Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Florida State
Deacons Fall To No. 6 Florida State, 48-24
10/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 25, 2003
Box Score?|? Notes?|? Photo Gallery
By BRENT KALLESTAD
Associated Press Writer
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida State's Bobby Bowden became the winningest coach in major college football history Saturday with his 339th victory as the sixth-ranked Seminoles captured at least a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference championship with a 48-24 victory over Wake Forest.
The fans chanted "Bobby Bowden! Bobby Bowden!" and the 74-year-old coach was joined on the sidelines at the end of the game by his wife of 54 years, Ann.
Bowden, 339-97-4 in 38 seasons as a head coach, surpassed Joe Paterno, whose Penn State team lost 26-14 at Iowa. Eddie Robinson has the all-time college record with 408 wins. Bowden picked up 31 wins at Samford (Ala.) College, another 42 at West Virginia and is 266-65-4 since coming to Florida State in 1976.
Florida State (7-1, 6-0) holds a two-game lead over several conference schools with only two league games left - Nov. 8 at Clemson and Nov. 15 against North Carolina State. The Seminoles are 89-5 since joining the ACC in 1992, winning 11 titles in 12 seasons.
There wasn't much mystery in Bowden's record win Saturday as the Seminoles dominated from the start, building a 48-17 lead, as they ran their league record to 12-0 against the Demon Deacons.
Wake Forest (4-4, 2-3) did lead briefly, 7-3, in the first quarter when Jason Anderson caught a 38-yard pass from Cory Randolph.
Quarterback Chris Rix scored on a 1-yard run with 1:38 left in the quarter as the Seminoles regained the lead 10-7 and Leon Washington raced 65 yards with a punt return less than two minutes later to give Florida State a 17-7 advantage.
Washington set a Florida State single-game record with 159 yards on seven punt returns.
Rix, who completed 22 of 34 passes for 339 yards, threw a pair of touchdown passes to Craphonso Thorpe on plays covering 25 yards and 10 yards, the first giving the Seminoles a 27-14 halftime lead.
Greg Jones' 3-yard TD run gave Florida State a 41-17 lead after three quarters. Xavier Beitia started the scoring with 48-yard field goal and added a second from 43 yards in the second quarter.
Former walk-on Joey Kaleikini caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Fabian Walker with 3:27 left in the game for the Seminoles' final score.
Randolph scored on a 13-yard run with a minute left in the second quarter and Chris Davis scored on a three yard run for Wake Forest with 25 seconds left.
