Manuel, No. 4 Florida St. impressive in win over tenth-ranked Clemson

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — EJ Manuel knew that Florida State's offense had a tough job to do, keeping pace with Clemson's face-paced and potent attack.

Slowed by a costly fumble and two missed field goals in the first half, the fourth-ranked Seminoles used a 35-3 run in a 20-minute span of the second half Saturday night to remain unbeaten with a 49-37 win over 10th-ranked Clemson.

"We just knew we had to keep scoring points to help our defense out," Manuel said. "Those guys (Clemson), they could throw up 50 points easily."

The biggest Atlantic Coast Conference game in years was a wild one for a while before Manuel put the Seminoles' offense into high gear to run away.

The Seminoles (4-0, 2-0) have emerged as national contenders for the first time in a long time, since Bobby Bowden was directing Florida State in the early 2000s, and Manuel will likely start showing up prominently on more than a few Heisman Trophy watch lists.

Clemson (3-1, 0-1) built a 28-14 lead early in the third quarter on a 52-yard pass from All-American receiver Sammy Watkins to Andre Ellington before the Seminole explosion.

"The game got away from us. . . . We have to stay focused," Clemson's Andre Ellington said.

The two teams combined for 1,093 yards offense as Clemson put up 426 yards against the nation's top-ranked defense.

Manuel was brilliant, completing 27 of 35 passes for a career-high 380 yards while rushing for another 102 to become the first Seminole quarterback since Charlie Ward in 1992 to pass for more than 300 yards and run for over 100 in a game.

"They were mixing up looks and bringing in blitzes from everywhere and he made plays when he had to," said Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher, in his third season as Bowden's successor. "I don't remember him making a bad decision all night."

Manuel got plenty of help from the tailback tandem of Chris Thompson and James Wilder Jr., who each scored twice and accounted for 168 more rushing yards with Thompson's 103 giving him 300 in two ACC games.

"We couldn't stop the run," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. "Right there at the end, the momentum change late in the third quarter going into the fourth quarter, we just weren't able to turn it back."

Florida State trailed until late in the third quarter, taking its first lead at 35-31 on Manuel's 29-yard touchdown pass to Rodney Smith. The Seminoles, who finished with 667 yards, built a 49-31 lead before Clemson scored late.

No. 1 Alabama 40, Florida Atlantic 7: In Tuscaloosa, Alabama, AJ McCarron threw three touchdown passes, including an early 85-yarder to Kenny Bell, and No. 1 Alabama routed Florida Atlantic.

Eddie Lacy rushed for 106 yards in the first half for the Crimson Tide (4-0), which rolled to 134 consecutive points and two shutouts before allowing a late touchdown.

No. 2 LSU 12, Auburn 10: In Auburn, Alabama, Sam Montgomery and the LSU defense delivered a first-quarter safety and shut out Auburn in the second half.

No. 5 Georgia 48, Vanderbilt 3: In Athens, Georgia, Aaron Murray completed his first 12 passes and No. 5 Georgia finally got off to a good start, blowing out Vanderbilt before halftime.

Murray hooked up with Tavarres King and Marlon Brown on touchdown throws, breaking a tie with Eric Zeier for second place in school history.

No. 15 Kansas St. 24, Oklahoma 19: In Norman, Oklahoma, John Hubert ran for 130 yards and a touchdown, Jarell Childs scooped up a fumble and returned it for a score and the Wildcats beat the Sooners.

Collin Klein picked up 228 yards of total offense and ran for the go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter in a solid performance that outshined an error-filled night by Sooners quarterback Landry Jones.

No. 7 South Carolina 31, Missouri 10: In Columbia, Connor Shaw completed 20 straight passes and threw for two touchdowns and Marcus Lattimore ran for two scores as South Carolina manhandled Missouri.

Shaw missed his first pass to Lattimore on the game's first series, then hit his final 20 for the Gamecocks (2-0 SEC).

No. 8 West Virginia 31, Maryland 21: In Morgantown, West Virginia, Doug Rigg returned a fumble 51 yards for West Virginia and Tavon Austin had another remarkable game against his home-state Terrapins.

The Baltimore native caught 13 passes for 179 yards and set a school record for career receptions.

No. 11 Notre Dame 13, No.18 Michigan 6: In South Bend, Indiana, Manti Te'o had two interceptions as No. 11 Notre Dame picked off five Michigan passes and backup quarterback Tommy Rees sparked the Fighting Irish offense in a 13-6 win over the 18th-ranked Wolverines Saturday night.

Denard Robinson, who amassed 948 yards of total offense in victories over the Irish in the past two years, wasn't as effective this time as the Irish repeatedly forced him into mistakes. He threw four interceptions in the first half, then lost a fumble at the Notre Dame 8-yard line on the first drive of the second half.

View the original article here