No. 9 Hokies Win Game, Lose Suggs

Virginia Tech found a replacement for Michael Vick. The ninth-ranked Hokies might need to find one for running back Lee Suggs.

Grant Noel threw three touchdown passes in a near-perfect debut as Vick’s replacement Saturday, but Virginia Tech lost Suggs to an injured left knee in a 52-10 victory over Connecticut at Blacksburg, Va.

Suggs, the nation’s leading scorer last season, has both a torn anterior cruciate ligament and medial meniscus. He is scheduled to have arthroscopic surgery Monday to repair the meniscus and determine if the ACL tear is new or a previous injury.

If the ACL tear is an old injury, Suggs could return this season and wait until January to have surgery to repair it. If it is not, Suggs will be out for the season.

“When you lose the best tailback in school history--whether it’s for a few weeks or the season--that’s a tough loss,” Coach Frank Beamer said.

Suggs gained 99 yards in 12 carries, including scoring runs of one and 49 yards before hurting the knee with about nine minutes left in the third quarter.

“I don’t think it’s that serious,” Suggs said before undergoing the MRI. “I’ve been hurt before and I’ve been hurt worse than this....I think it’s fine, a minor injury.”

The victory was Beamer’s 100th as the Hokies’ coach.

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In other games involving Big East teams: David Priestley scored on an 85-yard run that was the longest ever by a Pittsburgh quarterback and the Panthers withstood the injury loss of star wide receiver Antonio Bryant to defeat East Tennessee State, 31-0, at Pittsburgh. Bryant, last year’s Biletnikoff Award winner as college football’s top receiver, left with a sprained left ankle in the first quarter and did not return. ... William Green ran for 204 yards and three touchdowns in three quarters as Boston College defeated West Virginia, 34-10, at Boston, spoiling Mountaineer Coach Rich Rodriguez’s debut. Green, who had runs of 67, 57 and 30 yards, didn’t play after Boston College scored 14 seconds into the final quarter.

Atlantic Coast

Chris Rix eased into the post-Chris Weinke era with two touchdown passes and No. 6 Florida State blocked two punts for scores to defeat Duke, 55-13, at Durham, N.C. The Seminoles scored 31 points by the half, but Rix had just 93 yards and finished nine for 18 for 135 yards throwing to a depleted group of receivers. His TD passes of 26 and 33 yards came after Florida State already had a big lead. ... Woody Dantzler was 15 of 25 for 152 yards and ran for 46 yards as No. 19 Clemson defeated Central Florida, 21-13, at Clemson, S.C. The rest of the Tigers accounted for only 92 yards as Clemson’s offense sputtered. ... A missed extra point cost DivisionI-AA Richmond a chance at an upset as the Spiders fell to Virginia, 17-16, at Charlottesville, Va. The Spiders (0-1) could have tied it at 17-17 with 8:50 remaining after Claude Diggs’ five-yard TD run, but Doug Kirchner’s extra-point attempt sailed wide left. ... George Godsey passed for 224 yards and two touchdowns and directed scoring drives on four of Georgia Tech’s first five possessions as the 11th-ranked Yellow Jackets coasted to a 35-7 victory over The Citadel at Atlanta. Godsey completed his first 11 passes and was 14 of 16 when he left with 8:50 remaining in the second quarter and Tech up 28-0. ... Shaun Hill threw two touchdown passes to back a stellar performance by the Maryland defense, and the Terrapins defeated North Carolina, 23-7, at College Park, Md. ... Tarence Williams ran for 162 yards and a touchdown as Wake Forest defeated East Carolina, 21-19, at Greenville, N.C., in their first game under Jim Grobe.

Conference USA

Sophomore quarterback Kyle Herm rushed for 108 yards to help lead Rice to a 21-14 victory at Houston in the Bayou Bucket series. Rice, which defeated Houston, 30-27, in overtime last season, ended an eight-game road losing streak. ... Nick Browne tied a school record with four field goals--two from more than 40 yards that barely cleared the crossbar--as Texas Christian defeated North Texas, 19-5, at Denton, Texas. It was the first victory for Coach Gary Patterson, who took over when Dennis Franchione left for Alabama in December.

Mountain West

Luke Staley ran for 124 yards and two touchdowns and Brandon Doman threw for 222 yards and one TD, all in the first half, as Brigham Young defeated Nevada, 52-7, at Provo, Utah. One week after a 70-35 victory over Tulane, BYU (2-0) showed its offensive outburst against the Green Wave was no accident. The Cougars led, 38-0, and had 432 yards of total offense by halftime against Nevada (0-1). ... Walk-on Marty Johnson ran for 95 yards and Adam Tate added 76, each scoring a touchdown as Utah defeated Utah State, 23-19, at Salt Lake City. Ryan Kaneshiro connected on field goals of 37, 21 and 33 yards as the Utes beat the Aggies for the fifth consecutive year. ... Freshman walk-on Wes Zunker’s 51-yard field goal put New Mexico in front for good and the Lobos’ blitzing defense tied a school record with nine sacks in a 26-6 season-opening victory against Texas El Paso at Albuquerque.

Western Athletic

Casey Bramlet threw for 331 yards and Jarvis Wallum kicked four field goals as Wyoming defeated Furman, 20-14, at Laramie, Wyo., to end an eight-game losing streak. ... Linebacker Curtis Randall scored on a 65-yard fumble recovery as Louisiana Tech beat Southern Methodist, 36-6, at Shreveport, La., as the Bulldogs made their conference debut.