Jackson has 4 TDs, No. 7 Louisville routs NC State 54-13

Lamar Jackson and Louisville needed less than two minutes Saturday to get rid of a whole week's worth of bad feelings from a lackluster effort against Duke.

Jackson broke a school single-season record with four first-half touchdowns, Louisville had three interceptions leading to 17 points and the seventh-ranked Cardinals burst past North Carolina State 54-13 on Saturday.

"I was mad at myself from the Duke game and coach saw that," said Jackson, who completed 20 of 34 passes for 355 yards. "I was like, `I've got to prove I can't be out here, looking bad, looking to run all the time.' I tried to do less running and more throwing."

Jackson passed for three touchdowns and ran for a 36-yard score on the opening drive, giving him 34 TDs with five games to play. Dave Ragone and Brian Brohm each had 33.

Jackson, a sophomore quarterback and Heisman frontrunner, had 359 of his 431 yards on offense by halftime. He threw TD passes of 74 yards to Jaylen Smith, 3 yards to Cole Hikutini and 16 yards to Jamari Staples.

As for the record, Jackson added, "That's a goal, I guess. I accomplished it."

Jeremy Smith ran for a pair of 1-yard TDs for Louisville (6-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which reclaimed its high-scoring ways a week after managing a season-low 24 points against Duke and holding the ball for just 22 minutes.

Not to mention, its physicality.

"I think our guys took it personal and felt like we were the most physical team out there today," Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said. "We executed well. ... The game plan was to throw the football and our guys ran really good routes."

Blanton Creque had four field goals and six conversions to set a single-game school scoring record for a kicker with 18 points. Consecutive pickoffs by Jonathan Greenard and Stacy Thomas set up second-quarter TDs.

Whatever hope North Carolina State (4-3, 1-2 ACC) had of using its athleticism to slow the Cardinals and Jackson was quashed after kickoff.

Jackson's TD run capped a 72-yard, 93-second drive just as 55,218 were settling into their seats on homecoming. Louisville's next two scoring drives totaled 2:48 and the Cardinals might have had another if not for James Quick's fumble after a catch.

Jackson was just getting started making big plays.

His 67-yard pass to Hikutini - who finished with a career-best 118 yards receiving on six catches - set upJeremy Smith's first touchdown run. Hikutini's TD catch capped the next drive and Staples grabbed his first scoring pass of the season. Louisville outgained the Wolfpack 553-250 and held them to just 14 yards rushing on 25 attempts.

All this against an N.C. State defense that last week forced four turnovers and returned an interception for a TD at then-No. 3 Clemson before falling in overtime. The Wolfpack managed two third-quarter touchdowns to avoid a shutout, but not the rout.

And while N.C. State coach Dave Doeren acknowledged that players were hurt by the Clemson loss, he didn't expect this kind of hangover.

"We weren't ready to play today and that's on me," Doeren said. "It was not our best against their best. When you turn the ball over, you're going to look bad. When you give up long plays, you are not going to look good. ... That wasn't the team we played with seven days ago."

THE TAKEAWAY

N.C. State: The Wolfpack's upset quest after last week's game slipped away at Clemson never got started. They were outgained 244 to minus-1 after one quarter before finishing with their second-lowest yardage this season.

Louisville: Other than a scoreless third quarter, Jackson and the Cardinals clicked on all phases in their most emphatic win since destroying Florida State. Jackson's TD passes to Jaylen Smith and Staples might have been his best, along with his run that got his day started. The Cardinals became bowl eligible for the seventh straight season.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Louisville's latest rout could boost its poll position and grab the attention of the playoff committee with the initial rankings just a couple of weeks away. Thomas, a linebacker, certainly thinks so.

"I feel like we made a pretty good statement that we're a team to contend for the playoff," he said. "Although they (the Wolfpack) had a pretty good game against Clemson, we knew we had to come in and handle our business."

GOOD COMPANY

Jackson (16 rushing touchdowns, 18 TD passes) is closing in on becoming the seventh FBS player and first since Jordan Lynch of Northern Illinois in 2013 to score at least 20 touchdowns and pass for at least 20 touchdowns in the same season. Among the other six are three Heisman winners (Tim Tebow, 2007; Cam Newton, 2010; Johnny Manziel, 2012).

NUMBERS GAME

According to a tweet by ESPN Stats and Info, there have been eight instances of an ACC team yielding 40-plus points before halftime. N.C. State has been involved in three.

UP NEXT

North Carolina State: The Wolfpack host Boston College next Saturday in search of their second straight series win against the Eagles.

Louisville: The Cardinals visit Virginia next Saturday, seeking to break a 2-2 series tie with their first win in Charlottesville over the Cavaliers.

OT Thriller: No. 3 Clemson survives NC State, 24-17

 Deshaun Watson hit Artavis Scottwith 10-yard touchdown pass in overtime and Marcus Edmond finished it with an interception in the end zone as No. 3 Clemson beat North Carolina State 24-17 on Saturday.

The Tigers (7-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) looked all but done in regulation, but Kyle Bambard's 33-yard field goal try as time experience was wide right.

Clemson took full advantage with Watson's strike to Scott. Then Edmond reached high to grab a long throw down the middle from NC State's Ryan Finley and Clemson had escaped with its path to the ACC title game and the College Football Playoffs still all clear.

It wasn't the prettiest game for Clemson, which gave up 397 yards and turned it over four times - including Watson's first-ever pick six - to the Wolfpack (4-2, 1-1).

Clemson took a big hit early on when running back Wayne Gallman came out, looking woozy and out of it as he headed to the locker room. Gallman, the team's leading rusher, did not return.

Receiver Hunter Renfrow, who had six catches in his first game since Sept. 10 because of a broken hand, was hurt in the fourth quarter and came out the rest of the way.

TAKEAWAY

North Carolina State: The Wolfpack look like a team on the rise, one of the few the past two season that has been able to take the Tigers down to the wire.

Clemson: The Tigers probably won't gain much support in the rankings with its tight victory at home. But in the end, it might not matter if they are standing on top of the league with a perfect record.

UP NEXT

North Carolina State: The Wolfpack head to No. 7 Louisville where they are 0-3 all time, including a 30-18 defeat two years ago.

Clemson: The Tigers get the week off before traveling to No. 14 Florida State on Oct. 29. Clemson has won just once (2006) in its past 12 visits to Tallahassee.

NC State beats Notre Dame 10-3 as Matthew churns through NC

One by one, the North Carolina State players took off running after the game ended, heading straight for the puddle at the 25-yard line.

After a sloppy day of belly-flops and splashdowns, it was time to turn the field at Carter-Finley Stadium into a slip-and-slide.

The Wolfpack beat Notre Dame 10-3 on Saturday in a game played in hurricane conditions and after the start of the second half was delayed because of lightning.

"This is a game to remember," N.C. State tight end Pharoah McKeever said. "I'll probably remember it until the day I die. Raining, playing in a hurricane, not knowing if we were going to play or not. Lightning delay, in the locker room for 30 more minutes. ... And then after the game, doing field slides in the mud. This was just something to remember."

A waterlogged field saturated by Hurricane Matthew's heavy rains and wind-whipped by its gusts rendered both offenses ineffective, so N.C. State (4-1) beat the Fighting Irish (2-4) with special teams and defense - with Dexter Wright returning a blocked punt for the go-ahead touchdown with 12:43 remaining.

That TD came after McKeever fought through a block fromNic Weishar up the middle to deflect Tyler Newsome's punt. All Wright had to do was scoop up the ball - not an easy task on a day like this - and head for the end zone.

"I didn't even have to see the block," Wright said. "I heard it."

Notre Dame put together a late drive into the N.C. State red zone, but a shotgun snap on fourth-and-8 squibbed past DeShone Kizer with 1:52 left and the Wolfpack ran out the clock.

The teams combined for five turnovers, had a total of 10 fumbles and lost four of them. In a sequence that perfectly captured the day, Notre Dame coughed the ball up with about 10 minutes left in the second quarter on a bad snap - only to get it right back when N.C. State fumbled on its next snap.

"Both teams turned the ball over in very difficult conditions," Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. "Both teams had a hard time moving the football. Both field-goal kickers managed to eke one over the uprights in sloppy conditions. We give up a flippin' blocked punt for a touchdown, and that's the difference in this one."

THE TAKEAWAY

Notre Dame: The sloppy conditions helped the Fighting Irish's oft-criticized defense post its best numbers of the season. After allowing at least 489 total yards to every Power Five opponent they've faced, they gave up just 198 yards in this one.

But that went both ways. The potent Fighting Irish offense managed just 113 total yards on 64 offensive plays, and had just 41 yards through three quarters. Kizer was sacked five times and was just 9 of 26 for 54 yards - the worst game of his career, aside from a 0-for-1 day against Texas last year.

"We don't have any excuses," Kelly said. "We were atrocious offensively."

N.C. State: The weather also shackled the Wolfpack's potent offense, which hung at least 30 points on every other opponent. QB Ryan Finley - who completed nearly 73 percent of his passes in four games - was just 5 of 12 for 27 yards with a rating of 60.6. He entered with a passer rating of 171.43 - good for 11th nationally.

But for N.C. State, the bottom line was this: With games against No. 3 Clemson, No. 7 Louisville, No. 23 Florida State, No. 17 North Carolina and No. 10 Miami still ahead on the schedule, this was a game the Wolfpack had to have.

STAT LINE

N.C. State was 2 of 14 on third downs - and was still better than the Fighting Irish, who were 1 of 15.

HE SAID IT

"Summer day in Michigan, I guess," - N.C. State kicker and Wixom, Michigan, native Kyle Bambard on the conditions.

UP NEXT

Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish return home next week for their annual rivalry game with No. 15 Stanford.

N.C. State: The Wolfpack begin a brutal two-game Atlantic Division run on the road with a visit to Clemson next week, followed by a trip to Louisville.

NC State jumps to early lead, beats Wake Forest 33-16

Ryan Finley threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns to help North Carolina State beat Wake Forest 33-16 on Saturday in its Atlantic Coast Conference opener.

Matt Dayes ran for 125 yards and a score for the Wolfpack (3-1), who won a league opener for the first time under fourth-year coach Dave Doeren.

Dayes' rushing TD was part of four straight scoring drives to open the game by the Wolfpack, who led 17-0 after the first quarter and 23-3 early in the second.

John Wolford threw for 263 yards and a touchdown for the Demon Deacons (4-1, 1-1), who got as close as 26-16 but never recovered after falling behind early.

Wake Forest was going for its first 5-0 start since 2006, which was also the last time it won in Raleigh.

THE TAKEAWAY

WAKE FOREST: The Demon Deacons' defense can keep them in games, but there are days when the offense has to work awfully hard for its production and struggles to dig out of holes. Wake Forest doesn't have much margin for error, especially in a game like this when it fell behind early and Wolford faced steady pressure.

N.C. STATE: Does N.C. State have a penalty problem or was this one bad outing? Flagged for things like unnecessary roughness and chop blocks, the Wolfpack finished with season-highs of 13 penalties and 144 penalty yards - the kind of things that can't happen as N.C. State pushes deeper into ACC play in pursuit of a bowl bid.

UP NEXT

WAKE FOREST: The Demon Deacons stay in division play by hosting Syracuse, who has won four straight meetings dating to the 2011 season.

N.C. STATE: N.C. State hosts Notre Dame in the second meeting between the schools, the other one coming in the Gator Bowl to end the 2002 season.

McClendon accounts for 3 TDs, NC State tops Monarchs 49-22

Backup quarterback Jalan McClendon rushed for two touchdowns and threw for a third, and North Carolina State beat Old Dominion 49-22 on Saturday night.

Starter Ryan Finley was 24 of 28 for 281 yards with three touchdown passes - two to Jaylen Samuels - to help the Wolfpack (2-1) bounce back from a dispiriting loss at East Carolina .

"It was a tough week, and our guys hung together," coach Dave Doeren said. "It wasn't perfect, but it was a lot better. ... We hung together, and we're going to stay together."

Finley, a graduate transfer from Boise State, beat out McClendon during preseason camp, and in his first two starts, N.C. State averaged 511 total yards and 39 points.

The Wolfpack gained 470 yards in this one - and might have found another weapon, with Doeren bringing McClendon for some goal-line situations.

McClendon produced touchdowns on each of his first three snaps: He scored on runs of 1 and 3 yards to help N.C. State take a 14-3 lead, then hitThaddeus Moss - the son of former NFL receiver Randy Moss - with a 3-yard scoring pass.

David Washington threw two touchdown passes to Zach Pascal and Jeremy Cox had a 65-yard touchdown run for Old Dominion (1-2), which has lost two straight. The Monarchs had just 63 total yards in the first half.

"We needed to play better offensively in the first half than we did," coach Bobby Wilder said.

THE TAKEAWAY

Old Dominion: Since the program launched in 2009, the Monarchs have yet to beat a power-conference team. This was their third loss to N.C. State in three seasons, their sixth loss to an Atlantic Coast Conference school since 2013, and they've yet to hold the Wolfpack to fewer than 38 points. Their next crack at the ACC comes next September when North Carolina visits. One problem: They didn't get much from RB Ray Lawry, who carried nine times for just 14 yards - well shy of what would have been his third straight 100-yard effort.

N.C. State: For much of the night, this didn't look a whole lot like the same N.C. State defense that gave up 445 total yards and 33 points to East Carolina. The final numbers might not look that way, but this effort was better. The Wolfpack allowed 321 total yards, but much of that came in three chunks: A 91-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter prolonged by a fake punt in ODU territory, and two other scoring drives in the fourth quarter after the Wolfpack already had the victory well in hand.

UP NEXT

Old Dominion: The Monarchs begin Conference USA play next week with a visit from a Texas-San Antonio team that probably should have held on to beat Arizona State on Friday night.

N.C. State: The Wolfpack have a week off before instate rival Wake Forest visits Oct. 1 to wrap up their manageable early season schedule.

East Carolina holds off NC State 33-30 to improve to 2-0

 Anthony Scott scored the go-ahead touchdown with 5:49 left to help East Carolina beat North Carolina State 33-30 on Saturday.

Scott finished with 90 total yards and two scores for the Pirates (2-0), who won their sixth straight game against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents dating to the 2013 season. James Summers also ran for two scores, the second a 15-yarder that saw him dragging tacklers into the end zone in the third quarter.

"It just keeps our confidence going," Summers said. "Our confidence is getting better and better every week. As long we stay in good confidence, and keep doing what we've got to do and execute, we should be fine."

The Wolfpack (1-1) had a final chance for the tie. But Ryan Finley's 22-yard pass over the middle to Bra'Lon Cherry killed the final seconds to seal ECU's win.

Matt Dayes ran for 103 yards, while Finley, Jaylen Samuels and Reggie Gallaspy II each ran for touchdowns. But on a day when both teams had several key miscues, N.C. State's mistakes - a stuffed fake field goal, for one - proved too much to overcome.

"I told our team that we had our chances, that we were not opportunistic at key moments," Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said.

THE TAKEAWAY

N.C. STATE: N.C. State moved the ball and racked up 497 yards with its new offense, but its defense struggled to keep up in its first true test of the season. That doesn't bode well with high-powered offenses like Clemson and Louisville ahead on the schedule.

EAST CAROLINA: New coach Scottie Montgomery now has a big win in just his second game, taking down an instate rival in the kind of performance sure to charge up the Pirates' fans and give the program a jolt of momentum in the midst of a tough nonconference slate.

UP NEXT

N.C. STATE: The Wolfpack continues the nonconference schedule with a home game against Old Dominion. N.C. State has won the only two meetings, 46-34 at home in 2014 and 38-14 on the road last year.

EAST CAROLINA: The Pirates continue a tough nonconference schedule with a trip to South Carolina, the second of three straight against power-conference opponents.

Finley starts at QB, NC State beats William & Mary 48-14

Ryan Finley looked at ease as North Carolina State's starting quarterback. Of course, he didn't need to do a lot of heavy lifting with Jaylen Samuels and Matt Dayes repeatedly getting to the end zone.

Samuels and Dayes combined to score five touchdowns to help N.C. State beat William & Mary 48-14 on Thursday night, an easy win to open the season and build confidence with Finley running the Wolfpack's new offense.

Finley had battled Jalan McClendon through preseason camp for the starting job. The graduate transfer from Boise State did enough to get the first gameday shot, then directed touchdown drives on his four first-half series to start Dave Doeren's fourth season.

"At the end of the day we just went out and executed and got our athletes the ball in space," said Finley, who completed 17 of 21 passes for 174 yards and two scores.

Steve Cluley ran and threw for scores for the Tribe (0-1), who came in ranked No. 10 in the Championship Subdivision ranks. But they couldn't keep up in a 21-point second quarter by the Wolfpack that may have also solidified Finley's hold on the starting job in the offense installed by Eli Drinkwitz - who coached Finley at Boise State last year.

Finley made a series of easy throws and distributed the ball to playmakers Dayes and Samuels, completing his first nine passes.

"He's just got command," Doeren said. "He's not nervous at all. He just played. And I thought he looked really comfortable."

Meanwhile, McClendon made a costly mistake in his first series. He rolled right toward the sideline under pressure, then threw late and high for an interception. The redshirt sophomore didn't make it back on the field again until the fourth quarter.

William & Mary had just 168 total yards, with top tailback Kendell Anderson getting just five touches after being questionable with a shoulder injury. Cluley threw two interceptions.

"It was a very physical game and it took its toll on us," Tribe coach Jimmye Laycock said. "I like to think that we could have played better but don't know if we could have with as tough as they are."

THE TAKEAWAY

WILLIAM & MARY: The Tribe opened with a long touchdown drive but things soon fell apart. Then again, it's the kind of thing that can happen on the road against a Bowl Subdivision team. Move on.

N.C. STATE: Doeren cautioned this week that the Week 1 starting QB wouldn't necessarily be starter all year. That makes Finley's performance little more than a good start in a gameday audition against an overmatched opponent for now, though Doeren acknowledged it also could mean another start next week.

PENALTY PROBLEM

While Doeren was unhappy with the Wolfpack's seven penalties for 80 yards, one stood out in particular.

Junior defensive end Kentavius Street made a third-down sack but was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after ripping off his helmet to celebrate while motioning and pointing to the crowd. That gave the Tribe a first down and sent Street to the sideline, though Josh Jones bailed him out with an interception two plays later to avoid a score on a once-dead drive.

"Really disappointed, particularly on some of the stupid stuff, taking a helmet off after you get a big play," Doeren said. "Act like you've been there before. It's stuff that we've got to get fixed and we will get it fixed this week."

SUCCESSFUL RETURN

Dayes was in position to become the Wolfpack's first 1,000-yard rusher since 2002 last year before a foot injury sidelined him for the final five games. The senior ran 23 times for 138 yards and two touchdowns to go with a pair of catches for 18 yards.

UP NEXT

WILLIAM & MARY: The Tribe will aim to improve to 7-0 against instate program Hampton on the road.

N.C. STATE: The Wolfpack won't have an easy trip to East Carolina, which will boast a rowdy crowd eager to see the Pirates stick it to their power-conference instate foe.