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Noles All Tuned Up After Dominating UT-Chattanooga

Tribune photo by COLIN HACKLEY

Jarmon Fortson, right, evades four Chattanooga defenders during first half action Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee.

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By COREY CLARK

The Tallahassee Democrat

Published: September 14, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - Now the real season begins.

After Saturday's 46-7 thrashing of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga at Doak Campbell Stadium, Florida State has outscored its first two opponents — both Football Championship Subdivision schools — by the combined score of 115-7.

"We got two games to tune up and see if the car would run," said FSU coach Bobby Bowden, whose team takes on No. 19 Wake Forest on Saturday. "Well, the car will run. It's, will it run fast enough to play at that next level that we're fixin' to get into?"

It ran fast enough for the Southern Conference, that's for sure.

On the heels of a 69-0 bombing of Western Carolina in the season opener, the Seminoles continued their offensive onslaught against the overmatched Mocs.

Starting quarterback Christian Ponder directed three touchdown drives to start the game, giving FSU 12 consecutive TD drives going back to last weekend, and the Florida State offense finished with 494 yards and 23 first downs.

"That's something," offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher said of the 12 consecutive touchdown drives. "That's a start. It's better than not doing it. We could have struggled, which we have for a while around here in certain games like that."

Ponder finished 13-for-22 for 180 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

"We've definitely got some tougher games to look forward to," Ponder said. "Overall, the execution went really well. We've still got some stuff to build on, but I think we're clicking on all cylinders."

Two of Ponder's scoring passes were to receiver Corey Surrency, one for 44 yards out and another for 39 yards.

"As soon as I saw the man coverage, it crossed my mind that this dude was not going to stop me on this post route," Surrency said of his first score. "I just went up and got the ball and did my job."

The Seminoles' defense had one breakdown — when Jordan Hazzard got behind safety Darius McClure for a 62-yard touchdown catch — but it limited the Mocs to 164 yards.

Chattanooga didn't a run an offensive play inside the Seminoles' 45-yard line.

"We really needed this game to work some things out and bring our 'A' game next week," said senior linebacker Toddrick Verdell, who had five tackles and a sack.

Meanwhile, other than a lull to start the second half, the Florida State offense was marching all over the Chattanooga defense.

After a blocked punt for a safety by Roosevelt Lawson in the third quarter pushed the lead to 32-7, backup quarterback D'Vontrey Richardson (9-for-14 for 117 yards) came in and electrified the crowd for a second consecutive week.

The Leesburg, Ga., native broke his school record for longest TD run by a quarterback when he raced 55 yards late in the third quarter. The strong-armed sophomore later hit redshirt freshman Bert Reed for a 36-yard touchdown pass with 4:54 remaining.

"It was fun," Richardson said of his second 50-plus yard scoring run in as many weeks. "I was kind of mad at myself, and really it was just adrenaline pumping. ... Coach Fisher had to get on me and let me know I had to get my head together.

"And I just went out there and he called the play and I was trying not to go down."
When he finally went down, after running around and through Chattanooga tacklers, he was 3 yards deep in the end zone.

The Seminoles also got a 12-yard touchdown run and an 8-yard touchdown catch from senior Antone Smith, who finished with 78 yards rushing on 13 carries.

Florida State had 197 yards rushing on 32 attempts in the blowout win and is averaging 244 yards rushing per game. But things are about to get a lot tougher with the Demon Deacons rolling into town.

"They're going to be a lot faster and a lot stronger," sophomore offensive guard Rodney Hudson said. "I think they've got nine returning starters coming back on defense. So they're going to know what they're doing. So we've got to know what we're doing and get on them."

The Seminoles will find out where they stand Saturday night against a Wake Forest team that has defeated them each of the past two seasons.

"It's time," Fisher said. "You've got to step up here and see. We've got a great challenge here coming up."

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