The Florida State Seminoles (2-3, 2-2) knocked off Duke (4-3, 1-3) 17-10 on Saturday afternoon in Durham, North Carolina.
Florida State struck first in this game, when James Blackman hit Auden Tate for a 20-yard touchdown strike with 8:31 to go in the first quarter. Duke answered with a 37-yard field goal from Austin Parker in the second quarter, and the game would go to halftime with the Seminoles leading 7-3.
In the third quarter Ricky Aguayo made his only field goal attempt to push the Seminoles lead to 10-3, but Duke answered on the very next drive with a seven play, 75 yard drive that was highlighted by a 57-yard pass from Daniel Jones to T.J. Rahming for Duke's longest pass play of the season. Brittain Brown finished the drive by running in a nine-yard touchdown run with 2:12 to go in the third quarter to tie the game at 10-10.
In the fourth quarter Cam Akers broke free for a 42-yard touchdown run with 8:23 to go that gave the Seminoles the 17-10 lead that would prove to be the difference. The Blue Devils threatened in the final minutes of the game, driving the ball down to the FSU 30 yard line before a last ditch effort was broken up in the end zone by Ermon Lane.
James Blackman finished 18-for-21 with 197 yards passing with a touchdown and two interceptions playing quarterback for Florida State. True freshman Cam Akers rushed for 115 yards to lead all rushers with a touchdown, while Nyqwan Murray had 81 yards receiving to lead the Seminoles passing game. For Duke, Duke Jones went 22-for-35 with 204 yards passing, with T.J. Rahming as his favorite target. Rahming finished with 111 yards receiving to lead the game.
Florida State returns home next Saturday when they play host to Lousville on Saturday afternoon. Kickoff from Tallahassee is set for 12 PM.