REGIONAL ROUNDUP : This Time, North Carolina St. Rally Falls Short

North Carolina State’s string of miracle finishes ended as Spence Fischer threw two touchdown passes and Duke held on for a 21-20 victory over the No. 22-ranked Wolfpack Saturday at Durham, N.C.

The victory provided some redemption for Duke Coach Barry Wilson, who announced last Monday that he would resign at the end of the season.

In the first half, the Blue Devils, 3-7 overall and 2-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, dominated the line of scrimmage during a pair of long drives, then stunned the Wolfpack (6-3, 3-3) with a quick strike just before the break for a 21-0 halftime lead.

The Wolfpack’s trademark this year has been the fourth-quarter comeback. Their last four victories have resulted from rallies or defensive stands in the last quarter, and they did it again against Duke, but this time fell short.

Duke’s Ray Farmer blocked the conversion kick after North Carolina State’s first touchdown.

No. 16 North Carolina 24, Clemson 0--The Tar Heels (8-2, 5-2) held the Tigers (6-3, 4-3) to three yards rushing in 32 carries in an ACC game at Chapel Hill, N.C.

The victory was only the fourth in 20 years for North Carolina against Clemson.

No. 21 Virginia 21, Wake Forest 9--Jerrod Washington picked up the slack for struggling quarterback Symmion Willis, rushing for 133 yards and two touchdowns in the second half as the Cavaliers (7-2, 5-2) defeated the Demon Deacons (2-7, 1-5) at Charlottesville, Va. Virginia trailed, 9-7, at halftime and Willis had thrown three interceptions.

Georgia Tech 37, Baylor 27--Dorsey Levens raced 75 yards on a swing pass for a touchdown and also set up one of William Bell’s three touchdown runs with a 49-yard scamper as the Yellow Jackets (4-5) beat the Bears (4-5) in a nonconference game at Atlanta. Levens’ touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter broke a 20-20 tie.

Tulsa 52, East Carolina 26--Gus Frerotte threw for 358 yards and six touchdowns as Tulsa (4-4) overcame an early 12-point deficit to win at Greenville, N.C. Tulsa’s Chris Penn, who ranks second in the nation in receiving, caught 16 passes for 259 yards and four touchdowns.

Tulane 17, Southern Mississippi 15--At Hattiesburg, Miss., Andre Goines returned a fumble 24 yards for a touchdown and Tulane (3-6) forced Southern Mississippi (2-7) into two other turnovers. Tulane’s Craig Randall completed 22 of 30 passes for 315 yards.

SOUTHWEST

Byron Morris ran for a career-high 223 yards and scored three touchdowns in the second half, leading Texas Tech (4-5, 3-2) past Texas Christian, 49-21, in a Southwest Conference game at Lubbock, Tex. TCU fell to 4-5, 2-3. . . . Bert Emanuel passed to Emerson Allen for a 42-yard touchdown with 3:43 left to seal a 31-24 SWC victory for Rice (5-4, 2-3) over Southern Methodist (1-6-2, 1-4-1) at Dallas.

WEST

Ron Rivers rushed for 171 yards and a touchdown to lead Fresno State (6-3, 4-2) to a 30-10 Western Athletic Conference victory over Texas El Paso (1-8, 0-5). Fresno’s Trent Dilfer passed for 227 yards, and has now thrown 216 consecutive passes without an interception, nine short of the NCAA record. . . . Wayne Young ran for a career-high 103 yards in nine carries and scored twice to help Air Force (4-6) record a 25-6 victory over Army (4-5) at Air Force Academy, Colo.

In a Big West game at Reno, Armando Avina kicked a 30-yard field goal with 11 seconds left to rally Nevada to a wild 46-45 victory over San Jose State. Nevada (6-3, 3-1) scored 18 points in the fourth quarter with Chris Vargas completing two touchdown passes to lead the comeback. The Spartans fell to 2-7, 2-2. . . . Bob Stockham threw two touchdown passes and the Nevada Las Vegas defense forced five turnovers in leading the Rebels (2-7, 1-3) to a 28-23 Big West victory over Louisiana Tech (2-6, 2-2) at Ruston, La. . . . Utah State’s Michael Coe recovered a fumble at the Utah State five-yard line with 27 seconds left to secure a 24-21 Big West victory for the Aggies (4-5, 3-1) over Pacific (1-8, 0-4) at Logan, Utah.

SOUTHLAND

Cal State Northridge (4-5, 1-1) forced four fourth-quarter turnovers, including an interception by cornerback Vincent Johnson at the Northridge five-yard line with 2:01 left, and held on for a 22-14 to victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (5-4, 1-2) in an American West game at San Luis Obispo. . . . Occidental’s Charles Jordan scored on punt returns of 50 and 56 yards in the fourth quarter to cap a 45-28 victory over Cal Lutheran for the host Tigers (7-1, 4-1) in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game at Occidental. Cal Lutheran is 4-4, 2-3. . . . Bill Battin caught touchdown passes from Ryan Campuzano on plays of 75 and 68 yards as La Verne (6-2, 5-0) scored a 36-6 SCIAC victory over Redlands (6-2, 3-2) at Redlands. . . . Bob Burger rushed for 172 yards in 28 carries and one touchdown to lead Claremont (1-5-1) over Pomona-Pitzer (1-6), 30-26, in a SCIAC game at Claremont. It was the Stags’ first victory in three years, ending a 25-game winless streak.