TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - In a parking lot adjacent to Doak Cambell Stadium, one FSU fan's car bore the shoe polished one-liner "Homecoming 2007--Thank God for Duke."
Although the upstart Blue Devils gave them a run for their money, the Seminoles probably couldn't have agreed more with that windshield witticism.
Despite a strong Duke red-zone defensive effort that held Florida State to only three field goals in first half, the Seminoles (5-3. 2-3 in the ACC) tacked on two third-quarter touchdowns to pull away and defeat the Blue Devils 25-6 in front of a homecoming crowd of 79,159 Saturday night.
"I feel like we let it get away from us," safety Chris Davis said. "We played a great first half, and we came out in the second half and gave up a couple of big plays that hurt us."
Despite a woeful offensive first half that saw Duke (1-7, 0-5) rack up more penalty yardage (50) than yards of total offense (49), timely and opportunistic red zone defense prevented Florida State from breaking the game open early.
On the Seminoles' second drive of the game, quarterback Drew Weatherford marched his team down from its own 13-yard line to the Duke 2, only to fumble the ball away on an errant quick-pitch recovered by the Blue Devils' Vincent Rey.
On their next four drives of the half, Florida State moved the ball inside the Duke 25 each time, but were forced to attempt field goals on all four possessions, with FSU kicker Gary Cismesia missing one attempt wide right. Despite surrendering 253 yards, tough defense in their own end of the field kept the Blue Devils' deficit at 9-0 entering halftime.
"We forced them to kick field goals, which kept us in the game," head coach Ted Roof said. "I thought we hung in there tonight and didn't have those lapses we've had against Florida State in the past, where all of a sudden you look up and you're down by four or five touchdowns."
But although the Duke defense did an admirable job of keeping the Seminoles out of the end zone early, Florida State finally broke through in the third quarter on the back of speedy wide receiver Preston Parker. Hauling in a swing pass from Weatheford at the Blue Devils' 9-yard line, Parker cut in between two Duke defenders at the goal line and dove into the end zone for a touchdown to give the Seminoles a 16-0 lead.
Florida State defensive back Pat Robertson intercepted quarterback Thaddeus Lewis on the ensuing Blue Devil drive, and Parker again starred on the Seminoles' next offensive possession. Taking a reverse around the right end from the Duke 14-yard line, Parker made a tight cut inside a block just short of the goal line before flipping into the end zone over Leon Wright's low tackle attempt to put FSU ahead 22-0.
"He's a fantastic football player," Roof said of Parker. "He's what they're used to playing with here, those guys who can change direction and are great in the open field and make it real tough when it's a one-on-one situation against him."
Parker's brilliance helped the Seminoles surge ahead, but his fumble and defensive end Wesley Ogelsby's recovery with 10:28 left in the fourth quarter gave the Blue Devils a glimmer of hope. Taking over at the FSU 48, Lewis found receiver Jomar Wright on two separate first down completions before hitting fullback Brandon King on a three-yard touchdown reception.
Although Duke failed to convert its two-point conversion try, the touchdown still meant that the Blue Devils could tie the game in the final 8:07 with a pair of touchdowns and two-point conversions. Duke's attempt at an onside kick, however, was recovered by the Seminoles, and Florida State chewed up 6:50 on an 12-play drive that ended with a Cismesia 35-yard field goal that effectively doomed the Blue Devils' chances for their first win in 16 tries against Florida State.
"We definitely felt that we had a shot there at the end," Wright said. "They were up 22 points, but we've scored three touchdowns in a quarter before and we've converted on two point conversions before."
Although Duke has yet to record a win against the Seminoles, Saturday's 19-point deficit was the smallest in the history of the series between the two teams. Even though the sting of yet another loss was impossible to ignore, Roof pointed out that ability to stay competitive against a talented team like Florida State speaks volumes to the progress that the team has made this year.
"I think it's a sign of our program moving forward and developing and maturing," Roof said. "When you build a program, there are steps, especially in a league like this, because there are no bad football teams in this league. You've got to get to the point where you become that and then you take the next step."
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