'Noles Knock Off Maryland 41-14, Win Atlantic Division Title
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Devonta Freeman ran for 148 yards and two touchdowns, Florida State's top-ranked defense lived up to its billing and the No. 10 Seminoles rolled past Maryland 41-14 Saturday to earn a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.
Florida State (10-1, 7-1) led 27-0 at halftime and cruised to its fifth straight victory. The Seminoles clinched the league's Atlantic Division title for the second time in three years and will play for its 13th ACC crown on Dec. 1.
EJ Manuel completed 17 of 23 passes for 144 yards and two scores to supplement a running game that gained 237 yards. In their previous game at Virginia Tech, the Seminoles were held to minus-15 yards rushing.
Operating against an injury-plagued Maryland team using a linebacker at quarterback, Florida State allowed 27 yards and three first downs before halftime and ended up giving up 170 yards — well below their nation's best average of 242.9 per game.
Were it not for a 42-yard touchdown pass from Shawn Petty to Kevin Dorsey with 25 seconds left, the Seminoles would have held the opposition under 10 points for the sixth time in 11 games.
The defeat formally ended any chance Maryland had of becoming bowl eligible. The Terrapins (4-7, 2-5) have dropped five straight, the last three by a collective 119-37 score.
Slideshow: 'Noles Knock Off Maryland
Maryland's skid coincides with the loss of its top four quarterbacks with season-ending injuries. Making his third straight start, Petty went 8 for 19 for 136 yards and two touchdowns but lost a fumble.
Any reasonable hope the Terrapins had of pulling off an upset vanished after the Seminoles scored two touchdowns in a 12-second span to take a 14-0 lead with less than six minutes elapsed.
Maryland won the toss, deferred and promptly yielded an 11-play, 61-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard run by Freeman. Levern Jacobs fumbled the subsequent kickoff, FSU recovered at the 10 and Manuel threw a first-down touchdown pass to tight end Nick O'Leary.
Late in the first quarter, Petty botched a handoff and the Seminoles recovered the fumble at the Maryland 32.
After 15 minutes, the Seminoles had a 111-18 advantage in total yardage. On the second play of the second quarter, Dustin Hopkins kicked a 26-yard field goal to make it 17-0 and set a Football Bowl Subdivision record for career points by a kicker (442). He added six more points to extend the mark to 448.
Florida State's next drive began with a 21-yard pass from Manuel to O'Leary and ended with a 40-yard field goal. Late in the half, Manuel directed a 70-yard march that ended with his 30-yard touchdown pass to Rashad Greene.
In the third quarter, Petty threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Dorsey on a fourth-down play. It was the final home game for Dorsey and 16 other Maryland seniors, all of whom never got the satisfaction of defeating a top-10 team.
Florida State went up 34-7 late in the third quarter. After Freeman ran for 47 yards on a third-and-1, he scored on the next play from the 2.
With Manuel and Freeman watching from the sideline, the Seminoles added a fourth-quarter touchdown on a 22-yard run by James Wilder Jr.
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