SOUTH ROUNDUP : North Carolina State Stays Unbeaten, but It Isn’t Easy

They were unlikely heroes, a kicker with three missed field-goal attempts and a quarterback who had three passes intercepted.

But Damon Hartman executed a perfect onside kick and Geoff Bender threw a 34-yard touchdown pass as No. 11 North Carolina State erased an 11-point deficit in the last three minutes and beat Marshall, 15-14, Saturday in a nonconference game at Raleigh, N.C.

“Damon is a steady guy,” said Wolfpack Coach Dick Sheridan, whose team is 6-0. “He made a very big kick today. It didn’t go through the uprights, but it enabled us to win the game.”

The kick bounced high to Sebastian Savage at the Marshall 48 with one minute left. Bender threw four incompletions but got a reprieve when Marshall was called for being offside on fourth down. He then connected with Ledel George at the 34 for the first down and found Charles Davenport in the back of the end zone with 24 seconds left.

“I just had a feeling that we were going to come back and win,” said Bender, who completed 21 of 43 passes for 209 yards.

North Carolina State was pinned deep in its territory when Bender threw a pass that was intercepted by Shannon King with 3:32 left. King’s 15-yard return put Marshall (4-2) at the Wolfpack one and Orlando Hatchett ran the ball in for a 14-3 lead.

North Carolina State came back with a 64-yard drive that Aubrey Shaw ended with a one-yard touchdown run. A two-point conversion pass fell short and N.C. State trailed 14-9 to set the stage for the onside kick.

South Carolina 23, Georgia Tech 14--Brandon Bennett ran for two touchdowns and Bobby Fuller threw for one to lead the Gamecocks at Columbia, S.C.

Bennett scored on runs of 12 and two yards and Fuller threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to David Pitchko as the Gamecocks (3-2-2) took a 20-0 halftime lead.

The Yellow Jackets (3-4) rallied behind Shawn Jones, who completed 20 of 35 passes for 239 yards. Jones threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Rice to cap a 98-yard drive with 3:56 left in the third quarter. He added a 23-yard scoring pass to Emmett Merchant with 1:14 left.

Virginia 14, North Carolina 9--The Cavaliers’ Matt Blundin threw two touchdown passes to Brian Satola at Charlottesville, Va., and set a school record for avoiding interceptions.

Blundin completed 17 of 28 passes, increasing to 148 his streak of consecutive passes without an interception. Blundin, who has not had a pass intercepted this season, broke Shawn Moore’s record of 125 consecutive passes between interceptions.

Blundin finished with 206 passing yards for the Cavaliers, 4-2-1 overall and 2-2-1 in the ACC.

Natrone Means gained 65 yards in 22 carries and caught four passes for 66 yards for North Carolina (4-2, 1-2).

Maryland 23, Wake Forest 22--James Sandwisch connected with Frank Wycheck on a 35-yard touchdown pass play with 1:34 left to give the Terrapins (2-4, 2-1) the ACC victory over the Demon Deacons (1-5, 0-3) at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Maryland ended a four-game losing streak and put a damper on Wake Forest Coach Bill Dooley’s 174th ACC game, a conference record. Also overshadowed were Mike Green’s five field goals, which tied a school record.

Army 37, Louisville 12--Myreon Williams gained 161 yards and connected with Monte Tomansino on a 65-yard touchdown pass play for the Cadets at Louisville, Ky.

Chad Davis and Callian Thomas each rushed for two touchdowns for Army (3-3), which handed Louisville (2-5) its third consecutive defeat.

Southern Mississippi 47, Tulane 14--Tight end Tony Smith accounted for 190 yards of total offense and two touchdowns to give the Golden Eagles (4-3) a victory over the Green Wave (0-8) at Hattiesburg, Miss.