TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Criticized for conservative
play calling after blowing a 16-point lead last week, Florida State
went to the air from the get-go Saturday and didn't let
up.
EJ Manuel threw for a career-high 439 yards and
four touchdowns and kicker Dustin Hopkins became the Atlantic Coast
Conference's career scoring leader as the 12th-ranked Seminoles
rebounded from their first loss of the season with a 51-7 victory over
Boston College.
Manuel, who completed 27 of 34 passes
before leaving early in the fourth quarter with a 48-7 lead, had little
to say afterward, though he was quite happy.
"I was
ready to go," Manuel said. "We made sure everybody came back with a
punch."
Florida State (6-1, 3-1 ACC) didn't waste any
time shaking off last week's 17-16 loss at North Carolina State,
rolling to a 28-0 lead midway through the second quarter before Boston
College (1-5, 0-3) scored its touchdown on Chase Rettig's 18-yard pass
to Bobby Swigert.
"Some teams can't bounce back,"
said Florida State running back James Wilder Jr., who caught two of
Manuel's scoring throws. "We just made sure we didn't have that taste in
our mouth anymore."
"I thought our kids did a great
job all week of putting that last game behind them," Florida State coach
Jimbo Fisher said. "Not letting it drag on. We executed very
well."
And that was exactly what Boston College coach
Frank Spaziani had feared coming into the
game.
"They got annoyed that they got a little
conservative last week and they weren't about to do that," Spaziani
said. "They were going to attack and they were in an attack mode right
from the beginning."
Manuel threw six straight passes
on the opening 99-yard drive without once going to the run. He passed
for 295 yards and three touchdowns in the first half
alone.
Boston College drove to the Florida State
1-yard line one on the opening drive of the game, but couldn't score,
stopped twice only inches from the goal line.
"I
don't know if that's going to be a difference in the game, but it
certainly sets a little different tone," Spaziani
said.
It didn't take the Seminoles long to get to the
other end.
Kenny Shaw raced 77 yards with a Manuel
pass to cap Florida State's drive. Shaw caught the pass near midfield
and outran two BC defenders down the left sideline for the touchdown. He
had two catches for 125 yards and teammate Rodney Smith had nine
receptions for 108 yards and has now caught at least one pass in 32
straight games.
Kelvin Benjamin also caught a scoring
pass and Lonnie Pryor had two touchdowns on short
runs.
Florida State added 201 yards rushing. Devonta
Freeman had 70 and Chris Thompson ran for 68.
Hopkins
passed the previous league scoring record of 393 points with a 51-yard
field goal that gave the Seminoles a 31-7 halftime
lead.
"I didn't know until after it happened,"
Hopkins said. "I'm just humbled by the whole
thing."
Hopkins boosted his career total to 402
points and now stands fifth on the NCAA scoring list. He also erased a
pair of Florida State career marks that stood for 25 years, both
previously held by Derrick Schmidt. Hopkins' 75 field goals are five shy
of the ACC mark held by former Maryland kicker Nick Novak, who was the
league's previous scoring leader.
Rettig, who came
into the game averaging 306.2 yards passing, managed 122 against the
ACC's top defense.
"It wasn't what we wanted, but we
were just trying to stay in it," Rettig said. "They made plays and we
didn't make enough."
Andre Williams ran for 104 yards
on 20 carries for the Eagles, who are at Georgia Tech next
Saturday.
Florida State visits longtime nemesis Miami
next weekend.
And the Seminoles players have no
plans to take the Hurricanes the least bit
lightly.
"You're always seven days away from being
humbled," Florida State's Lamarcus Joyner said. "Each game is going to
be a one game season."
