N.C. State Really Rolls With Rivers

North Carolina State’s Philip Rivers won the battle of the nation’s two most accurate quarterbacks, throwing for 410 yards and four touchdowns in a 51-37 victory over Virginia on Saturday at Raleigh, N.C.

T.A. McLendon also made a remarkable return from knee surgery last week, rambling 38 yards with 23 seconds left for the clinching score.

McLendon, who ran for 112 yards and caught 11 passes for 104 more, helped N.C. State improve to 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Rivers, who completed 29 of 34 passes, became the fifth player in NCAA Division I-A history to throw for more than 12,000 yards.

Matt Schaub was 41 of 55 for 393 yards and four touchdowns for the Cavaliers (5-4, 3-3).

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In other games involving teams from the South: Scott McBrien threw three touchdown passes in an ACC record 39-point second quarter, and Maryland (6-3, 3-2) rolled to a 59-21 rout of North Carolina (1-8, 0-5) at College Park, Md.... Chris Barclay had 163 yards rushing and two touchdowns to lead Wake Forest (5-4, 3-3) to a 45-17 victory over Clemson (5-4, 3-3) in an ACC game at Winston-Salem, N.C.... Danny Wimprine threw for 268 yards and four touchdowns to lead Memphis (6-3, 3-2) to a 41-24 victory over East Carolina (1-8, 1-4) in a Conference USA game at Memphis, Tenn.... Dustin Almond threw three touchdown passes to lead Southern Mississippi (5-3) to a 48-3 victory over Louisiana Lafayette (2-8) at Hattiesburg, Miss.... Earl Charles scored three touchdowns and rushed for 121 yards to lead Marshall (6-3, 4-1) to a 42-24 victory over Akron (5-5, 3-3) in a Mid-American Conference game at Huntington, W.Va.... Nick Coon caught a 91-yard touchdown pass and host Alabama Birmingham (4-5, 3-2) scored a 24-9 victory over Army (0-9, 0-7) in a Conference USA game.... Joel Sambursky threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Brent Little with 55 seconds left to lead Southern Illinois (9-0, 5-0) to a 28-24 victory Western Kentucky (6-3, 3-2) in a Gateway Conference game at Bowling Green, Ky.

EAST

Quarterback Craig Candeto ran for 140 yards and three touchdowns to lead Navy (6-3) to a 35-17 victory over Tulane (3-6) at Annapolis, Md. completed 25 of 38 passes for 198 yards a touchdown. Tulane’s J.P. Losman completed 25 of 38 passes for 198 yards, with a touchdown and two interceptions .... Sam Mathews rushed for 173 yards to lead Pennsylvania (6-0, 4-0) to a 24-21 victory over Brown (1-5, 1-3) in an Ivy League game at Providence, R.I.... Charles Rittgers threw two touchdown passes to lead Dartmouth (3-4, 2-2) to a 30-16 victory over Harvard (6-1, 3-1) in an Ivy League game at Boston.... Jamaal Branch rushed for 200 yards to lead Colgate (9-0, 4-0) to a 47-31 victory over Lafayette (3-5, 0-4) in a Patriot League game at Easton, Pa.

MIDWEST

Michael Turner had three touchdowns and rushed for 126 yards to lead No. 21 Northern Illinois (8-1, 4-1) to a 48-23 victory over Ball State (4-5, 3-2) in a MAC game at Dekalb, Ill.... Jerry Seymour ran for a career-high 207 yards to lead Central Michigan (3-6, 1-5) to a 38-10 victory over Eastern Michigan (1-8, 0-5) in a MAC game at Mount Pleasant, Mich.... Bruce Gradkowski completed 23 of 25 passes for 435 yards and six touchdowns to lead Toledo (6-3, 4-1) to a 56-29 victory over Buffalo (1-9, 1-5) in a MAC game at Toledo, Ohio.

SOUTHWEST

Paul Pinegar threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score to lead Fresno State (5-4, 3-1) to a 20-11 victory over Southern Methodist (0-9, 0-6) in a Western Athletic Conference game at Dallas.... Kyle Herm threw two touchdown passes and ran for 186 yards and two more scores to lead Rice (2-6, 2-2) to a 52-42 victory over Nevada (5-4, 3-2) in a WAC game at Houston.... James Kilian rushed for 121 yards and three touchdowns to lead Tulsa (5-4, 3-2) to a 56-28 WAC victory over host Texas El Paso (2-7, 1-3).

FAR WEST

Tight end Ben Moa ran for a one-yard touchdown and then completed a two-point conversion pass to Matt Hansen to lead Utah (7-2, 4-1) to a 45-43 Mountain West Conference victory over Air Force (6-3, 3-2) in triple overtime at Air Force Academy, Colo.... Casey Bramlet passed for 337 yards and two touchdowns to lead Wyoming (4-5, 2-2) to a 35-28 victory over Colorado State (5-4, 2-2) in a Mountain West game at Laramie, Wyo.... Jamaal Brimmer’s 62-yard fourth quarter interception return gave Nevada Las Vegas (5-4, 1-3) a 37-35 win over New Mexico (5-4, 2-2) in a Mountain West game at Albuquerque.... Courtney Anderson was tackled at the one-yard line in the final seconds, and San Jose State (2-6, 1-4) was unable to get one last play before time expired as Hawaii (6-3, 5-1) held on for 13-10 victory in a WAC game at San Jose.... Travis Cox passed for 301 yards and Utah State (3-6, 3-1) rolled to a 41-20 victory over Middle Tennessee (2-7, 2-2) in a Sun Belt Conference game at Logan, Utah.... Chris Easley ran for 114 yards to lead Arkansas State (4-5, 2-2) to a 28-24 victory over New Mexico State (2-7, 1-4) in a Sun Belt game at Las Cruces, N.M.

SOUTHLAND

Charlie Brown rushed for 193 yards and two touchdowns to lead Cal Lutheran (4-3, 3-1) to a 31-20 SCIAC victory over visiting Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (4-2, 2-1).... Alejandro Mendibles caught a 62-yard touchdown pass from Jesse Serrato with 2:35 left to lead visiting Whittier (1-6, 1-3) to a 21-14 SCIAC victory over La Verne (0-7, 0-5).... James Keeler rushed for 166 yards and two touchdowns to lead Azusa Pacific (6-1) to a 23-10 victory over Gustavus Adolphus (4-5) at St. Peter, Minn.... Justin Elway threw for 218 yards and four touchdowns to lead Occidental (4-2) to a 49-7 victory over Colorado College (2-6) at Colorado Springs.... Antar Mahasin rushed for 135 yards to lead UC Davis (5-2) to a 45-14 victory over St. Mary’s (1-8) at Moraga.... Chris Peterson passed for three touchdowns to lead Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (5-3) to a 33-21 victory over visiting Southern Utah (3-5).... Evan Harney rushed for 147 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead San Diego (7-2) to a 53-7 victory over visiting Butler (0-9).