Syracuse Humbles No. 5 Virginia Tech

Syracuse forgot its humiliations of the past, and No. 5 Virginia Tech can forget about the Rose Bowl.

Doing what they have seen Virginia Tech do to others so many times before, the Orangemen scored on a punt return and after a turnover in the first quarter, and beat the Hokies, 22-14, on Saturday at Blacksburg, Va., for their seventh consecutive victory.

“Every time we’ve played Virginia Tech, it seemed like it was their day,” said Syracuse quarterback R.J. Anderson, who completed just six passes, but rushed for 63 yards. “For once, maybe it was our day.”

The Orangemen, 7-2 overall and 4-0 in the Big East Conference, ended the Hokies’ 16-game home winning streak and avenged their last three visits to Lane Stadium, which ended with Virginia Tech winning by a combined 124-10.

Syracuse stayed on track for a conference showdown against top-ranked Miami at the Orange Bowl on Nov. 17.

Virginia Tech plays the Hurricanes at home Dec. 1.

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The Hokies had chances Saturday, even after falling behind, 14-0, in the first 7:25, but each time the Syracuse defense or a continuing rash of Virginia Tech mistakes derailed any comeback hopes.

The Orangemen allowed Virginia Tech just 90 yards rushing, well below its average of 234, recovered two fumbles and blocked a punt. One of the fumbles and the blocked punt turned into 10 first-half points.

In another Big East game: David Priestley was 18 for 24 for 204 yards passing and two touchdowns, and Nick Lotz matched a school record by kicking four field goals as Pittsburgh beat Temple, 33-7, at Philadelphia.

The Panthers (2-5, 1-3) won for the first time since their season-opening 31-0 victory over East Tennessee State. Temple (2-5, 1-3) has lost five of six games.

Atlantic Coast

Woodrow Dantzler rebounded from his worst game of the season, passing for two touchdowns and running for another score in Clemson’s 21-14 victory over Wake Forest at Winston-Salem, N.C. Dantzler, held to 116 yards before being benched in the third quarter during North Carolina’s 38-3 rout over the Tigers (5-2, 3-2) the previous week, had 330 of Clemson’s 391 total yards against Wake Forest (3-4, 1-4). ... Ray Robinson ran for a season-high 105 yards and scored two touchdowns in North Carolina State’s 21-point third quarter as the Wolfpack (4-3, 2-3) beat slumping Virginia (3-5, 2-4), 24-0, at Raleigh, N.C. ... Rodney Williams ran for 155 yards and two touchdowns in a nonconference game at Durham, N.C., as Vanderbilt (2-5) handed Duke (0-8) its 20th consecutive loss, 42-28.

Conference USA

Alabama-Birmingham (4-4, 3-2) stopped three fourth-quarter drives and defeated Memphis (4-4, 2-3), 17-14, at Memphis, Tenn. ... C.J. Young ran for four touchdowns, including 13 yards for the game-winner with 2:26 remaining, as Army (2-5, 2-4) defeated Tulane (2-7, 1-4), 42-35, at West Point, N.Y. ... T.J. Patterson returned from a sprained ankle and ran for a season-high 136 yards and a pivotal touchdown for Louisville (7-1, 3-0) in a 28-13 victory over Cincinnati (4-3, 4-1) at Cincinnati. ... Jeff Kelly threw for a career-high five touchdowns and ran for another score as Southern Mississippi snapped out of its offensive slump with a 58-14 victory over Houston at Hattiesburg, Miss.

Mountain West

Duan Ruff scored on a one-yard run with 9:27 left, and Colorado State hung on at Fort Collins, Colo., to beat Utah (5-2, 2-1), 19-17. The Rams (4-4, 3-1) rallied from 7-0 and 14-13 deficits to end Utah’s winning streak at four games. ... Joe Haro rushed for 226 yards and scored two touchdowns as Nevada Las Vegas (3-5, 2-2) beat Wyoming (2-6, 0-5), 47-26, in Laramie, Wyo. ... Casey Kelly passed for three touchdowns for New Mexico (3-4, 2-2) in a 52-33 victory over Air Force (4-3, 2-2) at Albuquerque. ... Defensive end Ryan Denney returned a blocked field-goal attempt 82 yards for a touchdown to start a run of big scoring plays for No. 16 Brigham Young (8-0, 4-0) in a 59-21 victory over San Diego State (2-6, 1-3) at San Diego.

Western Athletic

Ryan Dinwiddie threw three touchdown passes, two to Jeb Putzier, and ran for another score as Boise State (5-3, 4-1) beat Nevada (1-6, 1-3), 49-7, at Boise, Idaho. ... Freshman ShanDerrick Charles ran for 212 yards and four touchdowns in his first collegiate start as Southern Methodist beat Texas-El Paso, 40-14, at Dallas. ... Luke McCown threw for 384 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for another touchdown as Louisiana Tech (4-3, 4-1) emerged with a 41-38 overtime victory over Rice (6-2, 3-1) after blowing a 31-point lead at Ruston, La. ... Clint Carlson threw for 282 yards and two touchdowns in his second career start as San Jose State (2-5, 2-2) beat Tulsa (1-6, 0-5), 63-27, at San Jose.