South Roundup : No. 3 Nebraska Slips Past South Carolina, 27-24

Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne didn’t need his Ph.D. to diagnose what made the difference for his No. 3 Cornhuskers in their come-from-behind victory against South Carolina Saturday in 94-degree heat at Columbia, S.C.

“South Carolina did what they hadn’t done all year until the end of the game--turn the ball over,” Osborne said. “The turnovers ended up costing them the game.”

South Carolina, leading, 24-20, with three minutes remaining, lost a fumble on the Gamecocks’ 26, from where the Cornhuskers (4-0) scored three plays later to win, 27-24.

“You have to feel sorry for South Carolina,” said Osborne, who has a Ph.D. in educational psychology. “They have a tremendous team. They are not a 1-4 team, though, and sure didn’t play like one today.”

Quarterback Steve Taylor connected with tight end Todd Millikan on an 11-yard pass with 1:26 remaining for the winning touchdown, and the Nebraska defense stopped a final South Carolina drive when Bryan Siebler intercepted a pass from Todd Ellis at the Cornhusker 19 with 28 seconds left.

Ellis, a redshirt freshman around whom the Gamecock run-and-shoot offense was designed, passed for 286 yards. His 26 completions set a South Carolina record, surpassing the 24 by Tommy Suggs against Florida State in 1968.

Most of the Cornhusker offense came from Taylor, who passed for 196 yards by completing 9 of 19.

North Carolina 21, Georgia Tech 20--Jonathan Hall passed 11 yards to Eric Lewis for touchdown with 58 seconds left as the Tar Heels beat the Yellow Jackets in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Chapel Hill, N.C.

North Carolina, 3-0-1 and playing its ACC opener, was ahead, 14-3, at halftime only to see the Yellow Jackets storm into a 17-14 lead with 6:01 left in the third quarter when Rick Strom hit Jerry Mays with a five-yard scoring pass and completed a two-point conversion to Cory Collier.

In the fourth quarter, Reginald Rutland intercepted Mark Maye’s pass and returned it 42 yards to set up David Bell’s 43-yard field goal and give a 20-14 Georgia Tech lead with 7:57 left.

The Tar Heels reached the Georgia Tech 35 on the next drive only to fail on a fourth-and-nine attempt. But they got the ball with 2:10 left to set up the winning 62-yard scoring drive.

Georgia Tech, 1-2-1 and 1-2 in the ACC, got the ball with 54 seconds left and drove into Tar Heel territory, but Bell’s 55-yard field goal attempt fell short.

Virginia 30, Wake Forest 28--Jeff Gaffney kicked three field goals, including a 36-yarder with 56 seconds remaining, to give the Cavaliers an Atlantic Coast Conference victory at Winston-Salem, N.C.

After Gaffney’s kick, Wake Forest (3-2, 0-2) drove from its 13 to the Virginia 12, but Wilson Hoyle’s 29-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right with two seconds left to play. Virginia is 2-3 and 1-2.

Clemson 24, The Citadel 0--At Clemson, S.C., tailback Terrence Flagler rushed for a career-high 177 yards and two first-half touchdowns to lead the Tigers (3-1) past the Bulldogs (2-3).

The shutout was Clemson’s first in 25 games.

Virginia Tech 13, West Virginia 7--Chris Kinzer kicked field goals of 24 and 50 yards at Blacksburg, Va., as the Hokies (4-1) ended a five-game losing streak to the Mountaineers (2-3).

William & Mary 24, Harvard 0--Ken Lambiotte completed 24 of 33 passes for 233 yards, including a 30-yard scoring strike to Harry Mehre, as the Indians, 4-0 and ranked No. 5 in Division I-AA, held on to beat the Crimson (1-2) at Williamsburg, Va.

Wichita St. 21, Tulane 20--At New Orleans, reserve tailback David Smith ran for 160 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the Shockers (2-3) past the Green Wave (1-3). Smith started because of an injury to Valasco Smith, the nation’s fourth-ranked rusher and second-ranked scorer.