Weekend Wrap-Up of Week 6

By Joe Johnson
Oct 10, 2005 

Boston College

The return of quarterback Quinton Porter was good news for Boston College even if he did get off to a slow start. Porter, who missed the last two games with a sprained ankle, missed five of his first nine passes but came back to finish 25-of-37 for 301 yards and two touchdowns against Virginia. Porter found out on Friday night that he was going back into the starting lineup. Porter's presence made up for three missed field goals and 111 yards of penalties by the Eagles.

Clemson

After losing the last three games in close fashion, Coach Tommy Bowden is looking to turn the season around and he's calling on his seniors to pull their weight and then a little extra. Most of the seniors have only six games left in the playing careers and their next chance to win comes Thursday at N.C. State. Bowden said the Tigers are only three plays from being 5-0, instead of 2-3.

Duke

If the game against Miami ended after the first quarter then the Blue Devils might have been a little happier with the outcome. But it didn't. So instead of losing 7-0, Duke was punished by the Hurricanes 52-7. Defensively, there was a bright spot for safety Chris Davis, who had two interceptions in the game against Miami quarterback Kyle Wright. Injuries mounted again for Duke. The Blue Devils entered the game without running backs Cedric Dargan, Justin Boyle and Requan Boyette and receivers Ronnie Elliott and Jomar Wright. So Duke went with Ronnie Drummer, who did have a 81-yard touchdown run in the third quarter for the Blue Devils' only score. Miami outgained Duke 557-128, but most of Duke's yardage came on the Drummer's long run.

Florida State

The young guys came through again for the Seminoles. Freshmen wide receivers Greg Carr and Fred Rouse helped spark a 21-point fourth quarter to put away a pesky Wake Forest team bent on an upset. After Wake Forest pulled within three points at 20-17, Carr and Rouse went to work with redshirt freshman quarterback Drew Weatherford. Carr, a 6-foot-6 stringbean, outjumped 5-foot-10 Kevin Patterson to pull in a key third down pass to keep a Florida State drive alive. Later in the drive, Weatherford hit Rouse for a 16-yard touchdown. Weatherford finished with a career-high 351 yards through the air on 20-of-31 passing and no interceptions.

 

Georgia Tech

Getting back on the right track is important for kicker Travis Bell. After missing two against N.C. State, Bell now has missed five in a row. That's in stark contrast to last season when he set a school record with 15 consecutive field goals. The Yellow Jackets didn't respond well to either of Bell's misses against the Wolfpack. N.C. State scored touchdowns after each miss, including an 80-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that put the Wolfpack ahead.

Maryland

Running back Mario Merrills has made an impact since breaking into the lineup for the Terrapins. Merrills added three touchdown run against winless Temple on Saturday. Merrills scored on runs of six, one and two yards to ignite the Terrapins, who trailed the Owls after the first quarter 7-3. Merrills became the latest Maryland player to rush for three TDs in a game since Bruce Perry did it in 2003 against Wake Forest. Maryland handed Temple its fifth loss by at least 25 points this season.

Miami

Quarterback Kyle Wright hit his comfort zone against Duke in the second quarter.

After getting through the first quarter with a 7-0, Miami turned it on in the second quarter which featured three touchdown passes by Wright and a 21-yard Jon Peattie field goal. Wright threw TD passes of 29 yards to Lance Legget, 18 yards to tight end Greg Olsen and one of 26 yards to Sinorice Moss that gave Miami a 31-0 lead.

Wright finished 18-of-31 for 255 yards but he did have two interceptions.

N.C. State

After breaking a six-game overall ACC losing streak with a win over Georgia Tech on Thursday, there is a more important streak that Coach Chuck Amato wants to break. N.C. State has lost four straight league games at home and that covers more than a year. The last ACC win N.C. State had was against Wake Forest on Oct. 2, 2004. The Wolfpack gets its chance on Thursday when it hosts Clemson, another team that has been on a slide lately. The Tigers won their first two games, but then have dropped three straight close ones to Miami and Boston College in overtime and then to Wake Forest in the final minute of regulation.

 

North Carolina

The Tar Heels gave up the most points ever as they lost to Louisville 69-14. The losing margin was the second highest since 1912 win Virginia beat UNC 66-0.

Overall, it was just a bad day for North Carolina. Worse than last season's 34-point blowout at the hands of f the Cardinals. North Carolina's defense, after helping win the last two over N.C. State and Utah, had appeared to have turned the corner this season but troubles of old popped up again. UNC allowed 451 yards to the Cardinals and only got one sack. The offense didn't help the defense, though. The Tar Heels fumbled four times and lost three and those were turned into 17 points by the Cardinals. The return of running back Ronnie McGill gave UNC some life in the first half, but his touchdown in the first quarter was the highlight of his day.

Virginia

The Cavaliers got a helping hand from Boston College but it wasn't enough to overcome the Eagles. Virginia was aided by 11 Boston College penalties, including a pair of 15-yarders that kept touchdown drives alive. But the Cavaliers gave back seven of the points with a special teams miscue. When BC's Paul Anderson blocked a Cavalier punt deep in their own end, Virginia wasn't able to keep the Eagles from scoring from the 2.

Virginia Tech

The third quarter was the difference for Virginia Tech in its 41-14 win over Marshall. The Hokies outgained Marshall 200-1 and those 200 yards translated into 20 points. In a span of 3:29, Virginia Tech scored 17 of them. Virginia Tech got a field goal, then Vince Hall returned a Marshall fumble 15 yards for a touchdown, and then after stopping the Herd again, quarterback Marcus Vick connected with David Clowney for a 78-yard touchdown pass. So Virginia Tech went from a 14-7 lead to a

31-7 lead in almost the blink of an eye. The could be costly, though. Virginia Tech lost running back Cedric Humes, who broke his arm in the second quarter. Redshirt freshman Branden Ore, who had carried the ball only 23 times this season, finished the game with 146 yards on 19 carries.

Wake Forest

Running the ball has been the Demon Deacons' best offensive choice this season and Wake Forest was able to do it again against Florida State. Teams that have been able to run against the Seminoles have given them fits in the last five years and for a while it looked like Wake Forest was going to make life miserable for the Seminoles.

After trailing 20-7 at halftime, Wake Forest put together a 10-0 third quarter that featured some great running by senior Chris Barclay and defense by the Deacs.

Barclay, who finished with 125 yards, brought Wake Forest within a breath of FSU when he broke free on a 31-yard TD run late in the third quarter to cut the lead to three. Wake Forest finished with 415 yards, including 247 on the ground.