ORLANDO, Fla. -- Even though Florida State was the preseason No. 1, the football team had remained optimistic about its chances against the Seminoles.
That optimism couldn't have lasted too long after kickoff, however.
The Seminoles did not waste much time in proving why they are the best team in the nation, as they pounded the Blue Devils 70-26 Saturday at the Citrus Bowl in the Texaco Star Classic in Orlando, Fla.
Duke's defense had little chance to recover from the brutal Florida State offensive attack, headed by quarterback Danny Kanell. Kanell engineered fast drives as the 'Noles took a commanding 27-7 lead in fewer than 12 minutes of the first quarter.
The Blue Devils could not rebound from that devastation.
"It was just chaos," Blue Devil head coach Fred Goldsmith said of his team's defense. "We finally settled down and lined up right, but you've got to tackle. It was just a bad job by our defense against the best football team in the country."
Florida State blasted into the game with a touchdown at the 12:52 mark and another at 9:47. Duke could manage nothing more than a 3-and-out in between those scores. Senior safety Ray Farmer blocked Seminole Scott Bentley's first point-after attempt, so FSU had gained a 13-0 lead in a little more than five minutes.
But Duke then answered with a rapid drive of its own, as sophomore Laymarr Marhsall broke open the Florida State defense on a 32-yard run. That run set up a Fischer 14-yard completion to senior tight end Bill Khayat for the Blue Devils' first score.
With 8:38 remaining in the first quarter, FSU led 13-7 and the game still seemed to be under control. Yet in the next four minutes, Warrick Dunn and Rock Preston took charge of the Florida State offense, scoring two more touchdowns with drives that lasted only 28 and 21 seconds, respectively. Dunn sped in from 33 yards out for the first score, while Preston danced down the field for an 85-yard touchdown run just a minute and a half later.
"The tailbacks really broke this one open for us," said Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden, who picked up his 250th career win on Saturday. "When we called the one play, I looked up and saw that Duke had switched their defense. They were in perfect position to stop [Dunn]. Somehow he broke lose. Rock's run was super too. Our running game was definitely working."
But the running game was hardly the only facet of FSU's offense that haunted the Blue Devils. Kanell and backup quarterback Thad Busby amassed 391 yards passing, while Dunn and Preston both added over 100 yards of rushing. The Seminoles' total offense equalled 797 yards, surpassing the Duke record of yards allowed--one achieved by the Seminoles in 1993--by over 150 yards.
"Our depth and hard working during our two-a-days wore [Duke] down," Kanell said. "We could possibly have one of the best receiving corps ever."
The Seminoles notched 27 points during the first quarter, yet continued to pile on the offense well into the second quarter. Just 1:21 into the quarter, FSU's Pooh Bear Williams rushed in for a short touchdown, set up by a Kanell pass to E.G. Green and a Dunn run. The 5-play, 56-yard drive put Florida State ahead 34-10. After an unsuccessful series by the offense, Florida State picked up another score on a 64-yard series that took just 1:32 to complete.
"The speed of the game is just incredible," senior linebacker James Kirkland said. "They'll complete a 25-yard pass and two seconds later, they're on the line. They're running the next play while you're trying to get a call. With that kind of pace, I think it's going to be very hard for anybody to handle what [Florida State is] putting out there on the field."
For the remainder of the first half, the Seminoles continued to dominate the ballgame. The next offensive series by Florida State took just 3:10 and widened the margin to 48-10.
With eight seconds remaining in the two-hour first half, the Seminoles added on another touchdown. Farmer blocked his second point-after attempt on the day, and sophomore strong safety Tawambi Settles returned the block 98 yards to pick up two points for the Blue Devils.
Unfortunately for Duke, the game did not end at halftime, even though the score of 54-12 was enough for the Blue Devils to feel like the game had ended.
"After the first half, I thought the game was over," Kirkland said. "I don't know how long the first half lasted, but it had to be three hours. Maybe that was fatigue that added the extra hour."
"At halftime the game was pretty much over but we never laid down," Fischer said. "We improved on the fundamentals and in the second half we moved the ball better."
The Blue Devils opened the second half against the Seminole second string, immediately driving for a touchdown when sophomore running back Charles London broke free for a 51-yard run. FSU quickly brought its first string back in and picked up another quick score at the 9:38 mark. The 3-play, 80-yard, 25-second drive put Florida State ahead 60-19.
In the remainder of the game, FSU added a field goal and another touchdown, while all the Blue Devils could manage was one more touchdown, to finalize a 70-26 slaughter by the Seminoles.
Despite the gap in scoring, the Blue Devils did take some positives away from the game. In the losing effort, Duke totaled the most points that an Atlantic Coast Conference team has been able to score against the Seminoles since Florida State entered the league in 1992.
The rushing effort put forth by Marshall proved that the team can survive without ACC Player of the Year Robert Baldwin. Marshall carried the ball 15 times for 85 yards, while also picking up 20 yards receiving.
"I feel pretty confident about my personal performance, but you always like to have it in the context of a win," Marshall said. "That didn't happen [Saturday]. It's a team game, a team sport--we'll have to come back as a team."
The Duke offense accumulated 404 yards of offense against FSU, with Fischer completing 20-of-39 for 227 yards.
"I thought we weren't very consistent," Goldsmith said. "But you put up 26 points and 400 yards against the No. 1 team, that's not all that bad."
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