COLLEGE FOOTBALL : South Roundup : North Carolina State Beats Clemson, 27-3, to Take Lead in ACC

No. 20 North Carolina State rose to the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference standings Saturday with a 27-3 victory over No. 16 Clemson at Raleigh, N.C.

Split end Haywood Jeffires caught a two-yard touchdown pass from Erik Kramer in the first quarter and raced 62 yards on a reverse midway through the third quarter to spark the Wolfpack victory.

“Our offensive line did a great job, and that was the key,” said first-year Coach Dick Sheridan after the Wolfpack slipped and slid through the rain for 253 yards in 57 carries.

Another key was the Wolfpack defense, which limited the Tigers to 141 rushing yards and 72 passing yards.

“This was, without question, the best effort we’ve had all year,” Sheridan said.

The Wolfpack have not won an ACC football title since 1979.

“We’ve been talking about the ACC championship since January,” said Sheridan, who inherited a team that finished 3-8 for three seasons in a row. “That’s always been our goal, and our goals haven’t changed.”

Clemson Coach Danny Ford said the Wolfpack victory didn’t come as a surprise.

“They played a lot better than we did . . . and it wasn’t an accident,” Ford said. “They made the big plays and they stopped our running game.”

The Wolfpack is 5-1-1 overall, 4-1 in the ACC. Clemson, its five-game winning streak broken, is 5-2 and 3-1.

Maryland 27, Duke 19--At Durham, N.C., linebacker Kevin Walker’s 16-yard interception return for a touchdown took the life out of a Blue Devil rally, and the Terrapins won their first ACC game of the season.

Walker picked off Steve Slayden’s pass from the end zone and ran untouched for the score. Dan Plocki, who kicked field goals of 42 and 48 yards in the first quarter, added the clinching extra point as Maryland, the defending ACC champion, raised its record to 4-3 and 1-2.

Dan Henning Jr. had helped Maryland take a 20-3 lead in the second quarter on touchdown passes of 35 and 9 yards to James Milling.

But Duke (3-4 and 1-2) came back on two touchdown pass plays of 16 and 29 yards from Slayden to Doug Green. But Doug Peterson, who was 6 of 8 on conversion kicks entering the game, missed to the right, leaving Duke with a 20-19 deficit.

S. Carolina 38, E. Carolina 3--At Columbia, S.C., Todd Ellis threw for a career-high four touchdowns--two to wingback Sterling Sharpe--to lead the Gamecocks to their first victory over a Division I opponent this season.

Ellis, a redshirt freshman, connected with Sharpe on scoring plays of 11 and 46 yards, and also threw touchdown passes of 64 to wide receiver Ryan Bethea and 8 yards to wingback Raynard Brown.

Ellis completed his first eight passes on a rainy afternoon and finished by hitting 17 of 23 attempts for 318 yards in about 2 1/2 quarters. It was the third time this year that he has passed for more than 300 yards.

South Carolina is 2-4-1. East Carolina is 1-7.

Virginia Tech 42, Virginia 10--Tailbacks Maurice Williams and Eddie Hunter scored two touchdowns each at Blacksburg, Va., to lead the Hokies to their fifth victory of the season.

Williams, who rushed for 143 yards in 18 carries, scored on runs of 29 and 12 yards. Hunter, who gained 130 yards in 25 carries, scored on a pair of one-yard runs.

Split end Donald Snell also scored twice for Virginia Tech (5-2-1), on passes of 8 and 31 yards from Erik Chapman.

Virginia (2-5) scored on a 42-yard pass play from quarterback Don Majkowski to wide receiver John Ford and on a 39-yard field goal by Jeff Gaffney.

Florida State 54, Louisville 18--Danny McManus threw for three touchdown and ran for another to lead the Seminoles at Louisville.

McManus completed 8 of 13 passes for 143 yards in the first half as the Seminoles (4-2-1) scored 30 second-quarter points. McManus threw only two passes in the second half and completed one.

Derek Schmidt connected on field goals of 53 and 36 yards for Florida State but had a consecutive extra-point string broken at 108 in the second quarter.

The Cardinals (2-5) lost their starting quarterback, sophomore Jay Gruden, when he injured a knee in the fourth quarter.

Tulane 35, S. Mississippi 20--Terrence Jones threw for two touchdowns, and Rodney Hunter ran for two to lead the Green Wave at New Orleans.

Jones was held well below his nationally ranked 281-yard-per-game average, but still managed 166 yards passing and 36 yards rushing as Tulane improved to 2-5. Southern Mississippi is 3-4.

Tulane trailed, 17-14, at halftime but scored two third-quarter touchdowns. Jones hit split end Marc Zeno with a 20-yard scoring pass, and Hunter bounced off tacklers for a 12-yard touchdown to give the Green Wave the lead for good.