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ACC football roundup: Choice leads Georgia Tech to victory

Sunday, October 14, 2007
(Updated Saturday, July 19, 2008 - 11:09 pm)

GEORGIA TECH 17, MIAMI 14: Tashard Choice ran for a career-high 204 yards on 37 carries, quarterback Taylor Bennett rushed for two touchdowns and Georgia Tech controlled the second half to beat host Miami 17-14 Saturday.

Travis Bell's 39-yard field goal with 7:34 left was the eventual game-winner for Georgia Tech (4-3, 2-3 ACC), which became the fourth team since 1978 to beat Miami in three consecutive seasons, joining Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and Florida State.

And this Georgia Tech victory -- just like the previous two -- dealt the Hurricanes' ACC hopes a serious blow.

Shawnbrey McNeal had a 39-yard touchdown run on a fourth-down play for Miami (4-3, 1-2), which came in allowing 111 rushing yards per game, but let Choice eclipse that by the midpoint of the third quarter.

The Yellow Jackets trailed 7-0 at halftime, and came out after intermission with a simple plan: Give Choice the ball.

Choice went 54 yards on Tech's opening drive of the second half, and the Yellow Jackets pulled into a 7-7 tie when Bennett curled to his left and made a 10-yard sprint for the score.

Miami went three-and-out on its next possession, and Georgia Tech rode Choice again on its next drive, giving him the ball eight times on an eight-minute, 14-play, 77-yard grind capped by Bennett going in on another bootleg from 3 yards out.

The Hurricanes answered with a long drive to tie the game. McNeal came through again on fourth down -- getting 6 yards on fourth-and-1 from the 15 -- and Kyle Wright hit Sam Shields with a 4-yard scoring pass with 10:37 left in the game.

But after Bell's field goal, the Hurricanes went nowhere. The drive could have started at the 25, but an unnecessary roughness penalty on Derron Thomas sent Miami back to the 13, and the Hurricanes managed only a couple yards before punting.

Miami never got the ball back, and was outgained 244-79 in the second half.

Miami cornerback Bruce Johnson got his first career interception with 6:32 left in the first quarter, wrestling what would have been a touchdown away from Georgia Tech's Greg Smith.

Georgia Tech 0 0 14 3 -- 17

Miami 7 0 0 7 -- 14

Mia--McNeal 39 run (Zampogna kick)

GaT--Bennett 10 run (Bell kick)

GaT--Bennett 3 run (Bell kick)

Mia--Shields 3 pass from Wright (Zampogna kick)

GaT--FG Bell 39

A--52,416

Georgia Tech Miami

First downs 22 12

Rushes-yards 50-264 38-167

Passing 114 56

Comp-Att-Int 11-29-1 8-18-0

Return Yards 25 1

Punts-Avg. 4-36.8 7-37.1

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0

Penalties-Yards 8-80 8-78

Time of Possession 32:11 27:49

Individual Statistics

RUSHING--Georgia Tech, Choice 37-204, Nesbitt 4-25, Grant 6-23, Bennett 2-13, Team 1-(minus 1). Miami, G.Cooper 12-66, McNeal 8-48, Wright 8-30, Thomas 1-27, Freeman 2-3, Team 1-(minus 1), James 6-(minus 6).

PASSING--Georgia Tech, Bennett 11-28-1-114, Nesbitt 0-1-0-0. Miami, Wright 8-17-0-56, Freeman 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING--Georgia Tech, Thomas 3-35, Peek 2-25, Choice 1-13, Earls 1-13, G.Smith 1-11, Donley 1-10, J.Johnson 1-4, Nesbitt 1-3. Miami, Shields 4-22, Zellner 3-23, Mabry 1-11.

VIRGINIA 17, CONNECTICUT 16: Chris Gould kicked a 19-yard field goal with 3:20 to play Saturday and mistake-prone Virginia won its sixth consecutive game and knocked visiting Connecticut from the ranks of the unbeaten.

The Cavaliers (6-1) trailed 16-14 and had struggled on offense all day before driving 79 yards to Gould's second game-winner in as many weeks. Last Saturday, his 34-yarder with 8 seconds left gave Virginia a 23-21 victory at Middle Tennessee.

Quarterback Jameel Sewell completed a 30-yard pass to Chris Gorham and an 8-yarder to Tom Santi on third-and-5 during the winning drive, then tried to run it in on a draw play on third-and-goal from the 7. He was tackled just shy of the goal line.

The Huskies (5-1) got consecutive 11-yard runs from quarterback Tyler Lorenzen after Gould's field goal to reach Virginia's 44, but UConn lost 21 yards when a snap in the shotgun zipped passed Lorenzen, a false start penalty that made it second-and-31 and then fumbled on the next snap, Jeffrey Fitzgerald recovering for Virginia.

Gould's field goal try from 35 yards with 27 seconds to play missed wide left, giving the Huskies three chances to complete a long pass or draw a penalty. The Cavaliers defended them all and hung on to win the first meeting between the schools.

Connecticut 6 0 7 3 -- 16

Virginia 7 7 0 3 -- 17

Conn--FG Ciaravino 45

Conn--FG Ciaravino 21

UVa--Payne 1 run (Gould kick)

UVa--Phillips 8 pass from Sewell (Gould kick)

Conn--Brouse 6 pass from Lorenzen (Ciaravino kick)

Conn--FG Ciaravino 25

UVa--FG Gould 19

A--60,004

Connecticut Virginia

First downs 17 16

Rushes-yards 33-78 44-148

Passing 176 184

Comp-Att-Int 17-33-0 15-25-2

Return Yards 68 23

Punts-Avg. 6-49.0 6-41.2

Fumbles-Lost 4-2 3-1

Penalties-Yards 9-50 4-41

Time of Possession 27:33 32:27

Individual Statistics

RUSHING--Connecticut, Dixon 14-63, Lorenzen 13-33, Hernandez 1-7, Kanuch 1-2, Allen 2-(minus 1), Team 2-(minus 26). Virginia, Sewell 16-66, Payne 11-42, Pearman 17-40.

PASSING--Connecticut, Lorenzen 17-33-0-176. Virginia, Sewell 14-24-2-149, V.Hall 1-1-0-35.

RECEIVING--Connecticut, Jeffers 5-60, Hernandez 5-35, Taylor 3-32, Brouse 2-24, Dixon 1-17, Kanuch 1-8. Virginia, Gorham 3-76, Stupar 3-23, Pearman 2-10, Inman 1-16, Payne 1-16, Koch 1-14, R.Jackson 1-9, Phillips 1-8, Santi 1-8, Jobe 1-4.

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