Florida State racked up five rushing touchdowns while snapping its four-game losing streak in blowout fashion with a 42-7 win over Wake Forest on Saturday night in Tallahassee, Fla.
Four different players ran for touchdowns for the Seminoles (4-4, 1-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference), who also snapped a nine-game losing streak in ACC games.
Tommy Castellanos completed 12 of 16 passes for 271 yards and a touchdown. Duce Robinson caught five of those passes for 148 yards and a score.
The Demon Deacons (5-3, 2-3) failed to build off the momentum of last week’s win over SMU, managing just 247 yards of total offense while committing 93 yards of penalties.
Robby Ashford and Deshawn Purdie were a combined 18-of-31 passing for 162 yards, a touchdown and a pick. Ashford was also Wake Forest’s leading rusher with 59 yards on 12 carries.
In a span of just over eight minutes in the second half, Florida State scored 28 points to turn the game into a blowout.
With the Seminoles leading 14-0 coming out of the half, it appeared Wake Forest was about to make a game of it when it got a fourth-down stop then moved the ball into the red zone for the first time in the game.
But a snap that bounced off Ashford’s hands was recovered by Florida State’s Ja’Bril Rawls. Seven plays later, Gavin Sawchuk punched in a 1-yard run to make it 21-0 Seminoles with 4:59 left in the third.
The Seminoles followed that up with a fourth-down stop and scored two plays later on another 1-yard Sawchuk run.
Earl Little Jr. came away with an interception on the Demon Deacons‘ ensuing possession, and Randy Pittman Jr. turned that into points on a 7-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Robinson’s 11-yard touchdown with 11:51 left closed out FSU’s ambush and put the game away.
Wake Forest got on the scoreboard with 6:49 left on a 6-yard pass from Purdie to Micah Mays Jr., denying Florida State its first shutout since 2015.
Florida State took a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter on a 6-yard Castellanos scramble. It was set up by a 65-yard pass from Castellanos to Robinson on the first play of the quarter.
The Seminoles added to the lead on a 10-yard scoring run from Samuel Singleton Jr. with 57 seconds left in the half.
