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Georgia Tech Stifles 13th-Ranked Clemson

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The Associated Press

Published: September 30, 2007

ATLANTA - Thunder and Lightning were nothing special, and Clemson's special teams were downright horrible.

Georgia Tech stifled the dynamic running duo of James 'Thunder' Davis and C.J. 'Lightning' Spiller and took advantage of a stunningly poor performance by Dean Buchholz and the rest of Clemson's kicking game, upsetting the 13th-ranked Tigers 13-3 Saturday.

The Yellow Jackets (3-2, 1-2) snapped a two-game losing streak and avoided their first 0-3 start in league play since 1994. It wouldn't have been possible if not for Clemson's woes in a phase of the game that often gets overlooked.

The Tigers (4-1, 2-1) missed four field goals, had a punt blocked to set up the only touchdown and fumbled on a kickoff return, setting up a field goal that gave Georgia Tech a 10-point lead with 11 1/2 minutes remaining.

Davis managed 60 yards on 12 carries. Spiller was even worse, carrying nine times for only 2 yards. The Tigers showed little inclination to run between the tackles and couldn't hold off Georgia Tech's blitzing defense.

BOSTON COLLEGE 24, MASSACHUSETTS 14: Andre Callender ran for 115 yards and two touchdowns and Matt Ryan threw for one TD to lead No. 12 Boston College past feisty cross-state rival Massachusetts and give the host Eagles their best start in more than 50 years.

Ryan was 24-for-42 for 204 yards, helping BC (5-0) open a 17-0 lead before slumping in the third quarter as UMass (4-1) closed within a field goal at 17-14. But Ryan answered with a 61-yard drive, completing 5-for-7 passes and adding a 14-yard scramble before Callender scored from the 4 to make it 24-14.

BC has not opened a season with five straight wins since 1954.

UMass hadn't lost since falling to Appalachian State in the Division I-AA championship game last season; Appalachian State is better known as the team that beat then-No. 5 Michigan 34-32 in the season opener - one of the biggest upsets in college football history.

But UMass, ranked No. 2 in the division formerly known as I-AA, couldn't pull off an upset to match its Football Championship Subdivision rival.

VIRGINIA TECH 17, NORTH CAROLINA 10: Tyrod Taylor, Branden Ore and Virginia Tech still can't find their offense, but the defense made two more big plays and the No. 17 Hokies opened ACC play by beating visiting North Carolina.

Taylor scored on a 5-yard run and Ore scored on a 1-yard dive for the Hokies (4-1, 1-0), who managed just 241 yards of offense. Ore's touchdown was set up by an interception that Xavier Adibi returned 31 yards to the Tar Heels 12 yard-line.

North Carolina (1-4, 0-2), which closed to within a touchdown on Anthony Elzy's 1-yard TD run with 5:34 left, had an earlier drive end at the Hokies goal line when Orion Martin forced Ryan Houston to fumble and Kam Chancellor recovered in the end zone.

The Tar Heels got the ball for the last time at their own 14 with just more than 4 minutes left, and moved quickly to midfield on Elzy's 25-yard run. But on third-and-2 from the Hokies 44, T.J. Yates was sacked by Cam Martin for the third time for a 5-yard loss. On fourth down, Yates' pass for Brandon Tate was broken up.

Yates was sacked six times in the game. The Tar Heels finished with 306 yards.

VIRGINIA 44, PITT 14: Jameel Sewell threw three first-quarter touchdown passes and Cedric Peerman ran for two scores as host Virginia extended its winning streak to four games by beating Pitt (2-3).

Sewell was 7-for-7 as Virginia (4-1) built a 27-0 first-quarter lead. His scoring passes covered 2 yards to Jonathan Stupar, 18 yards to Tom Santi and 5 yards to Rashawn Jackson.

Peerman, who entered the game as the ACC's rushing leader at 120 yards per game, scored on a 2-yard run and Chris Gould added a 23-yard field goal as the Cavaliers took a 30-7 lead at halftime.

Sewell finished 16 of 31 for 169 yards, while Peerman was held to 87 yards on 24 carries.

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