The Blue Devils won the battle on the ground, but lost the war in the air against a superior Seminole team.
No. 11 Florida State (6-1, 4-1 in the ACC) overwhelmed Duke with 539 yards of total offense on its way to a 55-24 victory over the Blue Devils (1-7, 0-5) Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium. Duke could not find a way to halt a balanced Seminole offense that threw four touchdowns and rushed for three others.
"We had Duke out-personelled tonight, and I thought that [head coach Ted] Roof got about everything out of his kids you could get," Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden said. "It's just that they got tired-they got tired, and we played so many people."
The Blue Devil offense scored more points Saturday than it had in any other ACC contest this season. Freshman Re'quan Boyette's 78-yard touchdown run at the start of the fourth quarter capped a strong day for Duke's rushing attack. Boyette ran for 123 yards on 10 carries in his return to the lineup after sitting out the last two weeks with a knee injury.
Duke's trio of tailbacks-Boyette, and sophomores Ronnie Drummer and Justin Boyle-ran for a combined 220 yards and three touchdowns, while the Seminoles' top three running backs Antone Smith, Leon Washington and Lorenzo Booker scored three touchdowns on 105 yards on the ground. Florida State entered the game with the nation's 10th best run defense, allowing an average of only 93.2 yards per game.
"There are a lot of bright spots there," Roof said. "But at the same time in no way, shape, fashion or form are we happy that we lost, or satisfied or pleased because we play this game to win, and we didn't do that today."
The Blue Devils may have matched Florida State's running game, but Seminole quarterbacks Drew Weatherford and Xavier Lee completed passes at will, throwing for 376 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
Duke's quarterbacks, however, continued to struggle.
Zack Asack completed 9-of-18 passes for a paltry 52 yards and no touchdowns. Junior Curt Dukes' only pass attempt was intercepted.
On the opening drive of the game, the Seminoles marched 93 yards down the field on a 16-play drive that ended with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Weatherford to Chris Davis.
Marcus Jones fumbled on the Duke 17-yard line one minute later, giving Florida State the ball right back. After a 12-yard touchdown pass from Weatherford to wide receiver Greg Carr, the Blue Devils trailed 14-0 with 3:44 to go in the first quarter.
Carr, who had six receptions for 95 yards and three touchdowns, and fellow true freshman Smith, who rushed for 76 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries, scored five of the Seminoles' seven touchdowns.
"Carr has been doing it all year," Bowden said. "Antone, [this is] the first time he's got any significant playing time in an ACC ball game, and he showed you why we signed him last year."
Duke would get on the board in the second quarter, when Boyle pushed through the pile at the goal line for a one-yard touchdown run.
The Seminoles, however, would immediately answer with an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that pushed the lead back to 14.
Every time the Blue Devils scored, Florida State had an answer. The Seminoles responded with a touchdown in the series directly following each of Duke's four scores.
"We haven't been able to do that in five years, I don't think, to be able to come back and answer every time the other team scores," Bowden said. "Every time Duke would grab momentum, we would grab it right back with our offense."
Roof commented that he was encouraged by his team's unwillingness to give up but stressed that there are no moral victories.
"I was proud of their effort and proud of their fight, but I also think that's expected, that is what we do," Roof said. "We are going to continue to coach aggressively and coach to win, and I expect our players to play to win."
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