SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 29, 2012
No. 4 Florida State 30, South Florida 17: EJ Manuel threw for 242 yards and a touchdown, while Florida State turned up its defensive pressure in the third quarter to pull away from host South Florida.
Manuel was 19-for-26, including a 1-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Haplea that gave the Seminoles (5-0) a 20-10 lead with 5:09 left in the third quarter.
Florida State’s defense limited South Florida (2-3) to 11 yards in the third quarter. With Bulls starting quarterback B.J. Daniels out for a play with an injury, Cornellius Carradine sacked backup Matt Floyd on third down and forced a fumble. Christian Jones scooped up it up and ran 12 yards to give the Seminoles a 30-10 lead as the third quarter ended.
The Bulls had pulled within 13-10 early in the second half when Tashon Whitehurst’s blocked punt set up a Daniels 1-yard touchdown run. Daniels, who helped beat Florida State 17-7 at Tallahassee in the teams' only other meeting in 2009, had 215 yards of total offense and two touchdowns.
Receiver Rashad Greene’s 10-yard end-around gave Florida State the lead for good at 7-3 with 8:57 left in the first quarter. The Seminoles outgained the Bulls 231-162 in the first half, but could only add a pair of Dustin Hopkins field goals for a 13-3 halftime lead.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The announced crowd was 69,383, a South Florida record and the largest non-Super Bowl crowd at Raymond James Stadium. … Daniels passed Patrick White of West Virginia to move into second place in Big East history in overall offensive plays. … Florida State held South Florida’s leading receiver Andre Davis to one catch for three yards.