White Rallies Georgia Tech to Win Over No. 7 Virginia

Dez White capped a record-breaking game by turning a short pass into a 54-yard touchdown with 4:40 remaining Saturday, giving No. 25 Georgia Tech a stunning 41-38 victory over No. 7 Virginia at Atlanta.

The Yellow Jackets (5-1, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) took over first place in the conference standings, defeating the Cavaliers (5-1, 3-1) by the same score as they did eight years earlier when Virginia was ranked No. 1.

Georgia Tech went on the claim a share of the national title in 1990. While that’s still a farfetched goal, the Yellow Jackets can take another major step toward the ACC championship with a victory over No. 6 Florida State next Saturday.

White scored on half of his six pass receptions, which covered 243 yards to break the school record of 223 set last year by Derrick Steagall, also against Virginia.

Perhaps the biggest play was produced by the Yellow Jackets’ defense, which gave up 600 yards. With Virginia moving into position for a tying field goal at the Georgia Tech 25, Nate Stimson wrapped up Aaron Brooks for an apparent sack.

Brooks flipped the ball away before going down and was penalized for intentional grounding. The five-yard penalty left the Cavaliers with fourth and 23 at the 37, forcing Todd Braverman to attempt a 54-yard field goal, which fell two feet short with 27 seconds remaining.

Thomas Jones rushed for 207 yards and Brooks completed 19 of 32 passes for 312 yards but it wasn’t to be enough.

“I never felt comfortable,” Virginia Coach George Welsh said. “They have a lot of pride. You have to give them credit. They weren’t going to let us keep doing what we were doing on offense.”

EAST

Donovan McNabb completed two touchdown passes to Jeff Lowe to lead No. 23 Syracuse to a 42-25 victory over Boston College at Boston. Kyle McIntosh also rushed for two scores for the Orangemen (4-2, 2-0 Big East). Boston College (3-3, 2-2) dropped its third game in a row. . . . Mike McMahon threw two touchdown passes in the third quarter to help Rutgers (3-3, 1-3 Big East) end a 13-game road losing streak with a 25-21 victory at Pittsburgh (2-4, 0-2). . . . Running back Jim Finn rushed for a touchdown and threw for another to lead Pennsylvania (4-1, 2-0 Ivy League) to a 20-0 victory over Columbia (2-3, 1-1) at Philadelphia. . . . Dartmouth (2-3, 1-1 Ivy League) converted two fumbled punts by Todd Tomich into touchdowns and a 22-19 victory over Yale (2-3, 1-1) at Hanover, N.H. . . . Damien Taylor ran for 99 yards and two second-quarter touchdowns to lead Princeton (3-2) to a 28-0 nonconference victory over Lafayette (1-5) at Easton, Pa. . . . Brian Broadwater capped a four-touchdown performance in his first career start with a 61-yard score with 61 seconds remaining to give Navy (2-4) a 42-35 nonconference victory over Colgate (4-2) at Annapolis, Md. . . . Chris Menick atoned for a costly fourth-quarter fumble with a 16-yard touchdown run in overtime to give Harvard (2-3) a 20-13 nonconference victory over Holy Cross (2-2) at Boston. . . . Lee Roberts passed for 250 yards and three touchdowns and Sherrod Gideon had 140 yards receiving to lead Southern Mississippi (3-3, 3-1 Conference USA) to a 37-13 victory over Army (2-4, 1-2) at West Point, N.Y. . . . Doug Chapman ran for 127 yards and two second-half touchdowns as Marshall (7-0, 5-0 Mid-American Conference) turned to its running game for a 42-7 victory over Kent (0-7, 0-4) at Huntington, W. Va.

SOUTH

Duke was the latest team unable to contain North Carolina State’s Torry Holt, who had 175 receiving yards and scored twice as the Wolfpack held on for a 27-24 victory at Raleigh, N.C. Jamie Barnette passed for 379 yards for N.C. State (4-2, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which defeated Duke (3-4, 1-4) for the fifth consecutive time and 10th in the last 13 meetings. . . . Desmond Clark became the leading receiver in ACC history with eight receptions--giving 200 for his career--in helping Wake Forest (3-3, 2-1) to a 20-10 victory over Maryland (2-5, 0-4) at College Park, Md. Maryland’s Jermaine Lewis previously held the record of 193. . . . Shaun King, playing his second game with a broken left wrist, threw three touchdown passes to lead No. 24 Tulane (5-0, 3-0 Conference USA) to a 28-22 victory over Louisville (3-4, 1-2) at New Orleans. . . . Gerald Arnold ran for 123 yards and a touchdown to help give Memphis (1-5, 1-2 Conference USA) a 41-23 victory over Cincinnati (0-7, 0-2) at Memphis, Tenn. . . . Tim Rattay, the nation’s total offense leader, passed for five touchdowns and ran for one to lead Louisiana Tech (4-4) to a 54-23 nonconference victory over Alabama Birmingham (2-4) at Ruston, La. 54-23.

SOUTHWEST

Rice quarterback Chad Richardson ran for one touchdown and set up another, and the Owls’ defense stopped Tulsa three times inside the 20 yard-line in a 14-10 victory at Houston. Rice (2-4, 2-1 in Western Athletic Conference) broke a four-game losing streak. Tulsa (2-4, 0-3) lost its fourth in a row despite outgaining the Owls, 351-304. . . . Kelsey Adams scored on a 55-yard run with four minutes left to lead Southern Methodist (2-5, 2-2 WAC) to a 10-6 victory over Texas Christian (4-2, 2-1) at Dallas. Ja’Quay Wilburn rushed for 132 yards and one touchdown to lead North Texas (2-4, 2-0 in the Big West Conference) to a 27-21 victory over Nevada (2-4, 0-2) at Denton, Tex. . . .Joseph Polk scored on a one-yard run with 39 seconds remaining to lift Texas El Paso (2-4, 2-1 WAC) to a 28-21 victory over San Jose State (3-4, 2-1) at El Paso, Tex. . . . Brian Russell’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Damon Gourdine in overtime gave San Diego State (3-3, 3-0 WAC) a 36-33 victory over New Mexico (2-5, 0-4) at Albuquerque, N.M. . . .Ryan Eslinger threw for three touchdowns and Derek Franz kicked four field goals to lead Colorado State (6-2) to a 47-28 nonconference victory over New Mexico State (3-4) at Las Cruces, N.M.

WEST

Daniel Jones caught 13 passes for 197 yards and quarterback Darnell Arceneaux, sidelined the last four weeks because of a broken finger, rushed for the deciding touchdown to lead Utah (4-2, 2-1WAC) to a 24-16 victory over Fresno State (1-5, 1-2) at Salt Lake City, Utah. . . . Jay Stoner passed for 357 yards and one touchdown, but Wyoming (5-1, 3-0 WAC) needed an 18-yard field goal by Aaron Elling in overtime for a 28-25 road victory over winless Nevada Las Vegas (0-7, 0-4). . . . Idaho’s Vern Benard returned a punt 91 yards for a touchdown and the Vandals’ special teams blocked a Utah State punt that led to another score in a 26-14 victory at Logan, Utah. Idaho (5-2, 1-0 in the Big West) held Utah State (1-6, 0-1) to only 24 yards of total offense in the first half and 241 yards for the game.