The real spotlight on the Seminoles will come to life this Saturday when they host 20th-ranked Wake Forest in what will be their first game not against an actual Football Bowl Subdivision team. Starting quarterback Christian Ponder completed 13-of-22 passes for 180 yards and three touchdowns, and former Lee County star D’Vontrey Richardson broke the school record for longest QB touchdown run again with a 55-yard scramble, and finished with 38 yards net rushing.
That’s not all, though.
Richardson also passed for 117 yards on 9-of-14 attempts and a 36-yard score.
After beating Chattanooga, which was the second Football Championship Subdivision team (formerly 1-AA) in a row for Florida State (it beat Western Carolina, 69-0, last Saturday), the so-called “preseason” is over.
Much more is at stake next weekend, such as a likely return to the top 25 and a statement win as the Seminoles try to possibly stay on track for their first ACC title since 2005.
But nine dropped passes Saturday, combined with various missed assignments and four fumbles (only one was lost), did not have Bowden totally elated.
“(Saturday’s) game was very much like last week’s game except we did not execute,” said Bowden, who remains tied with Penn State’s Joe Paterno (his team beat Syracuse, 55-13, Saturday) for the honor of major college football’s winningest coach at 375 victories. “Last week, we just nearly executed perfect. É Didn’t mean a whole lot because you’re playing 1-AA schools except it was a win.”
When there were breakdowns amid substitutes, Richardson was there to pick it up early in the third quarter. With the Seminoles already leading, 32-7, he pump-faked and shook off a defender on his way to his fourth touchdown this season, eclipsing the 52-yarder last week which— at the time — was recognized as the school’s longest quarterback TD run since at least 1967.
“Well that’s good, there,” Bowden said. “That’s something we can build there. We have to look into our offense and surely work out some more runs for him. His talent is showing.”
For the past two weeks, the rotation between Ponder and Richardson has been the same, with Richardson first taking the field early in the third quarter. With less than five minutes in the game, Richardson found Bert Reed on a 36-yard touchdown.
“(Offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher) called it in the huddle and I was a little nervous,” Richardson said. “In practice, I never complete that pass. I had struggled but I went out there in pocket with poise and tried to connect with him.”
Richardson’s passing touchdown was complemented with an extra-point kick by former Lee County teammate James Esco. Esco, a walk-on, entered the game because starter Zach Hobby had struggled, missing on 2-of-3 attempts and missing his second point-after kick since the season began.
“It was pretty exciting, it was fun, different,” Esco said. “Somebody told me at halftime that I might go in and do an extra point, so I was getting warmed up and went with it and it worked all right.”
Florida State star receiver Preston Parker will return against Wake Forest after serving a two-game suspension, and he will likely have some heavy competition from Corey Surrency, who led the ’Noles with 87 yards and two touchdowns on three catches. In all, either Ponder or Richardson completed passes to nine different receivers.
But players and coaches kept the win in perspective. After all, the opponent was Chattanooga, and the Seminoles are still dealing with plenty of youth while waiting for other players to finish serving their three-game suspension that includes the Wake Forest game for their involvement in a music-online course scandal. The school revealed late Friday the NCAA did not find any other violations, but that still doesn’t keep FSUl from having to attend an October hearing for possible further sanctions.
“(Saturday’s win) definitely gave us a confidence boost in how we were able to move the offense and show how many playmakers we have on this team,” Ponder said. “The new guys got some more time. Now we look forward to Wake Forest who will really bring a fight.”
