Cam Rising threw two touchdown passes in the first quarter before exiting early in the host Utah Utes' 23-12 victory over the Baylor Bears on Saturday afternoon in Salt Lake City, Utah. Rising's two early scores helped build enough of a cushion for the No. 11-ranked Utes (2-0) to build a 23-0 lead in the second quarter that they would ride to the win. But the bad news for Utah was that Rising needed to leave the game after crashing into the sidelines on a run out of bounds. Rising, who completed 8 of 14 passes for 92 yards, threw the ball just before he went out of bounds trying to evade pass rusher Treven Ma'ae and went crashing into the Baylor sideline. The seventh-year quarterback was holding his right hand when he stood back up. Without Rising, Utah's offense struggled and was shut out in the second half. Backup quarterback Isaac Wilson finished the game in Rising's place and completed 4 of 9 passes for 30 yards. The Bears (1-1) didn't get much offense going until their final drive of the first half which was capped by a 44-yard field goal from Isaiah Hankins. Baylor then made a game of it in the second half, after another Hankins field goal and a 47-yard touchdown pass from Dequan Finn to Josh Cameron cut the deficit to 23-12 with 53 seconds left in the third quarter. But the Bears' final two drives ended with a three-and-out and an advance to the Utes' 40 before losing the ball on downs when Richard Reese was tackled short of the first down on 4th and 14. Micah Bernard ran for 118 yards on 19 carries to pace Utah's running game. Finn went 9 for 21 for 115 yards and a touchdown for Baylor but was sacked three times including twice by Connor O'Toole. Utah's second touchdown was set up by O'Toole's strip sack of Finn which led to a Rising 2-yard touchdown pass to Bernard. Rising's first touchdown pass went for 28 yards to Money Parks, who finished with three catches for 80 yards. --Field Level Media

Kanon Woodill drilled a 35-yard field goal with 31 seconds remaining, and Northern Illinois blocked a field goal as time expired to stun No. 5 Notre Dame with a 16-14 victory on Saturday in South Bend, Ind. Antario Brown finished with 225 yards (99 rushing, 126 receiving) and a touchdown for Northern Illinois (2-0), which was a 28.5-point underdog. Huskies players poured off the sidelines and onto the field as time expired to celebrate the biggest upset in school history. Riley Leonard completed 20 of 32 passes for 163 yards and two interceptions, including a costly pick in the fourth quarter, for Notre Dame. Jeremiyah Love rushed for 79 yards and a touchdown for the Fighting Irish (1-1). Before Saturday, Northern Illinois never had defeated a top-10 opponent. The highest-ranked team the Huskies previously beat was No. 15 Maryland in 2003. After Woodill's kick made it 16-14 in favor of Northern Illinois, the Fighting Irish got the ball back at their 37-yard line with 24 seconds left and one timeout. The drive sputtered across midfield, and coach Marcus Freeman opted for a 62-yard field goal attempt by kicker Mitch Jeter with five seconds left. Cade Haberman of the Huskies blocked Jeter's kick to seal the outcome. The Fighting Irish trailed by six points at halftime before they regained a 14-13 lead with 8:34 remaining in the third quarter. Love hurdled a Northern Illinois defender and sprinted for a 34-yard rushing touchdown. Notre Dame opened the scoring on an 11-yard rushing touchdown by Leonard with 8:28 to go in the first quarter. It marked the first rushing touchdown as a member of the Fighting Irish for Leonard, who rushed for 19 touchdowns during the previous three seasons at Duke. Northern Illinois evened the score at 7-7 with 5:35 left in the first quarter. Brown caught a short pass from Ethan Hampton across the middle and sprinted across midfield and toward the end zone for an 83-yard touchdown. Woodill made a 42-yard field goal to give the Huskies a 10-7 lead with 2:13 remaining in the first quarter. Woodill connected again, this time from 21 yards, to increase Northern Illinois' lead to 13-7 with 13:39 to go before the half. --Field Level Media

Conner Harrell passed for two touchdowns and rushed for a third and true freshman Davion Gause ran for 105 yards as North Carolina held off Charlotte 38-20 Saturday afternoon in Chapel Hill, N.C. A sophomore making his second career start, Harrell was 16-of-25 passing for 219 yards and rushed for 39 more as the Tar Heels (2-0) ran for 269 yards despite losing leading rusher Omarion Hampton to injury in the second quarter. True freshman Deshawn Purdie was 9-of-19 passing for 134 yards and two touchdowns for the 49ers (0-2) after taking over for injured starter Max Brown in the second quarter. After settling for field goals their first two trips into the red zone in the first half, the 49ers scored on their third try when Purdie followed up a 34-yard strike to Jairus Mack with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Bryce Kennon early in the third quarter to cut their deficit to 21-13. But the Tar Heels responded with Harrell's 58-yard touchdown pass to Christian Hamilton and Noah Burnette's 44-yard field goal to build a 31-13 cushion entering the fourth period. Gause scored from a yard out in the fourth quarter to open the gap to 38-13, and Purdie ended the scoring with a 28-yard pass to Henry Rutledge. The Tar Heels opened the game with a three-and-out but scored touchdowns on their next three series to build a 21-6 lead at the half. Harrell threw for one score to Bryson Nesbit and scored on a 4-yard run, and Nate McCollum scored on a reverse from 37 yards out. The 49ers settled for field goals after twice driving inside the Heels' 10-yard line. Injuries sidelined seven Charlotte starters in the first half, including Brown, who was 8-of-12 passing for 175 yards before leaving with an injured hand. He did not return. North Carolina had three starters put out by injury, including running back Hampton who rushed for 77 yards in a little over a quarter before leaving for good. --Field Level Media

LaNorris Sellers threw two touchdown passes and South Carolina made good use of limited offensive spurts to pull away and defeat host Kentucky 31-6 in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams Saturday in Lexington, Ky. The Gamecocks were stout defensively, even scoring off a turnover on Nick Emmanwori's 24-yard interception return on the first play of the fourth quarter. Sellers completed 11 of 15 passes for 159 yards with an interception in his first career road start. Kentucky's passing attack produced only 44 yards on 6-for-17 success. Running back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye gained 70 yards on 17 carries for the Wildcats (1-1), who were 3-for-14 on third-down conversions and 0-for-2 on fourth downs. South Carolina (2-0) managed only 86 rushing yards, led by Raheim Sanders' 54 yards. That low production from the offense didn't matter because the Gamecocks had things locked down on defense. Sellers threw 16 yards to Joshua Simon for a third-quarter touchdown as the Gamecocks stretched their lead to 17-6. Sanders' 6-yard run in the final minute of the third quarter pushed the margin to 24-6. South Carolina, which struggled a week earlier to dispatch visiting Old Dominion, turned a close game into a decisive victory. South Carolina led 10-6 at halftime despite managing only four first downs and 101 yards of offense. Sellers connected with Mazeo Bennett Jr. for a 24-yard scoring play for the game's first points. That came as part of a four-play, 61-yard possession. Alex Herrera's 29-yard field goal made it 10-0 midway through the second quarter after the Gamecocks were gifted stellar field position by stopping Kentucky's fourth-and-one play at the Wildcats' 31. Kentucky got on the board with two field goals in the final two minutes of the first half as Alex Raynor connected from 32 and 39 yards. The Wildcats used 12 plays to go 57 yards to set up the first scoring chance. --Field Level Media