COLLEGE FOOTBALL : South Roundup : McDowell Lends a Hand as No. 3 Miami Rolls Past Maryland

Miami’s Bubba McDowell made his first start of the season at cornerback against Maryland at Miami Saturday night, but he made his biggest impact in his more traditional role of designated punt blocker.

McDowell set up 17 first-half points for Miami, and the third-ranked Hurricanes cruised to a 46-16 victory over the Terrapins in the rain-soaked Orange Bowl.

The Hurricanes (4-0) were outplayed in the first half but they led, 17-8, because Maryland (2-3) couldn’t block McDowell on punt attempts. He blocked one kick, helped tackle the punter on another and deflected a third kick.

“I just line up in the gap between the end and the tackle and shoot the gap,” said McDowell, who also had 10 tackles subbing for injured cornerback Don Ellis. “He had to block either me or Bennie Blades. Sometimes I’d get pressure. Sometimes they’d block me, and Bennie would get pressure.

“We knew going in we’d be able to block at least one.”

It didn’t take long. McDowell blocked the first punt attempt by Maryland’s Darryl Wright, and Blades picked it up and rambled 22 yards for the game’s first touchdown.

Later in the first quarter, Wright was tackled by McDowell and several other Miami players after a low punt snap at the Maryland 29-yard line. Five plays later, Melvin Bratton dived over the goal line from a Miami touchdown from one yard out to make it 14-2.

And late in the half, a Wright punt sailed only 15 yards after McDowell partially blocked it. That gave the Hurricanes the ball at the Maryland 30 and set up a 22-yard field goal by Greg Cox on the last play of the half to make it 17-8.

The Hurricanes scored on two of their first three possessions of the second half to pull away. Quarterback Steve Walsh ran three yards for the first touchdown and Cleveland Gary ran one yard for the second.

Clemson 38, Virginia 21--Terry Allen rushed for a career-high 183 yards and scored 2 touchdowns to lead the No. 8 Tigers to their 27th straight victory over the Cavaliers in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Clemson, S.C.

Clemson, 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the ACC, maintained the longest current winning streak over another Division I-A club with its dominance of Virginia, 3-3 and 1-2.

Allen, a red-shirt freshman, had 125 yards at the half along with two 4-yard touchdown runs. His previous best rushing day was 97 yards against Georgia earlier this year.

Wesley McFadden rushed for 119 yards, the first time in two years the Tigers have had two runners gain more than 100 yards in a game.

Florida St. 61, Southern Mississippi 10--Coach Jim Carmody said his Golden Eagles were “completely overwhelmed” in their game with the No. 6 Seminoles at Hattiesburg, Miss.

“They are a great football team, and I still think they’re the best team we’ve ever played in this stadium,” Carmody said after the Golden Eagles’ worst loss at home.

Tailback Victor Floyd scored two touchdowns and sophomore Sammie Smith rushed for 142 yards to lead the Seminoles (5-1), whose only loss was to Miami last week, 26-25. The loss dropped Southern Mississippi to 2-3.

Wake Forest 22, N. Carolina 14--Wilson Hoyle kicked five field goals as the unbeaten Demon Deacons ran their winning streak to five games in an ACC game at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Wake Forest hasn’t started a season with five victories since 1944. In taking the victory that raised its conference record to 2-0, Demon Deacon Coach Bill Dooley gained a victory over Tar Heel Coach Dick Crum, the man who replaced him at Chapel Hill in 1978.

With the defeat, North Carolina fell to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the ACC.

S. Carolina 40, Virginia Tech 10--At Columbia, S.C., the Gamecocks snapped a two-game losing streak as wingback Sterling Sharpe ran for 3 touchdowns and quarterback Todd Ellis completed 25 of 41 passes for 334 yards.

Sharpe, running out of the I-formation for the first time, scored on a pair of 3-yard runs in the first half and added a 17-yard touchdown in the last quarter.

South Carolina (3-2) appeared at times to be headed for a blowout, but Ellis lost the ball on fumbles three times to keep the 1-4 Hokies in the game in the first half. The second half, however, was a different story.

Freshman Collin Mackie tied a school record with four field goals--27, 22, 30 and 31 yards-- in the second half and set a South Carolina kicking record with 16 points in one game.

Georgia Tech 38, Indiana St. 0--Richard Hills, in his first start at tailback, rushed for 134 yards as the Yellow Jackets (2-3) snapped a three-game losing streak in a nonconference game at Atlanta. It was the fifth loss in a row for Indiana State and the Sycamores’ 15th consecutive road defeat, dating back to 1984.