Florida State, Virginia Tech survive scares, stay perfect

The Seminoles continue to start slow offensively, relying on their defense to keep them in the game. They trailed at half for the second consecutive game.

Weinke's pass to Minnis with 3:16 left in the quarter was the second scoring hookup for the pair and gave the Seminoles (7-0 ACC, 9-0 overall) a 14-10 lead. They padded that 2:46 later when Travis Minor scored on a 6-yard burst up the middle.

Virginia (3-3, 4-4), which led 10-7 at halftime, lost quarterback Dan Ellis when he was hit hard on consecutive plays at the end of the first half. Ellis watched the second half from the sideline as junior David Rivers took over.

No. 3 Virginia Tech 30, Pitt. 17: Virginia Tech rode its running game to a 20-point lead, then held on for a victory over Pittsburgh even as Pitt quarterback David Priestley picked apart the Hokies for 407 yards passing.

Despite the fact that the Hokies won by less than 20 points for the first time this year, the ground game remained strong. Andre Kendrick carried 16 times for 162 yards for Virginia Tech, and Shyrone Stith added 14 carries for 65 yards and a touchdown.

The Hokies hoped to make a statement in this game, since Pittsburgh is a common opponent for Penn State and Virginia Tech, No. 2 and 3 respectively in the Bowl Championship Series. Penn State slipped by the Panthers earlier this year, 20-17.

No. 4 Tennessee 30, S. Carolina 7: Tennessee didn't play its best against South Carolina, but it hardly mattered. The Volunteers were good enough to extend the Gamecocks' losing streak to 19 games, longest in the nation.

"We played like the game was against an 0-8 team sandwiched between Alabama and Notre Dame," Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said.

Jamal Lewis led the Volunteers (4-1 SEC, 6-1 overall) with 146 yards rushing, including a 70-yard touchdown, the longest of his career.

No. 5 Florida 30, No. 10 Georgia 14: Florida's offense wasn't always in gear in the hard rain that plagued "the world's largest outdoor cocktail party," in Jacksonville, but the defense closed the door on Georgia's chances.

Spurrier earned his 100th victory as Florida coach in the most fitting way imaginable. Not only did the win come against Georgia, the team Spurrier loves to beat most, but it came in the same manner the Bulldogs used to stick it to the Gators for so many years before he took over.

No. 6 Kansas State 48, Baylor 7: Kansas State continued to make short work of their light home schedule in Manattan.

Thoroughly dominant while building a 34-0 halftime lead, the Wildcats (5-0 Big 12, 8-0 overall) outscored the Bears (0-5, 1-7) by just seven points in the last two quarters and gave up a touchdown in the second half for the first time this season.

David Allen, who had missed one game with a knee injury, scored three touchdowns as the Wildcats remained unbeaten and inched closer to their Nov. 13 showdown with Nebraska.

No. 7 Georgia Tech 48, N.C. State 21: After winning two straight squeakers, Georgia Tech avoided another tense ending.

Joe Hamilton passed for 212 yards and three touchdowns and added 83 yards on the ground before sitting out the final quarter as the Yellow Jackets cruised past North Carolina State.

No. 8 Nebraska 24, Kansas 17: Despite a surprisingly tough fight, Eric Crouch's 49-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Newcombe with 3:24 left lifted Nebraska over Kansas. It was the Cornhuskers 31st consecutive victory over the Jayhawks.

The fourth-quarter victory allowed Nebraska (4-1 Big 12, 7-1 overall) to stay in Big 12 North contention. They are currently tied with Colorado for second place behind Kansas State in the North.

No. 12 Texas 44, Iowa State 41: Texas kicker Kris Stockton kicked an 18-yard field goal as time expired to help Longhorns edge Iowa State, ending a wild game that featured big plays and comebacks by both teams.

Coming off an upset of Nebraska, Texas (4-1 Big 12, 7-2 overall) had to battle to the end to beat a feisty Iowa State team that gave the Longhorns a scare after trailing by 14 points in the fourth quarter.

No. 13 Marshall 41, N. Illinois 9: Marshall quarterback Chad Pennington threw four touchdown passes as the Thundering Herd beat Northern Illinois.

Marshall improved its winning streaks to 12 games overall and 29 straight at home, both tops in Division I-A. The Thundering Herd is off to an 8-0 start for the second straight season.

No. 14 Alabama 35, No. 20 Southern Mississippi 14: Alabama had a surprisingly easy win against Southern Mississippi considering they were without their two biggest stars on offense, Shaun Alexander and Andrew Zow.

Shaun Bohanon ran for two touchdowns, Reggie Myles returned one of his two interceptions for a score and Freddie Milons had a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown to spoils the Golden Eagles' upset hopes.

No. 16 Brigham Young 27, Air Force 20: A pre-game inspirational speech by long time Brigham Young coach Lavell Edwards motivated his team to top Air Force.

Edwards, in his 28th year, improved his career record to 250-92-3. He needs five victories to tie former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne for sixth place on the all-time Division I list.

Bringham Young quarterback Kevin Feterik was 14-of-15 for 188 yards in the first half for the Cougars (4-0 MWC, 7-1 overall), who remained the only unbeaten team in the Mountain West.

No. 17 E. Carolina 19, Houston 3: Outgained by a wide margin, East Carolina bent but didn't break and finally put Houston away when Anthony Adams returned a late fourth-quarter interception 55 yards for a touchdown.

East Carolina (3-1 Conference USA, 7-1 overall) led most of the game despite being outgained 363 yards to 223, but couldn't close out Houston until Adams snared Jason McKinley's pass, eluded traffic and stumbled into the end zone as three Houston defenders met him there.

No. 22 Texas A&M 21 Oklahoma State 3: Randy McCown, playing despite a separated shoulder to his non-throwing arm, threw touchdown passes of 11 and 14 yards to Matt Bumgardner as Texas A&M held off Oklahoma State.

One week after an embarrassing 51-6 loss to Oklahoma, the Aggies (3-2 Big 12, 6-2 overall) won the 600th game in school history, the 17th Division I-A school to reach the milestone.

No. 23 Miami 28, West Virginia 20: Kenny Kelly limped his way to completing 21 of 34 passes for 268 yards and two second-half touchdowns as Miami nipped West Virginia, the Hurricanes' second come-from-behind victory in as many weeks.

Miami (2-0 Big East, 4-3 overall) trailed 13-0 at halftime, the first time it had been scoreless at home at halftime in 15 years.

Colorado 38, No. 24 Oklahoma 24: Idled a week ago because of migraines that were believed to be the aftereffects of a concussion, Colorado quarterback Mike Moschetti proved to be a major headache for Oklahoma.

No. 25 Mississippi 42, Louisiana State 23: Mississippi, already known as a tough team to run against, showed that it is also a tough running team as the Rebels pounded out enough yards to run away with the victory.

- Compiled by Daily Sports Writer Dan Williams

11-01-99