San Diego State Coach Chuck Long was asked after giving Notre Dame a scare who was better, the Fighting Irish or Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, which beat the Aztecs a week earlier.
"That's a tough question," Long said, chuckling a bit at the question. "It's hard to say who's better. They both beat us."
That might say as much about Notre Dame's play in a 21-13 come-from-behind victory as the Fighting Irish's four turnovers and struggles to establish a running game against a makeshift San Diego State defensive line. San Diego State (0-2), a 21-point underdog that opened the season by losing to an FCS team, appeared to be on the verge of an upset early in the fourth quarter.
Brandon Sullivan was inches away from a 4-yard touchdown run and a two-score lead for the Aztecs. But safety David Bruton jarred the ball loose and recovered it in the end zone to help the Irish (1-0) avoid an embarrassing loss.
"They had a chance to put the game away," Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis said.
Moments after the crucial fumble, Jimmy Clausen threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate. Clausen was 5 of 5 passing for 76 yards on the drive to rally the Irish to victory. Clausen added a game-clinching 6-yard touchdown pass to David Grimes with 2:08 left.
"We've come a long way since last year," Clausen said. "We didn't panic when we were down in the fourth quarter and we needed a score, we needed to get points on the board. We just rallied together."
Notre Dame defensive end Pat Kuntz said the Irish should just enjoy the victory.
"Sure, we would have liked to win in a different fashion today," he said. "But that's the benefit of playing San Diego State in the first game."
Michigan, which travels to Notre Dame this Saturday, scored a late touchdown to put away Miami (Ohio) 16-6 in front of 106,724, the smallest crowd since Michigan Stadium was expanded in 1998. It was Coach Rich Rodriguez's first victory for the Wolverines.
Cincinnati quarterback Dustin Grutza is expected to miss about a month after breaking his right leg on a fourth-quarter play Saturday in which three Oklahoma players sacked him and then piled on top of him.
Kansas cornerback Kendrick Harper was taken from Memorial Stadium on a stretcher to an ambulance after apparently injuring his neck against Louisiana Tech. He appeared to be moving his arms as he was wheeled outside the stadium.
Washington safety Darin Harris was placed on a stretcher and taken off the field in an ambulance early in the fourth quarter of the Huskies 28-27 loss to No. 15 Brigham Young. He appeared to be moving his arms as he was placed in the ambulance.
First-year Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson won his Atlantic Coast Conference debut, leading the Yellow Jackets to a 19-16 victory at Boston College, which won the ACC's Atlantic Division last season.
New Army coach Stan Brock was not happy after his team lost 28-10 to New Hampshire. "In the second half, when things started going bad, I think there's some guys (who) quit. ... I'm ashamed. I apologize to the United States Military, Corps of Cadets, anybody really who watched that game. That's not the way that these kids need to play this game."
