No. 4 Florida State crushes Wake Forest, 41-16, improves to 8-0 on season
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — It might not totally erase the sting of Florida State’s last two trips to this stadium, but it was a pretty good start. And it was a fantastic start by the Seminoles that set it all up.
Powered by a 34-point first half, No. 4-ranked Florida State cruised to a 41-16 victory Saturday over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. The win snapped FSU’s three-game losing streak to the Deacs and gave the ‘Noles their first win in Winston-Salem since 2017.
Florida State is now 8-0 on the season and 6-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference; the Seminoles have won 14 straight games dating back to last season. Wake Forest falls to 4-4 and 1-4.
The Demon Deacons did make things a little interesting in the second half by scoring twice in the third quarter to cut Florida State’s lead to 34-16. But FSU running back Trey Benson sprinted into the end zone from 18 yards out in the fourth quarter to push the lead back to 25 points.
It was that kind of day for the Demon Deacons.
After Florida State raced to an early 10-0 lead, Wake Forest responded with a big play of its own. Running back Justice Ellison broke free for a 51-yard run, and the Demon Deacons capitalized with a 2-yard touchdown run by receiver Ke’Shawn Williams five plays later.
After that, though, it was all Seminoles for the rest of the first half. Jordan Travis connected on two touchdown passes to Keon Coleman, of 14 and 29 yards, and he also hit Benson on a screen pass that went for 80 yards and another score.
Florida State then capped off the second quarter with a field goal by Ryan Fitzgerald to claim a 34-7 lead at the break.
Travis actually accounted for four total touchdowns in the first half; he got the Seminoles on the board early with a 13-yard TD scamper. And Fitzgerald was good on both of his first-half field goal attempts, from 46 and 34 yards.
Travis finished the day with 359 yards passing on on 22 of 35 completions; he threw for three touchdowns with no interceptions. Benson rushed for 55 yards on 10 carries and caught four passes for 100 more. The junior scored one touchdown through the air and another on the ground.
After two quarters, Florida State had 351 yards of total offense compared to 75 for the Demon Deacons. The FSU defense limited Wake to just four first downs and 2.4 yards per play in that period.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the Seminoles’ offensive output was the fact that they were shorthanded at wide receiver. Star receiver Johnny Wilson and promising true freshmen Destyn Hill and Hykeem Williams all missed the game due to apparent injuries.
Coleman caught seven passes for 66 yards and two scores.
Florida State returns to action next Saturday at Pitt.
BOX SCORE: No. 4 FSU 41, Wake Forest 16
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