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Friday, December 13, 2002
No. 2 Florida State 26, Georgia Tech 21
Associated Press
BOX SCORE
ATLANTA -- Florida State was about to see its hopes of
winning another national title fall apart in the second week of the
season. But Chris Weinke didn't come back to school to let that
happen.
|  | | Georgia Tech quarterback Jermaine Crenshaw (12) is tackled by Flordia State's Chris Hope in the first half. |
The 28-year-old senior threw for a career-high 443 yards and a
two touchdowns as the No. 2 Seminoles escaped a major upset by
holding off Georgia Tech 26-21 on Saturday night.
Florida State (2-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) extended its
winning streak to 14 in a row and improved its conference record to
63-2 since joining the ACC in 1992.
Georgia Tech (1-1), a 22-point underdog, lost its ninth in a row
to the Seminoles but received a rousing cheer from the home fans
after its final drive ended in Florida State territory.
After passing up a chance to enter the NFL draft, Weinke became
Florida State's career-leading passer with 6,433 yards. He was
25-of-38 against Tech, including a 30-yard touchdown pass to Robert
Morgan with 12:58 remaining that put the Seminoles ahead.
Weinke, who hooked up with Javon Walker on a 63-yard TD in the
first quarter, drove the Seminoles to another score on William
McCray's 1-yard run with 7:45 to go.
George Godsey, who shared the quarterback duties with Jermaine
Crenshaw, capitalized on a roughing the passer penalty to thrown a
27-yard TD to Jon Muyres with 4:50 left. Tech stopped the Seminoles
and faced fourth-and-3 at the FSU 40.
Godsey attempted a pass across the middle to Kerry Watkins, who
appeared to be hit early by Stanford Samuels. But the officials
didn't throw a flag and Florida State ran out the clock.
Georgia Tech, which lost to Florida State 41-35 last year with
Heisman Trophy runner-up Joe Hamilton at quarterback, used both
Godsey and Crenshaw to keep things close once again.
Crenshaw, a third-year sophomore playing his first game at that
position, was rotating with Godsey on just about every play in the
third quarter, a system that confused the Seminoles and led to a
13-play, 63-yard scoring drive. Joe Burns went over on an 8-yard
run and Tech led 15-12 after a 2-point conversion with 3:17
remaining in the third.
Godsey ran the team through most of the fourth quarter,
completing 13 straight passes and finishing 18-of-32 for 189 yards.
Crenshaw was 4-of-5 for 30 yards and led the team in rushing with
36 yards on nine carries.
Weinke easily broke his previous career high, a 354-yard
performance at Wake Forest last year.
Florida State dominated statistically in a penalty filled game,
outgaining the Yellow Jackets 536-298. Yellow was the predominate
color of the night, as Tech was penalized 19 times for a
school-record 140 yards and Florida State 15 times for 114 yards.
The nation's top two teams both survived close calls. No. 1
Nebraska won at Notre Dame earlier in the day, 27-24 in overtime.
The game started with all the makings of a Florida State rout.
The Seminoles drove 73 yards on their first possession before
stalling at the Georgia Tech 4, settling for Chance Gwaltney's
21-yard field goal. Florida State went all the way to the end zone
the next time it got the ball, as Weinke hooked up with Walker on
the 63-yarder.
Walker got behind safety Jeremy Muyres, who would have been
called for interference except that the receiver still managed to
catch the ball and hobble across the goal line after spraining his
right ankle on the play.
At that point, the Seminoles defense got in on the scoring.
Godsey was sacked in the end zone by Jamal Reynolds to push Florida
State to a 12-0 lead with 3:03 still remaining in the first
quarter.
The Yellow Jackets had been outgained 200-0 when Crenshaw,
listed as the third-team quarterback, went in late in the first
quarter. He ran for 15 yards on his first play and gave his team a
spark of life.
But Tech's biggest play was provided by the defense, which took
advantage of Florida State's decision to give Weinke a breather.
Backup quarterback Marcus Outzen tried a pass along the left
sideline and Marvious Hester stepped in for the interception,
returning it 50 yards for a touchdown with 9:04 left in the second
quarter.
Amazingly, the Yellow Jackets went to locker room trailing only
12-7 even though they been outgained 318-104 in total yardage.
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| | AUDIO/VIDEO |
 Jamal Reynolds sacks George Godsey in the end zone to put 2 points on the board for the Seminoles.
avi: 1345 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Javon Walker scores for the Seminoles on the 63-yard touchdown pass from Chris Weinke.
avi: 1162 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Robert Morgan finds the end zone for Florida State, after catching the Chris Weinke pass.
avi: 1040 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Marvious Hester returns the interception 50 yards for the Georgia Tech TD.
avi: 972 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Georgia Tech QB Goerge Godsey hits Jon Muyers in the end zone for the score.
avi: 825 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Bobby Bowden says Saturday was a nightmare.
wav: 245 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Chris Weinke is happy the Seminoles were able to put the ball in the end zone in the second half.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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