The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
No. 2 Clemson rolls past Louisville
Travis Etienne ran for 153 yards and two touchdowns, and 350-pound defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence added a 2-yard scoring burst in No. 2 Clemson’s 77-16 victory over Louisville on Saturday in Clemson, S.C.
The Tigers (6-0 ACC) improved to 9-0 for the third time in four seasons and can wrap up their fourth ACC Atlantic Division title this week at Boston College.
Trevor Lawrence threw a pair of early touchdowns for Clemson. Etienne went over the 1,000-yard rushing mark and scored his ACC-leading 15th touchdown. Tavien Feaster added 101 yards rushing for the Tigers.
Freshman Lyn-J Dixon ran for 116 yards, the second time this season Clemson has had three runners with 100 or more yards. They finished with a season-high 492 yards rushing.
Etienne and Feaster put Clemson up 14-0 less than three minutes into the game, and the Tigers never let up on Louisville (2-7, 0-6).
Linebacker Isaiah Simmons had a pick-six, the Tigers collected five sacks, coach Dabo Swinney’s eldest son Will caught a TD pass and even “Big Dex,” a junior defensive tackle projected as a can’t-miss, NFL firstrounder, got in on the fun with a score.
Louisville lost its sixth straight game, its longest losing streak since dropping 10 in a row between the 1997 and 1998 seasons.
Clemson is on a major roll the past month, outscoring its past four opponents 240-36.
No. 19 Syracuse 41, (at) Wake Forest 24: Eric Dungey rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown, and Jarveon Howard ran for two scores for visiting Syracuse. Dungey — whose average of 294.1 total yards ranks second in the ACC — was 23 of 35 for 157 yards and also ran for a 26-yard score to help the Orange (7-2, 4-2) win their first game as a Top 25 team since 2001.
Moe Neal added an 8-yard score, Chris Elmore had a 5-yard TD run, and Andre Szmyt kicked two field goals for Syracuse, which earned its first conference road victory in more than two years.
Sam Hartman was 21 of 37 for 275 yards for the Demon Deacons (4-5, 1-4) with two touchdown passes. His 8-yarder to Greg Dortch pulled them to 35-24 with 3:38 left in the third quarter.
No. 22 Boston College 31, (at) Virginia Tech 21: Travis Levy ran for two touchdowns as Boston College (7-2, 4-1) limited the Hokies to 32 yards in the third quarter and erased a 14-7 deficit with 21 unanswered points after halftime. First place in the ACC Atlantic Division will be on the line when the second-ranked Tigers visit Boston College next week. BC star AJ Dillion had 24 carries for 96 yards and a 3-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
Ryan Willis threw for 281 yards with three touchdown passes for Virginia Tech (4-4, 3-2), but the Hokies lost their third straight at home for the first time since 1992. It came on a day when they could have moved into a share of first place in the Coastal Division with a victory.
(At) N.C. State 47, Florida State 28: Freshman Ricky Person Jr. scored three touchdowns, and Jakobi Meyers had nine catches for 125 yards and a score for the host Wolfpack (6-2, 3-2), who snapped a two-game skid to become bowl eligible for the fifth straight year. N.C. State scored the first 17 points and never let FSU closer than 10 again in a one-sided show. Reggie Gallaspy II ran for a career-best 106 yards.
FSU’s James Blackman threw for a career-high 421 yards and four scores in starting for Deondre Francois, with two going to Tamorrion Terry. But it didn’t stop the Seminoles (4-5, 2-5) from ending up with a second straight lopsided loss.
Late Friday
Pittsburgh 23, (at) No. 25 Virginia 13: Darrin Hall ran for 229 yards and three touchdowns, the last a 75-yard burst one play after Virginia had awakened it fans by closing to within a point, and Pittsburgh beat Virginia for the fourth year in a row.
Hall also had a 41-yard scoring run in the first half and a 2-yard run in the third quarter, capping a drive that ended with an injury-depleted Cavaliers defense looking incapable of stopping the bruising 225-pound tailback. The Panthers (5-4, 4-1 ACC) moved into first place in the Coastal Division. Bryce Perkins threw for 205 yards and a touchdown for Virginia (6-3, 4-2), but Pittsburgh never allowed him to get untracked in the running game and sacked him five times for 46 yards in losses.