Week 3 featured three Atlantic Coast Conference matchups and several more with nonconference opponents, including Miami giving away a game it had in hand before escaping with a win, a Pittsburgh timeout costing it the game and more.

Intraconference:

The stats may have seemed dominant for No. 11 Clemson (3-0) — running back Wayne Gallman’s 139 rushing yards, sacking Louisville (0-3) quarterback Kyle Bolin five times and holding the Cardinals to 19 total rushing yards — but still the Tigers needed a late defensive stand to win Thursday’s close game. Bolin was intercepted with seconds remaining at Clemson’s 41-yard line minutes after the Cardinals kicker missed a game-tying field goal. Clemson improved to 40-0 in the past five years when leading entering the fourth quarter.

Florida State quarterback Everett Golson evaded two defenders who had a chance to sack him for a first-half safety. They didn’t, and so squandered Boston College’s best chance of scoring.  The Eagles (2-1) were blanked at home by No. 9 Florida State (3-0) after scoring 76 points in a mercy rule-shortened game against Howard the week before. On offense, BC managed to move the ball into Florida State territory three times, including the Eagles last drive, which was led by Troy Flutie, the nephew of Doug Flutie, BC starting quarterback Darius Wade left with a serious left ankle injury and is out for the season.

In Week 1, Notre Dame lost its starting running back for the season. In Week 2, it lost its starting quarterback for the season. In Week 3, Notre Dame (3-0) beat Georgia Tech (2-1) 30-22 in the opening of ACC play for each team. C.J. Prosise, the new Fighting Irish starting running back, went for 198 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries — including a 91-yard touchdown run which is the longest in Notre Dame Stadium history.

Winners:

Quarterback Marquise Williams passed for three touchdowns and ran for 105 more yards as North Carolina (2-1) defeated Illinois 48-14. Wide receiver Ryan Switzer, who set an NCAA single-season record with five punt return touchdowns as a freshman, hadn’t returned a punt for a touchdown since then in the regular season. Saturday, he had a 71-yard return in the second quarter to set up a field goal and then took a punt 85 yards to the endzone for a touchdown. Switzer’s 168 punt-return yards broke a UNC single-game game record that had stood since 1951.

Starting quarterback John Wolford was hurt early in the game, so freshman Kendall Hinton entered and led Wake Forest (2-1) to a 17-14 win over Army. Hinton, who rushed for 101 yards on 17 carries and passed for 159 more yards, helped end the Demon Deacons 11-game losing streak on the road. Its last road win came against Army at Michie Stadium in 2013.

With 8:36 left in the fourth quarter, Miami (3-0) led Nebraska 33-10. Then things went wrong. With 33 seconds remaining in regulation, a Cornhusker receiver hauled in a 2-point conversion to tie it. Miami defensive back Corn Elder intercepted the first play of overtime and set up a Miami 28-yard, game-winning field goal.

Midway through the third quarter, Virginia (1-2) jumped up to a 35-20 lead over William & Mary. Slowly, the Cavaliers began to lose hold. A safety, multiple punts and allowing a fourth-down conversion hurt Virginia. With five minutes to go, William & Mary trailed by six points. Virginia was forced to punt after an ineffective offense — the team finished the final frame with minus-3 yards and no first downs — but forced an incompletion deep inside Virginia territory on fourth down to seal the deal. It’s the play the Cavaliers didn’t make in Week 2 when Notre Dame beat Virginia on a game-winning pass with 12 seconds to go. Receiver Taquan Mizzell finished with five receptions for 123 yards and a touchdown.

Brenden Motley fumbled three times, but threw for two touchdowns, ran for another and nearly scored on a reception as Virginia Tech (2-1) beat Purdue on the road. Motley, who’s filling in for injured Michael Brewer, finished 15 of 23 for 220 yards. The Hokies also gained 238 yards on the ground.

Jacoby Brissett passed for two scores and ran for one more to lead North Carolina State (3-0) over Old Dominion 38-14. Matthew Dayes ran for 108 yards and a touchdown. The Wolfpack held Old Dominion’s Ray Lawry, the nation’s leading rusher, to 15 yards on 11 carries. He entered averaging 218 yards per game.

For the first time since 1991, Syracuse is 3-0. The Orange beat Central Michigan in overtime with a Jordan Fredericks touchdown rush after a defensive stop forced a CMU field goal in overtime. The win came at a high cost when freshman quarterback Eric Dungey left the game with an upper-body injury.

You can read all of The Daily Orange’s coverage of the game here.

Losers:

Warren Long touched the ball three times and made two of the days’ biggest plays. Long ran 55 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, then recovered a fumbled punt return to seal No. 23 Northwestern’s win over Duke (2-1). Blue Devils quarterback Thomas Sirk struggled, completing 24-of-39 passes for 150 yards and one interception.

As Iowa’s Marshall Koehn lined up to kick the game-winning field goal, Pittsburgh (2-1) coach Pat Narduzzi called timeout. Koehn’s attempt landed well short, but he didn’t waste his second opportunity. As time expired, Koehn’s 57-yard field goal sailed through the uprights to beat the Panthers 27-24 Saturday afternoon. Nathan Peterman, one half of the Pitt quarterback platoon Narduzzi said he’ll still use, completed 20 passes of 29 for 219 yards and two touchdowns. Chad Voytik, the other quarterback in the timeshare, attempted two passes, completing one.

Published on September 20, 2015 at 11:17 am

Contact Sam: sjfortie@syr.edu | @Sam4TR