The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • C11

The Charlotte Observer charlotteobserver.com Sunday, November 29, 2009 11CCOLLEGE FOOTBALL By Tim Reynolds Associated Press TAMPA, Fla. Javarris James rushed for two touchdowns, Jacory Harris threw for two more, and No. 19 Miami took a big early lead on the way to beating South Florida 31-10 Sat- urday. Dedrick Epps and Leonard Hankerson caught touchdown passes for Miami (9-3), which ran out to a 21-3 halftime lead and capped its first nine-win regular season since 2005. A bowl victory destination un- determined, but undoubtedly boosted by perfor- mance would give Miami its first 10-win season since 2003.

Damien Berry rushed for 114 yards and Graig Cooper added 83 more for Miami, which played without ill left tackle Ja- son Fox and still rolled. A.J. Love caught a 12-yard touchdown pass for South Florida (7-4), which will close its regular season at Connecti- cut next Saturday. The Bulls fell to 7-28 when allowing at least 31 points and 10-2 against teams from Florida, with both losses against Miami. The schools were meeting for just the second time, with plans calling for the teams to play annually until 2013, by which time another Sunshine State rivalry could be born.

not there yet, and to the chagrin of 66,469 the second- largest crowd in South Florida history Miami wasted no time pointing that out. A 12-play, 81-yard drive on the opening series set the tone, fueled by a gutsy call and Da- mien 6-yard run on 4th-and-1 from the Bulls 17. On the very next play, Hankerson made a juggling catch in the right side of the end zone, and the Hurricanes were well on their way. Darryl Sharpton forced South Florida quarterback B.J. Daniels into a fumble later in the quarter, Randy Phillips re- covered and James went in from 5 yards three plays later for a 14-0 lead.

Midway through the second quarter, James struck again, a 2-yard scoring burst to wrap up a 10-play, 61-yard drive and put Miami ahead 21-3. Eventually, the de- fense stopped making things easy for Miami. The Hurricanes ran 36 plays for 233 yards on their first four drives, with three touchdowns. Their next four drives went three-and-out every time, net- ting a total of 8 yards, with Har- ris already nursing a tender thumb on his throwing hard getting his throwing arm twist- ed a bit by defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul on the last of those possessions. Daniels hit Love on third- and-goal from the 12 to make it 21-10, and Miami seemed in trouble.

That is, until Harris engi- neered sixth touch- down drive of two plays or less this season. Berry ran for 18 yards on the first play and Harris did the rest, putting the football right into the chest of Epps, his 6-foot-4, 253-pound senior tight end who easily hauled it in for a 28-10 advantage late in the third quarter. ELSEWHERE BOSTON COLLEGE 19, MARY- LAND 17: Montel Harris ran for 142 yards, Dave Shinskie threw a 66-yard touchdown pass for visiting Boston College, cap- ping the first 10-loss season. Steve Aponavicius kicked four field goals for Boston Col- lege (8-4, 5-3). But the standout senior was wide right on a 31-yarder, ruining a perfect sea- son.

Aponavicius made 37 straight conversions and was 12-for-12 on field-goal tries be- fore the third-quarter miss. He did, however, secure the victory with a 42-yard field goal with 3:59 left the only points of the half. Maryland used a 28-yard touchdown pass from Jamarr Robinson to Torrey Smith to close the lead to 19-17 with 1:34 to go, but Boston College re- covered the onside kick. The Terrapins (2-10, 1-7) fin- ished with seven straight loss- es. OBSERVER NEWS SERVICES ACC Roundup No.

19 Miami clobbers S. Florida 1980. Only once in that span had Clem- son dipped below the century mark, and the Tigers had amassed at least 162 yards of their past five meetings. Clemson notched only two carries longer than 7 yards one a 19-yard Parker scramble. Until that run with three minutes to go in the third quarter, the Tigers had gained more than 4 yards on just one of 12 first-down carries.

Consequently, Clemson quickly dug itself a hole on most possessions. Of the nine third downs it faced the first three quarters, six were at least 7 yards. They went 1-for-9 on third downs in that span and finished 3-for-13 (23.1 percent), its lowest mark of the year. a recipe for Swinney said. do the things you have to do to win.

Today we played uphill a The Gamecocks certainly had a hand in woes. Defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson lauded his group for staying disci- plined on the back side of plays to elim- inate the cutbacks of shifty C.J. Spiller. Spiller had just 18 yards on nine car- ries, but the equally telling number was that versatile threat on- ly tallied three catches for 19 receiving yards. Once the Tigers fell behind 24-7, USC managed to pressure Parker mostly with just a four-man pass rush, and his only consistently viable target was Palmer, who had a career-high eight catches for 106 yards.

get (Spiller) the ball as much as the game went John- son said. tried to get them to make sure they were playing physical, but not being overly ERIK CAMPOS DeVonte Holloman picks off a pass from Clemson quarterback Kyle Parker, one of three Tigers turnovers Saturday. TIGERS from 1C By Hank Kurz Jr. Associated Press CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. Ryan Williams ran for 182 yards and four touchdowns and No.

14 Virginia Tech beat Virginia 42-13 Saturday in what was likely Al last game as coach. The Hokies (9-3, 6-2 ACC) won their sixth straight in the series and for the 10th time 11 meetings with the Cava- liers (3-9, 2-6). It was their eighth victo- ry in nine games against Groh, and ended worst season since it finished 2-9 in 1982. Groh, who has a contract clause re- quiring that the school inform him by Nov. 30 if it plans to add a year, is ex- pected to be fired.

Virginia has had three losing seasons during the past four and its average attendance has fallen by nearly 14,000 in two years. The Hokies, conversely, can reach 10 victories for the sixth year in a row if they win their bowl. Only Texas and Southern Cal also have won 10 the past five years. Williams had a lot to do with the win Saturday. He had scoring runs of 5, 20, 4 and 2 yards.

He added a 51-yard burst during the fourth quarter that ended when he was stripped of the ball at the 10, but the ball squirted into the end zone and receiver Jarrett Boykin recov- ered for the touchdown, making it 35-13 with 10 minutes, 21 seconds to play. The play also sent Cavaliers fans for the exits, turning the largest crowd of the season at Scott Stadium 58,555 into a virtual Hokies home game at its stadium. The touchdowns also allowed Wil- liams to set an ACC record for a fresh- man with 20. He started the day two behind T.A. McClendon of N.C.

State, who had 18 during 2002. Much of what the Hokies were able to do on offense, though, was set up by the passing game. Tyrod Taylor com- pleted eight of 15 passes for 185 yards, with completions of 41, 36 and 38 yards during the first half, all against corner- back Ras-I Dowling, an All-ACC candi- date. Danny Coale did much of the dam- age, and finished with six catches for 135 yards. The Hokies led 14-13 at halftime, but forced a turnover deep in Virginia ter- ritory to set up a 10-yard scoring drive during the third quarter, and essential- ly finished the home team off with a 62-yard march to final scor- ing run with 12:50 left in the game.

The turnover by Virginia came two plays after Chris Cook intercepted Taylor in the end zone, stopping a drive and giving Cavaliers fans short-lived hope for a comeback. On the second play, Ja- meel Sewell ran an option to the left and attempted to flip the ball to Mikell Simpson. But his toss was behind Simpson, who catch it. Instead, safety Kam Chancellor scooped up the loose ball and returned it to the 10. Sewell finished with a career-best 103 rushing yards, the bulk of 118th-ranked offense as the Cavaliers were outgained 489-292 and turned the ball over twice.

The Cavaliers got the opening kick- off and drove down the field almost ex- clusively by running the ball. Sewell had runs of 28 and 15 yards, the second for a touchdown. The Hokies answered, driving 84 yards in seven plays. Taylor hit Coale for 41 yards early in the drive, and then converted a third-and-17 by hitting Coale for 36. Williams finished the tying drive with a 5-yard run and gave the Hokies a 14-10 lead during the second quarter, taking an option pitch from Taylor and bolting 20 yards.

The Cavaliers pulled to 14-13 on Rob- ert second field goal of the half, a 41-yarder with 39 seconds left. The kicks made him 17-for-19 on field- goal attempts this year. No. 14 Virginia Tech 42, Virginia 13 Hokies off Cavaliers DON PETERSON AP Virginia Tech tailback Ryan Williams dives into the end zone, past Virginia defenders Ras-I Dowling, left, and Chris Cook. Williams had four touchdowns to set an ACC rookie record with 20 for the season..