Florida State Runs Over North Carolina

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The main problem for No. 1 Florida State on Saturday was staying interested for four quarters after its lightning-quick start.

The Seminoles, 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, put this one away early, scoring four touchdowns before the first quarter was half over en route to a 42-10 victory over North Carolina.

It was Florida State’s fastest start in its seven-plus seasons in the ACC.

“It looked like in the first quarter they simply were not going to be able to stop us,” Seminole Coach Bobby Bowden said. “Then we substituted a lot of people and we lost continuity.”

Bowden played a whopping 52 players in the first quarter and 70 in the game.

“As soon as we started substituting the engine cut off,” Bowden said of his offense. “We just shut down and never could get the thing cranking again.”

It’s a good thing for the Tar Heels (1-2), who are off to their first 0-2 ACC start in a decade with games at Clemson and No. 10 Georgia Tech next on the schedule.

Sophomore quarterback Ronald Curry had three passes intercepted, fumbled once and was sacked five times.

“It was like a nightmare we couldn’t wake up from,” North Carolina Coach Carl Torbush said. “By the time we got out of it we were down 28-0. It was just boom, boom, boom, boom.”

Many of the Florida State players said they wanted to prove a point with a quick start.

“Nobody [in the country] is really playing like they’re No. 1,” said Florida State’s star receiver Peter Warrick. “So, we went out there with an attitude that we’re going to play like No. 1 today.”

Tailback Travis Minor, who scored twice, agreed.

“We wanted to come out and set ourselves apart from everybody else,” Minor said. “You know how it is with people saying we have potential but we really haven’t reached that potential.”

Chris Weinke, who passed for 272 yards, marched the Seminoles 80 yards on their opening drive, completing passes of 28, 20 and 19 yards before Minor scored on a 14-yard run--the first of his two first-quarter touchdowns.

Curry played giveaway on the next two possessions as the Tar Heels fell into a deep hole against one of the nation’s better defenses.

Three plays after Minor’s score, Curry was stripped of the ball by Jerry Johnson. David Warren recovered at the North Carolina 25 and the Seminoles were in business again.

Forty-five seconds later, Minor was in the end zone on a five-yard run.

Curry’s first pass on North Carolina’s next series was returned 25 yards for a score by Sean Key, who stepped in front of tight end Alge Crumpler and raced down the right sideline untouched for a 21-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.

After North Carolina’s next drive stalled, Warrick raced 75 yards with a punt return for a score, helping his cause in the Heisman Trophy race and giving the Seminoles a 28-0 lead.

“You can’t expect to spot the No. 1 team in the country 28 points and then just come back on them,” Curry said. “Florida State did everything we expected and more.”