NC State shakes off Florida State to set-up showdown against Wake Forest
TALLAHASSEE — Road trips to Florida have been anything but easy this season. At least this time, the Wolfpack will return to Raleigh with a win and their ACC title game hopes intact.
After a loss to Miami two weeks ago, N.C. State (7-2, 4-1 ACC) left the Sunshine State with a 28-14 win over Florida State on Saturday, surviving a comeback attempt from a Seminoles team battling through a campus-wide flu and another losing season.
It was the Wolfpack who barely avoided leaving Doak Campbell Stadium with a sick feeling in their stomach.
A comfortable 14-0 halftime lead and turned into a dogfight in the second half as the Seminoles (3-6, 2-4 ACC) rallied behind backup quarterback McKenzie Milton.
FSU scored 14 points in the third quarter while a 45-yard pass from Devin Leary to Trent Pennix allowed the Wolfpack to maintain a 21-14 lead.
Leary's 43-yard touchdown to Ricky Person on a third-and-10 screen pass in the fourth quarter was enough to put the game away.
The win sets up next week's showdown against Wake Forest with first place in the ACC Atlantic Division on the line.
The No. 10 Demon Deacons (8-1, 5-0) dropped their first game of the season Saturday with a 58-55 loss to UNC that only counted towards their overall record.
'Monkey off his back'
Leary's streak of six games without an interception came to an end against Florida State, although it's hard to blame the redshirt sophomore.
Leary was asked the heave the ball 50 yards on the final play of the second half, a pass that was intercepted by Jammie Robinson at the goal line with no time left on the clock.
"It gets the monkey off Leary's back," Doeren said to the ACC Network television broadcast at halftime.
It ended a streak of nearly 27 quarters without an interception for Leary, who had thrown for 20 touchdowns and no picks since a Week 2 loss against Mississippi State.
So many options at receiver
It was still another impressive performance from Leary, who threw for over 300 yards for the third straight game. It was also the third time this season he's thrown for four touchdowns in a game.
Leary connected on touchdowns of 62, 8, 45 and 43 yards to four different receivers. Eight receivers caught a pass against FSU, with Porter Rooks finishing with a career-high five catches for 39 yards.
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Five receivers — Rooks, Chris Toudle, Trent Pennix, CJ Riley and Person — finished with at least 40 yards receiving with Pennix leading the team with 97 yards.
Emeka Emezie (42 catches) and Thayer Thomas (37) have been Leary's favorite targets this season, but the duo finished with three catches for 11 yards.
Defensive injuries continue to mount
N.C. State's defense has already lost four starters this season.
It might have lost two more for the foreseeable future.
Before the start of Saturday's game, defensive back Tyler Baker-Williams was ruled out with an undisclosed injury, putting freshman Joshua Pierre-Louis in at his spot.
Louis had a first-quarter interception against Milton.
Defensive end Savion Jackson also suffered an injury in the first quarter against FSU and was seen on the sideline wearing street clothes with a brace on his left knee.
It didn't seem to bother the Wolfpack defense, which held FSU to -1 yards rushing in the first half and three first downs. NC State held the Seminoles offense to 44 rushing yards in the win.
FSU's offense, however, found its stride in the third quarter, scoring 14 points on 113 total yards.
Flu takes FSU's QB1 out
The flu that has spread throughout the Florida State football team forced the Seminoles to make a change at quarterback before kickoff.
Milton, a redshirt senior, got the start replacing redshirt sophomore Jordan Travis, who has started the past four games for the Seminoles.
It was reported the Travis was battling the same strain of influenza which had spread throughout the FSU campus this week and affected multiple players on FSU’s football team.
Seminoles coach Mike Norvell said earlier in the week that multiple players had been dealing with an illness.
It was Milton’s first game action since he started on Sept. 25th in a 31-23 loss to Louisville.
David Thompson is an award-winning reporter for the USA Today Network covering NC State and Duke athletics. He can be reached at dthompson1@gannett.com, at 828-231-1747, or on Twitter at @daveth89.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: NC State shakes off Florida State to set-up showdown against Wake Forest
