Florida State connects in last minute, knocks Wake Forest from unbeaten ranks

It came down to the final minute, when Florida State made one more play than Wake Forest in a 26-19 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 31,588 on Saturday at BB&T Field.

James Blackman’s 40-yard touchdown pass to a well-covered Auden Tate with 53 seconds left was the game-winning score, derailing Wake Forest’s unbeaten start and giving the Seminoles their first win of the season.

A pass from John Wolford to Scotty Washington in the end zone as time expired was knocked away in the Deacons’ last gasp.

An eventful third quarter only saw one score, a Florida State field goal. The Deacons committed their second turnover of the game, doubling their total from the first four games combined, but were unscathed from it.

On the first play of the quarter, a 27-yard catch-and-run by Cam Serigne set up the Deacons at the 7-yard line. Matt Colburn finished it off with a go-ahead touchdown run.

The Seminoles’ equalizer came with 6:20 left on a 35-yard field goal.

Florida State scored first, sophomore Ricky Aguayo hitting a career-long 51-yarder in the first quarter. That was set up by a 69-yard run from the 1-yard line by Jacques Patrick – which accounted for more than half of the Seminoles’ 108 yards in the first half.

Mike Weaver kicked field goals of 24 and 39 yards to put Wake Forest ahead, though both of those possessions started inside Florida State’s 30-yard line. Grant Dawson forced a fumble to set up the first score, and a 10-yard punt was the cause of the position for Weaver’s go-ahead kick.

The Deacons struck with deadly efficiency on their first drive of the second quarter, going 81 yards in eight plays and ending with Wolford’s 3-yard plunge into the end zone. The senior quarterback was 5-for-6 for 52 yards and added a 26-yard run on that drive.

Florida State’s Keith Gavin returned the ensuing kickoff 81 yards, setting up Patrick’s 1-yard touchdown run. Aguayo added a field goal to give the Seminoles their 13-12 halftime lead after Wolford was picked off for the first time this season.

Next: The Demon Deacons visit second-ranked and reigning national champion Clemson on Oct. 7.

This story was originally published September 30, 2017 at 7:54 PM with the headline "Florida State connects in last minute, knocks Wake Forest from unbeaten ranks."