As Florida State was pulling away with a 17-0 lead late in the first quarter Saturday against Duke, more good news came for the Seminoles from 650 miles to the north.
North Carolina got a last-minute Gio Bernard punt return for a touchdown to defeat N.C. State. And with that, FSU was back in the driver’s seat in the ACC’s Atlantic Division.
FSU thoroughly dominated Duke — just like it did in the 17 previous matchups between the teams — 48-7. Even the best Blue Devils football team in nearly two decades wasn’t able to put up much of a fight on Saturday.
EJ Manuel threw for 282 yards and two touchdowns, one to former Glades Central standout Kelvin Benjamin, Devonta Freeman ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns and Tyler Hunter returned a punt for a touchdown in FSU’s rout before 71,467 fans at Doak Campbell Stadium.
“I was proud of the way we came out of the gate,” FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said. “We played very well early in the game — offense, defense and special teams.”
Dustin Hopkins also made two field goals, including a career-long 56-yard kick, to give the senior an ACC-record 81 career made field goals.
FSU is 8-1 for the first time since 2003, when the Seminoles finished 10-3 and won an ACC title.
And now FSU goes into its bye knowing that if it wins its final two ACC games – at Virginia Tech on Nov. 8 and at Maryland on Nov. 17 — it will claim the Atlantic Division title and play for its first conference championship since 2005.
“What we have to do is just beat Virginia Tech,” Fisher said. “I’m not worrying about the end results of anything.”
The end result Saturday gives FSU an 18-0 record all-time against Duke, and all of them have been double-digit wins. The Blue Devils are bowl-eligible for the first time since 1994, but on Saturday they looked like the hapless Duke teams of past seasons.
FSU scored on four of its first five possessions of the game and used Hunter’s punt return for a touchdown to take a 31-0 lead just 19 minutes into the game.
The only thing that seemed to slow down the Seminoles was fumbles. FSU had four fumbles – including three in the third quarter.
Manuel’s night was over early in the fourth quarter, and he completed 8 of 16 passes for 282 yards. Two of his passes were touchdowns – a 71-yarder to Rashad Greene and a 35-yarder to Benjamin.
Benjamin caught three passes for 74 yards, including the third-quarter touchdown.
“We knew they were going to come in and play man,” Benjamin said. “… I got on top of (the defender) quick, two or three steps, and went up and got the ball in the air. When the ball is in the air you just have to make a play for it and get the ball.”
Playing its first game without injured tailback Chris Thompson, Freeman and James Wilder stepped in and paced an FSU ground attack that accumulated 261 yards. Thompson, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last week, was on the sideline on crutches but helping give advice to the two sophomores.
“It means a lot,” Freeman said of Thompson. “Every time I look at him, I think, ‘Dang, man, take advantage of the opportunity.’ He didn’t plan that. He didn’t plan that he was going to get hurt and be out for the season. I just like him being there because it kind of motivates me.”
FSU held Duke to just 232 yards. Blue Devils quarterback Sean Renfree completed 13 of 21 passes but was injured on a blitz up the middle by safety Karlos Williams in the second quarter.
Duke was held to just 4-of-18 on third-down conversions and was forced to punt 12 times. The Blue Devils generated just a Jela Duncan 3-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
About the Author
