Warrick to the Rescue, Bowden Wins No. 200

Peter Warrick scored three touchdowns, including one on a Deion Sanders-style 90-yard punt return, as No. 5-ranked Florida State squeezed past No. 16 Clemson, 35-28, Saturday at Clemson, S.C., to give Bobby Bowden his 200th win as the Seminole coach.

The Seminoles, 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, led, 21-17, a minute into the fourth quarter when Warrick caught a punt deep over his shoulder, slithered right and broke free for a touchdown return, the first in Death Valley since Sanders did it for Florida State in a 1988 victory.

Clemson then cut Florida State’s lead to 28-25 as injured quarterback Nealon Greene connected with Brian Wofford on a 17-yard touchdown pass play and Raymond Priester ran for a two-point conversion.

But Warrick zipped down the right sideline after catching a pass from Thad Busby and scored on an 80-yard play to restore the double-digit lead.

Warrick, a sophomore starter for the pass-crazy Seminoles, finished with eight catches for 249 yards. Busby had a career-high 332 yards passing.

Florida State takes next week off, then faces Miami on Oct. 4 before resuming its conference schedule. Florida State is 41-1 against ACC opponents.

Greene, who led the Tigers (2-1, 1-1) to their highest ranking and best start in five years, was forced to play with turf toe when backup Brandon Streeter went down because of a shoulder injury in the first half.

No. 6 North Carolina 40, Maryland 14--Oscar Davenport had the type of game that can put an end to a budding quarterback controversy as the Tar Heels routed the Terrapins at College Park, Md., behind Davenport’s 281 passing yards and two touchdowns.

North Carolina Coach Mack Brown coyly refused to name his starting quarterback in the days leading up to the game, insisting that Davenport, a junior, and Chris Keldorf, a senior, were both going to get plenty of playing time.

But Keldorf, who struggled as a starter in the Tar Heels’ first two games, played only one series before the fourth quarter, when victory was already well in hand.

“It doesn’t matter which one starts. They’re both going to play,” Brown insisted afterward. “The key right now is we’re throwing the ball a lot, and if one guy doesn’t have the touch and his timing is a little off, we can substitute and get someone in the game with a hot hand.”

Davenport was told Thursday that he would start. Keldorf entered in the third series, threw two incomplete passes, and didn’t return until the score was 26-7.

“I think Oscar played great and I’m pleased with that,” Brown said. “But we need both quarterbacks to continue to win and we’ll use them again next week.”

The Tar Heels (3-0, 1-0) trailed 7-0 in the second quarter, but scored 10 points off two fumble recoveries deep in Maryland territory to go up 17-7 early in the third quarter.

Maryland never recovered and remained winless under new Coach Ron Vanderlinden. Maryland (0-3, 0-2) was coming off a 50-7 loss to No. 5 Florida State.

Georgia Tech 28, Wake Forest 26--Joe Hamilton threw three second-half scoring passes as Yellow Jackets (1-1, 1-0) overcame a 17-7 halftime deficit beat the Demon Deacons (1-2, 0-1) in an ACC opener at Winston-Salem, N.C. Hamilton completed 19 of 27 passes for 208 yards.

Wake Forest was held to 22 years on three possessions in the decisive third quarter.

North Carolina State 41, Northern Illinois 14--Tremayne Stephens and Rahshon Spikes each ran for two touchdowns as the Wolfpack (3-1) overpowered the Huskies (0-3) in a nonconference game at Raleigh, N.C.

Duke 20, Army 17--The Blue Devils ended a 15-game losing streak as Sims Lenhardt kicked a 27-yard field goal with 54 seconds at Durham, N.C.

Army (1-2) led, 9-3, at halftime, but freshman quarterback Spencer Romine recovered from a shaky start to guide Duke (1-2) on second-half scoring drives of 77, 69 and 58 yards.