Associated Press
The notebook ….
DURHAMó By the numbers, Thad Lewis couldn’t have done much more.
He passed for 350 yards with two touchdowns. He didn’t commit a turnover. He was sacked just once. Yet he saw his senior season begin in the same fashion that most of his games at Duke have ended: with a loss.
That 24-16 home loss to Richmond almost summed up Lewis’ career as a four-year starter heading into Saturday’s game at Army. His stat line seemingly should have been enough to lead the Blue Devils to a win, yet he came up short yet again at a position that’s judged most by winning.
“A lot of people think it’s pressure for a quarterback to make the play, but at the same time, the ball hits your hand every time,” Lewis said Tuesday. “Every snap, you touch the ball, so in some way shape or form or fashion you have to make a play because the play never gets started without you.”
Dating back to an 0-12 season in 2006, Lewis has lost 10 of 11 games in which he has thrown for at least 250 yards.
ACC PLAYERS
GREENSBORO ó Miami quarterback Jacory Harris is among the winners in the weekly ACC football honors.
Harris was named offensive back of the week after throwing for a career-high 386 yards and two touchdowns in Monday’s 38-34 win at Florida State.
The other winners were: North Carolina’s Alan Pelc as offensive lineman; Clemson’s Brandon Maye as defensive lineman; Clemson’s C.J. Spiller as specialist; and Virginia Tech’s Ryan Williams as rookie of the week.
MARYLAND
COLLEGE PARK, Md. ó It would have been understandable for Maryland’s young players to crawl into a turtle-like shell and wait for the backlash to subside after a loss of historical proportion.
The Terrapins did almost everything wrong Saturday in a 52-13 embarrassment against then-No. 12 California, which jumped to No. 10 on the strength of its dominating performance.
James Madison is next for the Terps.
“It’s definitely redemption time,” senior safety Terrell Skinner declared Tuesday. “We’re going to take full advantage of these four straight games at home.”
This wasn’t a good season for Maryland to open on the West Coast against a Pac-10 powerhouse. The Terrapins lost 30 seniors from last year, and those making their college debut simply weren’t up for the task in a hostile environment.
POLL
NEW YORK ó BYU barged into the top 10 of The Associated Press college football poll, making the biggest jump of any team from the preseason rankings.
The Cougars jumped 11 spots to No. 9 in the Top 25 released Tuesday, three days after they stunned Oklahoma 14-13 as three-touchdown underdogs.
Florida was still an overwhelming No. 1. Texas held steady at No. 2. USC will be No. 3 when it visits No. 8 Ohio State on Saturday.
No. 4 Alabama moved up one spot after its 34-24 victory against Virginia Tech. No. 5 Oklahoma State moved up four spots, its best ranking since October 1985. No. 6 Mississippi, No. 7 Penn State and No. 10 California round out the top 10.
Oklahoma dropped 10 spots to No. 13. LSU was No. 11 and No. 12 Boise State moved up two spots. Virginia Tech is No. 14, followed by Georgia Tech, TCU and Utah.
Notre Dame is No. 18. North Carolina was No. 19 and Miami moved into the poll at No. 20.
The final five were Georgia, Nebraska, Cincinnati, Kansas and Missouri.