South Roundup : South Carolina Stops North Carolina St., 23-7

Todd Ellis threw a 20-yard touchdown pass and Collin Mackie kicked 3 2nd-half field goals to lead 17th-ranked South Carolina to a 23-7 victory over North Carolina State Saturday night at Releigh, N.C.

The Gamecocks gained 356 yards against the nation’s top defense and improved their record to 7-1. N.C. State fell to 6-2.

N.C. State was held to a season-low 27 yards rushing. Clemson held the Wolfpack to 47 yards on the ground last week.

Linebacker Patrick Hinton led the Gamecock defense, picking off 3 passes and recovering one fumble.

Ellis completed a key pass in each of South Carolina’s first 3 scoring drives in the 2nd half.

After Damon Hartman missed a 47-yard field-goal attempt with 10:02 left in the 3rd quarter, Ellis hit Robert Brooks with a 43-yard pass to set up a 44-yard field goal by Mackie that gave the Gamecocks a 10-0 lead.

Two series later, Ellis found Hardin Brown on a 21-yard sideline pattern that moved the ball to the N.C. State 13. Three plays later, Mackie kicked a 24-yard field goal with 8 seconds left in the quarter.

The Wolfpack’s only score came 1 minute into the 4th quarter. Shane Montgomery hit Danny Peebles with a 50-yard pass that set up Montgomery’s 1-yard scoring keeper, which cut the lead to 13-7.

But Ellis marched the Gamecocks 75 yards in 11 plays, capping the drive by hitting Eddie Miller on a corner pattern over the outstretched arms of Joe Johnson with 8:54 remaining.

Mackie added a 32-yard field goal late in the 4th quarter.

Clemson 38, Wake Forest 21-- Rodney Williams ran for 2 touchdowns and passed for a 3rd touchdown as No. 14 Clemson beat Wake Forest in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Terry Allen, the ACC’s rushing leader gained 154 yards and scored 1 touchdown as Clemson took its 12th straight victory over Wake Forest and improved to 6-2 and 3-1. Williams finished with 54 yards in 8 carries and hit 7-of-15 pass attempts for 98 yards.

“This is better than last week, I’ll assure you,” said Clemson Coach Danny Ford, referring to the Tigers’ 10-3 loss to North Carolina State. “Rodney came back real good.”

Quarterback Mike Elkins passed for 213 yards and 3 touchdowns to pace Wake Forest, which fell to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the ACC.

Maryland 41, North Carolina 38--Maryland (5-3, 4-1) kept its ACC title hopes alive as kicker Dan Plocki kicked a 36-yard field goal with 3 seconds left and the Terrapins edged North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Plocki tied the game, 38-38, with 4:36 remaining on a 45-yard field goal.

North Carolina (1-7 and 1-3) was then forced to punt on its next possession and Maryland drove down the field to set up what appeared to be the winning score. But Mike Beasley fumbled at the Tar Heel 11 to stop the potential winning drive with 48 seconds left.

Maryland got the ball back just 7 seconds later, however, when freshman quarterback Todd Burnett threw an interception to linebacker Matt D’Amico at the North Carolina 19.

Quarterback Neil O’Donnell, who rallied the Terrapins in the second half with touchdown pass plays 77 and 21 yards, ran a play to the middle of the field to set up Plocki’s winning kick. The senior has made 14 of 18 field goal attempts this season.

Maryland running back Kennard Martin rushed for a career high career-high 177 yards in 28 carries and scored 3 touchdowns.

Duke 31, Georgia Tech 21--Randy Jones scored 2 touchdowns, the first on a 93-yard kickoff return, and Anthony Dilweg passed for 228 yards and a touchdown as Duke handed Georgia Tech its 13th consecutive ACC loss at Atlanta.

Doug Peterson’s 37-yard field goal early in the 4th quarter broke a 21-21 tie as the Blue Devils (6-2, 2-2) ended a 2-game losing streak.

Peterson’s go-ahead field goal came with 9:12 left in the game at the end of a 50-yard drive, after Tech (2-6, 0-6) recovered from a a 21-7 deficit to tie the game early in the 4th quarter.

Jones added his 2nd touchdown on a 1-yard run with 1:47 remaining, capping a 95-yard drive.

Virginia 16, Virginia Tech 10-- Mark Inderlied kicked 3 field goals and Shawn Moore passed for 281 yards and a touchdown as Virginia edged Virginia Tech at Blacksburg, Va.

Inderlied hit field goals of 36, 35 and 34 yards and the Cavaliers (4-4) won their 2nd straight game.

Quarterback Will Furrer passed for a career-high 292 yards to lead Virginia Tech (2-6). However, he threw 2 interceptions to end potential scoring drives.

So. Mississippi 34, Memphis State 27--Quarterback Bret Farve hit flanker Eugene Rowell on a 45-yard pass play with 39 seconds left as Southern Mississippi came back to beat Memphis State in a non-conference game at Hattiesburg, Miss.

So. Mississippi (8-1) clinched a berth in the Independence Bowl.

Memphis State (3-5) took the lead for the first time with 2:21 left on an 85-yard scoring pass from quarterback Rusty Trail to wide receiver Chris Martin.

Farve, however, engineered a 9-play, 90-yard drive to set up Southern’s come-from-behind victory. After Rowell’s clutch touchdown, backup quarterback Ailrick Young passed to Eddie Ray Jackson for a 2-point conversion.

Trail guided the Tigers to 2 touchdowns in the final 4 minutes--a 84-yard pass play to Martin and a 6-yarder to Ray Craft--to take a brief lead.

Southern Mississippi scored the first 2 times it had the football, starting with a 50-yard opening drive that ended with Farve passing the 9 yards to Rowell. Tailback Shelton Gandy accounted for a 3rd period touchdown from 2 yards out.

Chris Seroka made 4 field goals for Southern Mississippi, including a 49-yarder, and added 2 extra points in the Eagles’ 7th straight victory.

Seroka’s first field goal, from 28 yards out, came with just 3:38 elapsed in the 1st quarter. The score was set up when Memphis State fumbled at its own 28 on the 1st play of its initial possession.