Florida State and North Carolina landed 80 points each on two sorry opponents while Duke beat Wake Forest to push themselves into the BCS rankings. Clemson eased to another win and NC State fell to rivals East Carolina. All that and more in the Week 13 ACC review.
Conference Games
Duke – 28
Wake Forest – 21
Duke’s quest to be ranked continued as they saw off Wake Forest in a 60 minute struggle.
The Demon Deacons turned up to spoil the party and raced out to a 14-0 lead through a 58-yard fumble returned for a touchdown by Thomas Brown and a 6-yard touchdown pass from Tanner Price to Spencer Bishop. Duke replied immediately through Anthony Boone who threw scores of ten and four yards to Jamison Crowder and Max McCaffery. Price ran in a score of his own before Duke took control when Crowder caught his second touchdown of the game – this one coming from 58 yards out. Short yardage quarterback Brandon Connette made sure his name was called when he rumbled in from three yards to give the Blue Devils a seven point victory. Boone finished with 256 passing yards and three touchdowns while Crowder had 121 receiving yards.
Boston College – 29
Maryland – 26
Andre Williams became the 16th player in NCAA history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season with another dominating performance to lift Boston College over Maryland.
The senior running back rushed for 263 yards and two touchdowns as Eagles’ kicker Nate Freese sealed victory as time expired. Williams now has now eclipsed 200 yards five times this season with his Week 13 outing his third double century in a row.
The away side found themselves 13-24 down in the fourth quarter when Williams broke a 72-yard touchdown run and Alex Amidon hauled in a 74-yard touchdown pass from Chase Rettig who had a quiet afternoon.
The once ranked Maryland has slipped to 6-5 and travel to NC State next week in a bid to end the season with a winning record.
Virginia – 26
Miami – 45
Miami forced four turnovers and scored from three en route to a strong win over hapless Virginia.
Tracy Howard set the tone of the day when he intercepted a screen pass on the first play of the day and returned it 19 yards for a touchdown. Stephen Morris threw two touchdown passes while Dallas Crawford had two scores on the ground. Allen Hurns closed in on 1,000 receiving yards for the season with a six catch, 126 yard day.
David Watford was benched after throwing three interceptions – a move that had been long overdue. Replacement Greyson Lambert performed admirably, completing 13 of 19 passes for 134 yards. Running back Kevin Parks had 130 yards and a score on the ground in his bid for a 1,000 yard season.
Pittsburgh – 17
Syracuse – 16
A five-yard touchdown run from Isaac Bennett in the third quarter was enough for Pittsburgh as they rallied past Syracuse. The victory makes Pitt eligible for the post-season while Syracuse must win their final game at home to Boston College if they are to see a bowl game.
Tom Savage threw for 218 yards, one touchdown and one interception while Bennett finished with 28 yards and his lone touchdown. Freshman wide receiver Tyler Boyd continued his impressive season with ten catches for 82 yards.
For the Orange it was a frustrating afternoon – a blocked point was all that separated the two sides when the final whistle came. Jerome Smith ran well and earned his 88 yards and lone touchdown while quarterback Terrell Hunt passed for 159 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Non-Conference Games
Idaho – 14
No. 2 Florida State – 80
Florida State looks to be in perilous form as they swatted aside Idaho.
Freshman quarterback Jameis Winston threw four touchdown passes before backup Sean Maguire entered the game and threw one himself. Wide receivers Kelvin Benjamin and Kenny Shaw were the pick of the receivers with two touchdown receptions each and over 160 yards between them. Running backs Devonta Freeman, Karlos Williams and James Wilder Jr. combined for 348 yards and five touchdowns on 25 carries. Telvin Smith and E.J. Lavenberry both returned interceptions for touchdowns.
Citadel – 6
No. 7 Clemson – 52
Clemson raced out to a 42-0 half time lead before taking their foot off the gas to ease past Citadel.
Tajh Boyd threw for 288 yards and five touchdowns while Roderick McDowell rushed for 108 yards. McDowell, Sammy Watkins, Mike Williams, Martavis Bryant and Stanton Seckinger all caught touchdown passes as Boyd shared the wealth around the explosive offense on senior day. Boyd – playing his last game in Death Valley – leaves with 50 school records to his name.
Clemson’s tenth win of the season was the perfect warm up for a big test against South Carolina next week.
Alabama A&M – 7
Georgia Tech – 66
Georgia Tech won game number seven on the season behind their relentless rushing attack.
Surprisingly, it was not Robert Godhigh who got the lion share of the carries after he had over 200 all-purpose yards last week but David Sims who scrambled for 111 yards and his tenth and eleventh touchdowns of the season. Matt Connor and Synjyn Days both had two touchdowns apiece on just seven carriers between them.
The Yellow Jackets will wrap up a solid season with a senior day home tie against Georgia.
East Carolina – 42
NC State – 28
East Carolina claimed their second ACC scalp of the season with a comprehensive win.
NC State scored three touchdowns in the last six minutes to make the score respectable but the three-win team were outclassed for the majority of the afternoon. Brandon Mitchell was given the nod at quarterback and finished the game with superb figures of 312 passing yards and four touchdowns – two of which came within the last 51 seconds when the game was well out of reach. The Wolfpack’s lack of cutting edge in East Carolina territory was the difference between the sides with the home team completing just over 50% of its third down opportunities.
It was another ugly game for North Carolina with a high number of fans heading for the exits early in the second half.
Old Dominion – 20
North Carolina – 80
North Carolina produced their most impressive performance of the season by putting 80 points on a sorry Old Dominion.
In a game reduced to 55 minutes due to the severity of the scoreline, Marquise Williams threw for five touchdowns and 409 yards as North Carolina ran up and down the field all day. T.J. Logan ran in three scores on 14 carries that produced 137 yards. The star of the show, however, was the speedy wide receiver Ryan Switzer. The freshman had two receiving touchdowns, a punt returned for a touchdown and a 99-yard kick return – that four punt returns for touchdowns on the season.
After opening the season 1-5 the Tar Heels are now 6-5 and look poised to upset No. 24 Duke’s brilliant season next week.