TOP 25 Deacons demolish N.C. State

Wake Forest grabbed a surprising 28-10 halftime lead.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Nick Burney ran for two touchdowns to lead an early Wake Forest ground game as the Demon Deacons stunned No. 14 North Carolina State 38-24 Saturday.
Wake Forest (2-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) pounced on the Wolfpack (1-1, 0-1) early, building a 25-point first half lead, and had North Carolina State on its heels from the opening drive.
The Demon Deacons were able to hang on despite Philip Rivers' career-high 433 yards passing and three touchdown throws because his fourth-quarter scoring drives were too late.
Chris Barclay scored on a 1-yard touchdown run, Burney added his two scores and Willie Idlette returned a punt 50 yards to lead Wake Forest to a surprising 28-10 halftime lead.
North Carolina State, which travels to Ohio State next weekend, came close to rallying behind Rivers, who became the Wolfpack's all-time leading passer. He went 38-of-49 and threw two late touchdown passes, but was also intercepted twice. He now has 9,746 career yards passing to move ahead of Jamie Barnette on N.C. State's all-time list.
Rivers opened the fourth quarter with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Cotra Jackson and was driving N.C. State midway through the period until the Wolfpack stalled behind penalties and Rivers' fumble.
No. 8 Georgia 29, Middle Tennessee 10
ATHENS, Ga. -- Michael Cooper ran for the first two touchdowns of his career and David Greene threw for 267 yards as No. 8 Georgia struggled early before beating Middle Tennessee.
Billy Bennett added three field goals for the Bulldogs (2-0), who were 291/2-point favorites against a team that lost its opener to Division I-AA Florida Atlantic. They set a school record with 18 penalties, easily beating the previous mark of 14 set in 2001 against Georgia Tech.
No. 9 Virginia Tech 43, James Madison 0
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Cedric Humes ran for three touchdowns as No. 9 Virginia Tech beat James Madison.
The Hokies (2-0) held the Dukes (1-1) to 143 total yards and forced three turnovers.
Humes finished with 75 yards and took over in the second quarter for tailback Kevin Jones, who was slammed into a concrete wall by Dukes' defensive tackle Demetrius Shambley.
South Carolina 31, No. 15 Virginia 7
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Dondrial Pinkins threw a 99-yard touchdown pass to Troy Williamson -- the longest in South Carolina history -- to lead the Gamecocks past No. 15 Virginia.
Pinkins added a 5-yard touchdown run and Daccus Turman had 123 yards rushing and a touchdown for South Carolina (2-0), which defeated a ranked opponent for the first time since beating then-No. 22 Ohio State 31-28 in the 2002 Outback Bowl.
Georgia Tech 17, No. 17 Auburn 3
ATLANTA -- Two games into the season, the heralded Auburn Tigers are still seeking their first win. They haven't even scored a touchdown, for that matter.
Freshman Reggie Ball threw for one touchdown and set up two other scores as Georgia Tech handed No. 17 Auburn another stunning loss, beating the Tigers in the first meeting between the schools in 16 years.
Auburn (0-2) began the season ranked sixth in The Associated Press rankings, and at least one magazine picked the Tigers as the best team in the country. That goal has already gone by the wayside, the victim of an inept offense that seemed totally confused against the undersized Georgia Tech defense.
No. 23 Nebraska 31, Utah St. 7
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Jammal Lord ran for 72 yards and a touchdown as No. 23 Nebraska overcame a slow start to beat Utah State.
Lord also completed 8 of 12 passes for 85 yards before giving way to Joe Dailey late in the third quarter.
David Dyches kicked field goals of 23, 20, 29 and 26 yards in his first game for Nebraska (2-0).
Jason Cox completed 13 of 15 passes for 132 yards in the first quarter as the Aggies (0-2) led 7-6.
But Cox went 4-of-18 the rest of the way -- and the Demorrio Williams-led Nebraska defense limited the Aggies to just 93 total yards after the first quarter.
No. 24 Colorado 16, UCLA 14
BOULDER, Colo. -- Joel Klatt threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Joe Klopfenstein with 2:15 left, rallying Colorado to a win over UCLA.
The Buffaloes (2-0) trailed 14-10 with five minutes remaining before marching 63 yards in 11 plays for the winning score.