Weinke Saves Florida State as Georgia Tech Battles to End

Chris Weinke, Florida State’s 28-year-old senior quarterback, threw for a career-high 443 yards and a two touchdowns as the No. 2-ranked Seminoles escaped a major upset by holding off Georgia Tech, 26-21, Saturday night at Atlanta.

Florida State, 2-0 overall and 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference, extended its winning streak to 14 in a row and improved its conference record to 63-2 since joining the ACC in 1992.

Georgia Tech (1-1, 0-1), a 22-point underdog, lost its ninth in a row to the Seminoles but received a rousing cheer from the home fans after its final drive ended in Florida State territory.

Weinke was 25 for 38, and his 30-yard touchdown pass to Robert Morgan with 12:58 remaining put the Seminoles ahead to stay.

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Woodrow Dantzler threw two touchdown passes and ran for a third score for No. 17 Clemson (2-0) and Missouri (1-1) lost three fumbles and had three passes intercepted that led to 27 points in a 62-9 rout for Clemson at Clemson, S.C. “Any time you get six turnovers, the score has the opportunity to get out of hand,” Clemson Coach Tommy Bowden said. The game didn’t get ugly until late in the second quarter, when Clemson began an 8:33 stretch in which they outscored Missouri, 34-0. . . . Julius Peppers returned a fumble 12 yards for a touchdown and Bosley Allen had two long scoring plays in the fourth quarter to help seal a 35-14 Atlantic Coast Conference victory for North Carolina (2-0, 1-0) over Wake Forest (0-2, 1-0) at Winston-Salem, N.C. . . . LaMont Jordan was limited to 62 yards in 22 carries but scored touchdowns on runs of two and seven yards as Maryland and help the Terrapins (1-0) eke out a 17-10 victory over error-prone Temple (1-1) at College Park, Md. Devin Scott completed 24 of 34 passes for 336 yards for Temple, but the Owls had 15 penalties for 99 yards and lost two second-half turnovers. . . . Quarterback Dan Ellis passed for 299 yards and ran for 37 as Virginia (1-1) rolled to a 34-6 victory over Division I-AA Richmond (0-1) at Charlottesville, Va. . . . Travis Anglin and Darche Epting scored two touchdowns each, leading Memphis (1-1) to a 28-0 victory over Louisiana-Monroe (0-2) at Memphis. . . . Dave Ragone threw four first-half touchdown passes to lead Louisville (2-0) to a 52-0 victory over Division I-AA Grambling State (1-1) at Louisville.

EAST

Dedrick Dewalt, taking a pass from Tim Hasselbeck, scored on a 75-yard play to open the second half and help Boston College (1-1) pull away to a 55-17 rout of Army (0-2) at West Point, N.Y. . . . John Turman came off the bench to throw three touchdown passes as Pittsburgh (2-0) rolled to a 34-16 victory over Bowling Green (0-2) at Bowling Green, Ky.. Turman replaced starter David Priestley after the Panthers lost fumbles on two successive possessions in the first quarter. . . . Mike McMahon threw five touchdown passes for the second consecutive week and Rutgers posted a 59-0 victory over Buffalo at Piscataway, N.J.

MIDWEST

Jason Mammarelli kicked a 47-yard field on the final play of the game to give Cincinnati (2-0) a 12-10 victory over Syracuse (1-1) at Cincinnati. Mike Shafer had kicked a 35-yard field goal with 43 seconds left to give Syracuse a 10-9 lead. . . . Eddie Tillitz returned two punts for touchdowns and had four receptions for 99 yards as Miami (Ohio), 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the Mid-American Conference, notched a 34-17 victory over Eastern Michigan (1-1, 0-1) at Ypsilanti, Mich. . . . Robbie Mixon ran for 164 yards in 42 carries and caught three passes for 101 yards as Central Michigan (1-1, 1-0) scored a 17-7 victory over Akron (0-2, 0-1) in a MAC game at Mount Pleasant, Mich.

SOUTHWEST

Rocky Perez threw three first-half touchdown passes, two to Lee Mays, to lead Texas El Paso (1-0, 1-1) to a 37-20 victory over Southern Methodist (1-1, 0-1) at in the Western Athletic Conference game at El Paso. UTEP had two interceptions in the first half, and Mays partially blocked SMU’s first punt.

WEST

Mike Thiessen put the air back in Air Force, throwing a school-record four touchdown passes in a 31-23 victory for the Falcons (2-0, 1-0 Mountain West) over over Brigham Young (1-2, 0-1 Mountain West) at Air Force Academy, Colo. In nine games last season, Thiessen threw a total of three touchdown passes. . . . Cecil Sapp, making his first career start, ran for 119 yards and two touchdowns as Colorado State (2-0) rolled to a 41-7 victory over Division I-AA East Tennessee State (1-1) at Fort Collins, Colo. . . . LaDainian Tomlinson ran for 176 yards and three touchdowns and No. 22-ranked Texas Christian (1-0, 1-0) rolled to a 41-10 victory over Nevada (0-1, 0-2) at Reno in the Wolf Pack’s first WAC game. Wolf Pack quarterback David Neill was sacked 12 times in the first half. Tomlinson now has 35 touchdowns, a school record. . . . Cal State Sacramento (2-0) built and 30-0 halftime lead on its way to a 37-18 victory over visiting Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (0-1).

SOUTHLAND

Bruce Molock scored on a 27-yard run to tie the game midway through the fourth quarter and they his one-yard run in overtime gave Cal State Northridge (1-1) a 19-13 victory over Southwest Texas (1-1) at San Marcos, Texas.