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DURHAM, N.C. (seminoles.com) – Cam Akers’ first touchdown could hardly have come at a better time.
With the Florida State football team locked in a tight game with Duke midway through the fourth quarter, Akers took a third-down handoff to his right and broke through the Blue Devils’ defense for a 42-yard score that proved the difference in FSU’s 17-10 victory at Wallace Wade Stadium.
Duke drove to FSU’s 30-yard line in the game’s final minute, but the Blue Devils’ last-second pass to the end zone fell incomplete and the Seminoles could exhale.
FSU (2-3, 2-2 ACC) hosts Louisville next Saturday at noon.
Akers’ big run put an exclamation point on another stout effort for the Seminoles’ rushing attack.
Led by junior Jacques Patrick (15 carries, 115 yards) and the freshman Akers (18-98), FSU put up 228 yards and 5.7 yards per carry on a Duke defense that came into game ranked seventh nationally (88.0 YPG) in rush defense.
Quarterback James Blackman completed 18 of 21 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown while overcoming two interceptions.
Blackman found Auden Tate for a 20-yard touchdown pass on FSU’s first drive of the game, a 12-play, 83-yard march that was as impressive as any the Seminoles have had this season.
From there, though, FSU dominated total yardage (425-315) and time of possession (36:44-23:16), but could never extend its lead to more than one possession.
After taking an early lead, the Seminoles and Blue Devils traded field goals, and Duke tied the game when Brittain Brown scored on a nine-yard run up the middle.
But facing its fourth close quarter in as many weeks, the Seminoles rose to the occasion, reclaimed the lead and stifled two late Duke drives to preserve their victory.
Junior receiver Nyqwan Murray had his finest day of the season, catching all five balls thrown his way for 81 yards, a mark which includes a 38-yard catch that led to a 23-yard field goal from Ricky Aguayo.
Aguayo converted his lone attempt to run his consecutive field goals streak to 11.