College Football

College football Week 4 highlights: Ohio State beats Notre Dame with last-second TD

Updated Sep. 24, 2023 2:25 a.m. ET

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Week 4 of the college football season was loaded with must-see matchups around the country in the Pac-12, Big Ten and SEC. 

Kicking things off, No. 16 Oklahoma handled Cincinnati on FOX's "Big Noon Kickoff." Find all the action here.

Elsewhere, No. 10 Oregon's 36-point blowout of No. 19 Colorado handed Deion Sanders his first loss as head coach of the Buffaloes and the largest loss of his head coaching career. Colorado was without two-way star Travis Hunter, who is sidelined with a lacerated liver. Meanwhile, No. 13 Alabama outlasted No. 15 Ole Miss, despite getting off to a slow start, and No. 11 Utah narrowly held off No. 22 UCLA at home.

In the nightcap, No. 6 Ohio State, won a thriller over No. 9 Notre Dame in South Bend, coming away with a 17-14 win. Ohio State needed just about every second, scoring the game-winning touchdown with one second left on a 1-yard run by Chip Trayanum.

Elsewhere, No. 21 Washington State defeated No. 14 Oregon State, winning 38-35. No. 7 Penn State dominated No. 24 Iowa in its "White Out" game, 31-0.

Here are the top moments!

No. 6 Ohio State 17, No. 9 Notre Dame 14

Impressive catch!

Notre Dame tight end Mitchell Evans was somehow able to come down with a one-armed grab as an Ohio State defender tugged on his other arm, getting things rolling for the Fighting Irish's offense. 

Big stop!

It was initially ruled that Sam Hartman picked up the first down on a fourth-and-1 run on Notre Dame's opening drive. However, the Fighting Irish QB's decision to tuck the ball in cost him a yard and the first down, giving the Buckeyes the ball back.

Notre Dame gets a big stop of its own

Ohio State had multiple chances from the 1-yard to get the game's first score. It failed to deliver, with Kyle McCord struggling to find a receiver on fourth-and-goal before his pass got batted away, turning the ball over on downs. 

Oh my, Marvin

Marvin Harrison Jr. made an eye-popping grab along the sideline that didn't stand because he landed out of bounds. However, he drew a penalty on the play, allowing Ohio State to move the ball down the field to set up the game's first score. Jayden Fielding made a 31-yard field goal with 26 seconds left in the half, putting Ohio State up, 3-0, going into the break.

A possible costly TD for the Buckeyes

Ohio State finally scored the game's first touchdown after it made a key fourth-down stop. TreVeyon Henderson took it the distance on a 61-yard run, putting Ohio State up, 10-0.

But the touchdown didn't come without injury. Harrison was hurt on the play as he was blocking on the outside when a Notre Dame defender accidentally fell into his legs while trying to tackle Henderson. 

Fighting Irish fight back

Notre Dame finally got on the board following Ohio State's touchdown drive, going on a methodical 75-yard drive that lasted over seven minutes. Gi'Bran Payne punctuated the drive with his 1-yard touchdown run on a play out of the Wildcat formation, reaching the ball over the plane for the score.

Harrison hops back in, makes a grab

Harrison didn't miss a single offensive snap for the Buckeyes, using the Fighting Irish's long drive to his advantage to help get his ankle wrapped. He also made a grab over the middle on the first play of the possession. 

McCord magic

Ohio State was somehow able to pick up the first down on a third-down play when McCord's arm was hit while winding up to make a pass. The ball fluttered out of his hand before getting into the vicinity of Cade Stover, who won a battle for the ball to complete one of the most awkward-looking plays of the season. 

Notre Dame takes the lead

The Fighting Irish took their first lead of the night after another long touchdown drive, marching 96 yards down the field to get the score. The drive ended with Hartman finding Rico Flores in the end zone for a touchdown to go up, 14-10.

Fourth-and-stopped

Notre Dame's defense prevailed once again on a fourth-and-short situation. Ohio State decided to run a sweep with Emeka Egbuka. But before he could turn up field, Egbuka was met by a few Notre Dame defenders at the line of scrimmage, turning the ball over and giving the Fighting Irish the ball back up by four with just over four minutes left. 

For the win!

Chip Trayanum delivered right on time for the Buckeyes, making his way into the end zone from 1-yard out right before the buzzer. It was originally ruled that Trayanum scored with no time left, but the refs put a second back on the clock, allowing Notre Dame to try and pitch the ball around for the win. 

But Ohio State denied Notre Dame for the second straight season, winning 17-14.

No. 7 Penn State 31, No. 24 Iowa 0 

Drew drops one in

Drew Allar helped Penn State score the game's first touchdown when he hit Khalil Dinkins over the middle for a 10-yard score on fourth-and-1, extending the Nittany Lions' lead to 10-0. 

Wide open Warren

Penn State marched down the field on its opening drive of the second half, moving to Iowa's 2-yard line. On third-and-goal, Allar found Tyler Warren wide open on the other side of the end zone on a play-action pass to extend Penn State's lead to 17-0. 

Pouring it on

Penn State continued to add to its lead as the rain poured down in Happy Valley. On another third-and-goal for the Nittany Lions, Allar again found Warren in the end zone, this time from seven yards out to give Penn State a 17-0 lead. 

Penn State party

The Nittany Lions dominated for most of the first three quarters on both sides of the ball. After they forced the Hawkeyes to go three-and-out on five straight possessions, the Nittany Lions opened up the drive following their third touchdown by strip-sacking Cade McNamara.

No. 21 Washington State 38, No. 14 Oregon State 35

Can't catch Kyle

On one of the game's opening plays, Kyle Williams broke loose, hauling in a 63-yard reception from Cameron Ward to give Washington State an early 7-0 lead.

Cameron Ward throws deep to Kyle Williams for a 63-yard TD to give Washington State a lead over Oregon State

How'd he make that catch?

Josh Kelly made one of the catches of the year when he somehow hauled in a one-handed grab while behind an Oregon State defender to keep things rolling for Washington State.

A tush push for six

Washington State added its second score of the game following Kelly's impressive catch. It took a trending NFL play and applied it on first-and-goal from the 1-yard line with Ward being pushed into the end zone by his Washington State teammates. The Score put the Cougars up, 14-0. 

Flying Fenwick

Deshaun Fenwick helped Oregon State finally get on the board when he burst through Washington State's defense for a 38-yard score to make it 14-7.

Oregon State's Deshaun Fenwick rushes for a 38-yard TD to cut into Washington State's lead

Kelly's got the moves

The Washington State wideout added to his impressive day in the second quarter when he made a third-down grab before running into the end zone to extend the Cougars' lead, 21-7.

Washington State's Josh Kelly breaks MULTIPLE tackles en route to UNREAL TD against Oregon State

Keep feeding Fenwick

Just as Washington State called on Kelly to make big plays, Oregon State did something similar with Fenwick. The Beavers running back added the second score of the game for them when he ran right up the gut for a 9-yard touchdown, cutting the lead to 21-14.

Oregon State's Deshaun Fenwick rushes for a 13-yard touchdown to trim Washington State's lead

Keep going, Kelly

Kelly scored his second touchdown of the first half when he slipped open while Ward was scrambling around the pocket, hauling in an 11-yard touchdown grab to give the Cougars a 28-14 lead going into halftime.

Cameron Ward and Josh Kelly connect for an 11-yard TD to extend Washington State's lead against Oregon State

Mr. One Hand

Once again, Kelly made a one-handed grab. His second one-handed grab resulted in points though, hauling in a catch on a deep route with the hand that was away from a defender for a 20-yard score that put Washington State up, 35-14.

Josh Kelly makes an UNREAL one-handed catch for a 19-yard TD to extend Washington State's lead vs. Oregon State

Don't bring down DJ

Oregon State was able to get a touchdown back at the start of the fourth quarter when DJ Uiagalelei kept the ball himself on fourth-and-2 before turning upfield for a 26-yard score. The touchdown cut Washington State's lead down to 35-21.

Oregon State's DJ Uiagalelei scrambles for a 26-yard touchdown to trim Washington State's lead

No. 10 Oregon 42, No. 19 Colorado 6

Heads will roll

Ahead of kickoff, Oregon's mascot sent a warning to Colorado, dressing up like head coach Deion Sanders with shades and a cowboy hat. It followed that up by bringing out a clock and hammer, attempting to smash the clock that showed it was "prime time." However, the mascot lost control during its swings, causing the head to fall off.

Double trouble

Oregon RB Noah Whittington put the Ducks on the board first, capping off a 72-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown. They extended their lead to 13-0 after QB Bo Nix found tight end Casey Kelly for another quick score early in the first quarter.

It's a fake!

Oregon didn't settle to punt from its own territory when it held a 13-0 lead at the start of the second quarter. Casey Rogers got the direct snap, running up the field for an 18-yard gain to give the Ducks a first down. 

On the dot

The Ducks kept their drive going, marching right down the field before Nix threw a fade pass that landed right in Troy Franklin's arms for a 15-yard score. Oregon added two points on the conversion to take a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. 

Colorado shows up

After a rough first 20-plus minutes, the Buffaloes were finally able to make a big play when Jahquez Robinson picked off Nix, bringing a brief halt to the Ducks' momentum.

Doubling up

Oregon scored twice in the final three minutes of the first half to extend its lead to 35-0 at the break.

Buffs on the board

The Buffaloes kept going at it despite the 42-point deficit in the second half, with QB Shedeur Sanders connecting with Michael Harrison for a 6-yard score to cap off a 94-yard drive. It was too little, too late, however, and things ended there.

No. 13 Alabama 24, No. 15 Ole Miss 10

Denied!

The Rebels came up with a huge third-down sack to force Alabama to settle for a field goal early in the opening quarter.

Right up the middle

Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart gave the Rebels a 7-3 lead in the first quarter, courtesy of some fancy footwork.

Rebellious pick

Alabama sought to take the lead early in the second quarter as it drove the ball dream into Ole Miss territory. However, Jalen Milroe's ambitious throw into the end zone went the way opposite way, landing in Zamari Walton's arms for an interception to keep Ole Miss' lead intact.

Money Milroe

Alabama's quarterback stepped up to the challenge in the second half. First, he hit Jermaine Burton on a deep, 54-yard pass in stride to get the Tide on the other side of the 50-yard line.

That drive ended in a field goal to give Alabama a 9-7 lead.

Making moves

When the Tide got the ball back, Milroe helped them get into the end zone for the first time in the ballgame, hitting Jalen Hale for a 33-yard touchdown to go up, 17-7 and help secure the home win.

No. 11 Utah 14, No. 22 UCLA 7 

Pick-6!

UCLA Dante Moore's pass was picked off early in the first quarter, and Utah linebacker Karene Reid returned the interception 21 yards to give the Utes and early 7-0 lead.

Utah's Karene Reid pulls off pick-6 against UCLA on Dante Moore's

The King grabs his TD throne

Nate Johnson's rollout on the play-action pass allowed Landen King to get wide open and easily make the reception for a 7-yard score that put Utah up 14-0 going into halftime.

Utah's Nate Johnson connects with Landen King on beautiful 7-yard TD

UCLA on the board

After being held scoreless for the game's first 56 minutes, UCLA finally scored with just over 3:30 left when Moore connected with Josiah Norwood for a 19-yard touchdown to complete the 91-yard drive and cut Utah's lead to 14-7.

UCLA's Dante Moore throws a dart to Josiah Norwood for 17-yard TD

No. 2 Michigan 31, Rutgers 7

Hot start

Rutgers was first on the board when QB Gavin Wimsatt linked up with receiver Christian Dremel, who turned the completion into a 69-yard score to give the Scarlet Knights an early lead, 7-0.

Rutgers QB Gavin Wimsatt connects with Christian Dremel on 69-yard TD

Nice catch!

Michigan knotted things up late in the first quarter with a 2-yard score from star running back Blake Corum. Then, the Wolverines took a 14-7 lead into halftime after a dazzling 18-yard touchdown from wideout Samaj Morgan — his first collegiate score.

Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy finds Semaj Morgan for 18-yard TD

Pick 6!

Rutgers went for it on fourth down, but Wimsatt's pass was intercepted by Mike Sainristil, who took it all the way to the house for a 71-yard touchdown that helped seal the deal for Michigan at The Big House.

Mike Sainristil intercepts Gavin Wimsatt and takes it to the house

No. 4 Florida State 31, Clemson 24 (OT)

Fumble!

FSU linebacker Kalen Deloach knotted things up late in the third quarter with a 56-yard fumble-turned-touchdown after sacking Clemson QB Cade Klubnik. 

OT!

Things headed to overtime, where Seminoles wideout Keon Coleman reeled in a 24-yard touchdown from QB Jordan Travis, who surpassed Chris Weinke for the most career total touchdowns in FSU history in the process, to secure the win.

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CFB - Colorado Buffaloes vs. Oregon Ducks - 09/23/2023

CFB - UCLA Bruins vs. Utah Utes - 09/23/2023

CFB - Ole Miss Rebels vs. Alabama Crimson Tide - 09/23/2023

CFB - Oregon State Beavers vs. Washington State Cougars - 09/23/2023

CFB - Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish - 09/23/2023

CFB - Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Penn State Nittany Lions - 09/23/2023

Colorado Buffaloes

Oregon Ducks

UCLA Bruins

Utah Utes

Ole Miss Rebels

Alabama Crimson Tide

Oregon State Beavers

Washington State Cougars

Ohio State Buckeyes

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Iowa Hawkeyes

Penn State Nittany Lions

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Michigan Wolverines

CFB - Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs. Michigan Wolverines - 09/23/2023

J.J. McCarthy

Shedeur Sanders

Jalen Milroe

Jaxson Dart

Kyle McCord

Sam Hartman

Drew Allar