NCAAF Game Recap - Florida State at Wake Forest
Sat Sep 30, 2017 3:30 PM EDT

Miss
3
Bama
66
F
Clem
31
VaTec
17
F
Ind
14
PSU
45
F
USC
27
WaSt
30
F
Wash
42
OreSt
7
F
UGA
41
Tenn
0
F
NW
24
Wisc
33
F
OSU
56
Rut
0
F
MissSt
10
Aub
49
F
MiaFL
31
Duke
6
F
OkSt
41
TxTch
34
F
Murr
10
Lou
55
F
SoFL
61
ECU
31
F
NIU
28
SDSU
34
F
Vand
24
Fla
38
F
MiaOH
17
ND
52
F
Troy
24
LSU
21
F
Tex
17
IASt
7
F
BYU
24
UtSt
40
F
Neb
28
Ill
6
F
Hou
20
Temp
13
F
MD
31
MIN
24
F
NMS
24
Ark
42
F
Rice
10
Pitt
42
F
UNC
7
GATec
33
F
Syr
25
NCSt
33
F
C Mi
8
BC
28
F
Buff
27
Kent
13
F
Navy
31
Tuls
21
F
Bayl
20
K St
33
F
FlaSt
26
Wake
19
F
Ohio
58
UMass
50
F
JMU
20
Del
10
F
UTEP
21
Army
35
F
TxSt
10
Wyo
45
F
UConn
28
SMU
49
F
AzSt
24
Stan
34
F
Iowa
10
MSU
17
F
E Mi
20
KY
24
F
Akr
34
BGSU
23
F
StFPA
13
Lib
7
F
Mem
13
UCF
40
F
AF
38
NM
56
F
CoCar
43
ULMon
51
F
Ball
3
WestMI
55
F
JacSt
34
TnTec
7
F
NorTx
43
SMiss
28
F
SoAl
16
LT
34
F
SamHu
30
C Ark
41
F
MidTN
20
FlAtl
38
F
UNCC
29
FLInt
30
F
Marsh
38
Cin
21
F
SCar
17
TxAM
24
F
NEV
21
Fres
41
F
SJSU
13
UNLV
41
F
Colo
23
UCLA
27
F
Cal
24
Oreg
45
F
ColSt
51
Hawaii
21
F
Mem
GASt
Canc
Maine
UCF
Canc

Sep 30, 2017, 3:30 PM EDT

Final

1

2

3

4

T

Florida State (1-2)

3

10

3

10

26

Wake Forest (4-1)

3

9

0

7

19

Florida State beats Wake Forest 26-19 on late TD for 1st win
Sat Sep 30, 2017 9:02 PM

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) Florida State's young quarterback had struggled much of the day. And the winless Seminoles - dinged up with injuries and struggling to keep Wake Forest's defensive front out of the backfield - were on the edge of adding to a month's worth of misery.

Instead, they finally figured a way out.

James Blackman connected with Auden Tate on a 40-yard touchdown throw with 53 seconds left, helping Florida State rally past Wake Forest 26-19 on Saturday for its first win.

It wasn't a performance in line with the preseason expectations that had FSU starting the year as the nation's No. 3-ranked team and the Atlantic Coast Conference favorite. FSU coach Jimbo Fisher didn't care, either, calling it "just the next step" for a team that desperately needed to take one.

"Winning football," Fisher said, "isn't always pretty."

Blackman - the freshman pressed into a starting role due to injury earlier this year - had thrown for just 81 yards entering that final drive for the Seminoles (1-2, 1-1 ACC). But after the FSU defense forced a three-and-out, Blackman was perfect with the downfield shot to Tate - who caught the ball despite a pass-interference penalty by defender Amari Henderson as well as a shoulder injury that had Tate in and out of the lineup.

FSU was 0-2 for the first time since 1989.

"Just got to find a way, man, no matter what it is," said Jacques Patrick, who ran for 120 yards and a score for FSU.

"We came out here, we did what we had to do to get the W. That's the first step: finding out how to win. We found a way today. And next week we'll try to find another way to win."

Wake Forest (4-1, 1-1) had a final chance to tie, but John Wolford's desperation heave to the end zone for Scotty Washington fell incomplete to end it.

"Three years ago, or even two years ago, this would have been a moral victory," Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said. "Those in our program no longer exist. There is nobody that left there and said, `Hey man, we played with Florida State.' That locker room is crushed and devastated that we did not find a way to win that football game."

THE TAKEAWAY

FSU: The Seminoles closed a tough first month, from the crushing opener against top-ranked Alabama that included a season-ending injury to starting quarterback Deondre Francois to an altered schedule following Hurricane Irma that had limited them to just two games. Things didn't look promising when the Seminoles had a flag negate a game-opening kickoff return for a touchdown, but they're headed into October with a chance to regain their footing.

"Now after that bad 0-2 start, it kind of gives us a clean slate to build on," said Tate, who had his left arm in a sling afterward.

Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons were trying to reach 5-0 for the first time since its unexpected ACC championship run in 2006. Their defensive front gave FSU fits, but the Demon Deacons struggled to run the ball and just made too many mistakes - most notably losing two turnovers after committing just one through the first four games and giving up a big kickoff return to set up FSU's first touchdown.

BLACKMAN'S DAY

Blackman had another big fourth-quarter throw, a 43-yarder down the left sideline to Keith Gavin on a third-and-20. That ultimately set up Ricky Aguayo's 35-yard kick to tie it at 19 with 6:20 left.

He threw for 7 yards on 5-for-7 passing in the entire first half, but finished the game at 121 yards on 11-for-21 passing.

"We picked our moments to try to get him to be aggressive," Fisher said, "and he made the plays when he had to make the plays."

STAT EDGE

Wake Forest outgained Florida State by nearly 100 yards (367-270), finished with five sacks and had 17 tackles for loss.

"I felt like we outplayed them," said Wolford, who threw for 271 yards.

UP NEXT

FSU: The Seminoles host No. 14 Miami on Oct. 7 in a game rescheduled due to Hurricane Irma.

Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons visit second-ranked and reigning national champion Clemson on Oct. 7.

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More AP college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-Top25

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Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap

Passing

FlaSt Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
J. Blackman 21 11 52.4 1 121 43 0 85.6
Wake Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
J. Wolford 34 24 70.6 0 271 33 1 81.9
G. Dortch 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 39.6

Rushing

FlaSt Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
J. Patrick 19 120 6.3 69 1
C. Akers 14 58 4.1 27 0
Wake Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
J. Wolford 19 63 3.3 33 1
M. Colburn II 5 13 2.6 7 1

Receiving

FlaSt Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
A. Tate 2 47 23.5 40 1
K. Gavin 1 43 43.0 43 0
Wake Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
G. Dortch 10 110 11.0 19 0
S. Washington 2 57 28.5 33 0

Fumbles

FlaSt F FL
G. Campbell 1 1
J. Blackman 2 0

Returning

FlaSt KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
T. McFadden 0 0 0 2 3.5 0 4
D. James 1 36.0 0 36 0 0 0
Wake KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
G. Dortch 2 15.5 0 18 4 12.0 0 29
C. Wade Jr. 1 23.0 0 23 0 0 0

Punting

FlaSt Punt Yds Avg LgPu
L. Tyler 6 236 39.3 57
Wake Punt Yds Avg LgPu
D. Maggio 7 273 39.0 44

Takeaways

FlaSt Int Yds InTD
K. Meyers 1 0 0

Team Stats Comparison

FlaSt Wake
Points For 26 19
Total Yards 270 367
Rushing Yards 149 96
Passing Yards 121 271
Passing Completions / Attempts 11/21 24/35
Turnovers 1 2
Interceptions Thrown 0 1
Fumbles - Lost 4/1 2/1
First Downs 15 17
Penalties - Yards 8/70 7/59
Time Of Possession 41:41 19:19
Third Down Conversions/Attempts 4/15 4/14
Fourth Down Conversions/Attempts 0/0 1/1
Punts - Average Yards 6/39 7/39

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter FlaSt Wake
FlaSt 07:54 FG Ricky Aguayo 51 yd FG 3 0
Wake 12:12 FG Mike Weaver 24 yd FG 3 3
2nd Quarter FlaSt Wake
Wake 01:43 FG Mike Weaver 39 yd FG 3 6
Wake 08:01 TD John Wolford 3 yd run (missed kick) 3 12
FlaSt 09:19 TD Jacques Patrick 1 yd run (Ricky Aguayo kick) 10 12
FlaSt 12:05 FG Ricky Aguayo 27 yd FG 13 12
3rd Quarter FlaSt Wake
FlaSt 10:42 FG Ricky Aguayo 37 yd FG 16 12
4th Quarter FlaSt Wake
Wake 01:03 TD Matt Colburn II 7 yd run (Mike Weaver kick) 16 19
FlaSt 08:40 FG Ricky Aguayo 35 yd FG 19 19
FlaSt 14:07 TD Auden Tate 40 yd pass from James Blackman (Ricky Aguayo kick) 26 19

Game Information

Stadium: BB&T Field, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Attendance: 31,588
Game Time:
Weather: