Tigers roar by Terps

Reggie Merriweather scored his second touchdown on a 38-yard run with 2:58 remaining, capping a furious fourth-quarter rally that carried No. 25 Clemson past Maryland, 28-24, yesterday in College Park, Md.

Clemson (2-0, 1-0) trailed, 24-14, before Charlie Whitehurst's second touchdown pass to Curtis Baham cut the deficit to 3 with 7:35 remaining.

After a punt by Maryland, Whitehurst directed a 61-yard drive that concluded on Merriweather's winning carry around right end.

Whitehurst was 18 of 22 for 178 yards. With Clemson down by 10, he took the Tigers 86 yards in five plays, including an outstanding long pass to Baham that covered the final 51 yards.

Merriweather gained 75 yards on 10 carries, and James Davis ran for 82 yards on 20 attempts.

Sam Hollenbach was 18 of 28 for 288 yards and two touchdowns for Maryland (1-1, 0-1). His main target was Vernon Davis, who had six catches for 140 yards and a touchdown.

Maryland running back Mario Merrills, who ran for a career-high 149 yards in the opener against Navy, was limited to 21 yards on 15 carries. Entering the fourth quarter, he had 3 yards on 11 attempts.

Ga. Tech 27, N. Carolina 21 -- Reggie Ball threw for two touchdowns and a career-high 320 yards, including eight passes for 131 yards to Damarius Bilbo, as the 17th-ranked Yellow Jackets held off the Tar Heels in Atlanta.

After North Carolina pulled to within 6 late in the fourth quarter, the Tar Heels stopped Tech (2-0, 1-0) on three plays and took possession at its 41 with 2:51 left to play. Tech's Dennis Davis intercepted a long pass from Matt Baker near the goal line to end the threat.

The Tar Heels (0-1, 0-1) got the ball again at their 19 with 44 seconds left, but Baker's third interception of the game ended the comeback hopes.

Ball also ran for 20 yards with a 9-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

In his first start, Baker completed 18 of 39 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for a score.

Virginia Tech 45, Duke 0 -- At Durham, N.C., Marcus Vick threw three touchdown passes and the seventh-ranked Hokies turned in a dominating defensive performance to beat the Blue Devils.

Roland Minor returned an interception for a touchdown for the Hokies (2-0, 2-0), who remained unbeaten on the road in the league since joining last season.

The Hokies were coming off a 20-16 victory at North Carolina State, where they tallied just 232 total yards. But the Hokies had no trouble in their second trip to the Tar Heel state, overwhelming the Blue Devils (0-2, 0-1) from the start.

Duke finished with 35 total yards on 53 plays. Virginia Tech's defenders spent plenty of time in the Duke backfield, tallying 10 tackles for loss and holding Duke to just 13 yards rushing on 35 attempts.

Vick completed 12 of 19 passes for 172 yards -- though his receivers dropped three easy throws -- with one interception.

Florida St. 62, The Citadel 10 -- Drew Weatherford bounced back after struggling in his first collegiate start to throw for 342 yards and two touchdowns as the 11th-ranked Seminoles (2-0) routed the Division 1-AA Bulldogs (1-1) in Tallahassee, Fla.

Trailing, 10-3, with just more than a minute left in the half, Florida State scored 45 straight points, including five third-quarter touchdowns, to take control.