Dayne Crist threw for two first-quarter touchdowns and ran for another on Saturday night as Notre Dame built a 21-point lead and coasted to a 31-13 victory over host Boston College.
The Fighting Irish (2-3) had lost three straight games - all to teams currently in the Associated Press Top 25. But they got little resistance from Boston College (2-2), which promoted freshman Chase Rettig to starting quarterback during the week only to lose him to an ankle injury early in the second quarter.
Irish gave coach Brian Kelly his first road victory.
Tulane 17, Rutgers 14 - Joe Kemp scored on a 24-yard pass from wide receiver D.J. Banks on a third-quarter trick play and the Green Wave (2-2) stunned the Scarlet Knights in Piscataway, N.J.
Rutgers starting quarterback Tom Savage, who came into the game with bruised ribs, was hurt late in the second quarter and did not play in the second half. The school did not disclose his injury.
Florida State 34, Virginia 14 - Jermaine Thomas ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns in the first half and the Seminoles (4-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference State pounded the Cavaliers (2-2, 0-1) in Charlottesville, Va.
Georgia Tech 24, Wake Forest 20 - Joshua Nesbitt shook a rough start with a brilliant fourth-quarter, throwing a 9-yard touchdown pass to Correy Earls with 15 seconds left in the Yellow Jackets' comeback win over the Demon Deacons (3-2, 2-1 ACC) in Winston-Salem, N.C. Georgia Tech is 3-2, 2-1.
Connecticut 40, Vanderbilt 21 - Jordan Todman ran for 190 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Huskies (3-2) over the Commodores (1-3) in East Hartford, Conn., just the second win for the Big East over a BCS conference team this season.
UCLA 42, Washington State 28 - Derrick Coleman rushed for 185 yards and three touchdowns, Johnathan Franklin added 216 rushing yards and the Bruins (3-2, 1-1 Pac-10) scored twice in the fourth quarter to beat the Cougars (1-4, 0-2) in Pasadena, Calif.
Pittsburgh 44, Florida International 17 - Ray Graham ran for 277 yards and three touchdowns in his first college start and the host Panthers (2-2) shook off three sluggish quarters to beat the winless Golden Panthers (0-4).
Northwestern 29, Minnesota 28 - Dan Persa passed for 309 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 99 yards to make up for two red-zone turnovers, leading the unbeaten Wildcats' rally past the Gophers (1-4, 0-1 Big Ten) in Minneapolis. Northwestern is 5-0, 1-0.
