It ended up being a pretty convincing victory, but it didn't necessarily come easy for the Florida State football team.

After trailing by 10 points early on, the Seminoles put together a dominant stretch on both sides of the ball Saturday to pull out a 35-25 victory at North Carolina as 18-point underdogs.

While quarterback Jordan Travis deserves much of the credit -- he accounted for all five FSU touchdowns -- this was a game of big plays from the Seminoles' offense, defense and special teams.

With that in mind, here are the 10 biggest plays from Florida State's memorable victory:

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No. 1 -- Travis breaks off a 53-yarder

Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis was deadly all afternoon on read-option plays, often fooling UNC's defense with deliberate and deceptive handoff fakes. On this play, FSU was trailing 10-7 but driving.

On first-and-10 from the Seminoles' 47-yard line, Travis faked a handoff to running back Jashaun Corbin, cut back inside, left a few diving defenders in his dust and then was off to the races. The redshirt sophomore easily outran UNC's defensive backs and scored from 53 yards out. The touchdown gave the Seminoles their first lead of the game after falling behind by 10 points in the first quarter.

“I read the [defensive] end on that play," Travis said. "Jashaun made a great block. All he has to do is get his hands on the guy, and he did -- sacrificed his body and put his hands on the guy. I was able to cut upfield and make a play. ... But once again, I couldn’t do it without the guys blocking up front for me.”

No. 2 -- Jones snares INT in end zone

Shortly after FSU took that 14-10 lead, North Carolina marched down the field and looked to make the game more of a shootout, but defensive back Jarrian Jones had other plans. Tar Heels quarterback Sam Howell got greedy and took a shot for the end zone on first-and-10, and Jones made him pay.

The former Mississippi State transfer allowed his receiver no separation, got perfect inside position and then hauled in the interception for a touchback. FSU's offense would take the ensuing possession the length of the field and claim a 21-10 advantage. Jones' interception was the only turnover of the night for either team.

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“Jarrian is a young man who has really had a tough start to the season. Being injured in fall camp, was really up and down throughout the first part of the season, but about two weeks ago, he really blocked everything out,” FSU head coach Mike Norvell said. “To be able to go and make that play was such a critical moment in the game. Really gave us some wonderful momentum.”

No. 3 -- Johnson de-cleats Howell

With UNC in desperation mode down three scores in the fourth quarter, FSU defensive end Jermaine Johnson put the exclamation point on a physical performance by the Seminoles’ defense. Howell took a first-and-10 snap and shuffled forward to his left while Johnson crashed downfield and ended up behind the play. Howell then started looking for more running room, when the senior standout absolutely de-cleated the former FSU verbal commitment. Howell was upended while Johnson celebrated the sack.

No. 4 -- Play-action to Pokey

After gashing UNC for several long gains with the run game, FSU offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham dialed up a delayed, play-action pass that worked to perfection. After faking the inside handoff, Travis drifted to his right, set his feet to throw and delivered a perfect pass to a streaking Ontaria “Pokey” Wilson. Wilson hauled in the 32-yard touchdown strike over his left shoulder and glided into the end zone, then earned some style points by striking a Michael Jordan "jumpman" pose in celebration. The score came just before halftime and gave the Seminoles a 21-10 lead at the break.

“He is competing at a very high level,” Norvell said of Travis. “I am excited about his continued development and what he brings to this offense.”

No. 5 -- Fourth-down stop

With FSU leading by 18 points early in the fourth quarter, North Carolina threatened to make it a game again by driving from its own 25-yard line to the FSU 5. But running back Ty Chandler was stopped for no gain by FSU's Malcolm Ray and Fabien Lovett on first-and-goal. Then Lovett stopped Chandler for no gain again on second. And after Jarvis Brownlee forced an incompletion on third down, UNC coach Mack Brown decided to go for it on fourth down.

Howell faked a quarterback draw, scrambled to his left, then forced a throw in the corner of the end zone that was broken up by freshman defensive back Kevin Knowles. All 11 defenders nailed their individual jobs to near-perfection on the play.

No. 6 -- Pokey's sliding catch

The Seminoles capped off their strong offensive showing when they sent Wilson in motion from left to right on second-and-goal late in the third quarter. The two receivers FSU already had on that side of the field, Keyshawn Helton and Kentron Poitier, ran routes over the middle to create congestion and confusion in the Tar Heels' secondary, and Wilson put the Seminoles ahead by three scores with a wide-open sliding catch.

No. 7 -- Ward delivers the dagger

While the game was not really in doubt at that point, Treshaun Ward iced it for good with a physical third-and-short run in the final minutes. And it was a great way to cap off another strong outing for the second-team back.

While contributing 77 yards on the ground on just 12 attempts, Ward’s final carry of the game left several UNC defenders shaking their heads. As Ward was still receiving the handoff, an unblocked Tar Heels linebacker burst through the middle only to be juked by a Ward spin move. The former walk-on then broke several more tackles on his way to a game-sealing, 10-yard run.

“Treshaun is one of the hardest workers I have ever seen,” Travis said. “Every single day, just keeping his head down, staying positive. Never heard anything negative come out of his mouth. Just trying to make the team better. And he came out again today, worked his butt off."

No. 8 -- Helton takes the top off

After North Carolina cut FSU's lead to 21-17 with a touchdown pass from Howell to tight end Kamari Morales early in the third quarter, FSU wasted no time in striking right back. With UNC focused on stopping the Seminoles' ground game, Helton streaked past the defense and was wide open for a big gain. Even though he had to wait on an underthrown ball, Helton still picked up 44 yards (plus another 15 yards when UNC was called for roughing the passer). The Seminoles would score three plays later to push the lead back to double-digits.

“Receivers came up big today, and that’s everything. Open up the game like that, we have the run game, the pass game, means everything,” Travis said. “Keeps the defense off-balance. Receivers made great plays, so it just allowed me to put it on them.”

No. 9 -- A big kickoff return, finally

Not much was going right for Florida State in the early going Saturday until the Seminoles got a boost from an unlikely source -- the kickoff return unit, which had struggled for much of this season. Travis Jay, who had been limited by injury in recent weeks, caught the kickoff after the Tar Heels took a 10-0 advantage, and he immediately showed a good burst coming out of the end zone. Jay then followed his blockers all the way out to the 41-yard line to set the offense up with very good field position. That return led to FSU’s first scoring drive, capped off by Malik McClain’s first career touchdown -- on a 5-yard pass from Travis.

No. 10 -- Helton drags his feet

Still working to close out the game at 28-17, Travis connected with Helton for another big play late in the third quarter. Flushed to his left, Travis threw across his body to an open Helton down the left sideline.

With the offense facing a third-and-12, Helton toe-tapped along the sideline for the key first down. FSU would go on to punch in its final scoring drive of the game and hold on while the defense preserved the 35-25 victory.

“It’s a game of inches. He did everything, technique, fundamentals, to be able to extend himself to make that catch ... [it] was huge,” Norvell said “And those things showed up throughout the course of the game.”-

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