2007 Florida State Seminoles football team The 2007 Florida State Seminoles football team represented Florida State University during the 2007 college football season . Florida State entered the 2007 season coming off a 2006 that ended with an overall record of 7 – 6 , which was head coach Bobby Bowden ' s worst record since going 6 – 5 in 1981 , matching that mark in 2007 . Pre - season . The Seminoles were picked by the ACC media as the preseason favorite to win the ACC ' s Atlantic Division . Tony Carter and Myron Rolle were named to the Thorpe Watch List Greg Carr , Andre Fluellen , and Myron Rolle were named to the preseason All - ACC Team Everette Brown , Jackie Claude , Geno Hayes , and Myron Rolle were named to the Preseason All - ACC Second - Team by Athlon Magazine Greg Carr was named to the Maxwell Award watch list Andre Fluellen , Tony Carter , and Myron Rolle were named to the Bednarik Award watch list . Andre Fluellen was named to the Outland Trophy watch list Tony Carter was named All - ACC Second - Team by The Sporting News and Rivals . com Mid - Season Awards . Myron Rolle was named to the CoSIDA Academic All - District Team Gary Cismesia was named as a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award Starting Lineup . Head Coach : Bobby Bowden ( 31st year ) Offense . Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks Coach : Jimbo Fisher ( 1st year ) < br > Offensive Scheme : TBA Defense . Associate Head Coach / Defensive Coordinator : Mickey Andrews ( 24th year ) < br > Base Defense : 4 – 3 Multiple Game capsules . The records in parenthesis indicates the opposing team ' s record at the time Florida State played them , NOT Florida State ' s record . Clemson ( 0 – 0 ) . Pregame Line : FSU −3 . 5 Florida State ' s terrible first half on both sides of the ball lead to a 24 – 3 deficit . The Seminoles made adjustments at halftime and swung the momentum in their direction holding Clemson to just 46 yards in the 2nd half . FSU had 196 2nd half yards led by Running Back , Antone Smith . Drew Weatherford and the Seminole offense couldn ' t shake the Clemson pressure in the second - to - last drive of the game , getting to the Clemson 30 - yard line , but falling short of the end zone . UAB ( 0 – 1 ) . Pregame Line : FSU −34 . 5 The Seminoles got off to another slow start . On Florida State ' s first drive , Drew Weatherford threw his first interception in 70 - plus attempts and it was returned for a touchdown to put UAB up 7 – 0 . The Seminoles scored 21 points in the third quarter to overcome a 17 – 3 deficit . They won the game , 34 – 24 . Colorado ( 1 – 1 ) . Pregame Line : FSU −6 The game was mostly a defensive struggle . Late in the 1st quarter , Antone Smith broke away for a 36 - yard touchdown run . For the rest of the game , Florida State ' s offense could not score , even when , at one point , their starting field position was at the Colorado 15 - yard line . Instead , they had to settle for three field goals by Gary Cismesia . With 3 : 40 remaining in the game , Colorado scored a touchdown on a 4th - and - 10 play from the Florida State 11 - yard line . However , the 2 - point conversion attempt failed , and the Seminoles recovered the ensuing onside kick to preserve the victory . # 24 Alabama ( 3 – 1 ) . Pregame Line : FSU −3 . 5 The game got off to another very slow start . It was another first half full of defense . In the 2nd quarter , an ineffective Drew Weatherford was pulled for Xavier Lee . After a halftime score of 0 – 0 , Lee led a strong drive to put FSU up 7 – 0 . After a forced fumble by Everette Brown , a toss sweep to Antone Smith put FSU up 14 – 0 . Alabama ' s offense took advantage of FSU ' s prevent defense to score a TD to make it 14 – 7 . Lee then hit Decody Fagg on a 75 - yard pass to put FSU up 21 – 7 . Alabama scored late to make it 21 – 14 , but FSU recovered the onside kick , and held on for a 21 – 14 win . NC State ( 1 – 4 ) . Pregame Line : Xavier Lee , making his first start of the season at quarterback , ran 2 yards for the Seminoles ' first touchdown 2 : 11 into the game , three plays after a 58 - yard pass to Greg Carr on the game ' s first play . Although N . C . State ( 1 – 5 , 0 – 3 ACC ) led 10 – 7 in the first quarter , it was again plagued by four turnovers — boosting its number to 21 in coach Tom O ' Brien ' s first year at the school . Michael Ray Garvin returned an interception 43 yards for a touchdown to spark Florida State ' s scoring . Garvin , a track All - American who finished sixth in the 100 meters at the NCAA finals and ran a leg on Florida State ' s championship 400 - meter relay team , gave Florida State a 17 – 10 lead early in the third quarter with his first interception of the season . The game was delayed late in the third quarter for 49 minutes because of a lightning threat . Greg Carr caught a 40 - yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter to give the Seminoles a 24 – 10 lead . Daniel Evans was intercepted three times Saturday — once at the end of the half that killed a Wolfpack drive that had reached Florida State ' s 26 . It was the first game against North Carolina State for former Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato , who returned to Florida State to be an assistant after getting fired by N . C . State after last season . The Seminoles snapped a string of eight straight losses against Atlantic Division rivals . N . C . State has now lost a dozen straight game against Bowl Subdivision ( formerly I - A ) schools . Wake Forest ( 3 – 2 ) . Pregame Line : FSU −4 . 5 Wake Forest ' s defense in the first half allowed two big plays that set up the Seminoles ' two scoring drives , then shut them down after halftime . Wake Forest moved 80 yards in nine plays late in the third quarter to force a 14 – 14 tie – a drive that started when Alphonso Smith intercepted Lee in the end zone . Skinner capped the drive with a nifty play in which he faked a handoff to Adams , deked like he would roll right and instead reversed field and flipped to the wide - open tailback for a 6 - yard score . The Demon Deacons forced five second - half punts , intercepted two passes and allowed 105 total yards after the break – with a good chunk coming after Swank ' s late kick . Florida State ' s rushing offense never could get going , finishing with 47 yards on 24 carries . Riley Skinner ' s 35 - yard touchdown pass to Kenneth Moore in the fourth quarter led the Demon Deacons past Florida State 24 – 21 and helped the sophomore quarterback improve to 2 – 0 against his homestate school that didn ' t recruit him . Skinner led the Demon Deacons 82 yards in nine plays , converting three third downs during their game - winning drive . The biggest came when Skinner sidestepped a pass rush , stepped forward in the pocket and found Moore , who had a step on cornerback Jamie Robinson at the goal line , for the easy score that put Wake Forest up 21 – 14 with 6 : 41 remaining . Florida State gave the ball right back to Wake Forest on the first play of its ensuing drive , when Chip Vaughn intercepted Xavier Lee ' s deep pass at the 26 . The Demon Deacons milked the clock and set up Sam Swank ' s 48 - yard field goal with 1 : 40 to play that made it a 10 - point game . Lee scored on a 17 - yard run with 17 seconds left to draw the Seminoles within three , but Wake Forest recovered an onside kick to seal it . The defending league champs rallied in the second half to follow up last year ' s stunning 30 – 0 rout in Tallahassee by claiming the first consecutive wins over the Seminoles ( 4 – 2 , 1 – 2 ) in school history . Miami ( 4 – 3 ) . Pregame Line : FSU −5 Florida State and Miami both entered this game unranked for the first time since 1977 . The teams exchanged turnovers ( nine total , five by FSU ) and scores , keeping things close for most of the game . With 5 : 29 left in the fourth quarter , the Hurricanes , trailing 29 – 24 , appeared to have lost their best chance to win when Kirby Freeman was stopped for no gain on a fourth - and - 1 at the Florida State 1 . But Freeman , who replaced injured Kyle Wright in the first half , drove Miami 83 yards in under two minutes to take the lead 30 – 29 on a 13 - yard pass to Dedrick Epps with 1 : 15 left . FSU quarterback Xavier Lee , who was intercepted twice , then fumbled after being hit by Miami ' s Teraz McCray , and Colin McCarthy ran it in for the clincher . This was the first game since 2001 that was decided by more than a touchdown . Duke ( 1 – 6 ) . Pregame Line : Florida State led 9 – 0 at halftime on three field goals by Gary Cismesia . After going more than five quarters without an offensive touchdown , the Seminoles made it to the end zone six minutes into the third quarter when Parker raced 9 yards with a short sideline pass from Drew Weatherford , giving Florida State a 16 – 0 lead . Parker scored his second TD late in the third quarter on a 14 - yard run to make the score 22 – 0 . After Cismesia kicked his fourth field goal , Duke ( 1 – 7 , 0 – 5 ACC ) avoided a shutout when Thaddeus Lewis lofted a 3 - yard pass to a wide - open Brandon King in the right front corner of the end zone with 8 : 07 left . Florida State ( 5 – 3 , 2 – 3 ACC ) rolled up a season - high 534 yards and 30 first downs while holding Duke to 222 yards and 9 first downs . The Blue Devils managed only 49 yards and two first downs in the first half . Patrick Robinson had an interception for the fourth straight game . Florida State ended a two - game losing streak with a 25 – 6 victory over Duke , handing the Blue Devils ' their 22nd straight Atlantic Coast Conference loss . # 2 Boston College ( 8 – 0 ) . Pregame Line : FSU + 7½ The game began in a frigid and soaking downpour , with wind gusts forecast at up to 50 mph as the remnants of Hurricane Noel proceeded up the East Coast . The rain had stopped by the end of the first quarter , but the winds battered the U . S . flag and played havoc with a couple of second - quarter field goal attempts . Drew Weatherford completed 29 - of - 45 passes for 354 yards for Florida State ( 6 – 3 , 3 – 3 ) , hitting Preston Parker nine times for 93 yards and a touchdown and De ' Cody Fagg on six catches for 111 yards and a TD . Matt Ryan finished 25 - for - 53 for two touchdowns and 415 yards — his fourth career 400 - yard game , tying Doug Flutie for the most in school history , but his interceptions were costly . Ryan was picked off once in the first quarter inside the Seminoles 10 by Patrick Robinson , making this his fifth consecutive game recovering an interception . Ryan also threw an interception early in the third that allowed Florida State to move into position for a 40 - yard field goal that made it 10 – 0 . Ryan led BC on a four - play , 70 - yard drive over 63 seconds , hitting Ryan Purvis for 26 yards to the Florida State 30 , and then Brandon Robinson for the touchdown . The teams traded field goals , then Weatherford hit Fagg on a 42 - yard touchdown pass to give the Seminoles a 20 – 10 lead . Ryan hit Rich Gunnell on a 42 - yard pass to the Florida State 6 with 7 : 24 left . Two plays later , including a penalty that moved the ball to the 3 , Ryan hit a wide - open Purvis in the middle of the end zone to make it 20 – 17 . BC forced a punt and got the ball back at its own 7 with 3 : 30 left and a chance to take the lead . Ryan moved the Eagles out to the 33 before Hayes ripped the ball free from Purvis on a pass across the middle . Geno Hayes returned Matt Ryan ' s third interception for a 38 - yard touchdown with 1 : 10 to play to help Florida State beat second - ranked Boston College 27 – 17 , ending the Eagles ' run at an unbeaten season . # 11 Virginia Tech ( 7 – 2 ) . Pregame Line : FSU + 6½ Christian Ponder had a solid showing after taking over for the injured Drew Weatherford , until the 4th quarter when he lost a fumble and threw two consecutive interceptions , which sealed the loss for the Seminoles . Emergency quarterback D ' Vontrey Richardson came in for just one snap late in the 4th and was brought down in the endzone for a safety . Maryland ( 5 – 5 ) . Pregame Line : FSU −7½ # 14 Florida ( 8 – 3 ) . Pregame Line : FSU + 14 . 5 Music City Bowl : Kentucky ( 7 – 5 ) . Pregame Line : The Seminoles entered the game without 34 players due to a various injuries , violating of team rules , and a large academic cheating scandal . < ref name = http : / / www . wctv . tv / home / headlines / Bobby _ Bowden _ Reveals _ That _ He _ Had _ Prostate _ Cancer _ in _ 2007 _ 129721168 . html > < / ref > Notes . On March 6 , 2009 , Florida State University was put on probation for four years by NCAA for major violations in its athletics program . The school is required to reduce scholarships and vacate records during the 2006 and 2007 seasons . The violations include more than 60 student - athletes across 10 sports involving in the academic fraud , " as well as impermissible benefits , unethical conduct by three former academic support services staff members , and a failure to monitor by the university . " In September 2011 it was revealed through and interview in USA Today , Bowden had been diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer in 2007 .