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Manuel leads FSU to victory over Wake Forest

The Associated Press

Manuel led the Seminoles to three touchdowns and a field goal on their first four possessions.

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By COREY CLARK

The Tallahassee Democrat

Published: November 14, 2009

Updated: 11/14/2009 04:30 pm

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The chances of a 28th straight bowl game are still very much alive for Florida State.

Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner's personal winning streak against the Seminoles is dead.

Florida State, behind backup quarterback EJ Manuel, went into Groves Stadium on Saturday afternoon and outplayed the favored Demon Deacons in all phases of a 41-28 victory.

"It was doggone impressive," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said. "You're always leery of starting a freshman, no matter what. But he's shown qualities that he's going to be a pretty good one. And that was a heck of a start for a freshman."

The 6-foot-4 Manuel completed 15 of 20 passes for 220 yards, one touchdown and one interception in his first career start since replacing the injured Christian Ponder. He also rushed for 45 yards and another TD for the Seminoles, who racked up 437 yards.

"I knew I could do it," Manuel said. "It's not even about me, though. I feel like the offense really helped me out and took a lot of pressure off of me. I didn't feel any pressure. The O-line protected me very well today."

Said offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher: "He did a good job. He really did. ... I think once he got out there and things were going well, I could see the confidence."

The game could not have started any better for the Virginia Beach native as he led the offense on a 12-play, 81-yard march to give FSU a quick 7-0 lead.

He led the Seminoles (5-5, 3-4 ACC) to scores on their first four drives as the offense piled up 290 yards in the first two quarters.

"We were trying to get him some completions," Fisher said, "and then the confidence grows and he just took off."

Ty Jones (Middleton) and Jermaine Thomas each had touchdown runs in the first quarter, Manuel added a QB sneak for a score in the second and Dustin Hopkins converted a 47-yard field goal to give the Seminoles a 24-7 lead.

The electric freshman Greg Reid then made it 31-7 on a 68-yard punt return with 3:40 left in the half.

Wake Forest (4-7, 2-5) cut the lead to 31-21 with 6:57 left in the third quarter, but Manuel led back-to-back scoring drives (one that culminated with a Hopkins' 42-yard field goal and another with a 7-yard TD pass to Jarmon Fortson) to put the game out of reach.

"I thought their (offensive) line played really, really well," Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe said. "They just did a nice job. They had a good game plan and their kids executed it. I was very impressed."

Said Manuel: "Our practices are so highwire and Coach Fisher puts so much pressure on us in practice to perform and be excellent that the game is really easy and becomes second nature."

It was a strong debut for a quarterback who had thrown just four passes all season coming into the game. And he did it against a team that had beaten Florida State the past three seasons, including a 12-3 win last year in which the Noles had seven turnovers.

Skinner, who threw for 227 yards Saturday but was intercepted twice, had never lost to the Seminoles.

But when junior cornerback Ochucko Jenije picked off a pass in the end zone with eight minutes remaining, Skinner's hopes to become the first quarterback to ever beat a Bowden-coached FSU team four straight seasons were finished.

With the victory, FSU is 5-5 and just needs to win one of its final two games to ensure bowl eligibility.

"This wasn't a normal game," FSU defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews said. "We don't have our quarterback. They do. They're going for four in a row. We're trying to put a stop to it. We have got to get two wins to get bowl-eligible.

"There were a lot of things we had to accomplish today, but the main thing was: Don't let them get enough points to win the football game."

SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
FSU—T.Jones 9 run (Hopkins kick), 9:24.
Wake—Adams 3 run (Newman kick), 2:43.
FSU—Thomas 6 run (Hopkins kick), :19.

Second Quarter
FSU—Manuel 1 run (Hopkins kick), 12:48.
FSU—FG Hopkins 47, 4:52.
FSU—Reid 68 punt return (Hopkins kick), 3:40.
Wake—Adams 20 run (Newman kick), 2:12.

Third Quarter
Wake—K.Harris 12 run (Newman kick), 6:57.
FSU—FG Hopkins 42, 4:01.

Fourth Quarter
FSU—Fortson 7 pass from Manuel (Hopkins kick), 11:04.
Wake—Givens 4 pass from Skinner (Newman kick), 3:01.

A—33,411.

FSU Wake
First downs 23 27
Rushes-yards 43-217 29-227
Passing 220 227
Comp-Att-Int 15-20-1 25-40-2
Return Yards 85 21
Punts-Avg. 2-54.5 4-32.0
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 6-75 3-30
Time of Possession 30:53 29:07

RUSHING—Florida St., Thomas 25-149, Manuel 10-45, T.Jones 4-21, Pryor 1-3, Reed 1-3, Team 2-(minus 4). Wake Forest, Pendergrass 5-60, Adams 8-59, K.Harris 9-38, Skinner 4-36, Brown 2-35, Team 1-(minus 1).

PASSING—Florida St., Manuel 15-20-1-220. Wake Forest, Skinner 25-40-2-227.

RECEIVING—Florida St., Reed 5-81, Fortson 3-60, Owens 3-42, Reliford 1-12, Easterling 1-11, R.Smith 1-7, Thomas 1-7. Wake Forest, Givens 6-67, Brown 6-23, Adams 4-27, Ma.Williams 3-42, Rinfrette 3-31, J.Williams 2-22, Bohanon 1-15.

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