Posted by NoleCC

By Bill Kristoph

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons proved to be a worthy opponent for the FSU Seminoles on Saturday. The Seminoles were both harassed and outplayed by the Demon Deacon defense for the first half. Sophomore quarterback Wyatt Sexton had to overcome three turnovers (2 INT, 1 Fumble) to lead the Seminoles to a comeback 20-17 victory. The big bright spot on the day was the Seminole defense which allowed only 3 Wake Forest points (the other 14 were directly returned on the turnovers).’,'Defense wins championships, and the Seminole defense kept the 2004 edition of the Seminoles in the championship hunt. Although, they were nearly outshone by the Demon Deacon defense, which scored two touchdowns and harassed the Seminole offense by blitzing on what seemed like every play. Both teams had troubles, at times, on offense, but Wyatt Sexton lead the ‘Noles to two second half touchdowns and wonderfully engineered final drive for the 22-yard Xavier Beitia game winning field goal.

The game could have played out quite differently had Bobby Bowden had his way. At the half, Coach Bowden wanted to replace Sexton with Chris Rix, the more mobile choice of the two. Offensive Coordinator Jeff Bowden convinced him otherwise, and it was agreed that Sexton would play at least the first series of the second half. Thankfully, the junior Bowden had his way. (Granted, Sexton wasn’t perfect, but he had hardly any time and was again plagued by dropped balls.)

Overall, a win is a win, even if it’s ugly or causes your hard to flutter as a fan. The ACC appears to be improving leaps and bounds in talent, and the rest of the league should be put on notice… Wake Forest could easily be 7-0 at this point in the season. Perhaps they will be once their depth chart matches the likes of Miami and FSU. Let’s hope that the Seminoles get their road-show together this week and play better next Saturday at Maryland.