Florida State 27, North Carolina State 10: Michael Ray Garvin returned an interception 43 yards for a touchdown to spark the host Seminoles (4-1,1-1) over the Wolfpack (1-5, 0-3) at Tallahassee, Fla. for their fourth straight victory.

Wake Forest 41, Duke 36: Receiver Kenneth Moore caught 11 passes for 100 yards and rushed four times for 84 yards, with scoring runs of 21 and 53 yards, as the visiting Demon Deacons (3-2, 2-1) held off the Blue Devils (1-5, 0-3) at Durham, N.C.

North Carolina 33, Miami 27: Brandon Tate scored on a 95-yard end-around in a spurt of 27 points to start the game and Connor Barth kicked four field goals as the host Tar Heels (2-4, 1-2) raced to a 27-0 lead and held off a late charge by the Hurricanes (4-2, 1-1) at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Maryland 28, Georgia Tech 26: In his first career start, Chris Turner threw for 255 yards, and Lance Ball ran for three touchdowns as the host Terrapins (4-2, 1-1) beat the Yellow Jackets (3-3, 1-3) at College Park, Md.

BIG 12 CONFERENCE

Texas Tech 42, Iowa State 17: Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree set an NCAA record for receiving touchdowns (17) by a freshman and Graham Harrell was 36-of-43 for 425 yards and four touchdowns as the host Red Raiders (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) routed the Cyclones (1-5, 0-2) at Lubbock, Texas.

Colorado 43, Baylor 23: Demetrius Sumler scored three touchdowns, Kevin Eberhart kicked four field goals longer than 40 yards and the visiting Buffaloes (4-2, 2-0 Big 12) raced to a 30-9 lead in rolling past the Bears (3-3, 0-2) at Waco, Texas.

Texas A&M 24, Oklahoma State 23: Jorvorskie Lane rushed for two touchdowns and had his first TD catch as the host Aggies (5-1, 2-0) rallied from 17 points down to beat the Cowboys (3-3, 1-1) at College Station, Texas to take over first place in the Big 12 South.

BIG TEN CONFERENCE

Penn State 27, Iowa 7: Anthony Morelli threw for 233 yards and a touchdown, and Rodney Kinlaw ran for a career-high 168 yards and two scores as the host Nittany Lions (4-2, 1-2) shut down the Hawkeyes (2-4, 0-3) at State College, Pa.

Michigan 33, Eastern Michigan 22: Mike Hart ran for 215 yards to become Michigan's career rushing leader (4,687 total), and matched a career high with three touchdowns to lead the host Wolverines (4-2) over the Eagles (2-4) at Ann Arbor, Mich.

Indiana 40, Minnesota 20: Bryan Payton rushed for 90 yards and three touchdowns, and Austin Starr tied a single-game school record with four field goals to help the host Hoosiers (5-1, 2-1) rout the Golden Gophers (1-5, 0-3) at Bloomington, Ind.

Northwestern 48, Michigan State 41: C.J. Bacher threw for a school-record 520 yards and five touchdowns, including a 12-yarder to Omar Conteh in overtime, as the visiting Wildcats (3-3, 1-2) beat the Spartans (4-2, 0-2) at East Lansing, Mich.

INDEPENDENTS

Army 20, Tulane 17: The host Black Knights (3-3) tied it as time expired on a deflected 36-yard pass to Mike Wright from backup Kevin Dunn and Owen Tolson kicked a 25-yard field goal in overtime to beat the Green Wave (1-4) at West Point, N.Y.

MID-AMERICAN

Miami (Ohio) 20, Kent State 13: Jake O'Connell caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Raudabaugh for a 17-10 lead on the first possession of the second half, and the visiting RedHawks (3-3, 2-0) forced three turnovers to beat the Golden Flashes (3-3, 1-2) at Kent, Ohio.

Temple 16, Northern Illinois 15: Jake Brownell's third field goal of the game, a 39-yarder with nine seconds left, lifted the host Owls (1-5, 1-2) over the Huskies (1-5, 0-3) at Philadelphia, snapping an eight-game losing streak.

MOUNTAIN WEST

San Diego State 24, Colorado State 20: Quarterback Kevin O'Connell ran for three touchdowns, the third coming with 43 seconds left in the game, as the visiting Aztecs (2-3, 1-0) won at Fort Collins, Colo., extending the Rams' (0-5, 0-2) losing streak to 12 games.

WYOMING 24, TCU 21: Hoost Marsh caught two touchdowns while Devin Moore and Wynel Seldon combined for 235 yards rushing to lead the host Cowboys (4-1, 1-0) over the Horned Frogs (3-3, 1-2) at Laramie, Wyo.

SOUTHEASTERN

Arkansas 34, Chattanooga 15: Felix Jones rushed for 141 yards and two second-half touchdowns, and Darren McFadden ran for 122 yards to lead the host Razorbacks (3-2) past the Mocs (1-4) at Little Rock, Ark.

ALABAMA 30, HOUSTON 24: John Parker Wilson threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third, and Simeon Castille intercepted a pass in the end zone on the final play to help the host Crimson Tide (4-2) hold off the Cougars (2-3) at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Auburn 35, Vanderbilt 7: Ben Tate rushed for 96 yards, Brad Lester ran for 77 yards and two touchdowns in his season debut following a suspension, and the host Tigers (4-2, 2-1) beat the Commodores (3-2, 1-2) at Auburn, Ala., for their third consecutive victory.

SUN BELT CONFERENCE

Virginia 23, Middle Tennessee 21: Chris Gould kicked a 34-yard field goal with 8 seconds left, redeeming himself for an earlier extra-point miss, as the visiting Cavaliers (5-1) beat the Blue Raiders (1-5) at Murfreesboro, Tenn., for their fifth straight win.

ELSEWHERE

APPALACHIAN STATE 45, GARDNER-WEBB 7: Kevin Richardson scored four second-quarter touchdowns, and the Mountaineers (5-1) scored on six straight possessions spanning the second, third and fourth quarters to run their home winning streak to 30 games with a rout of the Bulldogs (2-3) at Boone, N.C.

Northern Arizona 44, Portland State 43: Vikings' (2-4, 2-1 Big Sky) coach Jerry Glanville gambled on a two-point conversion attempt in the final six seconds and lost as the visiting Lumberjacks (3-3, 2-1) held on at Portland, Ore.

CHADRON STATE 21, WESTERN NEW MEXICO 0: Danny Woodhead broke the NCAA all-divisions career rushing record, passing R.J. Bowers by running for 208 yards to increase his total to 7,441 yards as the visiting Eagles (6-0, 3-0) beat the Mustangs (2-4, 2-2) in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game at Silver City, N.M.