SOUTH ROUNDUP : Cummings Catches 5 Touchdown Passes to Lead Louisville

Louisville senior wide receiver Anthony Cummings saw a lot of man-to-man coverage by Cincinnati. When that didn’t work, he saw a lot of zone coverage from the Bearcats, too.

Mostly, he saw a lot of the end zone, catching five touchdown passes as No. 25 Louisville overwhelmed Cincinnati, 41-16, Saturday at Cincinnati.

Cummings accounted for all five Cardinal touchdowns on catches of 20, eight, 19, 36 and four yards. He broke Mark Clayton’s school record of three touchdown receptions and wound up one shy of the Division I record of six, set by Tim Delaney for San Diego State in 1969.

Louisville (8-1-1) has moved back into the national rankings for the first time in 18 years. The Cardinals have won their last five games, including lopsided victories over Western Kentucky, 41-7, and now the outmanned Bearcats.

Cincinnati (1-8) has allowed more than 40 points three times this season, and has been shredded for 146 in its last three games.

Cummings led a 17-point spurt late in the first half, catching an eight-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Brohm and a 19-yarder from Browning Nagle for a 24-10 lead at intermission.

He got wide open beyond the Cincinnati secondary for a 36-yard touchdown reception, his fourth, early in the third quarter to break Clayton’s record, which was set in 1982.

Cummings caught a four-yard pass on a slant pattern for touchdown No. 5 late in the third quarter.

No. 18 Clemson 20, North Carolina 3--The Tigers’ defense continued its streak of not allowing a touchdown in five home games in this Atlantic Coast Conference game at Clemson, S.C.

Cornerback Dexter Davis returned an interception 70 yards for a touchdown, giving the Clemson defense its fourth touchdown of the year.

Clemson, 8-2 overall and 5-2 the ACC, has outscored opponents 187-13 at home, with the lone touchdown coming on a kickoff return by Duke.

The Tigers were clinging to a 7-3 lead when Davis stepped in front of Julius Reese to intercept Todd Burnett’s pass at the 30-yard line. Davis started down the sideline, then cut back across the field at about the 10 to score with 9:05 left in the half.

North Carolina (5-3-1, 2-2-1) lost its fifth consecutive game against the Tigers, who finished with 304 yards, 235 on the ground.

Duke 57, Wake Forest 20--Billy Ray and Dave Brown split time at quarterback for the Blue Devils, who pulled away from the Demon Deacons with a 21-point second quarter at Durham, N.C.

Duke, (4-5, 1-4) ended a four-game losing streak with the ACC victory. Wake Forest (2-7, 0-6) lost its fifth consecutive game.

Ray completed 13 of 23 passes for 164 yards. Brown completed four of six passes for 50 yards.

After the Demon Deacons scored on a one-yard run by Anthony Williams in the third quarter, Duke’s Randy Jones took the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. It was his second kickoff return for a score this season and the third of his career.

Virginia Tech 20, North Carolina State 16--Virginia Tech quarterback Will Furrer threw for 209 yards and two touchdowns as the Hokies won at Blacksburg, Va., to all but eliminate the Wolfpack’s chances for a bowl berth.

The Hokies (5-4) scored the go-ahead touchdown on fourth down with 6:50 remaining when tailback Tony Kennedy dove over center with the ball two feet from the goal line.

Virginia Tech converted four third-down plays in the eight-minute drive and 12 of 18 third-down plays against North Carolina State (5-5).

Furrer completed 22 of 38 passes. The red-shirt junior tied the school record for touchdown passes in a season, 16, set by Don Strock in 1972.

Southern Mississippi 14, Southwestern Louisiana 13--The Golden Eagles won on the last play of the game as Brett Favre connected with Michael Welch on an 11-yard, fourth-down touchdown pass.

Southern Mississippi (7-3) went 45 yards in six plays over the final 1:20 seconds with no time outs remaining.

East Carolina 24, Memphis State 17--A 74-yard pass play touchdown, Jeff Blake to running back Cedrick Van Buren, with 2:34 left to play enabled the Pirates (4-6) to beat the Tigers (4-4-1) at Memphis, Tenn.