Yes, Virginia, Georgia Tech Is Beatable

Virginia quarterback David Rivers grew up a Georgia Tech fan and confesses to rooting for the Yellow Jackets nine years ago when they ended Virginia’s only ride as No. 1 with an upset victory.

On Saturday, Rivers, in his first college start, helped the Cavaliers turn the tables on No. 7 Georgia Tech, leading the Cavaliers to a stunning 45-38 victory in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Charlottesville, Va.

“It’s what you dream of,” the junior from Augusta, Ga., said, “just given the chance to come out and play against Georgia Tech. And it’s icing on the cake that they were the seventh-ranked team in the country. It’s amazing.”

Rivers, miserable when pressed into his first significant action the previous Saturday against top-ranked Florida State, started slowly again, but rallied Virginia from a 17-0 deficit with three touchdown passes and mistake-free play.

“After [the first quarter], I said, ‘Look, it can’t get much worse than this. Let’s go out there and start having fun and just play football,’ ” he said.

It worked, and when the clock finally struck zero and thousands of fans streamed onto the field, the Cavaliers had a victory and the Yellow Jackets a painful loss that dropped them to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in the ACC.

Georgia Tech star quarterback Joe Hamilton was left to ponder what’s left of the Yellow Jackets’ season.

“We lost a game, a big game, and it dashed a lot of goals, but we’ve still got three games to play,” he said, mindful that the Yellow Jackets’ prospects for being part of the Bowl Championship Series probably ended, too.

Hamilton became the career total offense leader in the ACC with a 282-yard effort, but after Virginia (5-4, 4-3) went ahead to stay at 38-31 with 12:15 left, Hamilton couldn’t get his team into the end zone again until after Virginia had made it 45-31.

Rivers, who lost his job as the Cavaliers’ long snapper on punts when he was picked to play quarterback instead of the injured Dan Ellis, completed 18 of 30 for 228 yards, with one interception. That came early, before he got hot.

Virginia’s Thomas Jones rushed for 213 yards and two touchdowns in 39 carries.

Hamilton was 18 for 26 for 233 yards with one interception and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 49 yards in 14 carries.

Clemson 58, Duke 7--Travis Zachery ran for four touchdowns and Brandon Streeter threw for two as the Tigers (5-4, 5-2) routed the Blue Devils (2-7, 2-4) at Clemson, S.C.

It was the most points for Clemson since a 59-0 victory over Long Beach State in 1990 and the most against an ACC opponent since an 82-24 victory over Wake Forest in 1981, the year Clemson won its only national championship.

North Carolina State 30, Maryland 17--Jamie Barnett threw for two touchdowns to lead the Wolfpack (6-4, 3-4) over the Terrapins (5-4, 2-4) at Raleigh, N.C., and set a conference record with his 59th touchdown pass.

Wake Forest 19, North Carolina 3--The Demon Deacons (5-4, 2-4), playing solid defense and error-free football, beat the Tar Heels (1-8, 0-6) at Chapel Hill, N.C. Wake Forest had lost nine in a row to North Carolina.