FSU Survives An Aggies Scare
Chris Weinke received all the help he needed from young pals Peter Warrick and Travis Minor as No. 2 Florida State wore down No. 14 Texas A&M for a 23-14 victory in the Kickoff Classic on Monday night.
The 26-year-old Weinke, who returned to Florida State after six years of pro baseball, threw a go-ahead 9-yard touchdown pass to Warrick late in the third quarter to cap a successful debut in his first start in nearly nine years.
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Weinke completed his first pass, a 30-yarder to Warrick, and finished 21-for-36 for 207 yards and no interceptions. The defense chipped in, too, holding the Aggies to a paltry 20 yards in the second half and 133 overall.
Warrick gave Weinke an open target all night, catching a career-high nine passes for 106 yards. Minor, a sophomore like Weinke but only 19 years old, set a school record with 34 carries, and ran for 146 yards and a touchdown.
The Seminoles were expected to have an easy time with the Aggies, who last beat a top-5 team in 1975, but Texas A&M gave coach Bobby Bowden's team all it could handle in the first three quarters before tiring.
With A&M leading 14-10 at halftime, the Seminoles went to work, closing to 14-13 on Sebastian Janikowski's second field goal, a 28-yarder with 6:43 left.
Warrick and Weinke then hooked up to give the Seminoles the lead for good. Warrick returned an A&M punt 21 yards to the Aggies 37, but four plays later, he limped off the field after defensive back Sedrick Curry rolled over Warrick's right ankle.
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| D'Andre Hardeman scored the first of the Aggies' touchdowns, but he couldn't help them in the second half. (AP) |
Janikowski closed the scoring with his third field goal of the game, a 22-yarder with 3:26 remaining.
A Giants Stadium crowd of 59,232 saw a first half filled with blunders, as neither offense could sustain a long drive and each committed two turnovers. The Aggies got the best of the breaks when cornerback Jay Brooks scooped up Weinke's fumble and ran 21 yards for a TD with 29 seconds left in the half, putting Texas A&M ahead 14-10.
Last season, the Seminoles trailed at halftime only once, 18-17 against Florida, which handed Florida State its only loss of '97.
Three plays after his first completion, Warrick fumbled after a 7-yard reception and linebacker Cornelius Anthony recovered at the A&M 22.
The Seminoles took a 7-0 lead on Minor's 3-yard TD run 7:58 into the game, completing a 39-yard drive that began when Stewart fumbled the snap and FSU cornerback Troy Saunders recovered.
Sirr Parker fumbled on the Aggies' next possession and linebacker Tommy Polley recovered at the Texas A&M 35. The Seminoles settled for a 33-yard field goal by Janikowski.
Stewart, who was 10-for-21 for 100 yards, got the Aggies back in the game, completing a 49-yard pass to wide receiver Chris Cole down to the Seminoles 13, and D'Andre Hardeman scored from a yard out five plays later to make it 10-7 early in the second quarter,
The Aggies took the lead when Weinke dropped back to pass from his own 20 and was blindsided by linebacker Christian Rodriguez. The ball popped loose, Brooks scooped it up and ran into the end zone for the TD.
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