By Bob Sutton

Associated Press

RALEIGH — Emmett Morehead threw a 2-yard pass to Joseph Griffin Jr. with 14 seconds left and Boston College rallied past No. 17 North Carolina State 21-20 on Saturday.

The Eagles (3-7, 2-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) won with a 12-play, 69-yard drive. A pass interference penalty on fourth down with 18 seconds left gave Boston College another chance.

Morehead, making his second career start, was 29 of 48 for 330 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. He threw a pair of TD strikes to Zay Flowers, who caught seven passes for 130 yards, as the Eagles snapped a four-game losing streak.

M.J. Morris threw and ran for early touchdowns for the Wolfpack (7-3, 3-3), which committed four second-half turnovers. This was N.C. State’s third game decided by one point this season — it won the other two.

Morris, also making his second career start, was 12 for 24 for 132 yards. Christopher Dunn had field goals of 30 and 45 yards.

The Wolfpack was denied a school-record 17th consecutive home victory.

Turnovers cost both teams in the second half.

Boston College had a chance to go ahead in the third quarter after recovering a fumble in Wolfpack territory. But Morehead, with Devan Boykin grabbing him, threw a wayward pass intercepted by Payton Wilson.

Early in the fourth quarter, Marcus Valdez knocked the ball out of Morris’ hand, and Boston College took over at the N.C. State 40. The Eagles failed to pick up a first down and gave it back on an incomplete fourth-down pass.

N.C. State moved with ease on its first two possessions. Morris hit Trent Pennix for a 27-yard touchdown play to begin the scoring. Morris ran 10 yards with a nice cut to dodge defenders for the Wolfpack’s second touchdown.

Two plays after Boston College’s fourth-down conversion in the second quarter, Morehead connected on a 17-yard touchdown pass to Flowers.

ALMOST HOME

The Wolfpack was in position to win every home game in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1973 and 1974. Instead, N.C. went 6-1 this year at Carter-Finley Stadium.

Thirty N.C. State players potentially in their last home game were honored in Senior Day ceremonies.

HE DUNN IT

With his second field goal, Dunn became the ACC’s career leader in field goals with 89 in his five-year career. Florida State’s Dustin Hopkins (2009-12) held the record at 88.

Dunn is 20 for 20 on field goals this year, with 10 of those coming from 40 or more yards.

THE TAKEAWAY

Boston College: The Eagles are a work in progress offensively, but its defense allowed them to hang in there long enough. Morehead faced considerable pressure from N.C. State’s pass rush, making enough plays and a healthy number of good decisions along the way.

N.C. State: The Wolfpack didn’t do much on offense after the first quarter, continually putting its defense in tough situations. The defense is a veteran unit and is one of the most-respected groups in the ACC, but the heavy workload in the second half seemed to take a toll.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

N.C. State might be hard-pressed to remain in the rankings for the 18th week in a row when the new poll comes out Sunday. It could stay in one of the last spots.

UP NEXT

Boston College: At No. 20 Notre Dame next Saturday.

N.C. State: At Louisville next Saturday.

Duke knocks off Virginia Tech 24-7

DURHAM  (AP) — Riley Leonard threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another as the Duke Blue Devils won their third straight game, topping Virginia Tech 24-7.

Leonard completed 19-of-31 passes for 262 yards and also carried the ball nine times for 48 yards. Jalon Calhoun was Leonard’s favorite target, as he hauled in five catches for 94 yards for the Blue Devils (7-3, 4-2 ACC).

“We had a great game plan,” Leonard said. “We had to win our matchups and that’s what it came down to. The offensive line gave me as much time as I needed in the pocket to deliver the ball, and our receivers were just out there making plays all day.”

Grant Wells led the Hokies (2-8, 1-6 ACC) with 177 passing yards and one touchdown.

Beginning with a 25-yard field goal from Todd Pelino, the Blue Devils scored 24-straight unanswered points, grabbing the lead and never letting go. The scoring run was highlighted by Jontavis Robertson hauling in a 6-yard pass from Leonard

In the first season under Mike Elko, the Blue Devils have their most ACC wins since 2015.  The Blue Devils visit Pitt next.

NC A&T gets seventh straight win

GREENSBORO (AP) — Bhayshul Tuten scored two touchdowns, Taymon Cooke returned a kickoff for a touchdown, and North Carolina A&T defeated Charleston Southern 20-10 on Saturday.

Tuten’s 2-yard run gave the Aggies’ their first lead, 13-10 in the middle of the third quarter. He also had an 8-yard touchdown catch from Jalen Fowler in the fourth.

The Buccaneers took a 7-0 lead on Tony Bartalo’s 34-yard pass to Nivon Holland in the second quarter. The lead was short-lived when Cooke returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.

Tuten gained 106 yards on 22 carries for the Aggies (7-3, 4-0 Big South) and Fowler completed 10 of 22 passes for 151 yards. He was intercepted twice.

Bartalo was 14-of-31 passing for 162 yards with an interception for the Buccaneers (2-8, 2-3). He was sacked six times.

The Aggies’ win, their seventh in a row, combined with Gardner-Webb’s 42-35 win over Campbell, leaves NC A&T and Gardner-Webb tied for first place in the Big South with one game to go. Gardner-Webb will host NC A&T on Saturday, with the winner claiming the conference championship and the Big South’s automatic bid to the FCS playoffs.

NC Central gets past Norfolk St.

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Davius Richard threw for a season-high 347 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another score and North Carolina Central beat Norfolk State 48-14 on Saturday.

Otto Kuhns’ 10-yard scoring run gave Norfolk State a 7-0 lead on its first drive of the game which lasted 10 plays and covered 73 yards.

Later, in the second quarter, North Carolina Central (8-2, 4-1 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) proceeded to blow it open scoring touchdowns on all four of its drives.

Latrell Collier ran it in from the 1 to knot the score, then, in a six-minute span, Richard threw a 24-yard scoring pass to J’mari Taylor, 23 yards to Collier and 1 yard to Joaquin Davis with the last coming five seconds before halftime.

Kuhns threw for 90 yards and a score and ran for 87 yards and a touchdown for the Spartans (1-9, 1-3).

McCollum’s field goal lifts Western Carolina over ETSU 20-17

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) — Richard McCollum kicked a 33-yard field goal on the final play of the game and Western Carolina rallied for a 20-17 victory over East Tennessee State on Saturday.

McCollum’s field goal capped a nine-play, 59-yard drive for Western Carolina (5-5, 3-4 Southern Conference). Tyler Keltner’s 31-yard field goal for East Tennessee State (3-7, 1-7) tied the game at 17 with 2:25 remaining.

Western Carolina took a 7-0 lead on Cole Gonzales’ 5-yard scoring toss to Censere Lee. The Buccaneers evened the score after one quarter on Jacob Saylors’ 20-yard touchdown run and grabbed a 14-7 lead when Jawan Martin scored on a 3-yard run. McCollum’s 40-yard field goal pulled the Catamounts within 14-10 at halftime.

After a scoreless third, Gonzales connected with Raphael Williams for a 29-yard touchdown, giving Western Carolina a 17-14 lead just 32 seconds into the final quarter.

Gonzales completed 20 of 38 passes for 268 yards with two interceptions for the Catamounts. Lee finished with nine catches for 107 yards.

Tyler Riddell connected on 11 of 22 passes for 116 yards for the Buccaneers. Saylors finished with 172 yards on the ground on 32 carries.

Cincinnati overcomes East Carolina rally, wins 27-25

CINCINNATI (AP) — Ben Bryant threw two touchdown passes, Ryan Coe kicked the go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter and Cincinnati defeated East Carolina 27-25 on Friday night.

Cincinnati led 24-12 at halftime but a 13-point third quarter gave East Carolina a 25-24 lead heading to the fourth. The Bearcats drove to the ECU 3-yard line on their first possession of the fourth quarter and Coe’s 21-yard field goal gave them a 27-25 lead. That score held up as East Carolina failed to mount a scoring threat over the final nine minutes.

Bryant completed only 14 of his 30 attempts but they went for 244 yards — an average of nearly 17.5 yards per completion. Tyler Scott and Tre Tucker both averaged more than 20 yards per reception, with Scott catching 7 passes for 140 yards and Tucker 3 for 64. They scored one touchdown apiece.

Holton Ahlers was 26-of-46 passing for 280 yards with two touchdowns for ECU. Keaton Mitchell rushed for 112 yards and C.J. Johnson had 123 receiving yards. Both scored a touchdown.

Cincinnati (8-2, 5-1 American Athletic Conference) trails first-place Tulane by one game in the loss column. East Carolina fell to 6-4, 3-3.

Fisher’s 4 TDs lead Gardner-Webb past Campbell, 42-35

Gardner-Webb claims 42-35 win over Campbell

BUIES CREEK (AP) — Bailey Fisher threw three touchdown passes and ran for a fourth score, all in the first half, to lead Gardner-Webb to a 42-35 win over Campbell.

The win sets up a showdown for the Big South Conference championship November 19 when the 4-0 Bulldogs host North Carolina A&T, which is 4-0 in conference after a 20-10 win over Charleston Southern Saturday.

Fisher hit T.J. Luther with a short touchdown pass to open the scoring, then dashed 10 yards for a score to make it 14-0 after one quarter. He added a 6-yard touchdown pass to Cutrell Haywood and a 30-yard scoring pass to Caleb Borders to build a 35-14 lead at intermission.

Fisher completed 30 of 38 passes for 361 yards, three touchdowns and an interception to lead Gardner-Webb (5-5, 4-0). Narii Gaither carried 19 times for 100 yards.

Campbell came into the game with the leading offense in the Big South, averaging 435.2 yards per game, but the Camels managed just 383 yards of offense against Gardner-Webb. The Bulldogs came in averaging 429 yards and had 578 yards.

Chad Mascoe II was 19 of 33 passing for 221 yards with an interception for Campbell (4-6, 2-3).

 

San Diego runs past Davidson 31-14
SAN DIEGO — Judd Erickson threw for two touchdowns, Re-al Mitchell ran for two scores and San Diego defeated Davidson 31-14 on Saturday.

Erickson connected with Christian Brown for an 8-yard score on the opening drive of the game and Mitchell burst through the middle for a 75-yard touchdown for a 14-7 lead after one quarter.

Mitchell, who had 127 yards on 12 carries, capped an 86-yard drive with a two-yard plunge and Aidan Lehman’s 39-yard field goal as time expired put the Toreros (3-5, 3-3 Pioneer Football League) up 24-7 at halftime.

Erickson, who was 22-of-30 passing for 258 yards found Rhyle Hanson for a 7-yard TD, the only score of the third quarter.
Wide receiver Mark McCurdy had a rushing TD and a receiving TD for Davidson (7-3, 5-2).

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