Steve Gregory picked off his second pass of the season in the first quarter.
#6/7 Florida State Defeats Orange, 38-14
10/1/2005 4:19:28 PM | Football
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Syracuse Orange lost to #6/7 Florida State, 38-14, this afternoon at Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium in front of 83,717 spectators, the largest crowd to see an SU football game since Sept. 1, 2001 at Tennessee.
Quarterback Perry Patterson went 14-of-25 for 189 yards with one touchdown and one interception and tailback Damien Rhodes had 119 yards of total offense, including 70 yards receiving.
For the Seminoles, Drew Weatherford completed 17-of-26 for 234 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. Xavier Lee threw for 162 yards on just 5-of-10 passing. Chris Davis had four catches for 89 yards and a touchdown, while Willie Reed caught five passes for 70 yards and a score.
On Florida State’s first possession of the game, it faced a third-and-14 situation around midfield. Freshman quarterback Drew Weatherford stepped back in the pocket, but tossed a ball right into the hands of senior Steve Gregory for his second interception of the season.
On the ensuing drive for SU, which began at the SU 46-yard line, the Orange faced fourth-and-four near midfield. Junior quarterback Perry Patterson dropped back to pass, but the pocket broke, and he eluded a couple of Seminole defenders. After he passed the first down marker, Patterson was hit, and the ball popped out. Roger Williams recovered the ball at the 13-yard line. It was the first fumble that SU has lost all season.
Late in the quarter, Weatherford threw down the field, and Gregory dove to try to intercept his second pass of the game. The ball bounced off Gregory and into the hands of Willie Reed, who snatched the ball from midair and ran to the end zone for a 43-yard touchdown reception to give FSU a 7-0 lead with 1:10 left in the quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, Kareem Jones was hit and fumbled the ball, and Florida State recovered on SU’s 25-yard line. Florida State quickly took advantage of the SU turnover, driving down to the one-yard line. After a first down run was stopped at the line, Weatherford leaped over the line and gave Florida State a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Later in the quarter, the Seminoles got the ball at their own 26-yard line. A 56-yard pass to Chris Davis drove FSU down to the Orange 20-yard line, and then a 47-yard field goal by Gary Cismesia gave Florida State a 17-0 lead with 9:07 left in the first half.
After FSU's Kyler Hall intercepted a Patterson pass, senior James Wyche knocked the ball loose from Seminole running back Lorenzo Booker on a run, and Kellen Pruitt jumped on the ball to give SU the ball back. The Orange was unable to capitalize on the turnover, and Florida State went into the locker room with a 17-0 advantage.
The Seminoles opened the second in half with a 10-play, 84-yard drive, capped by a touchdown reception by Chris Davis. FSU drove down the field with the help of 24 rushing yards from Booker. A Weatherford completion, followed by a roughing the passer call advanced the ball into the red zone and set up Davis for the 15-yard score, to give Florida State a 24-0 lead with a little more than 10 minutes left in the third quarter.
The Orange put up its first points of the game with 6:58 left in the third quarter. SU got the ball on the Seminole 34-yard line after a punt. Patterson found junior Stephen McDonald for the first catch of his career for 12 yards and a first down to the FSU 22. A screen pass to Rhodes went for 13 yards, and junior Tim Lane also caught a pass for eight yards. A pass interference call in the end zone gave SU the ball at the two-yard line, and Patterson bootlegged to the left for the first points of the game. The seven points were the first Florida State allowed in the second half all season.
In the first play of the final quarter, Weatherford found Booker in the secondary, who outran the SU defense and scampered for a 71-yard touchdown reception. The score put FSU back up by 24, 31-7.
Florida State added to the score with 6:12 left in the game to make the score 38-7. Freshman Xavier Lee found Kenny O’Neal down the left sideline for 75-yard reception down to the SU 11. Lamar Lewis then pounded the ball into the end zone to give the Seminoles a 31-point lead.
SU responded to that score with a touchdown of its own. Kareem Jones caught a pass for 19 yards, and Lane caught another one for 25 yards down to the FSU 30-yard line. Patterson then found Nick Chestnut for his first career-catch and touchdown to make the score 38-14.
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