No. 6 Notre Dame overcomes slow start, beats UMass 62-27

Notre Dame 's C.J. Prosise carries the ball during the first half of an NCAA college football game against the Massachusetts Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) Notre Dame 's C.J. Prosise carries the ball during the first half of an NCAA college football game against the Massachusetts Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

By Associated Press September 26, 2015 3 min read

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – No. 6 Notre Dame was struggling with winless Massachusetts until an electrifying 50-yard punt return by C.J. Sanders.

Sanders cut at the 35-yard line to avoid two Minutemen defenders and made another cut at the 10 before racing into the end zone with 3:21 left in the first half to give the Fighting Irish a 28-20 lead.

They never looked back.

DeShone Kizer threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Chris Brown with 6 seconds left in the first half to give the Irish a 35-20 halftime lead. C.J. Prosise, who rushed for 149 yards and two touchdowns, added a 16-yard scoring run and freshman Dexter Williams added a 14-yard TD run to break open the game as the Irish won 62-27.

Marquis Young had an 83-yard touchdown run for the Minutemen, and Sekai Lindsay and Jamal Wilson added 1-yard TD runs and Shakur Nesmith added a 33-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter.