The Daily Nole

15-Year Nole Anniversary: FSU Takes First ACC Home Loss

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Upon entering the ACC, Florida State utterly dominated the conference. The Seminoles won the ACC in each of their first nine years as members, going 70-2 in conference play during the span.

In 2001, that streak ultimately came to an end with Maryland finally breaking through to win the ACC. A lot of streaks came to an end that year for FSU, including a 38-game ACC home winning streak. That streak fell on this day 15 years ago.

On Nov. 10, 2001, N.C. State arrived in Tallahassee unranked to take on the No. 14 Seminoles. At 6-2, 2001 was seen by many as a rebuilding year for FSU, but most still expected that it would win the conference. Florida State was coming off consecutive victories over ranked Maryland and Clemson teams and seemed to be improving as the season was moving along.

Florida State led at the end of one, thanks to a pair of Chris Rix touchdown passes — one to Talman Gardner and another to Javon Walker — but 17 unanswered points by the Wolfpack in the second quarter allowed N.C. State to take a 24-14 halftime lead. It was a lead the Wolfpack would not relinquish.

Rix threw a second touchdown pass to Gardner in the third quarter and added a touchdown run in the fourth after N.C. State’s Ray Robinson scored his second rushing touchdown of the day. Following a made field goal by the Wolfpack’s Adam Kiker with 2:14 to play, the Seminoles got the ball back down 34-28.

Rix was able to move FSU from its own 22-yard-line to the N.C. State 14, but with time ticking away, his pass for Gardner in the end zone was knocked away as time expired and the Wolfpack held on.

Rix finished the day with 302 yards passing, four total touchdowns and an interception, but the FSU defense had no answer for an N.C. State offense led by a young quarterback named Philip Rivers. The Wolfpack compiled nearly 500 yards of offense against the Seminoles while possessing the ball for nearly 10 minutes longer.

The 34-28 loss on this day 15 years ago marked the first time that FSU had lost an ACC home game and killed the Seminoles’ hope for a 10th straight ACC title. It would be nearly four years later before FSU lost another ACC game at Doak Campbell Stadium.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson

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