JACKSONVILLE - The promotions group at AllTel Stadium knew it needed a catchy phrase to sell the Duke-Florida State game. After weighing many factors, they decided to call the contest the "River City Raid."
And that is exactly what it was.
Like a thief in the night, the top-ranked Seminoles (5-0, 4-0 in the ACC) scored on every first-half possession, stealing away 44 points before the Blue Devils (0-4, 0-1) could even catch their breath and Florida State cruised to a 51-23 victory.
FSU capitalized on two key early mistakes by Duke to pull momentum solidly in its favor. After Bobby Campbell threw a wild interception while attempting to avoid a sack, the Seminoles needed just 2:08 to find the endzone, as Chris Weinke hit Peter Warrick from three yards out for the 7-0 lead.
On Florida State's next possession, Duke capitalized on a first-down sack by Charles Porter to force a Seminole punt. In what would be FSU's only punt of the half, Duke's Darius Clark was called for roughing the kicker, which gave the ball right back to the Seminoles.
Sure enough, three plays later, Weinke hit Warrick once again for a 39-yard touchdown, thanks to a quick fake by Warrick and Laveranues Cole's excellent block of two Blue Devils downfield.
"[The] first half, it got away from us in a hurry," coach Carl Franks said. "They hit a lot of big plays. It seemed like each turnover they would score on. We stopped them, roughed the punter, they scored. That's the kind of team they are."
After Warrick caught his third touchdown of the game, coach #Bobby Bowden decided to let his Heisman Trophy candidate show off his versatility.
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"Was that a Heisman voter pass play?" Bowden said in reference to Warrick's pass. "We didn't name it that. But it could be."
While FSU only controlled the ball for 14:36 of the opening half, it made every play count. Penalties aside, the Seminoles were only stopped for negative yardage or no gain on three-of-42 offensive plays in the first stanza, as they racked up 22 first downs to the Blue Devils' seven.
"I think our first team played about as good as they could," Bowden said. "They did the things they needed to do, and that's a good sign."
In the second half, however, Duke was able to turn things around. With Marcus Outzen and Jared Jones alternating at quarterback for FSU and Bowden playing his second-team offense, the defense settled down and forced five punts and four turnovers in the second half.
After an interception by Ronnie Hamilton with 7:27 to play in the third quarter, Sims Lenhardt was able to convert a 46-yard field goal to put the Blue Devils on the board.
Lenhardt converted three field goals overall, making him a perfect 10-for-10 on the season.
With only 1:14 to play in the third, Darius Clark, who led Duke with 11 tackles and two interceptions, picked off Jones and returned the ball to the FSU 15. On the ensuing play, Kevin Thompson scrambled 15 yards to the endzone for Duke's first touchdown of the game, cutting the lead to 44-13.
Perhaps
"Everybody was standing up in the locker room [at halftime] and saying, 'Let's find out what kind of heart you've got,'" Thompson said. "We went out in the second half just determined to give it everything we've got on every snap until the end of the fourth quarter and some good things started happening.
"The defense made some good plays, the offense started clicking. We started getting some confidence, and you know, I'm just really proud of our team."
This spurt by the Blue Devils, outscoring FSU 23-7 in the second half, not only made an impression on the Duke team, but also on Bowden, who brought his first team back into the game just before the end of the third quarter.
"We were very disappointed in not shutting Duke out," FSU linebacker Brian Allen said. "All week we had been talking about a shutout. Duke's not scored 23 points against anyone."
As was expected, the crowd was made up almost entirely of garnet and gold, with only teal blue empty seats remaining as the game drew to a close. FSU enjoyed its short trip over to Jacksonville for the game, but don't expect this "neutral" site to become commonplace in the ACC.
"Naturally, I would like for all our opponents to play their home games [in Florida]," Bowden said. "But, yes, we really do enjoy it.... We're not interested in moving our home games... but I wish everybody else would."
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