FSU handles Duke, 55-24
Florida State's formula to dispatch Duke was force turnovers and find the freshmen.
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Greg Carr caught three touchdown passes, two after the defense forced turnovers, while fellow freshman Antone Smith added two rushing touchdowns as No. 11 Florida State toyed with Duke, 55-24, in an Atlantic Coast Conference mismatch.
Quarterback Drew Weatherford threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns for the Seminoles (6-1, 4-1 ACC), who bounced back from last week's disheartening loss at Virginia and remained on course for an appearance in the conference championship game.
Although it looked lethargic at times on both sides of the ball, the 'Noles improved to 14-0 all-time against Duke with an average victory margin of more than 37 points. Last year's 29-7 win was the closest in series history.
"It would have scared you to death if you went out there and had a nail-biter for the whole game," head coach Bobby Bowden said. "I thought one of the most important things and of the biggest change is the personality of the football team right now than what it's been in the last few years. The offense has been able to go in and gain momentum when you lose it. We scored a couple touchdowns and all the sudden they go get one. They got all the momentum and then our offense goes right back out there gets another one and took it away from them. That happened two or three times tonight."
A 6-6 freshman, Carr caught six passes for 95 yards. His size and skill is quickly making him the best of FSU's young receiving corps with 18 catches for 415 yards.
The Seminoles struck first when Weatherford found Chris Davis with a 23-yard TD pass on 3rd-and-20, capping a drive that began inside their own 10.
Safety Kyler Hall recovered a fumble by Duke's Marcus Jones at the Blue Devils 19. Two plays later, Weatherford threw into the end zone to Carr, who used his height to make the 12-yard grab for a 14-0 lead with 3:44 left in the first quarter.
In move to get Xavier Lee more playing time, the freshman quarterback took over for two series in the second quarter but was unable to move the offense. During that time the Blue Devils added a touchdown to narrow FSU's lead to 14-7. However, Weatherford had no problem jumping right back in late in the first half to direct the 'Noles to another drive that was capped off by a one-yard touchdown run by Lorenzo Booker.
"The thing that I'm always afraid of when you start substituting quarterbacks is a quarterback is hot and you take him out and put the other guy in then bring him back and all the sudden he loses it," Bowden said. "He didn't do that tonight. He came back in and took them down there. I think he scored every time he was in there except for the interception before the half which was as good as a punt."
The Blue Devils (1-7, 0-5 ACC) closed the deficit to 24-14 midway through the third quarter before the Seminoles responded with two TDs less than a minute apart.
The highlight for the Seminole offense was a 45-yard run by freshman Antone Smith early the fourth quarter. It looked like the freshman tailback would take a loss on a fourth-and-two play but eluded five Blue Devil defenders, found the sideline and then used his sub 4.4 speed to sprint to the end zone.
On Duke's next possession, punter Chris Sprague was snuffed on a fake, giving FSU possession at the Duke 25. On the next play, backup Xavier Lee found Carr for a leaping catch in the end zone.
In the fourth quarter, Carr caught a 12-yard TD pass from Lee, who completed 10-of-17 passes for 100 yards and two TDs. He finished up for fellow redshirt freshman Weatherford, who was 24-of-32 with an interception.
After FSU's first drive of the second half resulted in a 30-yard field goal by Gary Cismesia, Duke tailback Ronnie Drummer took an end around 55 yards to the 10 and Boyle carried four straight times, leaping in for the TD and making it 24-14 midway through the third period.
When the final gun sounded, the Seminoles, held a 539-243 advantage in total yards. With the win, Bowden improved to 201-1-1 when Florida State scores at least 30 points.
Re'quan Boyette ran for 123 yards and a score for the Blue Devils.
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