FSU 41, Wake Forest 28

WINSTON-SALEM -- Twenty-two seniors, including four-year starting quarterback Riley Skinner, played their final home game at Wake Forest on Saturday.

Now, they have an off week to wait — and wonder "what if?" — before playing their final college contest, period. Florida State's 41-28 victory at BB&T Field officially eliminated the Demon Deacons (4-7, 2-5 ACC) from bowl contention.

Wake, which has now lost five games in a row, won't play in the postseason for the first time since 2005.

Wake's final game will be Nov. 28 at Duke. FSU (5-5, 3-4) needs to win next weekend against Maryland or Nov. 28 at Florida to become bowl eligible.

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Dustin Hopkins' 42-yard field goal is good. FSU 34, Wake 21.

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Wake tailback Kevin Harris scored on a 12-yard touchdown run to cut FSU's lead to 31-21 with about seven minutes left in the third quarter.

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Wake Forest is struggling to convert third downs (1-for-4), can't seem to tackle, is getting outplayed by a freshman quarterback, and doesn't look like its going to compete in the postseason, as it trails FSU 31-14 at halftime.

Seminoles freshman Greg Reid returned a punt 68 yards for a touchdown with 3:40 left in the first half to dig the Deacons' hole even deeper. Wake's Josh Adams countered with a 20-yard touchdown run to cut it to 31-14. But the only reason FSU didn't score again was an intrception by safety Cyhl Quarles -- who was leveled about 10 yards later.

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FSU's Dustin Hopkins just booted a 47-yard field goal to extend the Seminoles' cushion to 24-7 over the Demon Deacons with 4:52 left in the first half.

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FSU's Kendall Smith stepped in front of Wake tight end Mike Rinfrette, picking off Riley Skinner. That set up Seminole quarterback E.J. Manuel's first touchdown, on a 1-yard run. FSU leads Wake 21-7 with 12:48 left in the first half, and the Deacons have a lot of work to do if they want to play in the postseason.

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FSU's Jermaine Thomas scored on a 6-yard touchdown run to give the Seminoles a 14-7 after a quarter. So far, the Noles don't seem to be missing quarterback Christian Ponder, who was the league's top passer until his season-ending shoulder injury.

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Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner is playing in his final home game, but he’d like to stretch his season to one more outing. That means his team needs a bowl berth, which means winning its final two games, which means beating Florida State today.

With about 3 minutes left in the first quarter, the scored is tied 7-7 at BB&T Field.

Florida State, which must win two of its last two games to become bowl eligible, scored first on the opening possession of the game when sophomore tailback Ty Jones scored on a 9-yard run to make it 7-0. Freshman quarterback E.J. Manuel – making his first collegeiate state because of Christian Ponder’s season-ending shoulder injury -- completed 2 of his 3 pass attempts on the 81-yard drive.

But Wake quickly countered with a 70-yard drive culminating in a 3-yard touchdown run – on a 4th-and-1 – by Josh Adams.