Florida State Routs Florida 30-7

T A L L A H A S S E E, Fla., Nov. 19 -- Florida State made a strong case for a chance to defend its national championship, beating Florida in the game that usually gives the winner a title shot.

Chris Weinke fought off the flu and threw for 353 yards andthree touchdowns—two to Marvin Minnis—as No. 3 Florida Statehad a surprisingly easy time beating its bitter state rival 30-7 onSaturday night.

The Seminoles (10-1) completed their regular season by beatingthe No. 4 Gators (9-2) for the third year in a row, but now have towait two weeks to find out if they’ll play for the BowlChampionship Series’ title in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 3.

Florida, the SEC East champion, still has a chance to play inthe Sugar Bowl if it beats Auburn in the league title game Dec. 2.

The Seminoles can feel good about their chances because thewinner of the Florida-Florida State game has gone on to play forthe title five of the last seven years.

In the 45th meeting between these powers, a Doak CampbellStadium-record crowd of 83,042 witnessed the Seminoles mostimpressive performance of the season.

Over 83,000 in the Stands

Weinke completed 23 of 44 passes, and his second TD pass of thegame—a 34-yarder to Minnis in the first quarter—made him theAtlantic Coast Conference’s career passing leader, moving him aheadof Duke’s Ben Bennett. Weinke, who also enhanced his Heisman Trophychances, has thrown for 9,789 yards in his career.

Minnis, who caught three TD passes in last week’s win over WakeForest, had eight catches for 187 yards. For Florida, Jesse Palmerwas 17-of-30 for 180 yards and two interceptions. Rex Grossman, whotook the first snap and didn’t return until the game was decided inthe fourth quarter, also threw an interception. He finished10-of-16 for 98 yards.

With the win, Florida State extended its unbeaten streak at hometo 52 games, dating to 1991, and its home winning streak to 35games, dating to 1994.

Holding a 14-7 lead at the half, the Seminoles took control inthe third period thanks to Weinke’s passing and Florida’spenalties.