VIRGINIA 18, MARYLAND 17: Reserve running back Mikell Simpson capped an amazing all-around performance by scoring the winning touchdown with 16 seconds left, and Virginia beat host Maryland 18-17 Saturday for its seventh straight victory.
Simpson scored on a 1-yard plunge to finish a frantic 90-yard drive that consumed more than seven minutes. That gave the Cavaliers (7-1, 4-0 ACC) yet another narrow victory this season -- five of their seven victories have come by five points or fewer.
Simpson ran 16 times for 119 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught 13 passes for 152 yards. The sophomore, who was listed third on the depth chart, had only two carries and four catches before Saturday.
Lance Ball ran for 72 yards and a touchdown, and Keon Lattimore had 65 yards rushing and a score for the Terrapins (4-3, 1-2). Maryland, which led 14-3 in the second quarter, managed only a field goal in the second half.
Virginia 3 7 2 6 -- 18
Maryland 7 7 3 0 -- 17
UVa--FG Gould 36
Md--Lattimore 3 run (Egekeze kick)
Md--L.Ball 1 run (Egekeze kick)
UVa--Simpson 44 run (Gould kick)
Md--FG Egekeze 41
UVa--Safety
UVa--Simpson 1 run (run failed)
A--52,782.
Virginia Maryland
First downs 25 16
Rushes-yards 39-191 38-130
Passing 248 103
Comp-Att-Int 23-36-0 13-19-0
Return Yards 16 13
Punts-Avg. 5-34.2 6-44.7
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 7-64 7-58
Time of Possession 30:46 29:14
Individual Statistics
RUSHING--Virginia, Simpson 16-119, Payne 13-69, Gorham 1-6, Sewell 9-(minus 3). Maryland, L.Ball 17-72, Lattimore 18-65, Turner 3-(minus 7).
PASSING--Virginia, Sewell 22-35-0-243, Lalich 1-1-0-5. Maryland, Turner 13-19-0-103.
RECEIVING--Virginia, Simpson 13-152, Stupar 3-34, Koch 2-23, Inman 2-18, Santi 1-9, Gorham 1-8, Phillips 1-4. Maryland, Heyward-Bey 4-52, Oquendo 4-22, L.Williams 2-19, L.Ball 2-11, Gronkowski 1-2, Lattimore 0-(minus 3).
MIAMI 37, FLORIDA STATE 29: Colin McCarthy returned a fumble 27 yards for Miami's second touchdown in 11 seconds late in the fourth quarter and the Hurricanes beat Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla.
For the first time since 1977, the rivalry game that helped decide so many national titles during the 1980s and 90s was played with neither team ranked. Fittingly, the Seminoles and Canes combined for nine turnovers, five by FSU.
Minutes before Miami's two quick touchdowns, the Hurricanes (5-3, 2-2 ACC) appeared to have lost their best chance to get the win when Kirby Freeman was stopped for no gain on a fourth-and-1 at the Florida State 1 with 5:29 left and the Canes trailing 29-24.
But Freeman, who replaced injured Kyle Wright in the first half, drove Miami 83 yards in a 1½ minutes to take the lead 30-29 on a 13-yard pass to Dedrick Epps with 1:15 left.
Xavier Lee, who was intercepted twice, then fumbled after being hit by Miami's Teraz McCray, and McCarthy ran it in for the clincher.
Miami 14 3 7 13 -- 37
Florida State 10 10 6 3 -- 29
FSU--FG Cismesia 23
Mia--Wright 1 run (Daly kick)
Mia--G.Cooper 2 run (Daly kick)
FSU--Lee 6 run (Cismesia kick)
FSU--Verdell 45 interception return (Cismesia kick)
Mia--FG Daly 44
FSU--FG Cismesia 31
FSU--FG Cismesia 33
Mia--Farr 26 pass from Zampogna (Daly kick)
FSU--FG Cismesia 45
FSU--FG Cismesia 45
Mia--Epps 13 pass from Freeman (pass failed)
Mia--McCarthy 27 fumble return (Daly kick)
A--82,728.
Miami Florida State
First downs 17 19
Rushes-yards 45-153 47-158
Passing 173 208
Comp-Att-Int 11-22-3 14-33-2
Return Yards 66 97
Punts-Avg. 4-46.3 3-43.7
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 3-3
Penalties-Yards 8-60 7-62
Time of Possession 27:15 32:45
Individual Statistics
RUSHING--Miami, G.Cooper 10-80, James 20-73, Freeman 4-18, McNeal 3-4, Jenkins 1-(minus 4), Team 2-(minus 4), Wright 5-(minus 14). Florida St., A.Smith 22-114, Holloway 4-21, Lee 12-15, Parker 2-11, Edwards 6-(minus 1), R.Ball 1-(minus 2).
PASSING--Miami, Freeman 4-11-2-59, Wright 6-10-1-88, Zampogna 1-1-0-26. Florida St., Lee 14-32-2-208, Parker 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING--Miami, Jenkins 4-106, G.Cooper 2-18, James 2-1, Farr 1-26, Epps 1-13, Farquharson 1-9. Florida St., Parker 5-83, Carr 3-41, Fagg 2-43, Piurowski 2-18, Graham 1-20, Edwards 1-3.
GEORGIA TECH 34, ARMY 10: In Atlanta, Rashaun Grant ran for 119 yards and a touchdown in place of injured star Tashard Choice.
Choice hurt his right knee on a 7-yard run late in the first quarter. The senior, in obvious pain, was helped off the field and then wheeled to the locker room. He did not return to the sideline.
Grant, also a senior, posted his first 100-yard game since his freshman season, but sat out the fourth quarter with an injury to his right ankle.
Freshman Jonathan Dwyer and sophomore Jamaal Evans also ran for second-half touchdowns for the Yellow Jackets, who had 510 total yards, including 292 on the ground.
Choice, the ACC's leading rusher, set career highs with 37 carries for 204 yards in a win at Miami last week. He ran for 24 yards, before being injured.
Georgia Tech (5-3) only led 13-10 at halftime.
Tech cornerback Jahi Word-Daniels' second interception set up a 24-yard touchdown run by the speedy Grant early in the second half.
Freshman Morgan Burnett also intercepted a Carson Williams pass for Tech.
Travis Bell kicked field goals of 44 and 45 yards for Tech. Owen Tolson kicked a 45-yarder for Army.
Army 7 3 0 0 -- 10
Georgia Tech 10 3 14 7 -- 34
GaT--FG Bell 44
GaT--Choice 1 run (Bell kick)
Army--Trimble 27 pass from C.Williams (DeMarco kick)
Army--FG Tolson 45
GaT--FG Bell 45
GaT--Grant 24 run (Bell kick)
GaT--Dwyer 4 run (Bell kick)
GaT--J.Evans 1 run (Bell kick)
A--50,242
Army Georgia Tech
First downs 13 29
Rushes-yards 33-118 51-292
Passing 148 218
Comp-Att-Int 12-28-3 14-25-0
Return Yards 1 42
Punts-Avg. 7-43.6 4-47.3
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 5-2
Penalties-Yards 6-53 12-110
Time of Possession 25:37 34:23
Individual Statistics
RUSHING--Army, Mealy 18-86, I.Smith 5-21, C.Anderson 2-10, Viti 2-8, Dunn 1-2, C.Williams 2-(minus 4), Dace 3-(minus 5). Georgia Tech, Grant 11-119, Nesbitt 13-78, Cox 4-38, J.Evans 5-29, Choice 9-24, Dwyer 6-20, Bennett 1-(minus 8), Booker 2-(minus 8).
PASSING--Army, C.Williams 9-23-3-124, Dunn 2-4-0-27, Trimble 1-1-0-(minus 3). Georgia Tech, Bennett 13-24-0-207, Nesbitt 1-1-0-11.
RECEIVING--Army, Trimble 4-83, C.Anderson 2-9, Evans 1-19, Mealy 1-17, Larson 1-12, M.Wright 1-8, Dace 1-3, C.Williams 1-(minus 3). Georgia Tech, G.Smith 4-61, J.Johnson 3-43, Peek 2-49, Grant 2-16, Thomas 1-25, Donley 1-13, Earls 1-11.
CLEMSON 70, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 14: Cullen Harper matched a school record with five touchdown passes as host Clemson rolled to its highest point total in 26 years. Harper completed 20-of-22 passes for 273 yards as the Tigers (5-2) ended up with 656 total yards.
The total yards and points were the most for Clemson since collecting 756 yards in an 82-24 victory over Wake Forest in its national title season of 1981.
Clemson's "Thunder and Lightning" backfield got back on track, too. James "Thunder" Davis ran for 88 yards, rushing for two touchdowns and catching a third, while C.J. "Lightning" Spiller added 96 yards and a TD.
Central Michigan 7 0 7 0 -- 14
Clemson 7 28 28 7 -- 70
CMU--Brooks 9 pass from LeFevour (Aguila kick)
Clem--Davis 1 run (Buchholz kick)
Clem--Kelly 63 pass from Harper (Buchholz kick)
Clem--Ford 36 pass from Harper (Buchholz kick)
Clem--Davis 11 pass from Harper (Buchholz kick)
Clem--Kelly 5 pass from Harper (Buchholz kick)
Clem--Spiller 1 run (Buchholz kick)
CMU--Brooks 4 pass from LeFevour (Aguila kick)
Clem--Davis 1 run (Buchholz kick)
Clem--Ford 8 pass from Harper (Buchholz kick)
Clem--Chambers 63 run (Buchholz kick), :34.
Clem--Dye 1 pass from Reese (Ri.Jackson kick)
A--81,000
Central Michigan Clemson
First downs 15 35
Rushes-yards 24-76 61-341
Passing 216 315
Comp-Att-Int 21-37-2 23-27-1
Return Yards (-4) 7
Punts-Avg. 6-41.5 1-42.0
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 2-0
Penalties-Yards 4-41 3-15
Time of Possession 24:35 35:25
Individual Statistics
RUSHING--Cent. Michigan, Volny 10-36, LeFevour 5-31, Tr.Doane 4-12, Hoskins 4-1, A.Brown 1-(minus 4). Clemson, Chambers 10-112, Spiller 15-96, Davis 22-88, Ford 2-21, Reese 3-12, Harper 5-7, Macko 4-5.
PASSING--Cent. Michigan, LeFevour 20-34-1-204, Brunner 1-3-1-12. Clemson, Harper 20-22-1-273, Reese 3-5-0-42.
RECEIVING--Cent. Michigan, A.Brown 6-40, Brooks 5-49, Gardner 3-38, Hoskins 3-37, Anderson 2-26, Watt 1-14, Pitts 1-12. Clemson, Kelly 7-121, Grisham 4-59, Spiller 3-19, Ford 2-44, Harris 2-20, Davis 2-19, Palmer 2-11, Dye 1-22.
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