Florida State Struggles, but Duke Pays Penalty

The consensus among Atlantic Coast Conference coaches is that Florida State has made their teams better since entering the league in 1992.

But on Saturday night in Durham, N.C., it wasn’t clear if it is Duke that is improved or Florida State that has gotten worse.

The No. 4 Seminoles committed a school-record 20 penalties and gave up 246 yards to the league’s third-worst offense in a lackluster 51-27 victory over the Blue Devils (2-4 overall, 0-3 in the ACC).

Florida State (5-0, 3-0) entered the game with the nation’s top-ranked defense (186.5 yards per game), but gave up more points than in any of its previous five meetings between the teams.

“I didn’t like the way we played at all,” Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden said. “There was a lot of good but there were just too many mistakes. We won the game because we had better players than they did. But we did not play the way we should have.”

No. 5 North Carolina 30, Wake Forest 12--The Tar Heels converted a fumble and blocked punt into two quick third-quarter scores in a victory at Chapel Hill, N.C.

In a game in which both starting quarterbacks were benched, the Tar Heels (6-0) went 3-0 in the ACC for the first time since 1983. They have eight consecutive victories over the Demon Deacons (2-4, 1-3).

But the game was much closer than the last three meetings in which North Carolina outscored Wake Forest by a combined 126-13.

Quarterback Oscar Davenport, who sat out last week’s game because of a knee injury, replaced ineffective starter Chris Keldorf to start the second half. He helped cap a 21-point third quarter with a 59-yard pass to L.C. Stevens that set up a one-yard quarterback sneak on fourth down.

No. 25 Georgia Tech 27, North Carolina State 17--Joe Hamilton raced 18 yards on a quarterback draw with 5:34 remaining to break a tie as the Yellow Jackets (4-1, 3-0) beat the Wolfpack (3-3, 1-3) at Atlanta.

Georgia Tech has won four games in a row for the first time since 1991.

Hamilton passed for a career-high 293 yards and ran for 74. The sophomore completed five of six passes for 52 yards in the 76-yard go-ahead drive.

Georgia Tech increased its lead to 10 points with 32 seconds left when Dave Frakes kicked his second field goal, a 25-yarder after Jesse Tarplin recovered a State fumble.

Virginia 21, Clemson 7--Aaron Brooks threw two touchdown passes in the second half to help the Cavaliers to victory at Clemson, S.C.

Brooks connected with Charles Kirby on a 25-yard scoring play, then found Germane Crowell on a 28-yard fade pattern in the end zone as the Cavaliers (3-2, 2-1) took advantage of four Clemson (3-3, 1-3) turnovers.

Thomas Jones rushed for 100 yards and scored once for Virginia, which is 4-3-1 against Clemson in the 1990s after losing the first 29 games in the series.