College football roundup

No. 24 Georgia Tech 56, N.C. State 23

Georgia Tech warmed up for its biggest game of the season with its most prolific rushing attack in over three years. Synjyn Days rushed for 157 yards and a touchdown and the Yellow Jackets racked up 479 yards on the ground in a blowout win at Carter-Finley Stadium.

The rushing total is the most for Tech since a 604-yard day in a win over Kansas in September, 2011. The win sets up a match up of top 25 teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season finale when Clemson, 7-2 and ranked No. 21 by the Associated Press, visits Tech (8-2, 5-2) next Saturday in Atlanta.

N.C. State (5-5, 1-5) led 13-7 after touchdown runs by Jacoby Brissett from 15 yards, and Matt Dayes (17). Tech followed with 28 unanswered points, starting with Days’ 53-yard scoring run late in the first. The Yellow Jackets’ defense got going after that as D.J. White returned an interception 38 yards and Quayshawn Nealy scooped up a fumble and had a 43-yard return for scores and a 28-13 lead midway through the second quarter.

Backup quarterback Tim Byerly accounted for three touchdowns, getting scoring runs of two yards, just before halftime, and a one-yard burst to cap a third quarter drive and highlight an 87-yard day on the ground. Byerly capped the Tech scoring by hitting Antonio Messick from 16 yards out and make it 56-16 with just over 10 minutes left in the game.

Starting quarterback Justin Thomas and Matt Connors also had touchdown runs for the Yellow Jackets, who won their fifth consecutive game against the Wolfpack.

No. 20 Georgia 63, Kentucky 31

Hutson Mason had four touchdown passes as the Bulldogs bounced back from a loss to rival Florida.

Georgia (7-2) led 7-0 just 11 seconds into the game as Isaiah McKenzie took the opening kick off back 90 yards for score. It was 21-0 after one quarter, as Mason got the first of his touchdowns and Nick Chubb had an 18-yard scoring run, part of a 170-yard game on the ground for the freshman tailback.

It was the second 60-point effort for the Bulldogs this season after reaching that point plateau just once from 2005-2013.

The teams combined for 38 points in the second quarter with Kentucky pulling to within 35-24 on Patrick Towles’ one-yard touchdown with 16 seconds until halftime.

Georgia reasserted itself in the third as McKenzie made an impact again on special teams with a 59-yard punt return for a score. That made it a 49-24 game with about 11 minutes to go in the quarter.

No. 22 Duke 27, Syracuse 10

The visiting Blue Devils snapped a 10-10 tie with 17 fourth-quarter points to win the first meeting between the schools in 75 years.

Jamison Crowder returned a punt 52 yards for a touchdown at the 12:45 mark of the fourth to get Duke started. After a field goal made it a 10-point game, Anthony Boone hit Issac Blakeney for a 54-yard touchdown to give the Blue Devils a 27-10 lead midway through the quarter.

It was just the third all-time meeting between the teams, who are new Atlantic Coast Conference rivals in 2014. Duke won the previous two meetings, in 1938 and 1939, which is also the last two times the Raleigh school won eight games in consecutive seasons. Duke, 10-4 a year ago, moved to 8-1 Saturday.

Syracuse, which lost for the seventh time in eight games and fell to 3-7 overall, tied the game at 10-10 on Mitch Kimble’s eight-yard scoring run with 5:18 left in the opening half.

No. 11 Mississippi 48, Presbyterian 0

The Rebels held the FCS Blue Hose to 156 total yards in snapping a two-game losing streak.

Meanwhile, the Mississippi offense rolled up 640 total yards, led by a potent rushing duo of Jordan Wilkins (171 yards, touchdown) and Mark Dodson (128 yards, two second-quarter touchdowns).

Vince Sanders also had 110 receiving yards and a pair of first quarter touchdowns for Mississippi (8-2), which had dropped consecutive SEC games to LSU and Auburn by a combined seven points.