The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - September 14, 1998 - 9B 4o. 2 Florida State thwarted by North Carolina State RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Florida State has made passing and catching= some of the harder things to dR on a consistent basis - look easy the last decade. It became brutally difficult for the second-ranked Seminoles .on Saturday. North Carolina State, a 25-point underdog, threw more than a scare into highly-ranked Florida State this time around, stunning the Seminoles 24-7 for the program's biggest upset in 31 years. "To go out there and hold that offensive football team to seven points, that's miraculous, that is miraculous," said N.C. State coach Mike O'Cain. The upset is easily the biggest win of his six-year career. "Nobody gave us a dog's chance of coming in here and winning this foot- ball game - not a prayer," O'Cain added. "In fact, it was going to be a 30- point game, or whatever the heck it was. We have a great university here that nobody has heard about. I believe they heard about N.C. State today." Torry Holt, who caught five touch- downs against the Seminoles last sea- son in a 48-35 loss, burned Florida State again, scoring on a 68-yard punt return and a 63-yard pass from Jamie Barnette with 9:31 left that scaled it for the Wolfpack. "He hurt us again bad, he sure did," Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said. "He made the plays that beat us- he and that quarterback." N.C. State (2-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) last beat a team ranked as high in 1967, defeating second-ranked Houston 16-6 on the road with the so- called "White Shoes" defense. Wolfpack fans began lining the sidelines with three minutes to go. Thousands of fans stormed the field with 28 seconds left and several piled onto both goal posts as time expired. The Seminoles (1-1, 0-1) have fin- ished in the nation's top four in each of the last 11 seasons with six ACC crowns in as many seasons, but Bowden still doesn't have a perfect mark under his belt in 23 years at Tallahassee, Fla. And the 69-year-old coach won't have one to his credit in 1998. "Yeah, I'm pretty stunned," said Bowden, whose team was shut out in three straight quarters for the first time since a 31-0 loss to Miami in 1988. "To get beat like that, I'm very surprised, surprised how we fell apart." The Seminoles came in 47-1 in ACC games since joining the league in 1992 and riding an 18-game conference winning streak. But 26-year-old quar- terback Chris Weinke threw a school- record six interceptions to doom Florida State. "Our offense just could not execute at all," said Bowden. "That's the biggest surprise I've got. For some rea- son we couldn't throw the ball and catch." "We needed for them to make some mistakes, we needed for them to throw some interceptions," said O'Cain, who pulled his left calf muscle on Holt's last touchdown and limped off the field tftur the win. "But at the same time they threw the interceptions and we caught them. That is rising to the occa- sion, that is making plays." Weinke was 8-of-29 before being benched midway through the fourth quarter after Holt's second score gave the Woifpack a 24-7 lead. Weinke returned one series later, just long enou h to tie the ACC record for inter- ceptions, held by two others. "The bottom line is execution and I didn't execute," said Weinke. "There was stuff open that I just missed. That is the factor in the game. If I hit some of those open guys at least we have a chance to win the game. "You don't expect to lose around here -- that's the bottom line," Weinke added. "Every time you play somebody they are coming after us. People are looking to beat us." The Seminoles continued to pass - the program's bread-and-butter -- most of the game despite the Wolfpack giv- ing up 361 yards on the ground in its 34-31 season-opening victory against Ohio University. And Florida State paid dearly for it, likely being ousted from the national title picture in the second week of the season. "I doubt if anybody is out yet with one loss ... but the way we played today we wouldn't even be in the top 20," Bowden said. North Carolina Rtate upset then- No. 2 Florida State, 24-7 in Igh, N.C., on rday. Florida State quarter- back Chris Neinke threw six interceptions in the loss, which dropped the Seminoles to No. Li in the AP poll. AP PHOTO F1orida, Nebraska survive crazy week on the gridiron Staff Picks lISTEN CONFERENCE SHARAT RAJU All picks made against the spread (winner In bold) MICHIGAN (-10.5) vs. Syracuse Syracuse JIM ROSE Associated Press When it comes to college football, othing is too far-fetched. Florida State, Notre Dame, ichigan and Arizona State took ighty tumbles on a surreal aturday and fell out of the national 'tle picture, probably for good. As the scores rolled in, each result as more unlikely than the next. 1 addition to Michigan's 38-28 ,Wto Syracuse, there was North arolina State 24, Florida State 7; ichigan State 45, Notre Dame 23; nd BYU 26, Arizona State 6. And the games weren't close. The biggest surprise took place in aleigh, N.C., where fans tore down he goal posts after Torry Holt cored on two long TDs and the olfpack intercepted six of Weinke's s. e Sun Devils were unable to egroup from their heartbreaking 42- 8 loss to Washington last week and ere easy prey for the Cougars (1-1) n Provo, Utah. "They just outplayed us," Arizona tate coach Bruce Snyder said after is team fell to 0-2 for its worst start ince 1979. "We do need to play a lot better, iUt I believe in this team." g 2 ANA FLORIDA 42, N.E. ISAA10 Jesse Palmer threw for 292 yards nd four TDs in the Gators' second armup before next week's SEC howdown at Tennessee. Florida held the Indians to 148 otal yards. No.3 NEBRASKA 24, CALIFORNIA 3 Bobby Newcombe missed his sec- game with a knee injury, but ups Eric Crouch and Monte hristo accounted for three TDs as he Huskers (3-0) extended their winning streak to 17 games. Crouch ran for two TDs and Christo threw for one. Nebraska's next game is Sept. 26 against No. 9 Washington. No. 4 UCLA 49, TEXAS 31 It wasn't 66-3, but it was still an impressive 11th consecutive win for the Bruins (1-0) as Cade McNown threw for 339 yards and three touch- downs. Texas trailed 35-3 at the half, but Ricky Williams ran for three touch- downs and finished with 160 yards in a duel of Heisman Trophy con- tenders. Williams passed Earl Campbell to become Texas' leading rusher with 4,530 yards. No. 5 KANSAS STATE 73, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 7 Kansas State coach Bill Snyder defended his decision to let Martin Gramatica kick a school-record 65- yard field with two seconds left in the half - even though Kansas State was ahead by 49 points and playing a team that lost its 20th straight game. "He had an opportunity to put his name in the record book, and in the first half of a ball game - no matter what the score - you ought to let him have that opportunity," Snyder said. Michael Bishop ran for two tocuh- downs and threw for two others as Kansas State set a school record for most points in a game. No. 7 LSU 42, ARKANSAS STATE 6 Kevin Faulk gained 266 all-pur- pose yards and scored three touch- downs. Faulk ran for 180 yards and two scores and added a 58-yard punt return for a touchdown. No. 18 USC 35, SAN DIEGO STATE 6 R. Jay Soward caught two TD passes, returned a puntu74 yards for a score and had 256 all-purpose yards for the Trojans (2-0) in his return after a one-game suspension. Soward averaged 28.4 yards for the nine times he touched the ball. No. 21 MISSOURI 41, KANSAS 23 Devin West ran for a school-record 319 yards as Missouri (2-0) rallied for the win. Corby Jones threw two TD passes and ran for two more. No. 22 OREGON 33, UTEP 26 At El Paso, Texas, Herman Ho- Ching scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns as Oregon (2-0) strug- gled. Notre Dame (-7.0) at Michigan State Arizona State (-6.5) at Brigham Young Florida (-44) vs. NE Louisiana Florida State (-25) at N.C. State Iowa (-27.5) at Iowa State Mississippi (-3.5) vs. Auburn Nebraska (-23) at California Ohio State (-37) vs. Toledo Penn State (-38) vs. Bowling Green UCLA (-10.5) vs. Texas Best Bet Last week record (Best bet) Season record (Best bet) Notre Dame Arizona State N.E. Louisiana Florida State Iowa Mississippi California Ohio State Penn State Tex as Notre Dame 5-7 (0-1) 5-7 (0-1) Syracuse Notre Dame Arizona State Florida Florida State lowa Mississippi Nebraska Ohio State Bowling Green UCLA Notre Dame 3-9 (0-1) 3-9 (0-1) MARK SNYDER Syracuse Notre Dame Arizona State. Florida Florida State Iowa State Auburn Nebraska Toledo Penn State UCLA UCLA 6-6 (1-0) 6-6(1-0) PROF. RALPH WILLIAMS Michigan Notre Dame Brigham Young Florida N.C. State Iowa State Auburn California Toledo Bowling Green Texas Michigan 5-7 (0-1) 5-7 (0-1) We will have a guest selector each week for the staff picks. Most times it daih,,football % umich.edu and tell us why. Friends and family of Daily will be someone famous, but if you think you deserve to pick, e-mail us at staffers are not only not excluded, but are welcome to apply. Good luck. I CATCH THE GAMES OF ALL SPORTS! 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