Clemson Blows Lead but Still Beats Georgia Tech

Clemson blew an 11-point lead but rallied to defeat No. 22 Georgia Tech, 28-25, Saturday in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Clemson, S.C.

The Tigers (4-3 overall and 3-2 in the ACC) led 21-10 at halftime. But the Yellow Jackets (4-2, 4-2) went ahead 25-21 before Nealon Greene scored the winning touchdown for Clemson on a one-yard run with 4:06 left to play.

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Anthony Poindexter intercepted three passes and blocked a punt and Tiki Barber scored three touchdowns as Virginia (5-1, 3-1) opened a 45-0 halftime lead en route to a 62-14 ACC victory over North Carolina State (1-5, 1-3) at Charlottesville, Va. . . . Brian Cummings threw three touchdown passes as Maryland (3-4, 1-3) built a 31-point halftime lead en route to a 52-0 rout of Wake Forest (2-5, 0-5) at College Park, Md.

EAST

No. 15 West Virginia (7-0, 3-0) recorded a less-than-impressive 30-10 Big East victory over Temple (1-6, 1-3) at Philadelphia, prompting quarterback Chad Johnston, who was only 10 for 25 for 84 yards and a touchdown, to say, “If we don’t have our heads in the game next week [against Miami], they will hand our hats to us.” . . . Army (6-0) is off to its best start since 1950 after a 34-10 victory over Tulane (2-4) at West Point, N.Y. The Cadets still have the toughest part of the season remaining, including games against Air Force, Syracuse and Navy. . . . Mike Cloud, Omari Walker and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck each had first-half touchdown runs as Boston College (4-3, 1-2) posted a 37-13 Big East victory over Rutgers (1-6, 0-4) at Boston.

Jon Aljancic threw two touchdown passes to Zach Ellis and Dave Regula kicked four field goals as Dartmouth (5-0, 2-0) recorded a 40-6 Ivy League victory over Yale (2-3,1-1) at Hanover, N.H. . . . Matt Linit’s 24-yard field goal with 5:06 remaining enabled Columbia (5-0), off its best start since 1946, to record a rain-drenched, fumble-filled 3-0 victory over Lafayette (3-2) at New York. . . . Fordham (0-6), playing its first game since the death of defensive back Bill Tierney, didn’t score until the fourth quarter in falling, 27-14, to Brown (2-3) at Boston. Tierney died of an apparent heart attack during pregame warmups on Oct. 12. . . . Harvard freshman quarterback Rick Linden completed 12 of 22 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns in his first college start as the Crimson (2-3) went up 21-0 and then held on for a 28-25 nonconference victory over Holy Cross (1-5) at Worcester, Mass.

SOUTH

Eric Booth rushed for 101 yards in 24 carries as Southern Mississippi (6-1, 2-0) recorded a 16-0 Conference USA victory over Memphis (3-4, 2-2) at Hattiesburg, Miss. . . . Donnell Gordon rushed for 113 yards as Louisville (4-3) recorded a 27-3 nonconference victory over Northern Illinois (1-6) at Louisville.

MIDWEST

Chad Plummer threw for two touchdowns and ran for two as Cincinnati (3-4, 1-2) recorded a 31-20 Conference USA victory over Houston (4-3, 1-1) at Cincinnati.

SOUTHLAND

Cal State Northridge (4-3, 1-2) took a 10-0 first-quarter lead then struggled the rest of the game and lost, 24-17, to Montana State (3-3, 2-2) in a Big Sky game at Northridge. The winning touchdown for the Bobcats came on an 80-yard pass play, Rob Compson to 5-7 receiver Kenyatte Morgan, with 9:51 to play. . . . Azusa Pacific (5-1) scored on the first play from scrimmage, J.D. Fox connecting with Darryl Nolan on an 80-yard screen pass play, and went on to a 35-22 nonconference victory over Redlands (3-3) at Azusa. . . . Mario Duarte rushed 31 times for 135 yards and three second-half touchdowns as Claremont-Mudd (2-1, 2-4) recorded a 43-13 victory over visiting Whittier (0-3, 0-5) in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game. . . . After failing to convert on a two-point conversion attempt with 9:32 left, Cal Lutheran (1-4, 1-1) still got a 19-18 SCIAC victory over visiting Occidental (0-5, 0-3) when Tim Cronk kicked a 37-yard field goal with four seconds left.

Division III Chapman routed its second NCAA Division II opponent in three weeks, defeating Sonoma State, 48-7, at Orange. Quarterback Curtis Robinson passed for touchdowns of 52, 65, eight and 37 yards for Chapman (5-0), which won its 13th consecutive game over two seasons. . . . Pomona Pitzer (4-2) rolled to a 48-6 nonconference victory over Swarthmore (0-6) at Swarthmore, Pa. . . . Craig Young rushed for 150 yards and two touchdowns to lead Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (3-4) to a 45-34 victory over Southern Utah (4-4) at San Luis Obispo.