No. 8 FSU rallies past Hokies 28-22
BY AP Wire Service
Friday, November 09, 2012
11/09/12 at 3:33 AM
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - E.J. Manuel hit Rashad Greene with a slant pass that Greene took 39 yards for a touchdown with 40 seconds to play, and No. 8 Florida State survived a scare to beat Virginia Tech 28-22 on Thursday night.
The Seminoles (9-1, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) won their fourth straight and moved within a victory against Maryland on Nov. 17 of securing a spot in the ACC championship game Dec. 1.
The Hokies (4-6, 2-4) lost for the fifth time in six games and will have to beat Boston College and Virginia in their final regular season games to qualify for a bowl game for the 20th straight year.
The Hokies had gone ahead 22-20 on Cody Journell's 21-yard field goal with 2:19 remaining. The kick capped a 52-yard drive that stalled when Logan Thomas ran for 2 yards on third-and-3 from the 6.
The Hokies limited the Seminoles to 311 yards, more than 200 below their average for the season.
The Seminoles arrived with the nation's No. 3 scoring offense, averaging nearly 45 points, but the Hokies neutralized it for the first 27 minutes, allowing just a pair of field goals by Dustin Hopkins.
But after Thomas drove Virginia Tech 68 yards for the game's first touchdown, giving the Hokies a 10-6 lead, Manuel and the Seminoles - held to zero yards at that point in the second quarter - clicked. Manuel hit Kevin Benjamin for 12 and 17 yards, and then Greene beat Kyle Fuller twice - for 22 and 25 yards - to finish a five-play, 71-yard drive in 1:58 to give Florida State a 13-10 lead.
