COLLEGE FOOTBALL : South Roundup : Clemson Clinches ACC Title, 45-16

For all its success, Clemson has had its problems with Maryland over the years.

Only one player now with the ninth-ranked Tigers knew what it was like to defeat the Terrapins. And Maryland was the only Atlantic Coast Conference team to have a winning record against Coach Danny Ford.

But that all changed Saturday as Rodney Williams threw for a pair of touchdowns and Terry Allen rushed for two more scores as Clemson defeated the Terrapins, 45-16, at Clemson, S.C., to win its second straight ACC title.

After seeing his team struggle at times this year, Ford, who is 4-4-1 against Maryland, said the Tigers played their best game of the season.

“I think we’re pretty close to being the kind of football team we want to be,” he said. “I thought that we showed today that we are a very good football team.”

Maryland first-year Coach Joe Krivak said bad field position and too many mistakes cost his club.

“It was a good, ol’ fashioned knockdown, dragout whipping,” Krivak said. “They were by far the best team on the field today.

“They made some mistakes and it didn’t hurt them. We made them and it does.”

Clemson, 9-1 overall and 6-1 in the ACC, has won a record 10 titles outright and tied for another. Clemson also solidified its bowl possibilities, with the Tigers apparently going to the Florida Citrus Bowl, although bowl bids can’t be offered officially until next weekend.

For the Terrapins, 4-6 and 3-3, this will be their first losing season since 1981.

Allen, who rushed for 103 yards, scored on runs of 8 and 2 yards in the second period, and Williams connected with Gary Cooper on touchdown pass plays of 50 and 44 yards as the Tigers downed Maryland for the first time since 1983.

Clemson clinched the ACC title last year by tying the Terrapins, 17-17. Between them, Clemson and Maryland have won the last seven ACC titles.

Florida St 41, Furman 10--Tailback Sammie Smith scored on runs of 95 and 20 yards at Tallahassee, Fla., to lead the No. 4 Seminoles(9-1) to a likely berth in the Fiesta Bowl against next week’s Oklahoma-Nebraska loser.

Smith, a 222-pound sophomore, finished with 176 yards in 15 carries.

Furman, a Division I-AA school, took a 7-0 lead when Dwight Sterling scored on a 1-yard run less than five minutes into the game, but the Paladins (6-4) then watched Florida State counter with 41 consecutive points until Mike Wood kicked a 46-yard field goal with 25 seconds left.

Smith has gained 1,114 yards this season, averaging 7.2 per carry. He needs 21 yards against Florida to top Greg Allen’s single-season rushing mark of 1,134 yards.

South Carolina 30, Wake Forest 0--Harold Green rushed for a career-high 172 yards and scored 3 touchdowns at Winston-Salem, N.C., as the 14th-ranked Gamecocks came up with their second straight shutout victory.

Green carried 27 times and tied the single-season school record of 14 touchdowns set by George Rogers, when he won the Heisman Trophy in 1980.

Todd Ellis completed 20 of 37 passes for 212 yards and a touchdown to Green on a 33-yard play. Green also scored on runs of 14 and 4 yards.

Collin Mackie added field goals of 24, 32 and 44 yards for the Gamecocks (7-2), who amassed 451 yards in total offense and held the Demon Deacons to 68 yards. The loss dropped Wake Forest to 6-4.

Virginia 20, North Carolina 17--Scott Secules passed for a school-record 328 yards at Charlottesville, Va., and the Cavaliers rallied for two touchdowns in the final three minutes to beat the Tar Heels.

Secules, who completed 26 of 50 passes, threw a 9-yard pass to Keith Mattioli for the winning touchdown with 30 seconds left.

Virginia, 6-4 overall and 4-2 in the ACC, is assured of its fourth winning season in the last five years.

N. Carolina St. 47, Duke 45--At Durham, N.C., Bryan Carter kicked a 32-yard field goal with 29 seconds left, and quarterback Shane Montgomery passed for a school-record 468 yards as the Wolfpack (4-6, 4-2) rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit to defeat the Blue Devils (4-6, 1-5).

Montgomery, starting in place of injured Preston Poag, completed 29 of 46 passes and shattered Eric Kramer’s single-game passing mark of 342 yards, set against Duke in 1985.

Tulane 38, Southwestern Louisiana 10--Tulane split end Marc Zeno set an NCAA record for career receiving yardage as the Green Wave (6-4) defeated the Ragin’ Cajuns (4-5) at New Orleans.

Zeno, who had 12 receptions for 238 yards in the game, pushed his career total to 3,606 yards, breaking the record of 3,598 yards held by Ron Sellers of Florida State (1965-68).