North Carolina State University Athletics
#1 Florida State hands NC State first Defeat
9/18/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
TALAHASSEE, Fla. (September 18) -- NC State coach Mike O'Cain knew his team would need to play a near perfect game to beat top ranked Florida State Saturday night. Needless to say, the perfection he was hoping for never materialized. The Seminoles turned six Wolfpack turnovers into 25 points in route to a 42-11 victory before a sell-out crowd of over 80,000 fans at Doak Campbell Stadium.
While quarterback Chris Weinke and wide receiver Peter Warwick put together solid games, the offensive star for Florida State was kicker Sebastian Janikowski, who booted five field goals. Janikowski's booming kickoffs also had the Pack (3-1) backed up all night. NC State started just one drive beyond the 20-yard line.
"What it does (the bad field position) is make it very difficult to drive the football the length of the field everytime," said O'Cain. "To take it 80-yards against those guys and go four or five yards a clip is a very difficult thing to do. You've got to get some big plays in the passing game and we weren't able to do that like we were the last couple of years."
The Seminoles (3-0) put relentless pressure on Wolfpack quarterback Jamie Barnette, who threw four interceptions to go along with a fumble which led to a touchdown in his own endzone.
After the teams played to a 3-3 tie in the first quarter, Florida State broke out on top for good when fullback Dan Kendra capped a 51-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown plunge.
It was at that time that FSU's defense started to seize control. NC State could muster only 17 yards of total offense in the second period. Three more Janikowski field goals gave the Seminoles an 18-3 advantage at the half.
Florida State tried top put the game away with an 11 play, 68-yard drive to open the third quarter. Travis Minor's two-yard sweep around right end gave the Seminoles a 25-3 advantage.
The Pack then answered with an 83-yard march. Rahshon Spikes ended things by taking it in from the three. A two-point conversion off a fake extra point attempt pulled NC State back to within 14 at 25-11. The Wolfpack's touchdown drive was aided by four Florida State penalties for 30 yards.
"I was pleased with everything except for the penalties," said Florida State coach Bobby Bowden. "We will not beat some of the people on our schedule with that many penalties. We had so many penalties it's ridiculous."
For the game, the Seminoles were penalized 11 times for 104 yards. But NC State had 11 penalties for 71 yards.
After pulling to within two scores, NC State's hopes were dashed when Barnette's fumble in the endzone was recovered by defensive end Jamal Reynolds for a touchdown. Rover Abdual Howard's 47 yard interception return accounted for FSU's final touchdown in the fourth quarter.
On the day, Florida State had 378 yards of total offense to only 238 for NC State. Weinke, who threw six interceptions in FSU's 24-7 loss last year in Raleigh, was 23-39 for 223 yards with two interceptions. Nine of Weinke's pass attempts were caught by the All-American Warwick.
With Ray Robinson (ankle) wearing street clothes, Eric Leak made the surprise start at tailback for NC State. A toe injury ended his day after only one carry. The next option was Spikes, who rushed for a respectable 89 yards on 21 carries.
Perhaps the best news for NC State was that Barnette was able to walk off the field with his health in tact. The senior quarterback, who connected on 10 of 25 passes for 129 yards, was punished by Florida State's unrelenting defensive line most of the day.
"We were beat by a better football team today," conceded O'Cain. "As bad as this thing looks right now, I'm encouraged. This was our first big test defensively and I think we rose to the occasion. There were some little things we didn't do on offense. We didn't throw and catch the ball well, but they cause that. When you're having to get back there and throw the football quickly, it forces you to make some bad throws."
Now that Florida State is out of the way, NC State will begin the rest of its season with a trip to Wake Forest next week. Eight more games, and no more Noles. That has a good ring to it if you're a Wolfpack fan.
