Arizona State, Florida State remain unbeaten

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Arizona State didn't need Jake Plummer's resilience and comebacks this time.

Terry Battle made sure his quarterback had an easy night against Arizona, rushing for 143 yards and three first-half touchdowns as the No. 4 Sun Devils finished the regular season undefeated and retained their shot at a national championship with a 56-14 rout.

Plummer, who engineered come-from-behind victories over Washington, UCLA and Southern California, spent most of the night handing off to Battle and Jeff Paulk but still threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns.

Arizona State (8-0 Pac-10, 11-0 overall), just 2-11-1 against Arizona since 1982, cliched the conference title two weeks ago and earned a Rose Bowl berth against Ohio State, which lost to Michigan on Saturday to ruin a potential matchup of unbeaten teams in Pasadena.

The Sun Devils sacked Keith Smith seven times, including five in the first half, intercepted him once and blocked both a punt and a field goal.

Florida State 48, Maryland 10

Florida State kept rolling, even with its quarterback limping, and the Seminoles will be ranked No. 2 going into Saturday's showdown against No. 1 Florida.

In their final tuneup Saturday, the unbeaten Seminoles beat Maryland, 48-10, but lost starting quarterback Thad Busby. He sat out the second half with a mild knee sprain, and redshirt freshman Dan Kendra could find himself facing the Gators in Tallahassee.

Florida State will climb to second from third in the rankings because No. 2 Ohio State lost Saturday to Michigan. The Seminoles could claim the No. 1 spot by beating Florida.

Warrick Dunn led the charge against Maryland with 109 yards rushing, including touchdown runs of 13 and nine yards, to break Greg Allen's school career rushing record.

Florida State, which clinched its fifth consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference title two weeks ago, improved to 8-0 in the league and 10-0 overall.

Maryland finished its season 5-6 and 3-5. The status of fifth-year coach Mark Duffner is in doubt, and he'll meet next week with athletic director Debbie Yow.

11-25-96

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