Florida State defeats Wake Forest 24-16

Florida State headed to Wake Forest for their second straight road ACC game and came away with a 24-16 victory, improving to 4-0 on the season.

Starting from the first FSU drive of the game, it was evident the receiver's problems catching the ball did not improve. The Noles went three and out, including drops by Travis Rudolph and Bobo Wilson that would have given them a first down. After getting the ball back, Dalvin Cook took matters into his own hands and put Florida State on the board with a 94-yard touchdown run, the third longest in school history. Wake Forest was able to add a field goal on their next trip down the field, the first points given up by the FSU defense in the first quarter all year. Before the quarter could end, Dalvin Cook came up holding his hamstring, and was taken out for the rest of the game.

The Seminoles got on the board early in the second quarter after a Jonathan Vickers touchdown run, capping a 76-yard drive. It was Vickers first rushing touchdown of his Florida State career. The defense continued to struggle, allowing Wake Forest to answer with a 73-yard drive of their own, ending in a touchdown, closing the gap to 14-10. Wake Forest was looking to put up some points before the half ended, but Florida State put an end to that with a sack by DeMarcus Walker forcing a fumble that was recovered by Josh Sweat.

Coming off of a shutout victory against Boston College, the Florida State defense surrendered 190 total yards to Wake Forest in the first half. The offense was only ably to muster 186 yards with more than half of that total coming from Dalvin Cook's 94-yard touchdown run.

Kermit Whitfield put the Seminoles in great position after an explosive 57-yard kickoff return to open the second half, a hint of what was to come from the Florida State offense. It was also Whitfield who closed the drive with a 5-yard touchdown reception from Everett Golson to put the Noles up 21-10. It seemed as Golson had his typical second-half form and on the very next drive completed a 51-yard pass to Bobo Wilson, leading to a Roberto Aguayo field goal. After throwing for just 79 yards in the first half, Golson threw for 115 yards in the third quarter.

Wake Forest tacked on two field goals in the fourth quarter after the struggling FSU defense gave up drives of 74 and 59 yards respectively. Things got interesting when Wake Forest was driving down the field with less than a minute left, getting all the way to the Florida State 20 before Tyler Hunter made the game winning interception.

The loss of Dalvin Cook took a toll on the rushing offense of Florida State, as they were only able to record 35 rushing yards after Cook departed from his two rush 94-yard performance due to injury. The wide receivers struggled early, dropping four total passes in the first quarter but were able to gather their composure from there on out. The offense as a whole seemed to come together early in the second half as they usually do, Everett Golson finished strong, ending the day 20-31 with 202 yards and one touchdown. He did not throw an interception for the fourth straight game. Bobo Wilson and Travis Rudolph combined for 11 receptions and 146 of the 331 total yards of offense by Florida State. Despite the very successful third quarter offense, FSU rebounded by having a total of negative eight yards in the fourth.

After allowing 190 yards in the first half, the Seminoles defense did not improve a whole lot going forward. In total, they allowed four drives of at least 59 yards including 357 total yards. Trey Marshall led the defense with 11 tackles as DeMarcus Walker added 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble. After a fortunate health situation for the defense up to this game, Terrance Smith and Nate Andrews did not return after getting injured in the first quarter.

The Noles had 10 penalties on the day, several questionable, which resulted in 100 yards and five first downs for Wake Forest.

Florida State will prepare to play in-state rival Miami next Saturday at Doak Campbell Stadium.