Jacory Harris planned to play it cool against Virginia Tech. But the 11th-ranked Hokies blew up that plan in about five minutes, harassing the Hurricanes quarterback and dominating No. 9 Miami, 31-7, in a downpour yesterday in Blacksburg, Va.
Miami, ranked in the top 10 for the first time since 2005, had a chance to take a commanding lead in the ACC’s Coastal Division. Instead, Virginia Tech (3-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), Miami’s third consecutive ranked opponent, cooled off the Hurricanes.
Miami (2-1, 2-1) had given Harris all kinds of time in beating Florida State and Georgia Tech.
After saying this week he looked forward to playing in front of a hostile crowd, he fumbled as he was being sacked on his fifth play, setting up a Hokies touchdown, and his day never got much better. He finished 9 for 25 for 150 yards and was sacked three times.
Ryan Williams’s 2-yard run 5:14 into the game capped an 11-yard drive for Virginia Tech.
Harris threw an interception that set up another score and pushed the Hokies’ lead to 31-7 lead.
Virginia Tech also took the wraps off Tyrod Taylor, and he combined with Williams for most of the Hokies’ 272 rushing yards on the rain-soaked turf at sold-out Lane Stadium. Williams ran for 150 yards, and Taylor finished with 75.
Helped by a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown, several fortunate bounces, and one big defensive stop, the Hokies led, 21-0, by halftime and Miami never threatened.
South Florida 17, Florida St 7 - Redshirt freshman B.J. Daniels ran for 126 yards and threw two touchdown passes in his first start to lead the Bulls (4-0) over the No. 18 Seminoles (2-2) in Tallahassee, in the first meeting between the schools.
“It changes history,’’ South Florida coach Jim Leavitt said. “You have to beat them to get talked about. Now I can say we should be talked about.’’
It was South Florida’s first win over the state’s big three - Miami, Florida, and Florida State.
“They whupped us,’’ said FSU coach Bobby Bowden, who talked all week about not being eager to play South Florida for the first time. “They’re a lot better than I thought.’’
Daniels was filling in for senior Matt Grothe, out for the season with a knee injury, and totaled 341 yards of offense.
It was the first time since Nebraska’s Steve Taylor ran for 139 yards in 1986 that an opposing quarterback rushed for more than 100 yards against the Seminoles.
Florida State lost four fumbles, including a critical one by quarterback Christian Ponder that allowed South Florida to ice the game.
Georgia Tech 24, North Carolina 7 - Josh Nesbitt ran for two TDs and Jonathan Dwyer added 158 yards as the Yellow Jackets (3-1, 2-1 ACC) beat the No. 22 Tar Heels (3-1, 0-1) in Atlanta.
Georgia Tech controlled the game, holding the ball for 42 minutes 6 seconds, its highest total in 13 years.
TCU 14, Clemson 10 - Andy Dalton threw two touchdown passes and the 15th-ranked Horned Frogs (3-0) contained the host Tigers (2-2).
N.C. State 38, Pittsburgh 31 - Toney Baker scored from 2 yards out with 6:28 left as the
Russell Wilson threw four touchdown passes for the third straight week, finishing 21 of 35 for 322 yards. Wilson also rushed 10 times for 91 yards and led three straight second-half touchdown drives for N.C. State.
Rutgers 34, Maryland 13 - The visiting Scarlet Knights (3-1) scored on a fumble recovery and an interception return in beating the Terrapins (1-3).
Duke 49, N.C. Central 14 - Thaddeus Lewis threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another score to help the Blue Devils (2-2) roll at Durham, N.C.
