Syracuse Humbles No. 5 Virginia Tech

Syracuse forgot its humiliations of the past, and No. 5 Virginia Tech can forget about the Rose Bowl.

Doing what they have seen Virginia Tech do to others so many times before, the Orangemen scored on a punt return and after a turnover in the first quarter, and beat the Hokies, 22-14, on Saturday at Blacksburg, Va., for their seventh consecutive victory.

“Every time we’ve played Virginia Tech, it seemed like it was their day,� said Syracuse quarterback R.J. Anderson, who completed just six passes, but rushed for 63 yards. “For once, maybe it was our day.�

The Orangemen, 7-2 overall and 4-0 in the Big East Conference, ended the Hokies’ 16-game home winning streak and avenged their last three visits to Lane Stadium, which ended with Virginia Tech winning by a combined 124-10.

Syracuse stayed on track for a conference showdown against top-ranked Miami at the Orange Bowl on Nov. 17.

Virginia Tech plays the Hurricanes at home Dec. 1.

*

The Hokies had chances Saturday, even after falling behind, 14-0, in the first 7:25, but each time the Syracuse defense or a continuing rash of Virginia Tech mistakes derailed any comeback hopes.

The Orangemen allowed Virginia Tech just 90 yards rushing, well below its average of 234, recovered two fumbles and blocked a punt. One of the fumbles and the blocked punt turned into 10 first-half points.

In another Big East game: David Priestley was 18 for 24 for 204 yards passing and two touchdowns, and Nick Lotz matched a school record by kicking four field goals as Pittsburgh beat Temple, 33-7, at Philadelphia.

The Panthers (2-5, 1-3) won for the first time since their season-opening 31-0 victory over East Tennessee State. Temple (2-5, 1-3) has lost five of six games.

Atlantic Coast

Woodrow Dantzler rebounded from his worst game of the season, passing for two touchdowns and running for another score in Clemson’s 21-14 victory over Wake Forest at Winston-Salem, N.C. Dantzler, held to 116 yards before being benched in the third quarter during North Carolina’s 38-3 rout over the Tigers (5-2, 3-2) the previous week, had 330 of Clemson’s 391 total yards against Wake Forest (3-4, 1-4). ... Ray Robinson ran for a season-high 105 yards and scored two touchdowns in North Carolina State’s 21-point third quarter as the Wolfpack (4-3, 2-3) beat slumping Virginia (3-5, 2-4), 24-0, at Raleigh, N.C. ... Rodney Williams ran for 155 yards and two touchdowns in a nonconference game at Durham, N.C., as Vanderbilt (2-5) handed Duke (0-8) its 20th consecutive loss, 42-28.

Conference USA

Alabama-Birmingham (4-4, 3-2) stopped three fourth-quarter drives and defeated Memphis (4-4, 2-3), 17-14, at Memphis, Tenn. ... C.J. Young ran for four touchdowns, including 13 yards for the game-winner with 2:26 remaining, as Army (2-5, 2-4) defeated Tulane (2-7, 1-4), 42-35, at West Point, N.Y. ... T.J. Patterson returned from a sprained ankle and ran for a season-high 136 yards and a pivotal touchdown for Louisville (7-1, 3-0) in a 28-13 victory over Cincinnati (4-3, 4-1) at Cincinnati. ... Jeff Kelly threw for a career-high five touchdowns and ran for another score as Southern Mississippi snapped out of its offensive slump with a 58-14 victory over Houston at Hattiesburg, Miss.

Mountain West

Duan Ruff scored on a one-yard run with 9:27 left, and Colorado State hung on at Fort Collins, Colo., to beat Utah (5-2, 2-1), 19-17. The Rams (4-4, 3-1) rallied from 7-0 and 14-13 deficits to end Utah’s winning streak at four games. ... Joe Haro rushed for 226 yards and scored two touchdowns as Nevada Las Vegas (3-5, 2-2) beat Wyoming (2-6, 0-5), 47-26, in Laramie, Wyo. ... Casey Kelly passed for three touchdowns for New Mexico (3-4, 2-2) in a 52-33 victory over Air Force (4-3, 2-2) at Albuquerque. ... Defensive end Ryan Denney returned a blocked field-goal attempt 82 yards for a touchdown to start a run of big scoring plays for No. 16 Brigham Young (8-0, 4-0) in a 59-21 victory over San Diego State (2-6, 1-3) at San Diego.

Western Athletic

Ryan Dinwiddie threw three touchdown passes, two to Jeb Putzier, and ran for another score as Boise State (5-3, 4-1) beat Nevada (1-6, 1-3), 49-7, at Boise, Idaho. ... Freshman ShanDerrick Charles ran for 212 yards and four touchdowns in his first collegiate start as Southern Methodist beat Texas-El Paso, 40-14, at Dallas. ... Luke McCown threw for 384 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for another touchdown as Louisiana Tech (4-3, 4-1) emerged with a 41-38 overtime victory over Rice (6-2, 3-1) after blowing a 31-point lead at Ruston, La. ... Clint Carlson threw for 282 yards and two touchdowns in his second career start as San Jose State (2-5, 2-2) beat Tulsa (1-6, 0-5), 63-27, at San Jose.