Florida State Closes Strong to Thwart Wake Forest

Drew Weatherford threw for 351 yards and three touchdowns as fourth-ranked Florida State blew open a close game with three quick scores in the final quarter to defeat Wake Forest, 41-24, in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Tallahassee, Fla., on Saturday.

Florida State (5-0, 3-0) rolled up 585 yards and 27 first downs, but its nationally ranked defense struggled all day against the pesky Demon Deacons. Though the Seminoles never trailed, they were in trouble heading into the last quarter.

Wake Forest (2-4, 1-2) closed to 20-17 on the final play of the third quarter on a 31-yard touchdown run by Chris Barclay, the ACC’s leading rusher who finished with 125 yards against a rush defense that was ranked sixth nationally.

But the Seminoles scored three touchdowns in the next nine minutes to take a 41-17 lead.

Weatherford, who completed 20 of 31 passes, also scored on a one-yard run that gave Florida State a 7-0 lead.

Florida State’s victory came with a price. The Seminoles lost senior guard Matt Meinrod, possibly their best offensive lineman, when he broke his fibula and dislocated the ankle on his left leg in the third quarter.

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In other ACC games: Kyle Wright threw for three touchdowns in a five-minute span of the second quarter, helping No. 9 Miami (4-1, 2-1) shake off a slow start and roll to a 52-7 win over visiting Duke (1-5, 0-3). Tyrone Moss ran for 82 yards and a pair of touchdowns for Miami, which established season highs for points and yards. Ryan Moore made a career-high seven catches for 87 yards and a touchdown.... Quinton Porter threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns, and linebacker Brian Toal scored on a pair of one-yard dives to give No. 18 Boston College (5-1, 2-1) a 28-17 win over visiting Virginia (3-2, 1-2). The Eagles won despite missing three field-goal attempts and being penalized 11 times for 111 yards.

BIG EAST

Steve Slaton ran for a career-high 139 yards and one touchdown to help West Virginia (5-1, 2-0) to a 27-14 win over Rutgers (3-2, 1-1) at Piscataway, N.J. Jason Gwaltney had 57 yards rushing for West Virginia, which finished with 236 yards on the ground and defeated Rutgers for the 11th straight time.... Special teams set up a touchdown with a blocked punt and scored on Darrelle Revis’ 79-yard punt return to lead Pittsburgh (2-4, 1-1) to a 38-20 win over visiting Cincinnati (2-3, 0-1), making its conference debut.

CONFERENCE USA

Bobby Chase caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from Jerad Romo as time expired to give Southern Methodist (2-4, 1-2) a stunning 28-27 victory over host Alabama Birmingham (3-2, 1-1). Romo, who completed 30 of 43 passes for 333 yards, moved the ball 80 yards in the last 22 seconds for the winning score.... Steven Moffett passed for 290 yards and three touchdowns to lead resurgent Central Florida (3-2, 2-0) to a 38-17 win over Memphis (2-3, 1-2) at Orlando, Fla.... James Pinkney passed for three touchdowns and a career-high 355 yards to lead East Carolina (2-3, 1-1) to a 41-28 win over Rice (0-4, 0-2) at Greenville, N.C. Rice has lost 10 in a row.... Ryan Gilbert rushed for 130 yards and scored three touchdowns -- one on a 42-yard passing play and one on a 42-yard run -- to lead Houston (3-2, 2-1) to a 35-14 win over Tulane (2-2, 1-1) at Lafayette, La.... Quarterback Paul Smith ran for three touchdowns and passed for another to lead Tulsa (3-3, 2-1) to a 34-17 win over Southern Mississippi (2-2, 1-1) at Hattiesburg, Miss.

MID-AMERICAN

Brian Jackson’s 30-yard field goal in the fifth overtime ended the longest game in conference history, giving Ball State (1-4, 1-1) a 60-57 win over Western Michigan (3-3, 1-2) at Kalamazoo, Mich. The teams combined for 1,090 yards of total offense and 16 touchdowns in a game that took four hours to complete. It was the longest NCAA game this season, but fell two overtimes short of the NCAA record.... Omar Jacobs threw for 381 yards and two touchdowns and B.J. Lane ran for two scores in the second half to help Bowling Green (3-2, 2-0) to a 38-14 win over Ohio (2-3, 1-1) at Bowling Green, Ohio.... Brett Biggs ran for a touchdown and Jason Swiger kicked a pair of field goals as Akron (3-2, 2-1) scored all its points in the fourth quarter for a 13-7 win over Buffalo (0-5, 0-2) at Amherst, N.Y.... Trinity Dawson rushed for 159 yards and a touchdown to help Toledo (4-1, 2-0) to a 30-3 win over Eastern Michigan (3-3, 2-1) at Toledo, Ohio.

MOUNTAIN WEST

Kyle Bell scored on a 49-yard touchdown run with 5:05 left, then Colorado State (3-2, 2-0) stonewalled Utah (3-3, 1-2) on the goal line on three straight plays with less than a minute left for a 21-17 win at Fort Collins, Colo.... Sergio Aguayo equaled his career best set earlier in the game with a 52-yard field goal with 13 seconds left to give Nevada Las Vegas (2-4, 1-2) a 13-10 win over San Diego State (2-4, 1-2) at Las Vegas.... Robert Henson returned a fumble 22 yards for a touchdown to pace Texas Christian (5-1, 3-0) to a 28-14 win over Wyoming (4-2, 2-1) at Laramie, Wyo.... John Beck threw for 371 yards, including the game-winning 23-yard pass to Matt Allen with 1:40 left as Brigham Young (2-3, 1-2) rallied for a 27-24 win over New Mexico (3-3, 1-2) at Albuquerque.

WESTERN ATHLETIC

Paul Pinegar threw two touchdown passes in the first quarter and later ran for another score to lead Fresno State (3-1, 1-0) to a 37-7 win over New Mexico State (0-6, 0-2) at Las Cruces, N.M. Fresno State, which built a 17-0 lead, held New Mexico State to 195 yards of total offense.... B.J. Mitchell rushed for 149 yards and four touchdowns to lead Nevada (3-2, 2-0) to a 48-6 win over Idaho (1-5, 1-2) at Reno.... Kevin Robinson tied a school record with his third career punt return touchdown and caught two scoring passes to lead Utah State (2-2, 1-1) to a 24-17 victory over San Jose State (1-4, 0-2) at Logan, Utah.... Mark Dillard rushed for 155 yards and two touchdowns to lead Louisiana Tech (2-2, 2-0) to a 46-14 win over Hawaii (1-4, 1-2) at Ruston, La.

NONCONFERENCE

Brian Brohm threw for 304 yards and four touchdowns to lead No. 23 Louisville (4-1) to a 69-14 victory over North Carolina (2-3) at Louisville, Ky. It was the most points given up by North Carolina, surpassing a 66-0 loss to Virginia in 1912.... Mario Merrills ran for three touchdowns to lead Maryland (4-2) to a 38-7 victory over Temple (0-6) at Philadelphia.... Joey Bullen kicked a 46-yard field goal with 0.4 of a second left, capping a fourth-quarter comeback that carried Navy (2-2) to a 27-24 win over Air Force (2-4) at Annapolis, Md.... Kent Smith recovered his own fumble and scored on a two-yard run in the fourth quarter to give Central Michigan (3-3) a 14-10 victory over Army (0-5) at West Point, N.Y.... Lee Marks scored on a seven-yard touchdown run with 8:03 left to lift Boise State (3-2) to a 21-14 come-from-behind win over Portland State (3-3) at Boise, Idaho.