Sept. 4, 2010

Florida State Game Photo Gallery
Box Score

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The 20th-ranked Florida State football team scored 35 second-quarter points to break open the game on its way to a 59-6 win over Samford in the season-opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium.

The game was played in front of a crowd of 68,438, the second largest crowd ever to see a Samford team play. It was the first game for former Samford quarterback Jimbo Fisher as head coach of the Seminoles.

"I want to congratulate Jimbo on his first game, it was a heck of a way to start," Samford head coach Pat Sullivan said. "I can't say Florida State surprised me today. We knew about the speed they had. We knew they were really good on offense. We knew they had a great quarterback in Christian Ponder. We knew they had their offensive line back. But I think the thing that was notable, looking at them, was the speed of their defense."

As a team, Florida State had 481 yards of total offense, while Samford tallied 300 yards of offense.

For Samford offensively, junior quarterback Dustin Taliaferro completed 22-of-32 passes for 174 yards and an interception. Freshman wide receiver Quin Roberson caught 11 passes for 96 yards in his collegiate debut. Fellow freshman receiver Kelsey Pope had four catches for 51 yards, while senior receiver DeMarcus Covington caught four passes for 56 yards.

Defensively for Samford, senior linebacker Bryce Smith had nine tackles and an interception. Senior safety Thomas Broussard also had an interception to go along with his five tackles. Sophomore place-kicker Cameron Yaw was good on both of his field goal attempts, making kicks of 41 and 32 yards.

For Florida State, Christian Ponder completed 12-of-14 passes for 167 yards, four touchdowns and an interception. Backup quarterback E.J. Manuel completed 10-of-13 passes for 129 yards and an interception. Ty Jones rushed eight times for 107 yards and a touchdown, while Bert Reed caught five passes for 50 yards and a touchdown.

The Seminole defense was led by Anthony McCloud and Nigel Bradham with six tackles apiece. Mike Harris had an interception for FSU.

On Florida State's first possession of the game, the Seminoles drove deep into Samford territory. Samford's Smith, however, intercepted a Ponder pass at the six-yard line to end the threat.

On FSU's next possession the Seminoles got on the scoreboard when Ponder hit Lonnie Pryor for a four-yard touchdown with 3:15 to go in the first quarter. Dustin Hopkins added the extra point to give the Seminoles a 7-0 lead.

The Seminoles added another touchdown early in the second quarter when Ponder hit Reed for a 15-yard score with 13:45 to go. Hopkins' PAT made the score 14-0.

FSU's Jermaine Thomas scored on a four-yard run with 11:21 to go in the second quarter. Hopkins added the PAT to give the Seminoles a 21-0 lead. The drive was set up when Chris Thompson blocked a Bob Hooper punt, giving the Seminoles the ball at the Samford 12-yard line.

The Seminoles' Greg Reid returned a Hooper punt 74 yards for a touchdown for FSU's third touchdown of the second quarter. After Hopkins' PAT, FSU held a 28-0 lead. Pryor scored on an eight-yard run with 6:40 to go in the second quarter to make the score 35-0. Ponder later hit Taiwan Easterling for an 11-yard score with 2:23 to go in the half for a 42-0 FSU lead.

Samford put its first points on the board on the final play of the first half. Yaw connected on a 41-yard field goal to cut the FSU lead to 42-3.

Yaw put the first points on the board in the third quarter by making a 32-yard field goal with 7:46 to go in the quarter to make the score 42-6.

FSU's Jones scored on a 57-yard run with 7:03 to go in the third quarter to push the Seminoles' lead to 49-6. Chris Thompson scored on a nine-yard run with 14:55 to go in the game to make the score 56-6. Hopkins kicked a 24-yard field goal with 6:36 to go in the game to give FSU the 59-6 win.

Samford will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 11, when the Bulldogs play at Northwestern State. The game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start from Natchitoches, La.