Saturday’s ACC and local interest college football roundup: QB Carter sparks Norfolk State past S.C. State

Juwan Carter passed for 281 yards and both threw and ran for a touchdown, and the Norfolk State defense came up with several big plays in a 17-7 win at South Carolina State on Saturday.

Carter threw a 6-yard TD pass to Isaiah Winstead in the first quarter and scored on a 1-yard run in the second to give the Spartans (2-1) a 14-0 lead, which it held until late in the third quarter.

SCSUs offense, which was stymied for much of the game by the NSU defense, cut the deficit in half on an 81-yard TD pass play from Tyrece Nick to De’Montrez Burroughs with 1:07 left in the third quarter. But NSU’s defense came up with a fumble recovery when Bobby Price fell on a loose ball on the NSU 2-yard line early in fourth quarter.

NSU then drove 86 yards in eight plays, a drive that Josh Nardone capped with a 29-yard field goal with 10:29 left to make it 17-7.

The Spartans put the game away by holding SCSU on downs twice in the final 10 minutes, giving NSU its second straight win in Orangeburg (the last was in 2016) after losing its first nine games all-time at SCSU.

The game did not count in the MEAC standings, as NSU only plays seven non-conference games this season.

Aaron Savage rushed for 79 yards and Winstead had a career-high seven receptions for NSU. Chuma Awanna added a career-high 69 receiving yards.

Dale Craig had two of NSU’s four sacks.

Stony Brook 36, Richmond 10: Jordan Gowins and Donald Liotine combined for 325 yards rushing to lead the host Seawolves in a Colonial Athletic Association opener.

Richmond was driving late in the first quarter when Gavin Heslop scooped up a Deontez Thompson fumble and ran 87 yards for Stony Brook’s first touchdown and a 9-3 lead. The Seawolves (3-1, 1-0) pushed their advantage to 16-3 at the half as Joe Carbone hit Julius Wingate on a 22-yard scoring strike.

Carbone nailed Donavin Washington on a 48-yard pass play late in the third to go ahead 22-10. Gowins had TD runs of 1 yard and 41 yards in the fourth to secure Stony Brook’s third straight win over the Spiders.

Gowins totaled 192 yards and two touchdowns, while Liotine rushed for 133 yards on 18 carries. Carbone threw for 147 yards and two touchdowns.

Kevin Johnson threw for 297 yards for Richmond (2-2, 0-1).

No. 8 Notre Dame 56, Wake Forest 27: Notre Dame threw the Book at Wake Forest.

Ian Book rushed for three touchdowns and threw for two more in his first start of the season, leading the No. 8 Irish past the Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Book replaced Brandon Wimbush in the starting lineup and was 25 of 34 for 325 yards, with touchdown passes covering 3 yards to Brock Wright and 7 yards to Chase Claypool, along with three short scoring runs.

“Every week, I’ve tried to prepare like I’m the starter, and when my name’s called, I need to go in there and play at my best and make sure the offense can succeed,” Book said.

He helped the Fighting Irish (4-0) more than double their previous season high for scoring and roll up a season-best 566 total yards, surpassing the previous high midway through the third quarter.

Before this one, Notre Dame hadn’t scored more than 24 in a game, and its wins over Michigan, Ball State and Vanderbilt came by a total of 20 points.

Coach Brian Kelly said he made the switch because he was concerned that the offense’s struggles were starting to weigh on the other parts of the team.

“I didn’t sleep great last night, because that’s a pretty big decision to make when you’re 3-0 and your quarterback that was leading your football team was 13-3 as a starter,” Kelly said. “But I had a lot of confidence in Ian and I thought our offense played to the level that it was capable of. That certainly showed itself today.”

Matt Colburn had a 2-yard touchdown run and Nick Sciba kicked two field goals for Wake Forest (2-2), which has lost two straight. Freshman Sam Hartman was 12 of 24 for 110 yards before he exited after taking a hard hit midway through the third.

“Notre Dame outplayed us. They outcoached us. They outprepared us. They were just more ready to go than us today, and they showed it,” Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said. “The score’s probably closer than the game was.”

Purdue 30, No. 23 Boston College 13: Rondale Moore caught two touchdown passes for the Boilermakers, and Purdue picked off four passes.

David Blough passed for 296 yards and three touchdowns for the Boilermakers (1-3).

The Eagles (3-1) rolled in unbeaten and in the top 25 for the first time in 10 years, but they fell flat. Anthony Brown, coming off a career game with five touchdown passes, threw four interceptions. Star tailback A.J. Dillon was held to 59 yards on 19 carries.

North Carolina 38, Pittsburgh 35: North Carolina (1-2, 1-0) finally got its offense playing with sustained efficiency and its defense providing sacks and third-quarter stops, a combination that helped turn things around in its ACC opener. The Tar Heels are hoping it helps leave that 0-2 start completely in the past, too.

Antonio Williams and Nathan Elliott turned in career-best performances in the Tar Heels’ return after having a game canceled due to Hurricane Florence.

Williams, an Ohio State transfer, ran for 114 yards and two touchdowns for, while Elliott shook off two games worth of inaccuracy to throw for a career-best 313 yards with two scores while completing 71 percent of his passes.

Duke 55, N.C. Central 13: Quentin Harris threw for three touchdowns and Brittain Brown ran for 118 yards on 13 carries as the host Blue Devils beat the FCS Eagles in a clash of Durham teams.

No. 3 Clemson 49, Georgia Tech 21: Trevor Lawrence claimed a leading role in Clemson’s quarterback rotation, coming off the bench to throw four touchdown passes in Atlanta.

After starter Kelly Bryant produced just 13 yards and one first down on Clemson’s first two possessions, Lawrence entered the game early in the second quarter. The youngster, a native of nearby Cartersville, Ga., quickly guided the Tigers on a seven-play, 74-yard drive capped by a 17-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow that made it 14-0.

Lawrence finished with 176 yards on 13-of-18 passing for the Tigers (4-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference)

Florida State 37, Northern Illinois 19: Deondre Francois threw for a season-high 352 yards and two touchdown passes as FSU used an efficient first-half offense en route to a win in Tallahassee.

Francois had his seventh career 300-yard day, completing 23 of 31 passes. The junior had a 78-yard touchdown pass to Tamorrion Terry and an 8-yard TD pass to Jacques Patrick.

The Seminoles held a players-only meeting early in the week, and a re-energized performance in practice was also reflected against the Huskies.

Syracuse 51, Connecticut 21: Eric Dungey scored three touchdowns and threw for another to key a first-half blitz as the Orange continued its early-season success.

Syracuse, which has not yet trailed this season, has won its first four games for the first time since 1991 and only the fourth time since the end of World War II.

Southern Methodist 31, Navy 30: Hunter Thedford caught a 2-point conversion pass in the first overtime in Dallas on a play that led to several minutes of discussion by officials and a review before it was held up, and the host Mustangs earned their first win over the Midshipmen in 20 years, ending an eight-game slide in the series.

After Ben Hicks threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to James Proche, new coach Sonny Dykes decided to go for his first win with SMU (1-3, 1-0 American Athletic Conference) right then.

Offensive lineman Chad Pursley went in motion from the tight-end spot on the left to the slot right, and Hicks threw to Thedford over leaping linebacker Taylon Heflin in the end zone.

The officials met for several minutes as fans chanted “S-M-U,” then started booing, before referee Adam Savoie announced a review. Not too long after that, he announced the play was legal, delighting most of the fans.

Navy (2-2, 1-1) had started overtime with a nine-play possession that ended with quarterback Garret Lewis’ plunge from inside the 1-yard line.

LaGrange 42, Apprentice 13: The host Panthers (1-2) capitalized on four Apprentice turnovers and rolled up 373 yards of offense to beat the Builders (1-2) in Georgia.

The Builders scored on Terrence Sudberry’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Louis Picolo and Kareem Wilson’s 17-yard fumble return. Apprentice’s Fred Hendrieth had 14 carries for 72 yards.

Kelly Hall was 14 of 22 for 171 yards and two touchdowns for LaGrange.

Western Carolina 52, VMI 50: Tyree Adams passed for 229 yards and three scores as WCU held on to beat VMI in Cullowhee, N.C. Adams also rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown.

The game was the Southern Conference opener for the Catamounts, who are undefeated after three games for the first time since 1976.

The Keydets (0-4, 0-3) scored two touchdowns in the final four minutes, wrapped around an interception, closing to 52-50 when Reece Udinski threw to Jakob Herres on a fourth-and-10 with 22 seconds left in the game. Udinski’s 2-point conversion pass to Devone Humphrey in the back of the end zone failed.

Udinski threw 72 passes, completing 43, for 491 yards — all single-game records for the Keydets — and four touchdowns.

VMI led 24-21 at halftime, but early in the third quarter Adams put together back-to-back drives — with TD passes to Nate Mullen and Owen Cosenke — boosting Western Carolina into a 35-24 lead, which it did not relinquish.

Morgan State 16, North Carolina A&T 13: Alex Raya’s 36-yard field goal as time ran out in Greensboro ended the Aggies’ 15-game winning streak.

Raya had tied the game with a career-best 51-yard field goal earlier in the fourth quarter and kicked his first field goal of the season in the third quarter.

The game was a nonconference matchup between the Bears (1-3), who were picked last in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, and the preseason favorite and FCS No. 4 Aggies (3-1), who went 12-0 last season, capped by a win over Grambling in the Celebration Bowl.

A&T, which was going for a school-record 12th-straight home win, had won 39 straight games when leading after three quarters. On Nov. 9, 2013 at Morgan State, the Bears won 24-23 when Woodside High graduate Chris Moller kicked a 27-yard field goal as time expired.

North Dakota State 38, Delaware 10: The FCS No. 1 Bison, who have won six of the last seven national titles, took a 28-0 first-quarter lead in Fargo and cruised.

Easton Stick was 17 of 26 for 280 yards and two touchdowns, and NDSU intercepted three passes by Pat Kehoe.

Howard 41, Bethune-Cookman 35: Caylin Newton was 20 of 32 for 301 yards and two touchdowns as Peninsula native Mike London’s Bison (1-2, 1-0) beat the Wildcats (1-3, 0-1) in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opener in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Elon 31, Charleston Southern 22: Davis Cheek threw two touchdown passes in the third quarter, when Elon scored 21 points in less than seven minutes to overtake the Buccaneers.

Cheek threw 16 yards to Malcolm Summers to get the Phoenix (2-1) within five points of the Bucs (0-2). De’Sean McNair forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, and six plays later he scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 3-yard run. Cheek threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Corey Joyner to complete the scoring splurge with three minutes left in the third quarter.

Virginia State 43, Johnson C. Smith 14: Peninsula District products played a key role as the Trojans (1-2) hammered the Bulls (0-3) in Charlotte, N.C.

Redshirt freshman Andre Jackson, from Phoebus High, opened the scoring for VSU with a 40-yard punt return and caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Cordelral Cook. Tre’Quan Reed, a senior from Woodside High, had 80 total yards, 16 on one of Cook’s three TD throws.

Chowan 55, McKendree 45: The host Hawks’ Bryce Witt threw for a school-record 439 yards in Murfreesboro, N.C., completing 23 of 33 with three touchdown passes. Witt also posted two rushing touchdowns.

Tyrell Freeman tallied his second 100-yard rushing outing of the season, with 123 yards on 14 carries, and scored twice.

Paul Gooden had six catches for 190 yards and two scores for the Hawks (1-2). McKendree fell to 2-2.

Virginia Union 27, Winston-Salem State 19: The Panthers took a 17-0 lead on Tabyus Taylor’s 14-yard touchdown run and held on for a CIAA victory, though the Rams scored 12 points with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

West Liberty 23, U.Va.-Wise 17: The Division II Cavaliers (1-3, 1-3 Mountain East) fell in West Liberty, W.Va.

With Wise ahead 17-16, the hosts’ Shane Phillips caught a 14-yard touchdown pass with 8:33 remaining.

The Cavaliers’ Tanner Bernard and Brycen Lee combined to complete 22 of 36 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown but were intercepted three times.

Ferrum 81, Greensboro 0: The Panthers routed the visiting Pride as Zack Clifford was 13 of 16 yards for four touchdowns and 246 yards.

Emory and Henry 52, Rochester 17: Tyler Redmond’s 100-yard interception return for a TD highlighted the victory by Hampton native Curt Newsome’s Wasps in New York state.

E&H’s Jesse Santiago, a Grafton High graduate, had five catches for 51 yards.