Clemson Victory Ranks Up There

Clemson Coach Tommy Bowden was able to take care of a nagging issue Saturday.

Charlie Whitehurst’s four-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Youngblood in overtime lifted Clemson to a 30-27 victory over No. 25 Virginia at Clemson, S.C. It was the first victory for a Bowden-coached team over a top-25 team in nine games and brought his record against such teams to 3-18.

The breakthrough victory came after Clemson, 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, lost leads of 10-0 and 24-17. Virginia (4-2, 3-1) had the ball first in overtime and settled for Connor Hughes’ 33-yard field goal after running back Alvin Pearman was stopped on third and one.

On Clemson’s third play in overtime, Whitehurst’s 12-yard pass to Duane Coleman gave the Tigers a first down at the Virginia seven. Two plays later, Whitehurst floated a pass into the left corner that Youngblood leaped to catch over defender Jamaine Winborne.

North Carolina State 31, Connecticut 24 -- Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay returned a fumble for a touchdown, then ran back an interception 56 yards for a touchdown with five seconds left to lift the Wolfpack (4-3) in a nonconference game at Raleigh, N.C. Quarterback Dan Orlovsky had three touchdown passes for Connecticut (4-3).

Georgia Tech 24, Wake Forest 7 -- Jonathan Smith caught seven passes for 194 yards, scoring one touchdown and setting up another, at Winston-Salem, N.C., and the Yellow Jackets (4-3, 2-2) won their third in a row. Wake Forest (3-3, 1-2) continued its slide from a 2-0 start that had the Demon Deacons ranked No. 20 in early September.

Maryland 33, Duke 20 -- Alex Wade’s two rushing touchdowns in the second half at College Park, Md., helped the Terrapins (5-2, 2-1) extend their winning streak to five. Duke (2-4, 0-3) has a 28-game losing streak in the ACC.

North Carolina 28, East Carolina 17 -- Darian Durant threw two touchdown passes at Greenville, N.C., and the Tar Heels (1-5) improved to 7-1-1 against the Pirates (0-6) in a nonconference game.