North Carolina Appears Ready for Florida St.

North Carolina dropped its “getting to the next level slogan” this season. Now, the No. 11-ranked Tar Heels seem to be on the verge of finally getting there.

Chris Keldorf threw two first-half touchdown passes as undefeated North Carolina remained on a collision course with Florida State, defeating previously unbeaten Georgia Tech, 16-0, in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Chapel Hill, N.C.

“There are a lot of little things that lead to this,” said North Carolina Coach Mack Brown. “I think practicing every day without thinking about the other team or the next level is important because you start working on getting better.

“I heard [our players] say before the game today that this is all about us,” Brown added. “It’s not about the other team. If we play well we have enough ability to have a good season.”

The Tar Heels, 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the ACC, meet the No. 3-ranked and four-time defending ACC champion Seminoles next Saturday in Tallahassee, Fla.

“The exciting thing for us is that Florida State, again, may be the best team in the country,” Brown said. “And for us to have a chance to go down there and test the waters and see what kind of football team we have is exciting to do.”

North Carolina, entering the game with its highest ranking since 1983, moved to 3-0 for the first time since 1993, when the Tar Heels finished 10-3. The game created so much interest that some students were turned away from a standing-room crowd for only the second time in school history.

Georgia Tech (2-1, 2-1), hurt by a series of first-half mistakes, fell to 0-8-1 in Kenan Stadium since joining the ACC.

The North Carolina defense, ranked No. 2 in the nation, threw a shutout in the first half for the third straight game as the Tar Heels went up 16-0 at intermission. North Carolina led Clemson 10-0 and Syracuse 17-0 at halftime in its first two wins.

No. 18 Virginia Tech 30, Rutgers 14--Mistakes hurt the Virginia Tech offense, but highly touted freshman kicker Shayne Graham booted successive second-half field goal of 35, 31 and 25 yards to snap a 14-14 tie as the Hokies (3-0, 2-0) pulled away to a Big East victory over the Scarlet Knights (1-3, 0-2) at Blacksburg, Va. It was Virginia Tech’s 13th win in a row, a school record.

No. 20 Virginia 42, Wake Forest 7--The Cavaliers (3-0, 2-0) continued their dominance of the Demon Deacons (2-2, 0-2) with this ACC victory at Winton-Salem, N.C. It was the Cavaliers’ 13th victory in a row over Wake Forest and in the last eight games the Cavaliers have outscored the Demon Deacons, 315-105.

EAST

Tom Vanderhorst kicked a 38-yard field goal on the final play to give Navy (2-0) a 19-17 victory over Southern Methodist (2-2) at Annapolis, Md. Vanderhorst, who had lost his job to freshman Tim Shubzda during fall practice, got the call after Shubzda missed from 36 and 37 yards earlier in the game. . . . Quarterback Ronnie McAda completed seven of eight passes for 225 yards and one touchdown and he ran 20 times for 88 yards and two more scores to lead Army (2-0) to a 35-17 victory over Duke (0-3) in a nonconference game at West Point, N.Y.

Chad Everitt rushed for 178 yards in 40 carries and scored two touchdowns and quarterback Brian Opre scored from one yard out to give Cornell (1-0, 1-0) a 33-27 overtime victory over Princeton (0-1, 0-1) at Ithaca, N.Y. Opre’s touchdown ended the second overtime scoring attempt for the Big Red, who tied the game in regulation, 20-20, by reeling off 13 points in the fourth quarter. Cornell scored on its first overtime possession, but an excessive celebration penalty gave Princeton the ball on the 12 and the Tigers scored. An interception set up Opre’s winning touchdown. . . . In a second Ivy League overtime game, Columbia (1-0, 1-0) was a 20-13 winner over Harvard (0-1, 0-1) at New York. Bobby Thomason’s 12-yard touchdown pass to David Ramirez and Roy Hanks’ interception in overtime were the keys to the victory. . . . Blake Kendall threw three touchdown passes to lead Yale (1-0, 1-0) to a 30-0 Ivy League victory over Brown (0-1, 0-1) at Providence, R.I. . . . Jon Aljancic completed 21 of 34 passes for 227 yards and connected with Eric Morton on an eight-yard touchdown pass with 19 seconds left to give Dartmouth (1-0, 1-0) a 24-22 victory over Penn (0-1, 0-1) at Hanover, N.H.

SOUTH

Backup quarterback Chris Windsor ran for four touchdowns, all in the second quarter, as Southern Mississippi (3-1) rolled to a 52-27 victory over Southwestern Louisiana (1-2) at Hattiesburg, Miss. A week earlier Southern Louisiana had beaten a ranked team for the first time ever, knocking off then-No. 25 Texas A&M;, 29-22. But against the Golden Eagles, the Rajin’ Cajuns trailed 36-7 by halftime. . . . Qadry Anderson threw for 291 yards and two touchdowns to lead Memphis (2-2, 1-) to a 17-10 victory over Tulane (1-2, 1-1) in a Conference USA game at Memphis.

SOUTHLAND

Cal State Northridge capitalized on four first-half turnovers and Aaron Flowers threw for four touchdowns as the Matadors (2-1) notched a 33-0 victory over New Mexico State (0-4) at Las Cruces, N.M. . . . Jon DeVille completed 12 of 16 passes, two for touchdowns, leading Menlo (2-0) to a 29-7 victory over Occidental (0-1) at Menlo. The Oaks scored the game’s final 22 points. . . . Humboldt State (2-1) scored 23 unanswered points, then held off a furious rally by Azusa Pacific (1-1) to win, 37-35, at Azusa. It was Azusa Pacific’s first loss at home since 1994. . . . Roger Cook passed for 291 yards and three touchdowns to lead Weber State (3-0) to a 30-20 victory over Cal Poly (0-3) at San Luis Obispo.

Mark Byarlay rushed for 152 yards and three touchdowns in 16 carries to lead Trinity (Texas) to a 46-0 victory over Claremont-Mudd (0-2) at Claremont. The Stags committed five turnovers . . . Anthony Rice rushed for 192 yards and two touchdowns, including a 45-yard score, as La Verne (1-1) recorded a 34-10 victory over Cal Lutheran (0-2) at Thousand Oaks . . . Charlie Schimberg ran for 120 yards and two touchdowns as Drake (3-0, 1-0) recorded a 34-7 Pioneer Football League victory over San Diego (1-2, 0-1) at Des Moines, Iowa.