Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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GAME PREVIEW: FLORIDA STATE lahassee, Fla., native finished 24-of- 38 passing for 336 yards with three touchdowns. WAKE FOREST 35, FSU 30 OCT. 8: The Seminoles lost for the third straight week in a similar fashion as the collapse at Clemson. Flagged for 13 penalties for 109 yards and having committed five turnovers (four in- terceptions and one fumble), Florida State's second misfire in ACC play was again the result of beating itself. Rashad Greene caught a career- best 12 passes for a personal-high 164 yards. It was Greene's fifth game of the year with a touchdown grab, but it wasn't enough to produce a road victory at BB&T Field. Trickett started for the second straight week, but was pulled just before halftime after two intercep- tions and a fumble. Manuel, in his first action since injuring his shoul- der, passed for 286 yards, two touch- downs and two interceptions in a rally that ran out of time. Starting tailback Chris Thompson fractured vertebrae in his back and was side- lined for the rest of the year. OCT. 15: FSU 41, DUKE 16 The Seminoles got back on track against lowly Duke by racking up 242 rushing yards. FSU had just 428 yards on the ground through its first five games. Freeman, with 111 yards on 19 carries, led the charge and be- came the first Seminole to reach the century mark in 2011. A healthy Manuel ran for 64 yards and two touchdowns, and completed nine of 14 passes for 239 yards with two touchdowns. FSU, which en- tered the game last in the country with an average of nine penalties per game, was flagged just five times for 59 yards. The Seminoles sacked Duke QB Sean Renfree five times and held the Blue Devils to just 5 of 17 on third down. OCT. 22: FSU 41, MARYLAND 16 A well-oiled offense and a high- pressure defense at home against a struggling Maryland program, which was 2-4 entering the contest, restored FSU's confidence. Manuel helped the Noles, playing in Tallahassee for the first time in more than a month, earn their sec- www.BLUEANDGOLD.com ond straight win with 264 yards and one touchdown on 18-of-26 pass- ing. Freeman and senior Jermaine Thomas closed the game out on the ground. In his first start, Freeman finished with 100 yards rushing and a score on just 11 carries. Thomas, battling chronic migraines since fall camp, barely played leading up to the game, but he pounded the Ter- rapins for 86 yards and a TD. OCT. 29: FSU 34, NC STATE 0 The 4-3 Wolfpack and dynamic defensive back David Amerson, who boasted a national-best eight interceptions at the time, came to visit with plans of derailing Florida State's newfound swagger and failed miserably. Manuel threw for 321 yards and two touchdowns on 25-of-34 passing, with one pick. His 25 completions were a career high. The FSU defense held NC State to a total of 166 yards on 62 plays. NOV. 3: FSU 38, BOSTON COLLEGE 7 The thumping in Chestnut Hill, Mass., made Florida State bowl eli- gible for the 30th consecutive sea- son with a 6-3 overall record and 4-2 mark in ACC play. The Seminoles held the Eagles to just 207 yards of offense and 5-of-15 on third-down conversions. The Seminoles forced four turn- overs — two fumbles on top of in- terceptions by sophomore defensive end Bjoern Werner and sophomore linebacker Telvin Smith. NOV. 12: FSU 23, MIAMI 19 FSU led 23-7 with 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter, but the Hur- ricanes (5-5, 3-4 Atlantic Coast Con- ference) used two separate 80-yard scoring drives to make it 23-19. Mi- ami failed on a two-point conver- sion attempt on the first score and botched the snap on the extra point try on the second. With just 1:24 re- maining, freshman tight end Nick O'Leary jumped and caught the on- side kick attempt to secure the win for the Seminoles (7-3, 5-2). Dustin Hopkins converted three field goals and junior cornerback Greg Reid's 83-yard punt return late in the second quarter helped the Noles offset a poor defensive per- formance. Punter Shawn Powell av- eraged 54.8 yards per kick on five attempts. NOV. 19: VIRGINIA 14, NO. 23 FSU 13 Hopkins missed a 43-yard field goal in the final seconds of FSU's final home game. After holding the Cavaliers (8-3, 5-2 ACC) to 241 yards of total offense through 58 minutes, the Seminoles allowed Virginia to score the game-winning touchdown on a 10-yard run by Kevin Parks to cap a 37-second, 75-yard drive in the final minutes. Sophomore defensive end Bjoern Werner and the Seminoles lost a shot at a 10-win season when they couldn't take down Virginia Nov. 19, falling 14-13. PHOTO BY COLIN HACKLEY A solid return and a Virginia pen- alty put FSU at the enemy's 30-yard line to set up the dramatic kick. FSU was penalized 11 times for 94 yards, and Manuel finished 18-of- 23 passing for 200 yards with one touchdown and a fumble that lead to a Perry Jones' second-quarter score. NOV. 26: FSU 21, FLORIDA 7 The Seminoles offense gained just 95 yards, but was bailed out by a defense that produced four intercep- tions and held the Gators to only 184 yards at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla. The first two picks led to FSU scores and the third, by Terrance Parks, was returned 29 yards for a touchdown for a 21-0 lead in the fourth quarter. ✦ JANUARY 2012 37