VIRGINIA TECH 28, NORTH CAROLINA STATE 13
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Brenden Motley and Isaiah Ford had apparently heard enough about how missed opportunities had put Virginia Tech in a hole.
The pair teamed up for three second-quarter touchdown passes Friday night, pulling the Hokies out of a 10-0 hole and leading them to a 28-13 victory that was like a soothing salve on open wounds suffered this season, and a few festering ones from recent seasons, too.
"We really needed to beat a good football team," Coach Frank Beamer said. "I hope we can take this and build on it."
The Hokies (3-3, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) avoided a three-game losing streak and their third home loss in four games by putting together their best offensive quarter of the season against FCS-level competition. Their defense was impressive, too, after a slow start.
The stars were Motley, the backup forced into action since the opening week, and Ford, who draws plenty of defensive attention.
"It's like basketball when you can't miss," Ford said with a wide smile. "I couldn't not get open, and 'Mot' was finding me."
The pair hooked up on touchdowns of 27, 5 and 2 yards in the quarter.
"The opportunities are always there," Motley said. "In the second quarter, we just started to convert on them."
The scoring drives came on three successive possessions, the last ending with 18 seconds left in the half.
Ford became the first Hokies receiver with three touchdown catches in a quarter in Beamer's 29 seasons.
NC State (4-2, 0-2) lost its second consecutive league game after starting the season by beating four lesser opponents. The Wolfpack led 10-0 after just 16 minutes, but were outgained 156-2 in the second quarter. They managed just 125 yards of offense after the first 15 minutes.
"I just think we got a little undisciplined in how we were playing," linebacker Airius Moore said.
MARSHALL 31, SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI 10
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Chase Litton threw two touchdowns and the Marshall defense forced five turnovers to help the Thundering Herd beat Southern Miss.
Devon Johnson had 82 yards rushing and a score and Deandre Reaves 76 yards receiving and a touchdown for Marshall (5-1, 2-0 Conference USA).
On fourth-and-3, Marshall lined up to attempt a 40-yard field goal but the Golden Eagles jumped offside, giving the Thundering Herd a fresh set of downs. Three plays later, Litton hit Ryan Yurachek for a 3-yard touchdown to make it 17-10 with 25 seconds left in the half.
Marshall's Gary Thompson had strip-sacks on back-to-back Southern Miss drives, the second of which Jarquez Samuel returned 3 yards to make it 31-10 with 1:49 left in the third quarter.
Southern Miss (3-3, 1-1) had seven second-half possessions, all of which ended with a fumble, an interception or a turnover on downs.
Sports on 10/10/2015