The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page C003

PAGELABELTAG THE PALM BEACH POST REAL NEWS STARTS HERE I SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2015 C3 COLLEGE FOOTBALL FLORIDA STATE ACC No les look to swamp Wake Watson, Kizer look to shine on big stage NAllik. I Pli attatilL.4,11 .40. asimPu. -Ilk so 11010111111111pMw loot a I Au -Ilk K- (-- 4 1 ors 6 ii 660 111111 IIF A. lot SIP -IP 1 ttg lift 0 A.

ilk Coach Jimbo Fisher says QB Everett Go and the offense made good progress during practices after scoring only one touchdown at Boston College. MADDIE MEYER GETTY IMAGES the year with a fractured ankle. Kizer rallied Notre Dame to victory at Virginia on a TD pass to Will Fuller with 12 seconds left. Kizer has continued his strong play since, completing 67.7 percent of his throws for 541 yards and five touchdowns this year. Things to watch when No.

6 Notre Dame plays No. 12 Clemson: Soggy field: The fast, clean track these two high-powered offenses expected at Memorial Stadium will likely be a slick field with several inches of rain forecast to fall on Clemson on Friday and today. Hurricane Joaquin is lurking off the South Carolina coast and the storm's uncertain track could mean an even wetter outlook. Clemson officials are consulting with the National Weather Service to monitor the storm. Backup to star: Notre Dame running back C.J.

Prosise has gone from defense to wide receiver to the fastest-starting tailback in school history. Prosise has run for 600 yards this season, the most ever for an Irish player through the first four games of the season. By contrast, Clemson has run for just 564 yards. Clemson's steady defense: The Tigers lost eight starters on defense including first-round NFL picks in defensive end Vic Beasley and linebacker Stephone Anthony, yet have picked up where they left off a year ago when they led the country in yards allowed. Clemson has given up the same, 260-yards a game it did in 2014, which ranks ninth nationally.

Defensive end Shag Lawson leads the charge with 2.5 sacks and six tackles for loss. Associated Press CLEMSON, S.C. Clemson's Deshaun Watson and Notre Dame's De Shone Kizer share similar names, the leadership of two high-performing offenses and the pressure to succeed when the sixth-ranked Fighting Irish (4-0) and 12th-ranked Tigers (3-0) play tonight. Both Watson and Kizer have played well, although neither has faced the quality defense or the enormous hoopla they will at Death Valley this week. "There's always some sort of hype.

We're Notre Dame," Kizer said. "Every game is going to be a big game in its own sense, and obviously this is the first time that I'll really be playing in front of screaming fans from down South." Watson is accustomed to those crowds, bringing a 5-0 record at Memorial Stadium into the contest. The preseason pick for Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year considered a Heisman Trophy contender when the season began, Watson has completed nearly 75 percent of his passes this year for 641 yards and seven touchdowns. This game won't impact Clemson's chances to win the ACC, win or lose. Still, Watson understands the bigger picture out there with Notre Dame.

"It's kind of just another stepping stone to what we're capable of, being one of those teams in the playoff," Watson said. "Just embrace the moment and know your priorities and what you really have to focus on." Kizer got thrown into the lineup with the injury to Fighting Irish starter Malik Zaire, out for TODAY'S GAME Florida State at Wake Forest, 3:30 p.m., ESPN ing in its first drive. FSU coach Jimbo Fisher, whose team is looking to extend its ACC winning streak to 26 games, was asked about the offense's progress during the open week. "I thought it was really good," he said. "We were physical, got better worked a lot of things.

We'll find out." While the Seminoles have gotten off to a slow start offensively, the same cannot be said for the defense. It ranks in the top 10 in the nation in scoring defense (sixth, 10.0 ppg), total defense (eighth, 256.3 ypg) and passing yards allowed (fourth, 116.3). "There's things that appear to be open and Rain in forecast likely means more carries for Cook. By Tom D'Angelo Palm Beach Post Staff Writer WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. After a stunning stretch in which Wake Forest, a perennial ACC weakling, defeated the bully on the conference block, Florida State, four times in six years, the series has been restored to its natural expectation.

No. 11 Florida State (3-0, 1-0 ACC) has won the last three games by a combined score of 154-6, and with Wake Forest (2-2, 0-1) going through a rebuild under second-year coach Dave Clawson, today's game at Field (3:30 p.m., ESPN) is expected to continue the trend. Wake is so overmatched that the Seminoles' biggest competition in a game in which it has jumped to a 20-point favorite may come from the weather. Although it appears Hurricane Joaquin will spare the eastern seaboard, the area is expected to be pounded by rain. Winston-Salem is under a flash flood warming until Sunday and some areas of North Carolina are bracing for up to 16 inches of rain.

The last time the SemMoles dealt with weather issues (three weeks ago against South Florida), Dalvin Cook ran for a career-best 266 yards. Florida State may rely on Cook and its running game once again, but it would like to see improvement from quarterback Everett Colson and the offensive line after a very pedestrian performance two weeks ago at Boston College. The offense scored one touchdown in the 14-0 victory and totaled 217 yards, 83 corn MEMPHIS 24, SOUTH FLORIDA 17 Lynch, Tigers run past Bulls Associated Press TAMPA Paxton Lynch threw for 305 yards and two touchdowns, helping unbeaten Memphis extend its winning streak to 12 games with a 24-17 victory over South Florida on Friday night. The junior from Deltona also scored on a 3-yard run for the Tigers (5-0, 2-0 American Athletic Conference). They are off to their best start in 54 years and tied No.

4 TCU for the nation's second-longest Football Bowl Subdivision winning streak behind top-ranked and defending champion Ohio State's 17. South Florida (1-3, 0-1) led 10-0 early, but sputtered offensively after putting together a 12-play, 95-yard touchdown drive to begin the game. Quinton Flowers threw a 23-yard TD pass to Elkanah Dillon to trim USF's deficit to seven points with 1:49 remaining, but his last pass was intercepted by Reggis Ball to end the prospect of a comeback. Lynch threw a 20-yard TD pass to Sam Craft in the second quarter, then watched 215-pound running back Doroland Dorceus rumble up the right sideline before cutting back to the middle to turn a screen pass into a 55-yard scoring play that put Memphis up 24-10 in the fourth quarter. USF got 108 yards rushing from Marlon Mack, last year's AAC rookie of the year.

SEC Good times back for QB Prescott i 1. 1111 totia ur, -'''''l 1 'It'll 1 4 II 0 I i 011114111 1 I on 1 (T, 0 qb oft 1 Ss i 0 m. a 1 111 0. 11 ot. op di AI i i i ry, or true freshman Kendall Hinton, who threw for 245 yards against Indiana, a school record for a quarterback making his first career start.

Clawson said Wolford will be the starter when he is healthy but did not say if that would be today. No matter the quarterback, the Demon Deacons have had success throwing the ball, leading the ACC with 300.0 passing yards per game. "They are going to spread, they are going to throw a lot of the different concepts," Fisher said. "They throw a lot of the same concepts we do: They will be in three wide, four wide, empties, different personnel formations. We have to be able to pressure the passer.

We have to be able to affect him." tdangelopbpost.com Twitter: tomdangelo44 Badgley then missed a 53-yard field goal. UM's defense, which allowed 446 total yards, had an excellent start to the second half. It allowed a net total of zero yards on 14 plays in the third quarter. But as it has far too often in Golden's tenure, it sprung major leaks. After the Hurricanes chipped Cincy's lead to 27-23 with 8:59 left, Moore floated a pass over Elder's head to McKay, who turned it into a 52-yard gain.

Moore extended the lead to 11 with a 7-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Tyler Cogswell. Making it hurt more: Golden opted to kick a 26-yard field goal on the previous drive, after Mark Walton gained 1 yard on a third-and-6 run play at the 10. Golden said afterward he trusted his defense, believing it would get a stop at midfield with about nine minutes left enough time to score and retake the lead. However, he admitted, "I agonized on it the whole way down." Rather than taking a feel-good 4-0 record to Tallahassee next week to face Florida State, the Hurricanes are in for an agonizing week. mporterpbpost.com Twitter: mattyports these guys run and pursue so well that the holes just get closed up," Clawson said.

"And their pursuit in the secondary is great. It's really hard to make big plays against them." Said FSU defensive tackle Nile Lawrence-Stample: "I think our team is really malleable. I think we can form it and it'll go to the beat of the drum." The defense is expected to receive a boost from the return of 6-foot-7, 229-pound sophomore end Lorenzo Featherston, a projected starter who has not played since suffering a knee injury midway through preseason camp. The Seminoles are not sure if they will see more of sophomore quarterback John Wolford, who missed Wake's 31-24 loss to Indiana last week because of an ankle inju again. That's clearly my fault." It got worse.

Miami followed that by going three-and-out and allowing a 69-yard punt return, then didn't come close to pressuring quarterback Hayden Moore. The redshirt freshman, making his first college start, hit receiver Mekale McKay in the back of the end zone, in between two defenders. Cincinnati led 14-3 after running five offensive plays. Miami, on the other hand, was on its way to finishing four of15 on third down. It is now 13 of 53 for the season, ranking second-to-last in the country.

In the two previous years, the Hurricanes have finished 95th and 96th, respectively. "Honestly, we came to this night ready and prepared," said quarterback Brad Kaaya, who did not throw a touchdown pass for the first time in his 17 career games and finished 24 of 39 for 255 yards. "We just killed ourselves with a lot of the things we did." Another familiar issue: penalties. With Miami down 27-20 early in the third quarter, Corn Elder's 51-yard punt return was wiped out by a holding penalty by freshman Jaquan Johnson. Miami's Artie Burns leaves the field late in the fourth quarter of the Canes' 34-23 defeat Thursday night at Cincinnati, their first regular-season loss to a non-power five program since the Randy Shannon era.

JOE ROBBINS GETTY IMAGES that dates to the Orange Bowl last Dec. 31. Texas coach Kevin Sum lin knows the key to success against the Bulldogs is to contain the dual-threat quarterback. "When he's on the field he just exudes confidence," Sumlin said. "The team feeds off that.

(He) won't be intimidated. (He's) been on big stages. And he's a good player. Everything will run through him offensively." The Aggies' defense, led by end Myles Garrett, is tied for second in the country with 17 sacks. Garrett is tied for second in the country with 614 sacks, and teammate Daeshon Hall has four.

Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen knows all about the two pass rushers and has a plan to deal with them. "If your quarterback is making good decisions and they have the opportunity to get rid of the ball quickly, it helps your pass protection as much as anything," Mullen said. "We don't want our quarterback holding the ball too long. A guy like Dak, who can get through his progression reads pretty quickly, helps keep those sack numbers down." For Texas quarterback Kyle Allen needs 48 yards to reach 1,000 this season. Allen is 7-2 as a starter dating back to last season and has won five in a row.

Allen completed 21 of 28 passes for a career-high 358 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions against Arkansas last week. Associated Press COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS As Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott prepares for today's game at No. 14 Texas he's in a much better place than he was the last time he visited Kyle Field. When Prescott played the Aggies on Nov. 9, 2013, it was just days after his mother died of cancer.

Prescott missed practice that week and didn't start. He came in early and threw for 149 yards and two scores and ran for 154 yards. He and the Bulldogs were unable to overcome a five-touchdown performance by Johnny Manziel in the 51-41 win by the Aggies. "I'm completely different, night and day," Prescott said. "That was a stressful time in my life.

It was a big game coming off of (my mother passing away). I'm excited to go back again. It's another road trip but I'm planning for different results." No. 21 Mississippi St. SEC) is coming off a victory over Auburn.

No. 14 Texas (4-0, 1-0) is looking for a 2-0 start in conference play for the first time since doing so in the Big12 in 1997-98. Prescott is off to a solid start this season and has completed almost 67 percent of his passes for 1,069 yards and seven touchdowns. He's thrown 191 straight passes without an interception, a streak that is the longest in the nation and the sixth longest in SEC history and Hurricanes continued from Cl Hurricanes continued to make them. The result: Miami's first regular-season loss to a non-power five conference team since Nov.

27, 2010 when coach Randy Shannon lost to South Florida. Golden took over the following season. His tenure, which includes seven double-digit losses in UM's past 18 games and a 10-12 road record, could be on shaky ground if the Hurricanes (3-1) do not fix their issues. And there is a litany of them. Miami moved the ball at will on its opening drive until a 15-yard clipping penalty by right tackle Sunny Odogrwu killed the momentum.

They settled for a 41-yard field goal by Michael Badgley. Cincinnati responded with a touchdown that happened because safety Rayshawn Jenkins didn't bring running back Hosey Williams to the ground. He had him wrapped up behind the line of scrimmage, but Williams scooted free for a 29-yard touchdown. "You know 1 had him," Jenkins said. "1 was waiting for a whistle and he popped back up off the pile and started running.