CBS SportsLine wire reports
Oct. 31, 1998
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Chris Weinke saved the best for last on Saturday night.
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"We just stuck with what we were doing and we were successful," said Weinke, who was 15-of-27 for 338 yards. "We made a couple of adjustments. We started to move the pocket by rolling out (and) we were able to get more time that way."
After North Carolina scored its first touchdown in three years against Florida State to pull to 23-13 with 11:02 left in the game, Weinke answered with scoring passes to his favorite receivers to put the game away.
"He's taking care of the details," Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said of his 26-year-old quarterback.
Weinke hit Peter Warrick with a 56-yard touchdown pass with 9:02 left and, 2:20 later, connected with Laveranues Coles on a 49-yard scoring strike.
"He has a great arm and never loses his composure," first-year North Carolina coach Carl Torbush said of Weinke. "He had some great plays tonight."
AFTER LOSING ITS CONFERENCE opener 24-7 at North Carolina State when Weinke had six passes intercepted, Florida State has reeled off seven straight victories and is within two games of winning a seventh straight Atlantic Coast Conference title.
Weinke hasn't had a pass intercepted in his last 202 throws.
The Seminoles (8-1, 5-1 ACC) remains tied with Georgia Tech and next week's opponent, 15th-ranked Virginia, for the conference lead. They need to win two of their last three games for a 12th straight 10-victory season.
Warrick won his personal showdown with North Carolina All-American cornerback Dre' Bly, catching three passes for 125 yards, while Coles caught five for 125 yards. Warrick sat out the first quarter for missing practice Thursday.
"I felt like I had to make up for lost time," said Warrick, who has caught 47 passes for 980 yards and 10 touchdowns this season. "I just wanted to go out and do my thing and that's to make plays."
Warrick, who had earlier caught two passes over Bly, ran right past the Tar Heels secondary to haul in the touchdown - a play nearly duplicated moments later when Coles scored with Weinke's 18th TD pass of the year.
"We just didn't make plays," Bly said. ``I've got him (Warrick) before and
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Peter Warrick left Dre' Bly and the Tar Heels in the dust.
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North Carolina (3-4, 2-2 ACC) has never beaten the Seminoles in 10 tries, but managed to finally get a touchdown when freshman Ron Curry hit Cory Bailey with a 7-yard scoring pass early in the final quarter.
Josh McGee's field goals covering 42 and 22 yards accounted for North Carolina's earlier points.
NORTH CAROLINA'S TOUCHDOWN DRIVE appeared to have ended on an interception by Florida State's Troy Saunders, but Curry was hit late on the play, giving the Tar Heels an automatic first down.
Sebastian Janikowski, the nation's leading field goal kicker, booted four and Travis Minor added two touchdown runs for Florida State.
Janikowski, a 6-foot, 255-pound former soccer player known as the "Polish Powder Keg," has made 22 of 26 field goal tries this season and leads the ACC in scoring with 97 points.
Janikowski's third field goal, from 24 yards, came on the final play of the half - ending a confusing final closing minute when 48 seconds mysteriously disappeared from the game clock - to give the Seminoles a 16-3 halftime lead.
He also kicked two 42-yard field goals and a 28-yarder.