Busby, Defense Lead Florida State, 38-0

When Florida State’s Thad Busby found his rhythm, it was all over for Georgia Tech.

After a slow start, Busby passed for 366 yards and three touchdowns in the final three quarters as the No. 3-ranked Seminoles broke away from a 7-0 halftime lead to bury the 21st-ranked Yellow Jackets, 38-0, Saturday in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Tallahassee, Fla.

“I had a little trouble hitting my receivers,” Busby said. “Kind of like a pitcher when he can’t find the plate. I worked my way into it and really started to find my rhythm there.”

Busby threw for a career-high 399 yards and three touchdowns and Travis Minor raced 27 yards for a score as the Seminoles improved to 6-0 and 4-0 in the ACC. They are now 43-1 in ACC games since becoming a member in 1992 and are 6-0 against Georgia Tech.

“When ol’ Buzz hits ‘em we move the ball,” Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden said. “It was a little frustrating [at halftime]. I was begging a little more than I usually do: ‘Buzz? Buzz, just hit ‘em with it. Hit ‘em with the ball.”’

Busby threw scoring passes to Marvin Minnis, Damian Harrell and E.G. Green, who caught six passes for a career-high 166 yards.

Florida State ran up 587 yards while its top-ranked defense limited Georgia Tech to 144 yards and eight first downs and posted its second shutout this season.

Georgia Tech (4-2, 3-1) had won four straight games since losing its opener at Notre Dame. The Yellow Jackets’ deepest penetration was to the Florida State 39 in the third period.

No. 4 North Carolina 20, North Carolina State 7--Jonathan Linton got off to a bad start, fumbling away a scoring chance and dropping a sure touchdown pass in the first quarter, but ended up running for 177 yards in 34 carries as the Tar Heels (7-0, 4-0) got past the Wolfpack (3-4, 1-4) at Raleigh, N.C.

Also, a 51-yard field goal by Brian Schmitz, normally only the team’s punter and kickoff man, gave North Carolina momentum. It came during a driving rainstorm in the third quarter.

It Schmitz’s first field goal of his career and was the longest for the Tar Heels since 1987 and matched the fourth-longest in school history.

Linton credited Leon Johnson, who started in front of him for four seasons, with helping him through tough times.

“The maturity level through the years of watching Leon when he made mistakes, he was the coolest person out there on the field and I just tried to be that way,” said Linton, whose rushing total was the most by a North Carolina back in the regular season since 1992.

“He’s taught me how to relax and that things are not always going to go good and you’re going to make mistakes. He said, ‘Just shake them off and go play your game.’ That’s what I tried to do.”

Wake Forest 35, Maryland 17--Brian Kuklick threw for 330 yards and three touchdowns as the Demon Deacons (3-4, 2-3) beat the Terrapins (2-5, 1-3) at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Wake Forest had lost four in a row to Maryland.

The Deacons built a 21-3 advantage only to see Maryland trim it to 21-17 by halftime.

But Kuklick, who was 26 for 41, threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes at the end of long drives and Wake Forest’s defense overpowered Maryland’s offensive line in the second half to preserve the victory.

Virginia 13, Duke 10--John Allen Roberts kicked a 29-yard field goal with 2:31 left, and the Cavaliers (4-2, 3-1) turned a heads-up play by defensive back Dwayne Stukes into a victory over the Blue Devils (2-5, 0-4) at Charlottesville, Va.

Virginia won its third straight despite committing five turnovers and stumbling all afternoon. It was the 14th consecutive conference loss for Duke.

The victory also made George Welsh the career leader with 67 ACC victories, one more than former Clemson coach Frank Howard. Welsh improved to 67-41-3 in the ACC in 16 seasons at Virginia. Overall, he’s 109-70-3.

With about seven minutes left and the score 10-10, Duke’s Bobby Campbell completed a 32-yard pass to Terrence Dupree. But Stukes stripped the ball from Dupree, giving Virginia the ball at its 43, leading to Roberts’ second field goal, which proved to be the difference.