CBS SportsLine wire reports
Oct. 17, 1998
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Clemson is probably glad it doesn't have to come back to Florida State until the next century.
The last decade in Tallahassee has been awful for the Tigers, who failed to score a single touchdown in four visits -- finishing their Atlantic Coast
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"We played an outstanding football team and they got it on a roll and we couldn't get it stopped," Clemson coach Tommy West said.
Clemson (2-5, 1-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) was outscored 156-3 at Florida State in its visits this decade. The only points the Tigers managed came on Matt Padgett's 29-yard field goal in a 34-3 loss in 1996.
Florida State tackle Jerry Johnson figured Clemson was in for more of the same after the first offensive series.
"We went in and got three plays and out and I thought, `It's going to be a long night for them,"' said Johnson, who had one of Florida State's two sacks.
Clemson totaled 129 yards and five first downs, punting 13 times against the nation's third-ranked defense.
"They are as good as anybody or better defensively," West said. ``Whatever you try to do, they have the people to take it away from you."
CLEMSON'S BEST CHANCE TO SCORE CAME midway through the third quarter after defensive end Adrian Dingle stripped the ball from Weinke and recovered at the Florida State 11. On fourth down from the Florida State 6, Clemson decided against trying the field goal and Brandon Streeter's pass for Mal Lawyer was broken up at the goal line.
"It was frustrating when we didn't score from the 10-yard line," Streeter said. "To have a chance to put points on the board, and couldn't, it was frustrating."
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Chris Weinke completed 18 of 35 passes for 302 yards and a career-high four
touchdowns.
(AP)
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Florida State (6-1, 3-1 ACC) had little problem lighting up the scoreboard on its way to a seventh straight victory over the Tigers.
Chris Weinke completed 18 of 35 passes for 302 yards and a career-high four touchdowns.
He has now thrown for over 300 yards in two straight games and has gone 149 passes passes without an interception after having six picked off in a 24-7 loss Sept. 12 at North Carolina State.
"It's not a surprise to me," Weinke said. ``I told everybody early on that it was going to take me awhile to get into the groove, but I meant what I said that I was going to be a guy they could depend on."
WEINKE, WHO THREW TOUCHDOWN PASSES to four receivers, passed for 212 yards and three touchdowns in the first half as the Seminoles built a 24-0 advantage.
The victory sets up Florida State's visit to Atlanta next weekend, where the Seminoles will meet Georgia Tech (5-1, 4-0) with first place in the conference at stake. Florida State has won six straight ACC titles since coming into the league in 1992, sharing the 1995 title with Virginia.
Florida State wasted little time getting on the scoreboard Saturday.
Mario Edwards recovered a punt fumbled by Clemson's Travis Zachery at his 40 and on the next play Weinke hit Laveraneus Coles on a 40-yard touchdown pass just 64 seconds into the game.
Weinke also connected with Peter Warrick on a 48-yard touchdown, Ron Dugans on a perfectly thrown 12-yard alley-oop for another score and with Marvin Minnis on a 15-yard TD.
Jeff Chaney, who continues to sub for injured tailback Travis Minor, scored on a 41-yard run in the third period and backup quarterback Marcus Outzen added a 2-yard touchdown run in the fourth period.
Sebastian Janikowski, the ACC's scoring leader, added 12 points on six extra point kicks and two field goals, including one from 53 yards. He has 72 points.