Sexton, Florida State Smother Virginia

Wyatt Sexton’s precision passing and Florida State’s defense carried the seventh-ranked Seminoles to a 36-3 victory over previously undefeated Virginia on Saturday night at Tallahassee, Fla.

Tailback Lorenzo Booker rushed for 123 yards and a pair of touchdown runs, and his defensive teammates limited Virginia to 20 yards rushing.

Sexton completed 20 of 26 passes for 275 yards and a touchdown despite having five passes dropped. He has completed 66.1% of his passes for 846 yards and five touchdowns since replacing Chris Rix as the starter last month.

Florida State, which improved to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, played easily its best game of the season, getting big plays from its special teams as well as it stayed perfect in seven home games against Virginia.

Florida State’s victory ended a string of six straight losses against top-10 opponents, while No. 6 Virginia missed an opportunity for a road win against a top-10 team for the first time.

Virginia (5-1, 2-1) came into the game averaging 42.4 points and 493.2 yards a game.

No. 11 Utah 46, North Carolina 16 -- Alex Smith threw four touchdown passes and ran for another to lead the Utes (6-0) over the Tar Heels (3-4) at Salt Lake City.

Smith completed 29 of 37 passes for 341 yards as Utah earned its third victory this season over a team from a bowl championship series conference.

Utah had 669 yards of offense.

Smith drove the Utes on four long-scoring drives, including three that went 80 yards, but he was most impressive running the two-minute drill during a 10-play, 99-yard drive to close the first half.

North Carolina State 13, Maryland 3 -- The Wolfpack (4-2, 3-1) yielded only five first downs and 24 yards passing, and quarterback Jay Davis provided enough offense in a victory over the Terrapins (3-3, 1-2) at College Park, Md.

N.C. State permitted only 91 yards of offense, 31 after the Terrapins’ first drive. The Wolfpack had been winless against the Terrapins since 1999, blowing a second-half lead in all four games.

Davis completed 13 of 30 passes for 208 yards after starting running back T.A. McLendon injured his hamstring on the opening series and did not return.

Georgia Tech 24, Duke 7 -- P.J. Daniels rushed for 114 yards and threw the first touchdown pass of his career, and the Yellow Jackets (4-2, 3-2) got a strong performance from their defense in a victory over the Blue Devils (1-5, 0-3) at Atlanta.

Daniels rushed for more than 100 yards for the third time this season. Freshman Calvin Johnson caught two touchdown passes, including one from Daniels. Johnson finished with six receptions for 92 yards.

After holding Maryland to 81 yards of offense in a 20-7 win last week, Georgia Tech’s defense was again strong, recording five sacks and holding Duke to 184 yards.

Virginia Tech 62, Florida A&M; 0 -- Bryan Randall passed for four touchdowns, despite throwing only 14 passes, and the Hokies (5-2) forced five turnovers by the Rattlers (2-5) in a victory at Blacksburg, Va.

Randall completed nine of 14 passes and scored with throws of 16, 10, 20 and nine yards before sitting out the second half. Cendric Humes ran for 120 yards and two scores.

Clemson 35, Utah State 6 -- Reggie Merriweather had two touchdowns and the Tigers (2-4) ended a four-game losing streak with a victory over the Aggies (2-5) at Clemson, S.C.

Clemson had 11 sacks, the most in a game in Coach Tommy Bowden’s six seasons, and held Utah State to minus-20 yards rushing.