Clemson finally gets another win

James Davis ran for a career-high 143 yards and two touchdowns before leaving with a broken wrist, Charlie Whitehurst threw for two more scores and Clemson beat North Carolina State 31-10 on Thursday night in Raleigh, N.C., for its first win in more than a month.

The loss was the Wolfpack’s sixth in a row at home to a Division I-A opponent – all in the Atlantic Coast Conference – and led to many early departures from another sellout crowd at Carter-Finley Stadium.

To qualify for a bowl, N.C. State (2-3, 1-3) must win four of its final six games, a stretch that includes trips to No. 4 Florida State and No. 14 Boston College.

None of that matters to the Tigers (3-3, 2-3). After beating Maryland on Sept. 10, they lost their next three games by a total of 13 points, with two going into overtime.

Clemson shook off those memories with a balanced offensive performance, piling up 489 yards while burning the Wolfpack with a variety of deceptive plays.

Arkansas St. 39, Louisiana-Lafayette 36: Eric Neihouse kicked a 35-yard field goal as time expired to give the Indians (3-3, 2-1) a victory over the Ragin’ Cajuns (1-5, 0-2) in a Sun Belt Conference matchup in Jonesboro, Ark.