SOUTH ROUNDUP : Backup Johnson Leads No. 1 Florida State

Brad Johnson was the No. 1 quarterback for Florida State last year before he lost the job to Casey Weldon six games into the season.

Johnson was the backup this season, but drew the start Saturday night against Louisville when Weldon went down with a knee injury last week.

In his first start in more than a year, Johnson passed for 190 yards and a touchdown as the top-ranked Seminoles won the nonconference game, 40-15, at Louisville, Ky.

“I thought I played well at times considering I hadn’t played all year,” said Johnson, who completed 16 of 26 passes.

Florida State (9-0) got four field goals from kicker Gerry Thomas and also intercepted six passes by Louisville quarterback Erik Watts.

Trailing 27-9, Louisville (2-7) came close to giving the Seminoles a scare when the second half opened.

Florida State took the kickoff, but three plays later Ray Buchanan picked off his second pass of the game and sixth of the season and returned it 18 yards to the Seminole 38. Three plays later, Herb Henry rambled into the end zone from 28 yards out to cut Florida State’s lead to 27-15.

Louisville stopped the Seminoles cold on the next series and Derek Hawthorne returned a punt to the Seminole 38. But Terrell Buckley ended the comeback when he intercepted a pass in the end zone and returned it 29 yards. It was Buckley’s second interception of the game, eighth of the season and school-record 17th of his career.

No. 16 Clemson 28, Wake Forest 10--Tailback Rodney Blunt gained 103 yards in 18 carries and scored two touchdowns to lead the Tigers in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Clemson, S.C.

Clemson (5-1-1, 3-0-1) scored on its first three possessions en route to its 15th consecutive victory over Wake Forest (1-7, 0-5), which has beaten Clemson only three times since 1950.

Clemson outgained Wake Forest 273 yards to 66 yards in the first half in building a 28-0 lead.

The Tigers finished with a 451-294 yardage margin over Wake Forest, which has been outscored 76-17 in its last two games.

Wake Forest avoided its first shutout in four years with a pair of scores in the final quarter.

No. 17 East Carolina 38, Tulane 28--East Carolina quarterback Jeff Blake connected with Hunter Gallimore on three touchdown pass plays in the victory at Greenville, N.C.

East Carolina (7-1) led 31-7 at halftime, but had to survive a last-quarter comeback by the Green Wave (0-9) that was keyed by three touchdown passes from Jerome Woods to Wilbert Ursin.

Blake became East Carolina’s career leader in touchdown passes with 34, passing yardage with 4,152 and completions with 287.

No. 19 North Carolina State 38, South Carolina 21--Geoff Bender passed for two touchdowns and ran for another to lead the Wolfpack to victory at Columbia, S.C. in the final game of a rivalry that began in 1900.

The victory for North Carolina State (7-1) brought the series to a 25-25-4 deadlock.

South Carolina moves to the Southeastern Conference next year and will stop playing North Carolina State, an Atlantic Coast Conference team the Gamecocks have played the past 24 consecutive years.

The Wolfpack held South Carolina (3-3-2) to 40 rushing yards, but allowed Gamecock quarterback Bobby Fuller to pass for 251 yards and two touchdowns.

North Carolina 24, Maryland 0--Natrone Means scored two touchdowns and freshman quarterback Jason Stanicek led scoring drives of 84, 86 and 80 yards in the first half in the Tar Heels’ ACC victory at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Means gained 101 yards in 16 carries for North Carolina (5-2, 2-3) and capped the first scoring drive with a six-yard touchdown run with 3:51 left in the first quarter.

Maryland (2-6, 2-3) drove into Tar Heel territory three times in the third quarter, only to be turned back by North Carolina.

Georgia Tech 17, Duke 6--Michael Smith gained 120 yards in 17 carries and Shawn Jones connected with Greg Lester on a 65-yard scoring pass that gave the Yellowjackets the ACC victory at Durham, N.C.

The clinching play came after Duke (4-2-1, 1-2) had pulled to within 10-6 on Randy Gardner’s 29-yard field goal with 8:08 left in the third quarter.

Georgia Tech linebacker Marco Coleman got his 28th career sack, tying the ACC record set by Michael Dean Perry of Clemson.

Virginia 42, Virginia Military Institute 0--Matt Blundin passed for three touchdowns and ran for another as the Cavaliers used ball control to win a nonconference game at Charlottesville, Va.

Blundin completed 12 of 22 passes for 171 yards to help the Cavaliers (6-2-1) beat VMI for the sixth consecutive time.

Blundin has thrown 184 passes this season without an interception.

Undermanned VMI (3-5) did manage to cross midfield, something the Keydets failed to do when the teams last met in 1987.

Tulsa 13, Southern Mississippi 10--Eric Lange, given an extra chance because of a penalty, kicked a 24-yard field goal as time expired during a snowstorm to give Tulsa the nonconference victory at Tulsa, Okla.

Tulsa (6-2) appeared to have salvaged only a tie when Southern Mississippi’s Lance Nations slipped on the snow and missed a 35-yard field-goal attempt with 12 seconds left.

Tulsa’s T.J. Rubley then threw a long pass that was bounced around by five players before Chris Penn pulled it in for a 65-yard gain to the 25.

Lange’s ensuing field goal attempt was wide left, but Southern Mississippi (4-5) had 12 men on the field. Lange’s winning kick split the uprights.