ACC football: Opportunistic Miami tops No. 12 Florida

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - Stephen Morris threw two first-quarter touchdown passes, and Miami took advantage of Florida giving the ball away on four red-zone opportunities on the way to knocking off the 12th-ranked Gators 21-16 on Saturday.

Duke Johnson added a 2-yard touchdown run with 3:29 left to make it 21-9 Miami (2-0), which has won four straight games for the first time since 2008 and will almost certainly return to the AP Top 25 today for the first time since 2010.

Jeff Driskel threw for a career-best 291 yards and had a 21-yard touchdown pass to Solomon Patton with 2:08 left for the Gators (1-1), who lost three fumbles, had two passes intercepted and were stopped once on downs. Driskel also ran for a touchdown.

But Driskel also turned the ball over twice in the fourth quarter, getting intercepted - one of Florida's many red-zone miscues - by Miami's Tracy Howard with 6:41 left, then getting hit deep in Florida territory and fumbling it away about 2 minutes later to set up the score by Johnson.

The Driskel-to-Patton touchdown capped a four-play, 60-yard drive that lasted only 81 seconds. Florida's ensuing onside kick was recovered by Miami, and the Hurricanes ran the clock down to 28 seconds before punting the ball away.

N.C. State 23, Richmond 21

RALEIGH, N.C. - Niklas Sade's 48-yard field goal with 33 seconds left lifted North Carolina State past Richmond.

N.C. State freshman Bryant Shirreffs accounted for two touchdowns and Pete Thomas was 24 of 31 for 237 yards while helping the Wolfpack (2-0) rally from an 11-point deficit.

The Wolfpack took over at their own 21 with 1:59 left and Thomas led them 48 yards in seven plays.

He completed 4 of 5 passes during the drive for 31 yards - including a critical 13-yard throw to Rashard Smith at the sideline - before things stalled at the 31. Sade's kick from the right hash cleared the crossbar with ease.

No. 4 Clemson 52, S.C. State 13

CLEMSON, S.C. - Tajh Boyd ran for a touchdown and No. 4 Clemson returned two interceptions for scores for the first time in program history in a victory over FCS opponent South Carolina State on Saturday.

Boyd scored Clemson's first touchdown and played only a half against the Bulldogs (0-2) before finding a spot on the Death Valley sidelines next to offensive coordinator Chad Morris. That was more than enough, though, for Clemson to move to 27-0 all-time against FCS teams.

Cornerbacks Martin Jenkins and Darius Robinson each had pick-6 scores to help the Tigers (2-0) to a 38-7 lead by halftime.

Maryland 47, ODU 10

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - C.J. Brown threw for two touchdowns and ran for two, Brandon Ross rushed for 149 yards and Maryland capitalized on three interceptions in a rout of Old Dominion on Saturday.

Brown directed touchdown drives of 77, 46, 97 and 80 yards to stake the Terrapins (2-0) to a 31-3 halftime lead. Ross had 126 yards rushing during a first half in which Maryland amassed 392 yards and 20 first downs.

Brown completed 14 of 22 passes for 275 yards and ran four times for 30 yards.

Old Dominion (0-2) compiled 335 yards in offense but didn't get in the end zone until Cam Boyd scored on a 3-yard run with 5:05 left.

No. 19 Northwestern 48, Syracuse 27

EVANSTON, Ill. - Trevor Siemian threw for 259 yards and a career-high three touchdowns, and Kain Colter passed for a score and ran for another to lead Northwestern over Syracuse.

Tony Jones added a personal-best 185 yards receiving and a 47-yard TD, and the Wildcats (2-0) racked up 581 yards on offense. They also intercepted Syracuse's Drew Allen four times.

Northwestern scored the game's first 20 points and led 34-7 at the half after amassing 387 yards, with their quarterbacks picking apart Syracuse (0-2).

Allen was 27 of 41 with 279 yards.

North Carolina 40, Middle Tennessee 20

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Romar Morris scored twice to help North Carolina run out to a big lead and beat Middle Tennessee on Saturday.

Bryn Renner threw for 339 yards and a touchdown for the Tar Heels (1-1), who led all day to regroup after a loss at highly ranked South Carolina.

North Carolina scored the first 23 points, had 511 yards and never let the Blue Raiders (1-1) get closer than 13 points after halftime.

Duke 28, Memphis 14

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Brandon Connette, subbing for injured starter Anthony Boone, threw for 198 yards and a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to lead Duke past Memphis.

The victory marked the first time since 1998 that the Blue Devils have opened the season 2-0, and like in their opener against North Carolina Central, the defense showed good signs at times in the victory over the Tigers (0-1).

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