CHAPEL HILL—Notre Dame didn’t have its starting quarterback, and its best runner was limited by dehydration. The Fighting Irish also had to operate in rainy conditions on the road.And they did just fine.Josh Adams ran for 118 yards, including a 73-yard touchdown, and No. 21 Notre Dame stuck with its strong ground game to beat North Carolina 33-10 on Saturday.Adams, ranked among the national rushing leaders, carried the ball just 13 times before leaving the game. But Deon McIntosh added 124 yards rushing and two scores for the Fighting Irish (5-1), who won a third straight road game against a power-conference opponent despite not having starting quarterback Brandon Wimbush due to a right foot injury.McIntosh, a sophomore, capitalized on his extra work by scoring from 24 and 35 yards out – his third straight game with at least one rushing score.Notre Dame finally came up empty in the red zone.The Irish entered the game 22 for 22 on red-zone scoring chances, with 20 of those being touchdowns, and scored on their first two red-zone drives Saturday. But that streak ended with Book’s interception in the third after Notre Dame had reached the UNC 18.The Fighting Irish have a bye week before hosting Southern California on Oct. 21.

The Pittsburgh Penguins aren’t too far removed from getting Stanley Cup championship rings for the second time in as many years, and they entered the 2017-18 season as the consensus favorites atop the Eastern Conference.But if the defending champs’ first two games of the new year are any indication (and, to a large extent, they shouldn’t be), there is at least a little reason for concern in Steel City.First, there was a 5-4 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues on the NHL’s opening night, a rough debut for Matt Murray in the goalie’s first start as the full-time net-minder post-Marc-Andre Fleury. And then? Then there was Thursday.By night’s end, Murray had been summoned from the bench in relief of ex-Dallas Star Antti Niemi, which in and of itself is probably never a good sign for the Pens, and Pittsburgh fell at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks by a score of — wait for it — 10-1.In other words, things couldn’t have been worse for the defending champs at United Center, just a day after they raised the title banner at PPG Paints Arena. And things couldn’t have been better for the Hawks in the home debut of its nostalgic reunion tour, what with Brandon Saad notching a hat trick to help his new (old) buddies throttle the Penguins.The Blackhawks didn’t waste time chasing Niemi from the net, dropping four goals on Pittsburgh’s new No. 2 in the first 9:16 of action and, at one point, lighting the lamp three straight times in a span of less than three minutes. And despite an 0-for-6 finish on power plays over the course of the night, the Blackhawks got contributions up and down their lineup, scoring more in the first period alone than they did in all of the 2016-17 postseason — Ryan Hartman had four assists, Patrick Kane totaled four points and a goal of his own, Nick Schmaltz had a pair of goals and Patrick Sharp, another acquisition back at home in Chicago, also put one into the Pens net to make it 5-0 at the end of the first period.Murray didn’t fare any better once Niemi was yanked, surrendering six (!) goals that sealed the decision — by a mile.The Blackhawks’ 10 goals was the most scored by the team in nearly 30 years, and it was the most surrendered by Pittsburgh since 1996. And it marks quite the start to the season for both sides, albeit in starkly contrasting fashion.In other words, things couldn’t have been worse for the defending champs at United Center, just a day after they raised the title banner at PPG Paints Arena. And things couldn’t have been better for the Hawks in the home debut of its nostalgic reunion tour, what with Brandon Saad notching a hat trick to help his new (old) buddies throttle the Penguins.The Hawks didn’t waste time chasing Niemi from the net, dropping four goals on Pittsburgh’s new No. 2 in the first 9:16 of action and, at one point, lighting the lamp three straight times in a span of less than three minutes. And despite an 0-for-6 finish on power plays over the course of the night, the Blackhawks got contributions up and down their lineup, scoring more in the first period alone than they did in all of the 2016-17 postseason — Ryan Hartman had four assists, Patrick Kane totaled four points and a goal of his own, Nick Schmaltz had a pair of goals and Patrick Sharp, another acquisition back at home in Chicago, also put one into the Pens net to make it 5-0 at the end of the first period.Murray didn’t fare any better once Niemi was yanked, surrendering six (!) goals that sealed the decision — by a mile.The Blackhawks’ 10 goals was the most scored by the team in nearly 30 years, and it was the most surrendered by Pittsburgh since 1996. And it marks quite the start to the season for both sides, albeit in starkly contrasting fashion.

SAN DIEGO—The No. 19 San Diego State Aztecs didn’t take too kindly to seeing star running back Rashaad Penny coming off the field in pain after having his right eye gouged by a Northern Illinois player in the second quarter Saturday night.

”It got us fired up,” cornerback Kameron Kelly said after the Aztecs got some big plays early and then held off NIU 34-28 to improve to 5-0 for the first time since 1975. Juwan Washington brought back the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown and freshman Tariq Thompson had two interceptions – including an 83-yard TD return.

Kelly said there was smack talk from NIU before the game. And then TV cameras picked up Antonio Jones-Davis sticking his hand into Penny’s facemask while the star running back was at the bottom of a pile after returning a kickoff.

”If that’s their attitude, we’ve got to have the same attitude, between the whistles, start making them feel it between the whistles,” Kelly said.

Penny went into the locker room for eye drops. When he returned to the game, there was a visor installed in his facemask.

”I just think that stuff shouldn’t happen,” said Penny, the nation’s second-leading rusher coming in who was held to 107 yards on 25 carries for his lowest output of the season. ”I thought we were all more mature than that. I bounced back. I can’t thank my teammates enough. They picked me up when I was down. It was all them. It was a great win.”

NIU coach Rod Perry said he talked to Jones-Davis ”and he admitted it to me. I’m going to get home and let the emotions die down and see what the next steps are. He’s a great kid but it was the emotions of a 22-year-old. But we are going to deal with it, for sure.”

While he wasn’t pleased to see it happen, SDSU coach Rocky Long said, ”A lot of times things like that happen when you’re in a pile. They just happened to get it on TV or no one would have known but us because he came to the sideline with his eyes hurting. But since they got it on TV, it’s a big deal.Penny caught a 33-yard scoring pass from Christian Chapman in the first quarter. It didn’t help the rushing game that guard Antonio Rosales, the only senior on the line, was out with an ankle injury.SDSU (5-0) is off to its best start since going 8-0 to open the 1975 season. It finished 8-3 that year.