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 Stateกฏs 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 Whitehurstกฏs 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 Greeneกฏs 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. กญ Daniels passed Patrick White of West Virginia to move into second place in Big East history in overall offensive plays. กญ Florida State held South Floridaกฏs leading receiver Andre Davis to one catch for three yards.