TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Wake Forest again got off to a fast start, but the young Deacons were unable to sustain their early pace and fell 43-3 to top-ranked Florida State on Saturday.
The Deacons scored first — as they had in each of their previous five games this season — and held the high-powered Seminoles offense in check for much of the first half before the floodgates opened.
Coach Dave Clawson of Wake Forest acknowledged those positives but took little solace in the final result.
“We're not in the moral-victory business,” Clawson said. “The thing that I am proud about our football team — week in and week out — is how hard they compete and how hard they play.”
Wake Forest's only score came on Mike Weaver's 36-yard field goal near the end of a sloppy first quarter to give the Deacons a 3-0 lead.
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Freshman John Wolford, returning to his home state, even outplayed Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston for the first 15 minutes. Wolford completed six of eight passes for 51 yards while Winston only three of seven for 29 yards in the first quarter.
“I guess you could take that as the one positive of the day, but it's a four-quarter game,” Wolford said. “You can't play good for one quarter and bad for three.”
Wake Forest's Merrill Noel intercepted a Winston pass and returned it 26 yards to the Florida State 34-yard line, but the ensuing drive ended when Wolford was sacked and fumbled. Four plays later, though, Wake Forest's Brandon Chubb recovered a Karlos Williams fumble to set up Weaver's field goal.
“We had a chip on our shoulder,” Chubb said. “A lot of our guys are from South Florida. It's a homecoming for almost half of our team.”
Florida State (5-0, 0-2 ACC) got on the board early in the second quarter when Roberto Aguayo kicked a 43-yard field goal, his first of five on the day.
Wake Forest (2-4, 0-2) still held FSU out of the end zone for all but 1:03 of the first half. But Winston scored on a 2-yard quarterback scramble and Aguayo added another field goal with just 3 seconds left in the half for a 13-3 Seminoles lead.
“The game started off the way we wanted it to defensively and offensively,” Chubb said. “We just have to put it together for four quarters.... We've got on the back of our workout shirts:' Finish.' Finish and man up. It's a positive that we can stop the No. 1 team in the country offensively and defensively, but you've got to finish it.”
Clawson pulled Wolford , who finished went 9 of 15 for 58 yards and an interception, toward the end of the third quarter in favor of sophomore Tyler Cameron.
“He's a freshman. He's a good player,” Clawson said. “I just think at times it helps to let him sit and watch a little bit."
Clawson also pointed out that Wake Forest's woeful running attack — 39 carries for 40 yards — didn't help Wolford.
“We're asking a young quarterback to do more than he should have to do,” Clawson said. “That always catches up with you. I think it's normal. He's competitive. He's a fighter and he wants to make a play and then he forced some plays.... That cost us points and led to points.”
Wolford, though, said he couldn't use the poor running game as an excuse.
“A lot of it's on me as quarterback; it's really where the whole thing starts,” he said.
“You can't really blame it on the run game. We've got to be better as a whole. It's not one specific person or a specific group of people.”
The Deacons now have lost three straight to the Seminoles by a combined score of 154-6.
Wake Forest will have an open week before a home game against Syracuse on Oct. 18.
WFU;3;0;0;0;—;3
FSU;0;13;17;13;—;43
First Quarter
WFU — FG Weaver 36, 1:20.
Second Quarter
FSU — FG Aguayo 43, 11:46.
FSU — Winston 2 run (Aguayo kick), 1:03.
FSU — FG Aguayo 40, :03.
Third Quarter
FSU — FG Aguayo 52, 12:08.
FSU — Pender 3 run (Aguayo kick), 5:10.
FSU — Northrup 31 fumble return (Aguayo kick), 4:55.
Fourth Quarter
FSU — FG Aguayo 42, 13:22.
FSU — Rudolph 59 pass from Winston (Aguayo kick), 9:10.
FSU — FG Aguayo 32, 4:53.
A — 82,327.
; WFU;FSU
First downs;10;23
Rushes-yards;39-40;33-171
Passing;86;304
Comp-Att-Int;13-22-1;24-41-1
Return Yards;36;46
Punts-Avg.;9-43.9;2-38.5
Fumbles-Lost;3-2;1-1
Penalties-Yards;7-62;5-48
Time of Possession;31:37;28:23
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WFU, Wortham 12-68, Reynolds 8-3, Crump 1-2, Cameron 2-2, Garside 1-0, Scott 1-(minus 5), Robinson 9-(minus 8), Wolford 5-(minus 22). FSU, Pender 5-70, K.Williams 10-48, Winston 8-36, R.Green 4-24, D.Cook 4-13, Maguire 1-(minus 4), Team 1-(minus 16).
PASSING — WFU, Wolford 9-15-1-58, Cameron 4-7-0-28. FSU, Winston 23-39-1-297, Maguire 1-2-0-7.
RECEIVING — WFU, Scott 4-28, B.Terry 3-27, Serigne 3-17, Jo.Williams 1-9, Robinson 1-5, Crump 1-0. FSU, Rudolph 4-66, Wilson 4-40, Greene 3-33, Lane 2-70, O'Leary 2-22, Pender 2-14, Haggins 1-18, D.Cook 1-14, Whitfield 1-9, C.Green 1-7, Izzo 1-7, K.Williams 1-4, Stevenson 1-0.