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Va. Tech To Play For Title

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The Associated Press

Published: November 25, 2007

Updated: 11/25/2007 12:22 am

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Sean Glennon threw for 260 yards and the other half of Virginia Tech's quarterback rotation, Tyrod Taylor, ran for two touchdowns, as the No. 8 Hokies won the biggest game in the history of its rivalry with Virginia 33-21 on Saturday to advance to the ACC Championship Game.

The Hokies (10-2, 7-1) also got a season-high 147 yards rushing from Branden Ore and six catches for 147 yards and a touchdown from Eddie Royal. They won their fourth straight in the series and eighth in the past nine meetings.

The victory earned Virginia Tech a rematch with No. 15 Boston College in Saturday's conference title game in Jacksonville. The Eagles rallied with two touchdowns in the final 2:11 to stun the Hokies 14-10 in Blacksburg on Oct. 25.

No. 16 Virginia (9-3, 6-2) led late in the second quarter before an interception by Brandon Flowers with 40 seconds to go turned into a three-play, 65-yard touchdown drive that left the crowd of 61,711 stunned. Up 20-14, the Hokies never trailed again.

Taylor scored on runs of 9 and 5 yards, the second with 11:50 remaining to give Virginia Tech a 30-21 lead. After Virginia was forced to punt, the Hokies drove to the Cavaliers 9-yard line, and Jud Dunlevy's fourth field goal completed the scoring.

GEORGIA 31, GEORGIA TECH 17: Georgia won't get a chance to play for the Southeastern Conference championship. At least the Bulldogs still have their state title.

Matthew Stafford ran for one TD and threw for another, Thomas Brown rushed for 139 yards, and No. 6 Georgia (10-2) seemed to catch every break in stretching its winning streak to seven in a row against Georgia Tech (7-5).

Stafford caught Georgia Tech off guard by running for a 31-yard touchdown in the second quarter, one of four lead changes in the first half. The last of those came with 1:02 left in the second quarter, when Stafford hooked up with Mohamed Massaquoi on a 9-yard touchdown that sent the Bulldogs to the locker room up 16-14.

There would be no more lead changes. Brannan Southerland powered over from the 3 after Stafford threw 55 yards to Sean Bailey. Brown finished off the Yellow Jackets with a 32-yard run down the right sideline with just more than 11 minutes left.

MARYLAND 37, NORTH CAROLINA STATE 0: Lance Ball and Keon Lattimore rushed for two touchdowns apiece as Maryland (6-6, 3-5) routed host North Carolina State (5-7, 3-5).

The Terrapins posted their first shutout since 2004 and became bowl eligible for the second consecutive year. They scored on four straight possessions in the first half.

Chris Turner was 19 of 24 for 206 yards and had a 41-yard keeper that set up a touchdown for Maryland. The Terrapins ran for a season-high 249 yards while holding the Wolfpack to just 10 yards rushing.

NORTH CAROLINA 20, DUKE 14: Greg Little ran for a career-high 154 yards and the go-ahead 25-yard score in overtime to lead host North Carolina (4-8, 3-5) past Duke (1-11, 0-8).

The converted wide receiver also had a leaping 7-yard touchdown to tie it midway through the fourth quarter for the Tar Heels, who closed their first season under Coach Butch Davis with yet another win against their nearby rival.

Thaddeus Lewis threw a pair of touchdown passes to Jomar Wright for the Blue Devils, who missed field goals on the final play of regulation and the first possession of overtime to suffer their 25th straight ACC loss.

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