Raleigh, N.C. ? North Carolina State’s Philip Rivers won the battle of the nation’s two most accurate quarterbacks, throwing for 410 yards and four touchdowns in a 51-37 victory over Virginia on Saturday.
T.A. McLendon also made a remarkable return from knee surgery last week, rambling 38 yards with 23 seconds left for the clinching score.
McLendon, who ran for 112 yards and caught 11 passes for 104 more, broke a tackle on an inside running play for his key score after Rivers had completed three passes to move the Wolfpack (7-3, 4-2 ACC) into scoring position.
Rivers, who was 29-of-34, became the fifth player in NCAA Division I-A history to throw for more than 12,000 yards as N.C. State won its fourth straight and improved to 6-0 at home.
Meanwhile, Matt Schaub was 41-of-55 for 393 yards and four TDs for the Cavaliers (5-4, 3-3), but his pass was intercepted by Victor Stephens in the waning moments and it was returned 26 yards for a score.
The matchup of Rivers and Schaub, each with 71 percent completion rates coming in, was the highlight of what has otherwise been a boring season in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
There certainly wasn’t much defense played in this one with both QBs facing little opposition. The score was tied at 30 heading into the fourth quarter with both QBs already over the 300-yard mark.
And each drove their teams 80 yards in the fourth quarter to keep the score even with 6:29 left.
Rivers hit seldom-used Chance Moyer with a 3-yard score and Schaub rebounded with his third TD pass to Wali Lundy on a fourth-and-1 play from the 7.
But Rivers got the ball back last and was able to pull out the win.
Rivers came in with 82 career TD passes but none in three games against the Cavaliers. That slump ended as he threw two scoring passes in the first half.
The star senior also connected on his first 17 passes before throwing one away in the end zone two seconds before the break.
Still, the Wolfpack trailed 24-23 as Schaub was every bit as good as Rivers, throwing scoring passes of 20 and 11 yards to Wali Lundy in the first quarter and then one in the second to a diving Ryan Sawyer.
Virginia started in the hole after Kevin Bailey centered the ball over Schaub’s head on a third-down play 4 1/2 minutes in and Garland Heath fell on it for a Wolfpack score.
However, Schaub came right back and drove the Cavaliers 80 yards on their next possession and then found Lundy on his first score 5 1/2 minutes later for a 14-7 lead.
Three plays before the Sawyer score, Schaub threw a season-best 63-yard completion to the senior wide receiver to advance the ball to the Wolfpack 17.
Virginia could have gotten more points on the board but failed to take advantage of fumbles by McLendon and Chris Hawkins late in the second quarter.
