Turnovers Pave Way for Virginia

Matt Schaub threw three touchdown passes, and Virginia took advantage of seven South Carolina turnovers to defeat the 22nd-ranked Gamecocks, 34-21, Saturday night at Charlottesville, Va.

Schaub, who had been inconsistent in the Cavaliers’ first two games--both losses--while sharing time with redshirt freshman Marques Hagans, played nearly the entire game and delivered a strong performance.

Billy McMullen, a 6-foot-4 receiver who struggled to get open in the first two games, took advantage of South Carolina’s smaller secondary, catching four passes four 72 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown pass and three other catches facing third-and-long.

The Gamecocks (1-1) fumbled six times and threw an interception. Three of the turnovers led to Cavalier touchdowns, and two others happened deep in Virginia territory, stopping potential scoring drives.

“I’ve been in this game a long time, and I don’t ever remember being in a situation like this,” South Carolina Coach Lou Holtz said of the turnovers. “There were times we didn’t have nearly have that many turnovers in a season.”

South Carolina’s defense, which looked suspect in a 34-24 season-opening victory over New Mexico State, again gave up big yardage. The Cavaliers amassed 339 yards of total offense, including 196 passing.

The Cavaliers (1-2) trailed 21-20 at halftime but took advantage of two third-quarter fumbles to take a 13-point lead.

With a little over four minutes left in the quarter, Schaub was intercepted on the South Carolina six-yard line by Langston Moore, but Moore fumbled and Schaub recovered. Three plays later, Schaub passed to Kase Luzar for a five-yard touchdown.

“It’s a big step forward for our team,” Virginia Coach Al Groh said. “We beat a real good team.”

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Philip Rivers threw for 309 yards and five touchdowns to tie a school record as 21st-ranked North Carolina State (3-0) sent Navy (1-1) to its 10th consecutive home loss with a 65-19 decision at Annapolis, Md. Rivers, who also ran for a score, completed 10 of 15 passes, including touchdown passes of 64 and 88 yards to split end Bryan Peterson. Rivers broke a school record by accounting for six touchdowns.... Scott McBrien threw a touchdown and ran for another, and Steve Suter returned a punt 81 yards for a score as Maryland (1-1) built a 28-point halftime lead and cruised to a 44-14 victory over Akron (0-2) at College Park, Md.... Backup tailback Yusef Kelly ran for 97 yards and three touchdowns and kicker Aaron Hunt had four field goals as Clemson (1-1) rolled to a 33-13 victory over Louisiana Tech (1-1) at Clemson, S.C.... Dave Ragone threw for 258 yards and Louisville (1-1) held Duke (1-1) without a first down in the first 28 minutes of a 40-3 victory at Durham, N.C.... James MacPherson threw for 216 yards and a touchdown and Wake Forest (1-1) forced five turnovers in a 27-22 victory over East Carolina (0-2) at Winston-Salem, N.C.... Tony Hollings ran for four touchdowns to tie a school record and had all 144 of his yards in the first half as Georgia Tech (2-0) scored a 31-14 over Connecticut (0-2) at Storrs, Conn.

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BIG EAST

Darian Durant threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter and Dan Orner kicked field goals from 51, 52 and a school-record 55 yards as North Carolina (1-1) held on for a 30-22 victory over Syracuse (0-2) at Syracuse, N.Y. Orner equaled the Division I-A record for most 50-yard field goals in a game. The mark was set in 1966 by Wyoming’s Jerry DePoyster and matched by Wichita State’s Sergio Lopez-Chavero in 1984 and Iowa’s Tim Douglas in 1998.... Randall Secky threw three touchdown passes to Andre Forde as Buffalo (1-1) scored a 34-11 victory over Rutgers (0-2) at Piscataway, N.J., in a matchup of two of the worst teams in major college football.

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CONFERENCE USA

J.P. Losman threw two touchdown passes and Tulane (2-0, 1-0) forced seven turnovers as the Green Wave cruised to a 34-13 victory at Houston (1-1, 0-1). Losman, a former UCLA quarterback, completed 14 of 25 passes for 208 yards and Mewelde Moore had 90 yards in 19 carries for Tulane.... Ari Confesor returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown and Chris Vella kicked five field goals as Division I-AA Holy Cross completed a 30-21 upset of Army in the season opener for both teams at West Point, N.Y. Confesor had 327 all-purpose yards, and Vella kicked field goals from 23, 30, 20, 34 and 17 yards for the Crusaders, who defeated a I-A opponent for the first time since beating Army 31-24 in 1987.... Freshman quarterback Darrell Hackney came off the bench in the first quarter to spark a stagnant Alabama Birmingham (1-1) offense, completing 11 of 15 passes for 139 yards and a touchdown in a 27-26 victory over visiting Troy State (0-2).

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MID-AMERICAN

Quincy Broussard ran for two touchdowns as Toledo (2-0, 1-0) scored on seven of its first eight possessions in a 65-13 victory over Eastern Michigan (0-2, 0-1) at Ypsilanti, Mich. Toledo amassed 510 total yards and forced six turnovers.

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MOUNTAIN WEST

Steve Massie ran for a four-yard touchdown as Air Force (2-0, 1-0) emerged with a 38-31 victory over New Mexico (1-2, 0-1) at Air Force Academy, Colo., in the first overtime game involving teams from the four-year-old conference. Leotis Palmer ran for a career-high 125 yards and a touchdown, and he passed for another score on a halfback option play.... Derrick Vickers threw for 361 yards and had a school-record 28 completions as Central Michigan (2-0) rolled to a 32-20 victory over Wyoming (0-2) at Mount Pleasant, Mich. The Chippewas grabbed a 10-0 lead midway through the first quarter as Robbie Mixon, who ran for 150 yards on 37 carries, scored from four yards out and Mike Gruzwalski kicked one of his four field goals.

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WESTERN ATHLETIC

Kliff Kingsbury bounced back from a brief first-half benching to lead two long fourth-quarter touchdown drives, giving Texas Tech (1-1) a 24-14 victory over Southern Methodist (0-2) at Dallas. Kingsbury was 32 of 49 for 369 yards, giving him 8,122 career yards. He passed Robert Hall, who had 7,908 yards passing from 1990-93. The senior threw three touchdown passes and was intercepted twice.... Antonio Warren ran for 193 yards and two touchdowns in his first start for Arkansas State (1-2) in a 21-19 victory over Tulsa (0-2) at Jonesboro, Ark. Tulsa has lost 12 in a row.