SOUTH ROUNDUP : N.C. State Gambles, Loses to Florida State

Charlie Ward shook off a slow start and yet another interception to throw for three long touchdowns, and No. 3 Florida State continued its roll through the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 34-13 victory over 16th-ranked North Carolina State Saturday at Raleigh, N.C.

“I don’t think we would have beaten them had we not hit them when they gambled,” said Coach Bobby Bowden, who won his 69th of 100 road games at Florida State.

“We really got 21 cheap points,” Bowden added. “By cheap, I mean they were blitzing, and we caught them in one-on-one coverage.”

The Seminoles (3-0 overall and in the ACC) had 13 yards of offense with about six minutes to play in the opening half as the Wolfpack (3-1, 1-1) dominated early and led, 3-0.

Ward, who threw his ninth interception of the season in the first quarter and missed on his first five passes, closed out the half with touchdown passes on drives of 88 and 86 yards.

The first went to freshman Tamarick Vanover, who beat Dewayne Washington at the 25 and raced into the end zone untouched for a 60-yard score, his first touchdown. The second went to Shannon Baker, who beat Sebastian Savage for a 32-yard scoring play.

Virginia 55, Georgia Tech 24--Quarterback Bobby Goodman directed three consecutive touchdown drives in the first half to lead the 20th-ranked Cavaliers to victory over No. 22 Georgia Tech in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Charlottesville, Va.

Terry Kirby ran for 135 yards and a touchdown and caught a seven-yard pass for another score, and Chris Slade became the ACC’s all-time sack leader with 29 as Virginia (3-0, 2-0) defeated the Yellow Jackets for the first time since 1989.

Georgia Tech (1-1, 0-1) gave up more points than in any game since 1977.

The Yellow Jackets’ only lead came when quarterback Shawn Jones flipped the ball back to Bobby Rodriguez for an apparent end-around. But Rodriguez pulled up and found Jason McGill down the left sideline for a 48-yard pass play that made it 7-3.

Southern Mississippi 16, Louisiana Tech 13--Freshman Johnny Lomoro kicked a 46-yard field goal as time expired, giving Southern Mississippi a victory at Hattiesburg, Miss., that snapped Louisiana Tech’s 12-game unbeaten streak.

With 1:03 left, Terryl Ulmer intercepted Sam Hughes’ pass at the Southern Miss 45 and returned it to the Tech 33. Three downs later, Lomoro kicked the game-winner that dropped Tech to 2-1.

Lomoro’s 52-yarder in the final minute gave the Golden Eagles (2-1) a 23-21 victory over Memphis State two weeks ago.

North Carolina 22, Army 9--Natrone Means, slowed by a stomach virus this week, rushed for 102 yards and three touchdowns as the Tar Heels defeated the Cadets at Chapel Hill, N.C., to start a season 3-0 for the first time since 1983.

Army (1-1) trailed, 15-9, in the fourth quarter but recovered a pair of fumbles by North Carolina to get close on Patmon Malcolm’s 36-yard field goal and a four-yard touchdown run by Akili King.

But Means scored on a three-yard run with 3:25 left.

Duke 17, Rice 12--Steve Prince threw a touchdown pass and Robert Baldwin ran for a score as the Blue Devils got past the Owls at Durham, N.C.

Duke (1-2) was holding a 7-6 lead late in the third quarter but pulled away on Randy Gardner’s 35-yard field goal and Josh LaRocca’s one-yard scoring run.

Quarterback Bert Emanuel, a transfer from UCLA, scored for Rice (0-2) on a 57-yard run.