SOUTH ROUNDUP : Willis Has Big Day, Leads Florida State

Florida State quarterback Peter Tom Willis passed for a career-high 362 yards and three touchdowns to lead the No. 6-ranked Seminoles past South Carolina, 35-10, Saturday at Tallahasse, Fla.

Willis completed 25 of 38 passes to become the first Florida State quarterback to pass for more than 300 yards four times in a season. Kim Hammond and Gary Huff did it three times each.

Willis also became the third Florida State quarterback to throw for more than 2,000 yards in a season. Huff and Bill Cappleman each did it twice. Willis, who has 2,323 passing yards with two games left, also is within Huff’s single-season record of 2,893 yards, set in 1972.

“The end of the season will tell just where Peter Tom fits in among all-time quarterbacks,” Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden said, “but he’s got to be way up there.”

In a 59-0 victory over South Carolina last year, Willis completed 17 of 20 passes for 271 yards.

He said he’d been looking forward to this year’s game against the Gamecocks. “I looked at them on the schedule to see when they would be here,” Willis said.

The Seminoles (7-2) took a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter as Willis threw 13 yards to Bruce LaSane for one touchdown, 18 yards to Terry Anthony for another and Paul Moore scored on a 13-yard run.

Florida State made it 35-7 in the third quarter on Anthony’s leaping catch in the end zone and a 12-yard touchdown run by Moore.

Duke 52, Wake Forest 35--Dave Brown, filling in for the injured Billy Ray, passed for 444 yards and four touchdowns as the Blue Devils kept their Atlantic Coast Conference title hopes alive by beating the Demon Deacons at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Three of Brown’s touchdown passes went to flanker Clarkston Hines, including one for 97 yards and another for 76 yards on the first play from scrimmage.

Hines, a senior who entered the game with nine touchdowns, finished with six receptions for 251 yards.

Hines’ 97-yarder was the longest play from scrimmage in Duke history.

Duke, 6-3 overall, is 4-1 in the ACC and trails Virginia by a half-game.

The Blue Devils, who haven’t won an ACC football title since 1965, still have conference games against North Carolina State and North Carolina. Virginia has one ACC game left, against Maryland in two weeks.

Clemson 35, North Carolina 3--Senior tailback Joe Henderson ran for a career-high 163 yards and three touchdowns as the Tigers got an ACC win at Chapel Hills, N.C.

Clemson (8-2 and 5-2) led only 14-3 at halftime, but the Tigers scored four plays after an interception by Levon Kirkland and after that it was all Clemson.

Clemson blanked North Carolina (1-8 and 0-6) in the second half and held the Tar Heels to minus-six yards rushing and 114 yards offense for the game.

Clemson, averaging an ACC-leading 210.8 yards rushing entering the game, ran for 322 yards.

Georgia Tech 34, Western Carolina 7--Shawn Jones threw a pair of touchdown passes and scored on a 19-yard run to lead the Yellow Jackets at Atlanta.

Tech (4-4) scored on its first possession when Jones hit Emmett Merchant with a two-yard touchdown pass after T.J. Edwards returned the opening kickoff 60 yards to the Western Carolina 34.

Jerry Mays, the ACC’s leading rusher who played sparingly after the first quarter, had 82 yards and a touchdown in 14 carries and has 929 rushing yards this season.

Western Carolina, a member of the Division 1-A Southern Conference, is 3-5-1.

Miami 40, East Carolina 10--Quarterbacks Craig Erickson and Gino Torretta each directed three scoring drives the No. 7 Hurricanes won at Miami.

Miami (7-1), coming off a 24-10 loss at Florida State, led only 14-10 before pulling away.

Miami freshman Stephen McGuire and junior Alex Johnson each had the first 100-yard game of their college careers. McGuire carried 14 times for 136 yards and three touchdowns. Johnson carried 15 times for 111 yards and one score.

Erickson, sidelined for the past month by an injury to his throwing hand, completed 11 of 17 passes for 173 yards and one touchdown. Torretta started for the fourth consecutive game and directed touchdown drives of 75 and 84 yards on the Hurricanes’ first two possessions. He completed seven of 16 passes for 96 yards.

East Carolina fell to 4-3-1.

Tulane 38, Memphis State 34--Deron Smith threw five touchdown passes, his fifth a 21-yarder to Jerome McIntosh with 50 seconds left, to give the Green Wave (3-6) a victory over the Tigers (2-7) at New Orelans.

Louisville 55, Western Kentucky 7--Browning Nagle threw four touchdown passes to lead the Cardinals (4-4) at Louisville, and the Division I-AA Hilltoppers (6-4) managed only 64 yards of total offense.