Happy Homecoming: Seminoles sprint past Wake Forest, 38-17
Box Score: FSU 38, Wake Forest 17
Capitalizing on timely turnovers by the defense and several explosive plays on offense, the Florida State Seminoles rallied from a slow start Saturday and pummeled Wake Forest, 38-17, before a Homecoming crowd of 67,274.
Two weeks after surrendering a big second-half lead at Miami, FSU never really faltered against the Demon Deacons. The Seminoles closed out the first half with three consecutive touchdowns to take a 21-10 lead and then extended their advantage early in the third quarter with a 58-yard touchdown run by sophomore tailback Cam Akers.
With the victory, FSU improved to 4-3 on the season and 2-3 in the ACC. Wake Forest fell to 3-4 and 0-3.
The Seminoles actually trailed 10-0 midway through the first quarter and appeared to be in danger of falling further behind until junior defensive end Brian Burns came up with a big sack on fourth down inside FSU territory. Six plays later, Akers plunged in from 3 yards out to cut Wake's lead to 10-7.
The Seminoles' second touchdown also was set up by a nice defensive play as Stanford Samuels III intercepted a Deacons pass deep in Wake territory, and Patrick would rush for a 2-yard touchdown three plays later.
FSU extended its lead to 21-10 on a 33-yard touchdown strike from junior quarterback Deondre Francois to senior receiver Nyqwan Murray.
And after Akers' second touchdown run made it 28-10, Ricky Aguayo tacked on a 49-yard field goal, and freshman WR Tre'Shaun Harrison scored on a nifty 21-yard catch and run.
Francois finished the game with 353 yards and two touchdowns on 29-of-40 passing before being relieved late by sophomore James Blackman.
Next up for Florida State is a home date against No. 3 Clemson on Saturday. The game is scheduled for noon and will air on ABC or ESPN.
Kaindoh ejected: Sophomore defensive end Josh Kaindoh was ejected for targeting late in the fourth quarter and will miss the first half of the Clemson game.
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