Colleges

FSU falters in second half 24-20

The No. 17 Seminoles lose a 10-point lead and then the game when N.C. State ends a final drive with an interception.

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published October 6, 2006

	[AP photo]
	N.C. STATE 24, FSU 20: North Carolina State's Toney Baker breaks away from Florida State's Buster Davis during the second half, when the Wolfpack took advantage of a seemingly tiring FSU defense.

RALEIGH, N.C. - Just when it looked like Florida State had it going, it was gone.

The game and, perhaps, a shot to defend its ACC championship.

North Carolina State rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to stun the Seminoles 24-20 Thursday night before an announced sellout of 57,437 at Carter-Finley Stadium and a national television audience.

"We couldn't stop them, that was the big thing," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said. "(It's a) very disappointing loss."

Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato, a longtime FSU assistant, has now won two straight and four of seven against his old pals from Tallahassee.

"There ain't nothing he (Amato) can say to make me happy and nothing I can say to make him unhappy," Bowden said.

The No. 17-ranked Seminoles (3-2, 1-2) face an uphill battle to win the Atlantic Division of the ACC and reach the title game in Jacksonville, a realization that was etched on players' faces in a somber march from the locker room to the team buses.

"It's going to be tough," quarterback Drew Weatherford of winning the league. "We're just going to have to focus one week at a time. ... This was a must-win game for us. We'll now see what kind of character we have."

He and his teammates sure didn't expect to be in this position.

Not before the game and then not after a game-changing sequence in the third quarter.

Down 13-10, the Wolfpack drove to the goal line on its opening possession of the second half. But linebacker Buster Davis stopped running back Toney Baker on third and goal from the 1 for no gain and linebackers Lawrence Timmons and Geno Hayes combined to stop a leaping Baker just short of the end zone on fourth down with 9:36 left.

"The defense did a wonderful job with that goal-line stand," Weatherford said.

The former Land O'Lakes star converted three third downs with completions to tight end Brandon Warren, Booker and receiver De'Cody Fagg and then capped a 14-play, 99-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown to Warren.

"You never think you got 'em and yet you think you might have them," Bowden said. "But boy you have to hand it to them. They just took the ball and drove it down for a score and then drove it for another score."

N.C. State redshirt sophomore quarterback Daniel Evans got hot.

"The youngster's got something about him," Amato said. "His success is bringing supporters and believers around the country."

Evans hit receiver Geron James for a 10-yard touchdown in the waning seconds of the third quarter and followed with a 12-yard touchdown strike to receiver John Dunlap with 10:36 left. Running backs Andre Brown and Baker started exploiting gaping holes in the defense and some shabby tackling.

"They made catch after catch after catch," Buster Davis said. "I've never seen that many great catches in one game, but it comes down to us not tackling."

FSU had lost starting nose guard Paul Griffin (left knee), safety Anthony Houllis (left knee) and linebacker Marcus Ball (left knee) to season-ending injuries since the opener against Miami. Star cornerback Tony Carter sprained his left knee against Rice. And then linebacker Derek Nicholson injured his right knee in the first half Thursday and it's feared it could be serious.

That's on top of injuries to a bevy of backups that has limited FSU's ability to substitute and stay fresh.

But even when the defense did force the Wolfpack to punt - its first of the half - with less than six minutes to play, FSU took over at its own 5 with no timeouts.

Weatherford, who finished 16 of 29 for 249 yards, hit four straight passes to move his team to the N.C. State 36. Tailback Antone Smith lost 3 yards and then Weatherford threw a pass for Warren into double coverage.

"I don't know what was going through my head," Weatherford said.

The ball was deflected and intercepted by safety DaJuan Morgan with 2:27 left to seal the upset.

"We'll just have to learn from this game and come back next week (at Duke)," Bowden said, "and get started again."

[Last modified October 6, 2006, 01:22:02]